12 “For a long time I have not given the gift of prema-bhakti. Without bhakti the world has no stability. 13 In all the world they have vidhi-bhakti for me. [But] in vidhi-bhakti there is no power to gain the bhava of Braj. 14 All the world is involved in knowledge of my divinity. But […]
What does it mean that Universalist Radha-Krishnaism is a life affirming philosophy? It means accepting our embodied state and this world as a God-dess given gift. Since we are children of God-dess, he-she only gives us good things. The glories of nature are the best visible manifestations of God-dess we have. Our body-mind-spirit nature is […]
He [Krishna] does not simply appear in the jiva, but as the guru, in the form of caittya, the indwelling guidance; Krishna as the siksha-guru appears in the true form of mahantas, noble devotees. CC 1.1.29 I encourage practitioners of the way of natural devotion to follow their inner guidance. This is difficult because we’re […]
Aloha. Since I finished and published my autobiography, I have plenty of free time. I continue doing photography–including developing a slideshow for the Hilo Photography Club in September. I’m re-reading the Harvard Chaitanya Charitamrita and spending more time meditating on my spiritual identity. I’m involved with the Puna Pono Alliance to stop geothermal development in […]
HAWAII The Big Island Steve Bohlert Photographer Aloha. I launched a new photography website to expose my work to a wider audience. It has my recent photos as well as a gallery of flora. I will add more galleries and photo descriptions as I am able. It is the product of a passionate love of […]
Let me explain how I intend my book to be used. It is called A Practitioner’s Handbook because it is meant for use in daily meditation. Study “Entering Braj†and get an understanding of how the process works. Meditate on this and see what natural impulses arise in you. What are your inclinations? Slowly go […]
Forty years ago in Vrindaban India, I translated the attached chart with the help of a Gaudiya Math devotee named Purushottam Das (?). It contains the age, appearance, and detailed personal information about Krishna, Radha, her eight chief girlfriends, and their main manjaris. Traditional raganuga devotees use this information to meditate on the players in […]
by Steve Bohlert When Radha-Krishna devotion was introduced to the West, devotion to Krishna was emphasized and devotion to Radha discouraged–as was natural devotion. Therefore, practitioners may ask, “Is it proper to focus on Radha as the object of amorous devotion?†Quoting from my book and the Ujjval Nilamani, I show that Rupa Goswami described […]
My autobiography is coming along quite well. I started at the beginning, edited everything I previously wrote, and concluded it close to the present. One benefit of writing an autobiography is putting my life in perspective–seeing the big picture and objectively looking at it as story. A terrible struggle at the time makes a good […]
The Big Island of Hawai’i is wonderfully beautiful. It plays a big part in my practice of Universalist Radha-Krishnaism. I’m an avid amateur photographer and post albums on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, I invite you to be my friend. Here are public links to the albums that anyone can see. As I See It […]