I left Sunol in 1986 for Ashland, Oregon where I bought a house, edited a newsletter, and met my husband, Steve Bohlert. Our initial attraction was writing. He wanted input on his autobiography. But it was his deep spirituality I found most compelling. He shared romantic tales of Radha and Krishna’s “love sports” along India’s Yamuna River. His wasn’t book knowledge … he had lived it.

Steve became a Radha-Krishna devotee at twenty yearsof age. It was the sixties. He chanted at the Avalon Ballroom and Hippie Hill. Steve started eight temples. He preached in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Bombay. His guru encouraged him to raise funds, recruit disciples, and build temples. Steve yearned for less mundane work and a deeper spiritual connection. He lived in India for three years as an itinerant monk and gained firsthand experience of Radha-Krishna devotion. Steve lived in the holy city of Vrindaban. He was befriended by O.B.L. Kapoor PhD, a prominent devotee, professor, and author. Kapoor confirmed his realization of a higher level of devotional practice than taught by Steve’s guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Kapoor directed him to Lalita Prasad Thakur, the son and disciple of nineteenth century reformer and Westernizer of Chaitanyaism, Bhaktivinode Thakur.

In 1974, Steve was initiated into the esoteric practices of natural devotion. Steve left India for Honolulu. He acquired an estate for the Krishna Movement from the Ford Foundation. After being sent to Fiji to “build a temple,” he resigned because of his dissatisfaction with the direction of the movement. He left the renounced life and reentered American society on Maui.

When I met Steve he was a family man, and a printer. He was a leader in the progressive Ashland United Church of Christ (UCC) and continued to worship Radha-Krishna. A Methodist pastor remarked, “If Christ equals love and Krishna equals love then Christ equals Krishna.” We progressed from co-workers, friends and business associates, and after the split with his wife, to romance. One day I remarked, “Wouldn’t it be great to be a minister?” By association, I had become increasingly attracted to spiritual life. Steve returned with a file folder of seminary applications. With renewed vigor, he applied to seminary and was accepted. We married and moved to Berkeley.

In 1991, he graduated with a Master of Divinity and was ordained in the UCC. We moved to Iowa and learned the reality of being a Midwestern pastor. We addressed local justice issues, such as gay rights, homelessness, and de-stigmatizing the mentally ill. The church split, and we were asked to leave. Next came North Dakota with a less receptive congregation. After three years in suburban Grand Rapids, my husband lost his high paying job to find himself.

Steve started an independent ministry with an emphasis on Radha-Krishnaism. With Michigan’s declining economy, we moved to Hawaii, the Big Island’s rainy side to live in “voluntary simplicity.” Steve read “Hindu Encounter with Modernity,” a biography of his grand guru, Bhaktivinode Thakur, and discovered Thakur and he were on the same wave length. British educated, Thakur applied critical thought to the religion, as Steve was doing, with his seminary training. He blogged, refined his autobiography and developed his own theology. About a year ago I suggested he begin his reformed Radha-Krishna theology book.

He agreed and the result is the just released “Universalist Radha-Krishnaism: a Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love.” In it, he redefines Radha-Krishna devotion enabling contemporary Western seekers to establish an eternal loving relationship with the Divine Couple. He presents esoteric Indian spiritual wisdom in plain English from a postmodern, Western perspective.

Philosophy of religion instructor Dr. M. Valle, of Scottsdale Community College (AZ) says, “Bohlert’s approach to spirituality merges Western and Eastern thought by de-emphasizing cultural trappings and literalism, while maintaining a passionate emotional bond with the Supreme Being.”

Nori Muster, author of “Betrayal of the Spirit” says, “As a life long seeker myself, open to both Eastern and Western religious ideas, I consider this book a portal to enlightenment. Bohlert leads the reader up a spiral staircase to the light, winding through the Christian and Hindu faiths as we ascend.”

‘Universalist Radha-Krishnaism: A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love’ by Steve Bohlert is available now at Amazon.com and bookstores everywhere. Or check out www.radha-krishnaism.org. Also, www.stevebohlert.com.

– Submitted by Jahnava / Geraldine Baldassarre, as appeared in Sunol News, November 2009 (click here to download PDF newspaper spread)

It’s evident the book is a product of a lifetime-to-date of experience and contemplation. Steve, you’ve put not just your thoughts, but your entire self on the pages. As a personalist should. Thank you for not hiding behind words.

I hope everyone who is or was a “Hare Krishna” reads it. Your deeply felt and deeply considered examination of the Vaishnava tradition will make a strong impression.

Open-minded Christians and followers of other religions will get a lot out of your interfaith approach too.

But of course your conclusions are controversial. So the literalists will sputter and rant and condemn. All the more fun!

You’ve shown how Vaishnavism can live in today’s world without a trace of reactionary fundamentalism. For that, I am so grateful.

Dr. M. Valle, a chairman of philosophy of religion at Scottsdale Community College (AZ) reviews our book Universalist Radha-Krishnaism, A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love.

In this review, I will first summarize the ideas in the text, then I will evaluate them from my own perspective.

Context of the Project

In Hinduism, there is a highly influential and popular devotional orientation that focuses on Krishna and his lover Radha as the supreme form of God. This branch of Hinduism became exceptionally popular in India in the wake of the life of Chaitanya, who flourished around 1500 A.D. This form of Vaishnavism has become fairly well known in the West since the sixties; in fact, George Harrison of the Beatles converted to it. It has been characterized by a fairly uncompromising fundamentalism, by which I mean that it is essentially committed to the literal truth of the often fantastic mythology that is associated with Hinduism. Some examples that confront one early on include the idea that Krishna as a child held a massive hill above his head with his finger to protect people from Indra‘s hailstones, that Krishna lived with 16,000 wives simultaneously, that Krishna was conceived without a sex act, and so on.

Many people, often Westerners but not exclusively, have been deeply attracted to the theology that accompanies Vaishnavism. They are attracted to its rituals, aesthetics, mythology, language, music, enthusiasm, and optimism. It “speaks” to them, but they find so much emphasis on fundamentalism that they eventually abandon this path. They also discover that Indian norms and customs are so strongly fastened to the path that they feel culturally disconnected. Bohlert, by the way, caters to this target audience by foregoing the complicated and often tedious terminology that often attends such literature and instead opts for exclusively English terms at the most comprehensive level of complexity.

Steve Bohlert has been through all of this, and the depth of his experience shows. His credentials in this arena are beyond impressive. This book is a systematic attempt to offer a spiritual/religious system called “Universalist Radha-Krishnaism” (URK) that does the following things, among others: sketches the history of Chaitanya Vaishnavism (CV), interprets Vaishnava mythology in a non-literalist way, asserts and defends the fundamentals of the CV conception of divinity, sketches the relation of divinity to the universe, asserts the necessity of communication between science and religion, and offers practical advice on how to put the theology into daily practice. Bohlert’s approach is grounded in the work and practice of the well-respected theologian Bhaktivinoda Thakur, and of Bhaktivinoda’s son, Lalita Prasad Thakur.

Summary of URK

The basic metaphysical view of divinity of URK is as follows: Bohlert’s view is explicitly “panentheistic”, which means that God exists, is greater than the universe, and completely interpenetrates and includes the universe.

There is a hint of deism here, as when he writes that “[…] God-dess does not suspend [natural laws] to perform miracles […]” (25), but he views God as far more personal and accessible than deists typically do, as when he writes “God-dess remains intimately involved with creation and creatures, rather than the distant High God who sets creation in motion and now lets it work according to natural laws with no further involvement” (82). He asserts that God urges us to seek a loving relationship, so connection and contact are always available to creatures.

Along the lines of Plotinus, Bohlert states that the universe itself is an expression of God’s ever-expanding love, which is always seeking to love more and more. The universe is the means by which God accomplishes this desire. Bohlert also leans heavily on classical Platonic metaphysics, as when he writes, “The material universe exists as a temporary modification of the spiritual world” (103). His view also has a strong metaphysical idealist orientation (that incidentally reminds me of Berkeley’s idealism): “God-dess’ energy forms everything, and nothing exists separate from God-dess. Therefore, everything is ultimately spiritual” (104).

Bohlert sees God not as lacking any gender so much as being both genders fully, as when he writes, “God-dess exists as male and female counterparts […]” (25). This explains his use of “God-dess”, which emphasizes the two poles of divinity. These poles are personified as Radha the female and Krishna the male. All people participate more or less in one or the other, but we all need both to be complete. God is therefore “God-dess”, the “Divine Couple”, and “Radha-Krishna.” We therefore have a kind of a unity in diversity, which characterizes much of Indian thought. Bohlert prefers “both-and” thinking to either-or and neither-nor.

Bohlert also strongly endorses the classical Chaitanya view that God has three levels of manifestation. Each level is progressively higher and includes the previous. The first is Undifferentiated Oneness (Brahman), the next is Cosmic Consciousness (Paramatma), and the final is the Supreme Lord (the Divine Couple, Radha-Krishna).

Because God-dess doesn’t perform physical miracles, we cannot take scriptural stories and mythologies literally. They are symbols, metaphors, and allegories that point to higher realities. Bohlert believes in “progressive revelation”, which is the idea that God-dess never ceases to prompt new religious visions and imaginings in us as we continue to explore this creation.

Reincarnation is real for Bohlert, but he does not feel the need to speculate about its exact nature. The essential idea is that souls develop through cycles and steps to attain the direct presence of God-dess. The goal of URK, and Vaishnavism in general, is not to become “one” with the whole (as in the case of Advaita schools of Hinduism, or as in the case of Buddhism), but rather to enjoy a kind of individuality in which one experiences the bliss of service to the Divine Couple in their love play, which is ultimately indescribable but which can be approached through mythologies, especially those of the famous Hindu text called the Bhagavata Purana. However, Bohlert feels free to adapt these ancient stories in the light of modernity in order to make them more accessible to different cultures and generations. He does this by re-imagining certain elements of the pastime narratives in ways that remove them from the ossification that is caused by limiting them to certain times, places, and cultures.

URK is “universalist”, which is the idea that all legitimate religions can serve as vehicles for the advancement of the soul. Different people have different needs and so on, and God-dess makes Him/Herself accessible in a variety of different ways.

Bohlert advocates some traditional Vaishnava practices so that people can keep God-dess in mind at all times. These include chanting and visualization techniques. In Chapter Nine, he briefly summarizes the daily activities of Radha and Krishna so that the devotee can play a role in the Divine Play. Bohlert explicitly rejects the asceticism that often characterizes Radha-Krishna devotion. The world is good–it should be enjoyed without craving and attachment, while giving due consideration to those around us. He writes, “God-dess […] may ask us, at the time of death, why we did not enjoy life more” (25).

Personal Reflections

I have studied the world’s religions with a great deal of seriousness, and have experimented with many of them to one extent or other. I have a very deep history with atheism, and then was deeply affected by Christianity, Vaishnavist Hinduism, and the ancient European heathen religions now known as Asatru. There is no wonder that these systems of thought have persevered for so long and have meant so much to so many people–they all say powerful things and speak to powerful needs.

I have come to see a relationship with Divinity as essential in my life, and have found the narratives of the pastimes between Radha and Krishna to be the most powerful metaphor for the Divine love that is available in the world‘s religious literature. I understand that others may disagree and may find other metaphors more powerful, and that’s totally cool with me.

Steve Bohlert’s systematic theology is a much-needed attempt to fill a deep void in religious thought. I know that it will speak powerfully to many people who find this view of God to be compelling, but who, under the influence of modernity, cannot view mythology as literal descriptions of physical reality. His URK system also has the benefit of focus–too many progressively religious people (“spiritual–not religious”) follow what I would call the “smorgasbord” approach, which has the devotee tasting from every dish but lacking the focus to eat an entire plate. This approach then becomes an ill-defined sense of “feeling good about the universe”, but lacks many of the gifts that focused religion can bring. Bohlert’s system has a focus and specific rituals that have a pedigree in the world’s oldest religion.

Bohlert’s theology is a novel revisioning of venerable theistic traditions. Although he uses terminology, like “God-dess”, that might distract some, his theology is based in all kinds of classical theological and philosophical works. Most of his notions of the Divine are perfectly plausible to almost any religious tradition.

More controversial is his universalism, which is absent in most orthodox Christian and Islamic theology. The idea the God works through a variety of religions can be accepted in only a most attenuated form by a Christian or a Muslim, both of which will tend to believe that everlasting punishment attends those who willingly refuse the correct path. That’s fine with me, as long as everyone understands that some differences in religious thinking are essential and cannot be reconciled. He writes, “[…] no one with a particular spiritual belief should go to other countries and preach that what their teachers taught is superior to all other teachings” (115). Generally, Christians and Muslims will see things differently, and, in all fairness to Steve Bohlert, I think that his beliefs are certainly superior to a fairly wide range of dangerous religious beliefs in the world that I‘ve come across. Bohlert’s modesty is nevertheless admirable.

Bohlert, in a perfectly legitimate manner that is common with many other universalists, expects and hopes that a commitment to a progressive theology will bear fruit in a progressive political orientation. Oddly for me, I am as conservative politically as I am progressive theologically (which is why my brief flirtation with the Unitarian Universalist church didn‘t last long). In any case, for the overwhelming majority of those who would seek this book, this will not be a problem at all. Exhibiting love of God in one’s life should be a goal of anybody who takes God seriously, and I sincerely admire the author for his passion. I hope God will respect our noble intentions, even if we end up wrong!

This book is, within the context of devotees of Radha and Krishna, no mere curiosity. It is, in fact, a groundbreaking book. Many already in the movement will be attracted to this approach, and perhaps many who feel the tension between fundamentalism and modernity will find this book to be nothing short of a God-dess-send. I find that one of the greatest strengths of his approach is to elevate the truly religious and spiritual above the superstitious.

Bohlert offers a comprehensive theology in his book that combines classical Indian theology with modern philosophical developments. It will be interesting to see how his thought will progress from here. I eagerly anticipate those developments! This book is simply essential reading for anyone in its target audience.

There is a great deal in Bohlert’s work that I have not mentioned, so if you are interested in this project, you will benefit greatly from reading the entire book.

– Dr. Michael Valle

This book comes as a cooling breeze on a hot day. It offers a glimpse into an eternal world of love that actually surrounds us at all times. The perfect world that Plato detected, just beyond the veil, really does exist, yet we spin our webs of karma so tightly that we cease to acknowledge it. As you read this book, you hear the music of the spheres, like the rising choral, Ode to Joy, in Beethoven’s final symphony.

Universalist Radha-Krishnaism — A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love by Steve Bohlert reviewed by Nori Muster. Nori Muster, a positive thinking modern author of many life engaging books, essays and poetry. Her Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement, was accepted among many ex Hare Krishna devotees worldwide as a mind-opening narrative and has helped thousands of persons regain their individuality, sobriety and strength. Learning to Flow with the Tao is Nori’s own version of the ancient Taoist oracle, iChing. Pray for Peace Notebook: Direction in the Time of Change is an edited collection of Nori’s political writings, 2000 to 2009. Visit her website to read more and explore Nori’s wonderful world of positive possibilities.

Author Steve Bohlert dedicated his life to finding the source of the music, which led him to India, where he served and studied with enlightened masters; and it took him to San Francisco Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity from the Graduate Theological Union, and became an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ. He was raised in the Missouri Synod, christened and confirmed.

Bohlert’s life is a bridge between East and West, and a merging of his Christian Universalist beliefs with his strongly held bond with the eternal divinities Radha and Krishna. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism is a product of his studies, and outward manifestation of the bridge he first built within.

The time is right for a book such as Universalist Radha-Krishnaism. As Bohlert points out, “We live in a relativistic, pluralistic world open to truth in all forms.” (p. 5) There is no one way to hold faith, and many in our culture today are searching for truth. As a life long seeker myself, open to both Eastern and Western religious ideas, I consider this book a portal to enlightenment. Bohlert leads the reader up a spiral staircase to the light, winding through the Christian and Hindu faiths as we ascend.

Many of the concepts were already familiar to me, coming from Missouri Synod Lutheran roots, and having spent ten years in the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON). The Lutherans started out as reformers five hundreds years ago but became quite strict, and as Bohlert points out (p. 5), “most Radha-Krishna devotees are fundamentalist literalists.” It is ironic, but typical, since religious institutions tend to become entrenched in their belief systems, and closed down to change.

Hundreds of years ago, Radha-Krishna, the archetypal goddess and god of love, were little-known outside of India, and worshiped only within the Hindu faith. Eighteenth and nineteenth century archaeologists and scholars made us aware of Hindu gods, but prior to the twentieth century, nobody in the West had any actual experience of Radha and Krishna. Even today, god and goddess remain concealed behind a brick wall of fundamentalism, which most of us from a Judeo-Christian background are powerless to navigate. On one hand, we may sense truth there, but until Bohlert’s interpretation, there was no way to pierce the fundamentalist views and practices that keep these deities off limits. Even the Hare Krishna movement and similar groups may fail to offer a satisfying genuine experience.

One of the subjects Bohlert introduces, which is forbidden in the fundamentalist world of the Hindu sects, including ISKCON, is permission to meditate on Radha-Krishna’s eternal pastimes. ISKCON warns its followers that they will always remain neophytes who dare not dream of life in the eternal realm. This was tried in ISKCON in the mid-1970s, but the fifty or so members of the “Gopi-bhava Club,” as it was called, were scorned and drummed out as heretics. “Gopi” is the Sanskrit word for the cowgirls of Krishna’s world, and “bhava” means “mood, feelings, or emotional state,” so gopi-bhava is the mood of the gopis.

Toward the end of the book, Bohlert offers an outline of a typical day in Krishna’s world with the gopis and other eternal associates, and invites us to imagine how we might fit in. He said Krishna comes around a couple times a day to visit with you, find out how you’re doing, and discuss whatever is on your mind. Since reading the book a few days ago, I have imagined many things I would like to say to Krishna.

Bohlert was a member of ISKCON in the early days of the movement, 1967–1974, when he was starting temples around the world for the founding guru, Srila Prabhupada. Later, he served a one year stint in New Vrindaban (West Virginia), 1980–1981. However, like many of us, he had to leave the confines of the organization to continue his spiritual journey.

In Universalist Radha-Krishnaism, Bohlert speaks without the constraints of fundamentalism, re-imaging Radha-Krishna for the modern seeker. He cites the “evolution of thought” (p. 28) and the need to reinterpret religion in each new generation. Through his long education and practice, he learned that he can be part of the process of religious reform. This book is his way of moving the conversation forward, mingling two divergent religious traditions, and making the supreme Hindu god and goddess accessible to his readers. He dubs Radha-Krishna “God-dess,” which means god and goddess together.

Bohlert dismantles the fundamentalist notion that we come from original sin, that we were put in this material world as a punishment, that our flesh is evil, and that god is a menacing figure who sits in judgment. These fears played a part in the development of both Christian and Hindu theology, and may have helped to enforce discipline on people who lived in previous centuries. However, Bohlert argues in favor of universal love and freedom, which are common tenants of most new age religions. He writes that, “Like any good parents, Radha-Krishna want us to enjoy ourselves. This adds to their enjoyment.” (p. 25) He explains that worldly fun and spiritual devotion co-exist when we learn to live in harmony with god and goddess, nature, and all beings.

Besides citing references from his teachers in India and Berkeley, Bohlert’s opus draws on Plato, Martin Luther, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, the humanists, Jack Kerouac, and quantum physics. He shows how the truth runs through all these rivulets, from Plato’s Theory of Forms, to Carl Jung’s archetypal reality, and ties it all together in his vision of God-dess. He says, “We exist as parts or emanations of God-dess, and like a piece of a hologram or a fractal, we contain the image of the whole.” (p. 31).

One chapter discusses the life and teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), a reformer in India and contemporary of Martin Luther (1483–1546). Chaitanya was said to embody Radha and Krishna as an incarnation (avatar), and he led a revitalization movement in India that paralleled the Renaissance taking place in Europe. Bohlert compares Chaitanya to Martin Luther for offering an alternative to fundamentalism, and to Jesus for breaking down caste and gender barriers. He also describes Chaitanya’s influence on the Moslem religion of his day in India. It was refreshing to me to gain new insights into Chaitanya, adding depth and detail to the introduction that ISKCON offered during the years I was a member. This is welcome, since Chaitanya does not belong to any one organization, or any one region of India. Bohlert’s book will spread Chaitanya’s teachings to a broader audience.

Bohlert mixes the worldly and next-world experiences, when he says that we have a duty here on Earth to enjoy this life. In Bohlert’s view, salvation is more than just for ourselves, in terms of wanting go to heaven when we die. He explains why our experience here is important, and offers spiritual reasons to stand up to the challenges of today. He says salvation “includes communal salvation, which involves healing the brokenness of society and individuals. Society as a whole cannot be healthy until all are healthy and whole just as the body cannot be healthy if certain parts are diseased.” (p. 42) The solution, he says, is “We need to see ourselves as part of God-dess’ extended family, as brothers and sisters in the human family, and as part of creation. Then we can solve our problems cooperatively.” (p. 47) He explains, “The more we learn to experience God-dess and consciously live in the material world responsibly, the more we spiritually evolve.” (p. 66) Put simply, “The more spiritual we become, the more we enjoy this life fully.” (p. 86)

The gift for reading the book is to go from hearing about god and goddess, to actually experiencing god and goddess. When we first pick the book to read it, we may feel like outsiders to a fundamentalist religion with few entrance doors. However, after a thorough and thoughtful read, we embody the relationship with god and goddess. The music of the spheres lights within ourselves. As Bohlert confirms, “This is living the myth.” Fundamentalist scholars from the various Hindu groups may give Bohlert grief for unleashing the mystic experience to his readers, but Bohlert has the credibility as a scholar, through his lifetime of preparation for writing this book, to make this leap for his generation. So never fear, anybody from any background may read the book and form an eternal bond with the denizens of the spiritual world. Bohlert asks the reader to throw off convention, and simply embrace the love emanating from Radha and Krishna. If more people read this book, the world will be a better place.

– Nori Muster