Universalist Radha-Krishnaism: The Way of Natural Devotion; A Practitioner’s Handbook clearly and concisely reveals the esoteric meditative process of participating in Radha-Krishna’s transcendental world. It includes solid historical and theological grounding for this sublime devotional yoga practice of creating an eternal individual identity. Lifelong spiritual practitioner and teacher, Steve Bohlert, M.Div. (Subal Das Goswami) draws upon his interfaith background and presents everything seekers need to know to become full practitioners. He adapted these teachings for contemporary western readers who need no prior knowledge of the subject to begin.

EXCERPT:

Amorous spirituality may seem revolutionary, but it has a long and varied history. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism reintroduces it to enrich people’s lives. Those repressed by centuries of sex-negativity may think it a huge leap, but it is well worth the effort to become whole.

Natural devotees integrate the needs of body, mind, and spirit. They realize the interconnectedness of all existence. Practitioners bridge the gap between sacred and profane, thus healing themselves and potentially healing society as more people become whole. By transforming themselves, people transform society.

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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)

Imagine this: One morning you wake up, brush your teeth, have breakfast, go out, walk across the street and continue with your exciting new day plan. However, everyone around addresses you as you were a person 30 years ago — a person from another time. You begin to notice that in conversations, as people seem to disregard all the accomplishments, all life’s experiences, new knowledge, wonderful new thoughts and all new personal qualities you have achieved in three decades. Despite all good attributes you know you posses, people turn a deaf ear and approach you as you were a problem, spoiled child who sees everything black & white. After few months, how would you feel?

Now imagine this: How a sense of a divine creative principle, or Demiurge people call God since time immemorial, must feel when people approach him-her in the same manner as people 2,000 or 5,000 years ago, thinking and believing he-she is the same scary and petrifying one as people believed then, unreservedly neglecting his-her life since, his-her new ideas, newly discovered possibilities of existence, imaginative advanced ways of communication with him-her and remarkable experiences he-she had to share during the last several millennia? And imagine him-her living that ‘Groundhog Day’ movie with humanity on the planet of Punxsutawney (sometimes referred as the planet Earth) every day, every month, every year, for thousands of years …

This is just one of many answers to the question “Why Universalist Radha-Krishnaism?”

– Zvonimir Tosic

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.

As a universalist essence-seeker following in the line of Bhaktivinode Thakur through his son Lalita Prasad Thakur, I aspire to present the distilled essence of all paths. I offer traditional Radha-Krishna devotion updated for the twenty-first century. I use a scholarly-critical approach learned at the Graduate Theological Union from leading Christian scholars.

I began this endeavor by writing for my own spiritual satisfaction and understanding. I posted the writings on my website: www.stevebohlert.com and took part in online forums discussing my ideas. This developed into a book length manuscript which is now looking for a publisher. It is titled–Universalist Radha-Krishnaism: A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love. It includes a well developed theological summary, along with spiritual practices, and a bibliography with suggestions for further reading.

This book is only the beginning of what I hope will continue as a major reformation of Radha-Krishna devotion for contemporary persons. A living faith must continually grow and evolve to adapt to current circumstances and understandings. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism is an ongoing process. It forms a way of living and viewing life from a spiritual perspective in relation to God-dess, Radha-Krishna, the Divine Couple.