I used to be quite an ecstatic dancer in kirtan, but now I don’t do that. I think it’s a cultural practice that just isn’t part of the culture I live in. Now kirtan is my wife and I chanting sitting before our home altar.
Just as the Orissa devotees moved from loud kirtans to more personal, inner manjari bhav after the disappearance of Chaitanya and the overthrow of Maharaj Pratap-rudra, I think a more private inner cultivation of love for Radha-Krishna is more appropriate under my current situation. There is no need to try forcing our views on others through public sankirtan demonstrations and aggressive evangelism as many Western devotees engage in.
Rather cultivating the inner aesthetic sense to appreciate Radha-Krishna’s sports and the desire to enter into them is more effective.
What do you think?