Author Archive



Archetypal Gender Equality

I am influenced by the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and other later developments which elevate Radha from a mere shakti of Krishna, to the Supreme Goddess. C. Mackenzie Brown discusses this in God As Mother: A Feminine Theology in India. There is also some good discussion of Radha in The Divine Consort: Radha and rthe Goddesses […]


An Update

I’m pretty much finished with the addition to my home that consumed much of my energy the past several months. I am taking some down time to shift gears from being an owner-builder to being a full-time theologian again. I am working with Neal Delmonico / Nitai Das and others on his forum, The Chaitanya […]


Basic Beliefs of Chaitanya Vaishnavism

In my mind and experience, the basic beliefs of Chaitanya Vaishnavism are: Belief in God-dess as the Divine Couple, Radha Krishna. Radha is superior to Krishna in the sense of dominating him by her love which is what is really important and worship-able. Otherwise, they are co-equal God and Goddess, two halves of one whole, […]


God-dess and Nature

In The G.O.D. Experiments, scientist Gary Swartz makes a good case for a guiding, organizing, designing principle/field/force that is active throughout the universe on all levels of existence. He sees this force as personal, with a sense of humor even. This goes along with God-dess being the Ground of All Being. Therefore, God-dess does not […]


Casteless

I think way too much emphasis is placed on brahminical culture and lifestyle in Chaitanya Vaishnavism. When I was a young sannyasi in India, adopting brahminical standards made sense. Later, when I returned to the West and no longer had a support system for that, I gave it up with no regrets. It goes against […]


Faith and Action

Regarding faith, I want to make it abundantly clear that I separate faith from belief, as Bhaktivinode and Paul Tillich among others have done. I may change my beliefs or have no beliefs, but I still have faith as we all do. We all have faith in something, whether it is the nation, our shastras […]


Why we need faith?

No matter how sophisticated your idea of God, it is still trying to put God in a box and say, “Ah ha. Now I’ve got it.” As soon as you say, this is it, and worship your limited conception (whether it is more or less limited than others conceptions) and take the words of your […]


Chaitanya Vaishnava Eroticism and the Kama Sutra

Some months ago I had an inspiration to study the Kama Sutra in relation to Radha-Krishna’s pastimes. I purchased Anne Hooper’s edition which “reinterprets and updates the ancient erotic texts…distilling 2,000 years of sexual knowledge into an exhilarating modern guide.” and compared that with The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra edited by Lance Dane. Hooper left […]


A Myth Writer Who Realizes It Is a Myth

I just finished re-reading Sri Madhava Mahotsava by Sri Jiva Gosvamipada, translated by Bhanu Swami. In the final section, The Union, Jiva says, “The Divine Couple Radha-Madhava, the personifications of beauty, the temple of youthfulness, the kindom of good qualities, the treasure house of all types of bliss, the essence of all sixty four arts, […]


The Need for a New Vision

I write about an ultimate or all-consuming concern or passion that takes over one’s life and leads to total, complete surrender of one’s entire being acting in accord with the object of faith. Faith is devoid of belief in and of itself. It is much deeper and probably an innate character of humanity. How can […]