A Contemporary Scholarly Survey of Radha-Krishna Devotion Several years ago, I read Vaishnavism: Contemporary Scholars Discuss the Gaudiya Tradition, Folk Books, 1992 edited by Steven J. Rosen, foreword by Edward C. Dimock, Jr.. I benefited from it, and wrote an essay in response that I published on my website. I reread the essay in 2013 […]
Browsing the local used bookstore, I found Thomas Moore’s The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love, Harper Collins, 1998. Some books have a classic timeless appeal, and this is one of them. I found it a delightful read since his views are similar to mine. We are both former monks who […]
Shloka 2. Bhagavad Gita 4:11: In whatever way one worships me, I honor him in that same way, for in all their various ways men do follow my path, Partha. 19 [Saying] ‘My son, my friend, the lord of my heart’–he who has pure bhakti toward me in these bhavas, 20 who feels himself superior, […]
68 The Brajadevis are of various natures and forms; they are her [Radha’s] kayavyuha forms and causes of her rasa. 69 Without many consorts there is no enjoyment of rasa; therefore there are many manifestations of lila-companions. 70 There are, in Braj, many different kinds [of women], with many different kinds of bhava and rasa, […]
14 The purpose of this avatara [Chaitanya] was to taste the sweetness of the juice of prema-rasa, and to propagate among people the bhakti of the raga-marga. 15 Krishna, the crest-jewel of rasikas, the epitome of mercy and grace, [descended] in the desire to be the source of these two things. 16 “All the world is […]
Natural devotion includes practitioners meditating on their spiritual selves in relationship to Radha-Krishna in the eternal Braj. The identity we develop depends on our unique eternal nature. In the conditioned state, our spiritual identity remains dormant in a seedlike state. As we progress in devotional practice, that seed begins to germinate and grow in consciousness. […]
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 […]
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 […]
This book is sufficiently important that its wide dissemination amongst devotees is a desideratum. . . . old beliefs are given apparently radical new interpretations that widen their scope and potential for meaning. . . . Subal [Steve Bohlert] has done a great service by introducing or naming the Vaishnava concept of deity as panentheism. . . . I favor rÄgÄnugÄ [natural devotion], as it seems does Subal, precisely because it . . . is about reforming the id-controlled ego into a love-permeated ego. . . . There is no doubt that Subal’s is an important brick in the wall of religious discourse . . . His great contribution . . . is that he has gone out on a limb and attempted to make a coherent and systematic presentation of Radha-Krishna according to his vision. This means of course that he has set himself up for criticism, but that kind of courage is what is needed to push the discourse further. — Jagadananda Das/Jan Brzezinski, translator and annotator of Mystic Poetry: Rupa Gosvamin’s Uddhava-sandeÅ›a & HamsadÅ«ta.
I just read A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell. It provides a view of America from the perspective of the “bad” people — slaves, prostitutes, Jews, Italians, jazz musicians, beats, gays, hippies and the like. They all made great contributions to our freedom and happiness. I must admit to a lifelong […]