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AN OFFERING OF THE HEART by Radhanath Swami

As the effulgent sun of Sri Aindra Prabhu’s divine personality has risen in the spiritual world of Goloka Vrindaban, the sun of his physical presence has set in Gokula, the Vrindaban of this world. And we cry in separation. (more…)

The first time I visited India was in 1989. My flight arrived at the Delhi Airport at some early hour and I took a precarious taxi ride through the morning fog to the holy town of Vrindavan. Upon arriving, I prostrated in the dust of Vraja and headed straight for the Krishna Balaram Temple. It was shortly after the daily scriptural discourse and the place was nearly empty. As I approached the foot of the alter a musician caught my attention. He was alone, sitting before the shrine of Sri Sri Radha Syamsundar. He appeared austere. It was cold and he was wrapped in a ragged wool shawl. His music was unlike anything I had heard before. The melody was stripped bare. A desolate voice accompanied only by a frail harmonium scale, slow and slightly off beat - crawling, barely dragging along. His song was the cry of a dying man. (more…)

Interview by Kaustubha das

Vrindarani Dasi (originally from St. Petersburg) is a 17 year old student at the Venunad Kala Kendra school of Odissi Dance in Vrindavan, India. Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time with her and her family in their beautiful home in Vrindavan. After an evening of kirtan in their small roof-top temple to Radha Govinda, Vrindarani kindly answered some questions about the classical form of Indian dance called Odissi. (more…)

Here’s a link to some nice photos of the current Kumbha Mela posted by Vinod Bangarshettar on Smashing Pics.

Kaustubha das

Dear friends,

The lives of everyone in the global community have been moving faster over the past so many years. Gone are the days of peaceful contemplation. Instead, the average person’s life is filled with small and large projects, most of them unessential. We’re flooded with information, news, conversation, jobs, activities, commitments, duties, relationships, meetings, travel, and we have too much access to the internet. As our lives speed by, the list of things we think we have to do seems to only get longer and create more stress. (more…)

December 29, 2009
Sri Vrindavana

This morning I got the news that my dear god-sister, Her Grace Rasajna devi dasi, passed away from this world. I will miss her dearly. I can’t remember where I heard the saying, but it goes something like, “One will be remembered more for how one made others feel than for what one has accomplished.” I think of Rasa in this way. It’s not that she didn’t have significant accomplishments, but whatever she accomplished is over-shadowed by the simple fact that there was just nothing bad in her heart. (more…)

For those still unfamiliar, NAMRUPA is a Internet magazine (with the option for print on demand) featuring well written articles and beautiful photography related to all varieties of Indian thought and culture. Of all the yoga related publications I’ve come across, NAMARUPA stands out as one of the most interesting and authentic. The latest issue (issue 10 volume 5) features a review of Radhanath Swami’s book The Journey Home by Rachael Stark, an article about the Polish humanitarian and Hindu Swami Maurice Frydman by Abdi Assadi and a National Geographic article from December 1905 entitled “The Parsees & The Tower of Silence at Bombay”. (more…)

Hearing (sravanam) is the conduit of knowledge. It is thus the first principle in the practice of spiritual life. Without gaining faith in a spiritual goal by first hearing about it from an authoritative source, why would anyone be inspired to take up an arduous path of spiritual practice? And even if one did, without sravanam how would one understand the intricacies of that practice? (more…)

Sri Ramanuja is one of the great teachers of karmayoga, the discipline which unites action and contemplation. In his commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, Ramanuja argues that karmayoga is essential for all yogins, and is especially important in preparing oneself for higher practices of bhakti. I have translated the following commentary, which provides insight into a central feature of karmayoga, seeing oneself as an instrument of God. Elsewhere, Ramanuja describes that the self has agency (kartritva) which is under God’s will. But here, he stresses seeing God as the agent or doer of all actions. (more…)

[In a article for Whitewall Magazine, Meenakshi Thirukode reviews Construction of the Exotic, a recent photo series, by BhaktiCollective.com contributing writer Michael Bühler-Rose. Enjoy the article below. The entire series can be viewed at his website Michael Bühler-Rose. Kaustubha das]

Whitewall’s South Asian Art Expert, Meenakshi Thirukode, looks at Michael Buhler Rose’s recent photo series, “Constructing the Exotic.” Find out if his work is merely the continuation of the Orientalist fixation or the embracement of another culture?

A strikingly beautiful young woman of European descent dressed in Bharatanatyam (a classical dance form that originated in Tamilnadu, in the south of India) costume sits poised on an ashen colored rock, the softness of her expression jarringly in contrast to the insentient stone. (more…)