Boat full of Bhajan
Posted by: | CommentsA boat cruise on the Shri Hudson-ji River and a crew of kirtaneers — a boat full of bhajan! Be sure to join us next time for this awesome annual event.
Bhajan Boat ’09
Posted by: | Comments
A Krishna Lover’s Fascinating Insights
Posted by: | CommentsInterview with Shyamdas by Hinduism Today, May 1986
Hinduism Today. Please tell us how you became involved so deeply in the Vallabhacharya Sampradaya.
Shyamdas: I went to India originally to meet a teacher, Neem Karoli Baba, who was the guru of Ram Dass. He resided in Vrindavan as well as in the Himalayas. So I went to Vrindavan to meet him and remained in the Vrindavan area, a 168-mile region which encompasses all the areas sacred to Lord Krishna. I eventually took initiation into the Pushti Marg Sampradaya about a year or two afterwards. I lived by the Govardhan Hill, which is the Hill which Lord Krishna held to ward off Indra’s rains for 7 days. There, I studied with various bhaktas and acharyas on Vaisnava Vedanta. Read More→
The Govardhan Lila
Posted by: | Comments(Excerpt from Inner Goddess by Shyamdas. Pratham Peeth Publications, 2009)
Shri Krishna revealed His Lordship when He stole the Gopis’ clothes and returned them infused with His Essence. The Glorious Lord revealed His Potency when He accepted food from the Brahmins’ wives. In the following play Shri Krishna turned His people towards His Blessed Self and thereby displayed His Fame. Read More→
Union in Separation: the Daytime Song of the Gopis
Posted by: | CommentsAn Excerpt from Ecstatic Couplets by Shyamdas (Pratham Peeth Publications, 2010)
The Eastern yogic paths, as well as other philosophical and spiritual disciplines throughout the world, have been established to guide us through reality toward their own brand of fullness – or even emptiness. Their adherents may see the world as an impermanent illusion; others, as a place of retribution; while still others believe in only its physical substance. Some seek total absorption into the infinite, where all sense of individuality is dissolved into universal consciousness, while other faithful souls seek a personal Beloved who is the source of all things. Some meditate, practice yoga, chant, pray, or follow their own unique path, while some claim to do none of the above. Read More→
The Ashta Chaap Poets and their Bhava
Posted by: | Comments(Excerpt from Krishna’s Inner Circle: The Ashta Chhap Poets, by Shyamdas. Pratham Peeth Publications.)
Raga is one of the main kinds of service offered to one’s deity in the devotional path. Raga may be interpreted as “love,” or as “music.” In the 16th century devotional renaissance in India, poems were sung when recited, and the great mystic poets of those times were often great musicians. Therefore, the poetry composed by the eight Ashta Chhap poets is meant to be sung to music. Its essence is rhythmic invocation, and its real meaning is best expressed when performed as part of devotional service. Read More→
The Path of Grace
Posted by: | CommentsFirst published at Hinduism Today, November 1997
From the 12th to 16th century in India, a Bhakti Renaissance occurred in which five great schools of Vaishnavism arose. Each school was founded by one of five saints, Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Chaitanya. The Pushti Marg, the “Path of Grace” of Shri Vallabhacharya, is one of these five and is followed today by tens of millions of people, mostly from northern and western India. This school is unique within Vaishnavism for its philosophy of suddhadvaita, or “pure non-dualism.” Among the Vaishnava, Krishna worshipping traditions, only this tradition teaches that Krishna is everything, and everything is Krishna. Read More→
