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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Aindra Das ..farewell! Your music unlocked my soul

 "No desire for fame or prestige. He was completely committed and received the blessing to uplift everyone in his presence. He became the most incredible musician, composer and singer. He showed by his example how one can become a vibrant manifestation of divine grace if one wants nothing else."  

These are the words of Kausthuba Das, a devotee and yogi I met (all too briefly) in Vrindavan who has shared on, his Bhakti Collective website beautiful pictures and a recording of Aindra  at the Krishna Balaram temple and his own tribute to Aindra Das.

As for me, dear Aindra Das, your music, your presence,  pierce my soul.  Eternally.  To have been in Vrindavana at the temple and to participate in your ecstatic kirtans has been the greatest of blessings.  Embedded within my deep sadness I am overwhelmed with gratitude for those times.

I'm remembering now, through tears of separation while I listen to you,  how each day in Vrindavan,  as the sunlight softened  I would  start longing  for 6pm.   That moment was the one when you would start to play, bringing the brilliance of the sun right back with you,  enveloping us all in your massive golden aura of absolute truth, and transporting us from Maya  directly to an experience of Goloka Vrindavana.  

The experience is beyond any words I am capable of writing.  In Vrindavan, absorbed in the kirtan of Aindra Das, one would experience His mercy.  Sat-cid-ananda vigraha.

Today he has returned to Goloka Vrindavana.  
Thank you Radhe Shyamasundra for lending Aindra Das to us.


"And so, O Brāhmaṇa Vyāsadeva, in due course of time I, who was fully absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and who therefore had no attachments, being completely freed from all material taints, met with death, as lightning and illumination occur simultaneously."   SB 1:6:27

Thursday, July 1, 2010

How to maintain spiritual consciousness amidst the material energy


Finding that fine place of balance where I am applying the principles of my spiritual practice in the world of business has definintely become  my life's work.   Constantly I fall down in my efforts.  Constantly I need to find ways to live a life of love and truth.  Today this wonderful advice from Swami Satcidananda (spiritual master of my dear friend, Jan Stewart) popped into my inbox and I thought you might enjoy it.

"The lotus is considered to he a very holy and divine flower. Not just because of its beauty, hut also because of its qualities. A lotus flower grows in very shallow water, usually in a muddy area. Though it comes out of the mud and mire, it rises as a beautiful flower that lives in the water without being affected by it. The lotus flower is always given as an example for one who wants to live spiritually in the world. It is said, "Live like a lotus in the water." The lotus leaf is right in the water, hut it's never moistened by the water When you pick it up, it's completely dry. It never gets wet. If you throw a little water over it, the water will roll off and scatter around like pearls.

Aperson should live like the lotus, being in the world but not affected by it. You should always express your natural beauty, though you may grow in a dirty place. Nothing from outside should affect you.

The lotus is a symbol of love and devotion also. If you ever see the Goddesses Lakshmi or Saraswati you would see that they're standing on a lotus. Wherever Lord Buddha placed his foot, a lotus appeared to hold it. The feet of a holy person are called the "lotus feet."

The lotus flower turns its head towards the sun always. That means it always turns towards the light; it receives the light constantly. So you can say it's an ever-enlightened flower."

Love and light.

Daily Inspirational Readings by Swami Satcidananda