The Way of Natural Devotion - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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liss by assisting the union of the Divine Couple while vicariously experiencing Radha’s intense sublime feelings. Usually, a spiritual teacher from a recognized line of teachers initiates devotees into this process as Lalita Prasad Thakur initiated me. Realizing the impracticality of this for most Westerners, in this book I reveal everything we need to begin practice. The books listed below and in the bibliography go into more detail on subjects I am not able to cover fully in this book. We use our teachers, other saintly practitioners, and the mythical residents of Braj as devotional role models. We undergo a personal transformation like a method-actor preparing for a role, and we assume that role as our eternal spiritual identity. We even get to help write the script through creative improvisation on the themes received through traditional Radha-Krishna devotional writings. These books present the traditional characters and plots of Radha-Krishna’s pastimes, which the devotee reads and meditates on. RECOMMENDED DEVOTIONAL READING Gita Govinda by Jayadeva Goswami • is a twelfth-century poetic work, which first popularized the love of Radha-Krishna. Krishna Chaitanya and his followers relished it and built upon it. Ananda Vrindaban Champu by Kavi Karnapur, • an associate of Chaitanya at Puri, provides an excellent narration of Radha-Krishna’s pastimes in Braj. It offers a beautiful, compelling introduction to their basic myth from the Bhagavat Puran, Tenth Book. Vidagdha-madhava and Lalita-madhava, two plays by Rupa Goswami, • beautifully and movingly reveal the meta-narrative of Radha-Krishna’s love in Braj, Mathura, and Dwarka. They disclose the relationship between Radha and her girlfriends in pastoral Braj and Krishna’s wives in Dwarka, his royal capital. They are stunning plays written about a hundred years before Shakespeare. Ujjal Nilmani by Rupa Goswami • provides a detailed character analysis along with scenarios illustrating the varieties of pastimes and their emotional manifestations. Sri Gaura-Govindarcana-Smarana-Paddhati by Dhyanacandra Goswami • provides authoritative meditation techniques and mantras. It is a notebook of devotional practices compiled by an early follower of Chaitanya. It served as a model through the centuries and may be adapted for today’s needs. Acting as a Way of Salvation: A Study of Raganuga Bhakti Sadhana by David L. Haberman • provides an excellent scholarly, yet accessible, exploration of traditional natural devotional practices. It includes Ashta-Kaliya-Leela-Smarana-Mangala-Stotram by Rupa Goswami, which provides a brief outline of Radha-Krishna’s pastimes throughout the day and forms the basis for other descriptions. Its brevity allows devotees ample opportunity to fill in the details for themselves. Sri Krishnahnika Kaumudi: The white lotus of Radha-Krishna’s daily pastimes by Kavi Karnapur • is my favorite for meditating on Radha- Krishna’s sports throughout the day. It is fairly brief and extremely well written. Bhavanasara Sangraha: A Collection of Ultimate Meditations, by Siddha Krishnadas Tatapada • provides a popular compilation of Radha- Krishna’s pastimes throughout the day drawn from multiple sources and beautifully woven together. 12
DIVINE NAMES AND MANTRAS God-dess — along with all the gods, goddesses, heavens, and hells— exists within us. This agrees with the Upanishads, Buddhism, Tantra, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and others. Many of Chaitanya’s followers experienced Krishna within their hearts. Rather than an external, transcendental experience, perhaps we seek an inner, immanent experience of divinity. There are more dimensions to this universe than we can fully conceive. The spiritual plane permeates and sustains everything. Devotional practices help us remain conscious of the spiritual plane of existence constantly. Chaitanya and his followers emphasize chanting the names of God-dess, and God-dess has thousands of names to use in constant chanting. Chanting takes various forms such as group singing, individual singing, and silent or verbal repetition of mantras. The names of God-dess are symbols. A symbol is not exactly what it symbolizes, yet it contains something of the nature of what it represents. It serves as a sign pointing to the ultimate which cannot be put into words. However, words are what we have to work with. Different languages use different names for God-dess. These names evoke God-dess within the mind of the devotee. Therefore, they serve as an excellent focus for meditation. The congregational singing of the divine names induces a group experience of the sublime, and individual chanting of the names does this for the individual. We recommend chanting mantras on prayer beads for concentrated periods of meditation. Traditionally, a strand of 108 tulasi beads plus a head bead is used. Chanting while seated at our altar or while walking in nature is especially fruitful. At least one round (108 times) of each of these mantras is a good daily practice (more is better if we are so inclined). If we know our spiritual identity, we should meditate in our spiritual body after offering respects to our teachers and Krishna Chaitanya. Feel free to improvise with these mantras. First, the Krishna mantra— “O Krishna, I am yours (and you are mine).” We meditate upon Krishna, the personification of youthful masculine attractiveness, charm, and grace as we surrender ourselves to him. Then the Radha mantra— “O Radha, I am yours (and you are mine).” We meditate upon Radha, the personification of youthful feminine loveliness, charm, and grace as we surrender ourselves to her. Next, the Union mantra — “O Divine Couple, I am yours, and you are mine.” We meditate upon the union of Radha-Krishna, who are both dear to the sensuous women of Braj as we immerse ourselves in their love sports. The Two-in-One Radha-Krishna form the feminine-masculine dipoles of God-dess. When we see the two as one, we see the androgyny of God-dess and, by reflection, ourselves. Ramananda Rai first said Chaitanya embodies Radha-Krishna and is their incarnation. The introduction to the Chaitanya Charitamrita beautifully describes Krishna’s reasons for incarnating as Chaitanya. He wanted to taste the bliss Radha experiences because it is much more intense than his. Krishna Chaitanya — especially after renunciation, meeting Ramananda, and settling in Puri with him—took on the mood of Radha. This entails the mystery of the two-in-one. We accept symbolism, as Bhaktivinode did. God-dess contains or embodies the symbol in its pure spiritual essence. God-dess embodies personal, male and female forms in ways we cannot fully conceive. When we see how Radha-Krishna manifest in Chaitanya and his followers, we get an idea of how they might manifest in us. Internally, we experience the union of Radha-Krishna as the perfection of devotion. Externally, we appreciate all lovers as limited embodiments of Radha-Krishna. Radha-Krishna, being infinite, pervade all things. When we install Radha-Krishna statues in a temple, it is not that we install the de- 13
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