Building Beloved Bhakti Community

by Rukmini Walker 

Dear Friends,This past weekend on Long Island at the Heart of Yoga Retreat, we were discussing Building Beloved Bhakti Community.The term Beloved Community was used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in conceiving an authentic community for the nonviolent civil disobedience movement. The Beloved Community manifests and protects agape love as a guiding principle and is expressed by offering radical hospitality to everyone; recognizing and honoring the image of God in everyone.The Sanskrit root of the word "Bhakti" is "bhaj", which means, to share. It's relational. It's a yoga of connectivity, of love in action, seeing that all living beings (not only the humans) are connected at our Source; that we share the very same intrinsic nature as jiva, or jivatma, as spirit sparks of the Supreme Whole.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]As I thought about it, it seems to me that this Building of Beloved Community has three aspects:[/perfectpullquote][perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]

1. To align the internal community of voices within myself.
2. To honor the immediate community that exists between ourselves and others.
3. And finally, our world view, and actions as Global Citizens.

[/perfectpullquote]As I've been pondering this topic for the last few weeks while preparing for our retreat, I had an interesting exchange with a mechanic. I drive a 2006 Toyota Prius with 135,000 miles on it. At this point it needs some work, it needs parts. A friend of ours who sells used cars gave us the name of a mechanic. The mechanic said, "You're not going to use those old junk parts that your friend uses in the cars he sells, are you?"As I thought about it, this became a metaphor for community building for me. If I'm trying to become a component of an authentic, vibrant community, how well will that community function if its components are, well, junk? In all humility, I need to cultivate a daily personal practice in order to become my best self, if I'm even a tiny cog in the mechanism of a community of trust. Connecting with Krsna, with Divinity through my chanting, my meditation before running out each day is essential for me, but it also uplifts the quality of my interactions with others in the world in equally essential ways.What are my responsibilities to that immediate community that exists between myself and others? Recently, I read this interpretive translation of a text from the Talmud:

[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.[/perfectpullquote]

And finally, what is the vision of a Global Citizen? Bhagavad Gita instructs us in samadarshan, or equal vision: "The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle wise person, a cow, an elephant, a dog, or even one who likes to eat a dog." (Bg 5.18)Beyond the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, or all declarations of human rights, is this inclusive vision of every living being as a sacred part of the One Supreme Whole.And also iccha, that in our actions, we always have a choice how we may choose to respond. During WWII, Victor Frankl was a psychiatrist imprisoned in a concentration camp. He observed some people who, although starving themselves, were willing to give their last crust of bread to another person. He writes:"They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Man's Search for Meaning[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""] Three aspects of Building a Beloved Bhakti Community:

1. 1. To align the many voices within myself into a community of one, conscious loving person
   2. To see and act in dharma, or right action, between myself and the immediate others I meet in my day
   3. And, ultimately, to see myself as a true Global Citizen who holds a sacred vision of the connectivity of the earth, and all the lives she holds.

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If you're of the feminine gender, please join us at Bhakti Center on Sunday, June 17th for our next Urban Devi Sanga from 2-4 PM. We'll be working with Visakha Dasi's book, Five Years, Eleven Months, and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love, Chapter Seven, An Aristocratic Lady.In September, please join us at Supersoul Farm in Chatham, New York for our second annual Urban Devi Retreat, September 28-30.And January 14-27, please join my son, Gaura Vani and I on our second annual India Kirtan Adventure in Puri, Odissa; the UNESCO green travel destination, Govardhan Eco Village, and the ecstatic Flower Festival at Radha Gopinath Temple in Mumbai. Click here for more details.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]⭐️ SIGN UP BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30TH AND GET AN EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT OF $200! ⭐️ [/perfectpullquote]Last year was magical... Please join us!

All the best,

Rukmini Walker