Lecture Lecture

To Be Or Not To Be

Presented by ~ Urmila Devi Dasi & Radhika Raman Das, at the ISKCON of DC, Potomac Temple

In this lecture Urmila Devi Dasi and Radhika Raman Das, members of a visiting group of Vaishnava scholars dialogue, explore the personal and impersonal understanding of God, and how it is resolved in the Bhakti practice and philosophy.  Please click here or on the image below to listen to their lecture. [embed]https://soundcloud.com/iskconofdc/to-be-or-not-to-be-urmila-devi-dasi-radhika-raman-das?in=iskconofdc/sets/sunday-open-house-talks-2019[/embed] 

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Lecture Lecture

12 Truths I Learned from Life and Writing

Anne Lamott is one of my favorite Christian writers. She’s so humble, real, irreverent, funny and down-to-earth. I think we can all learn a lot from her about not taking ourselves and our walking of the spiritual path so seriously - I mean in a glum sort of way. I think a serious spiritual practitioner is also someone who can laugh at herself and her own foibles and at the absurdities of living in the material world. Take a listen and see if you like her TED talk as much as I did --> Click here or on the image below -- 12 truths I learned from life and writing (Anne Lamott | TED2017)All the best,Rukmini Walker[embed]https://www.ted.com/talks/anne_lamott_12_truths_i_learned_from_life_and_writing?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread#t-903072[/embed]

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Lecture Lecture

Lecture on the Caitanya Caritamrita at New Vraja Dhama, Hungary

~Presented by Rukmini Walker

This is a recording of a temple lecture I gave at New Vraja Dhama in Hungary on Sunday, June 2, 2019. The class was given on a verse from Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya Lila (CC versus 62-63) on the topic of how when something is dear to Krishna it becomes more worshipable than Krishna Himself.  His devotees, His name, anything that is dear to Him becomes worshipable. And about the transformative power of His name and His great devotees.Please click on this link to listen to the audio recording:  http://sivaramaswami.media/rukmini-devi-dasi-shares-memories-srila-prabhupada 

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Lecture Lecture

Awakening the Higher Masculine and Feminine Energies

Presented at the Global Peace Initiative for Women

 Varanasi, India, March 7-9, 2019

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At the center of all existence, is a love affair between the divine masculine and the divine feminine, according the the wisdom books of Bhakti. And in order to approach this divine mystery, we must first seek the grace of the divine feminine.

Without understanding the feminine aspect of God, one can’t know God in entirety. In the tradition of Bhakti Yoga, the feminine is always addressed first -- as Sita Ram, Radha Krsna, or Laksmi Narayan— we can only approach Ram through the agency of his beloved Sita.

Everywhere in nature there is a balance of feminine and masculine energies, prakriti and purusha, shakti and shaktiman, the internal inspirational power and the source or holder of power.

Sita’s divine reflection is mirrored in all things feminine. Her nobility, her elegance, her power, her purity. Just being aware of her qualities, we experience the spiritual dimension flowing in the material world.

We see that those who are spiritually advanced, both men and women, often defy stereotypes of masculine and feminine. In harmony, they have the wisdom to balance both masculine and feminine energies within themselves. When there’s harmony within, peace and joy prevail.

In Ramayana, we see the courage, strength and fearlessness of Sita. We hear her speaking truth to power, as she rebukes and challenges Ravana, even within his own kingdom.

When Hanuman offers to kill Ravana’s guards who’ve been taunting Sita in the Asoka garden, she fearlessly rebukes him, with moral instructions of how to behave as a guest in someone’s home. Such extraordinary character! She was captive, yet she considered herself a guest in Ravana’s home; and that those who were verbally harassing her were only trying to serve their king.

And, at times, we see an almost feminine softness in the love of Sri Ram. When Sita is lost to Him, He wanders in the forest, repeatedly crying her name, seeing her face in the trees, in the clouds and everywhere!

And in His forgiveness… Before killing Ravana, Ram gives the kingdom of Lanka to Ravana’s saintly brother, Vibhisana to rule.  Someone asks Him: But what if Ravana surrenders to you, then what? Ram says, then I will give him my own kingdom of Ayodhya. Then he’s asked, but what about your brother, Bharat, who is now ruling your kingdom of Ayodhya? Ram says, then I will make him the king of Vaikuntha (that is, the spiritual world)!

Toward the end of the Ramayana, after being tested by fire, and being exiled to the forest ashram of Valmiki, Sita is the one who decides how the great epic will conclude. Ram asks Laksman to bring his beloved Sita back, but instead of Ram’s embrace, Sita chooses to return to the embrace of the Earth, the Mother Goddess who first gave her birth.

In nature, in humans, in animals, even in the trees and the flowers, we see feminine and masculine energies everywhere: the yin and yang, the power to yield, and the power to hold control are present everywhere.

Bhagavad Gita describes two facets of intelligence:  Buddhi: or analytical intelligence, and Medha: emotional intelligence. Exemplified always, in Sita.

[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience (Bhagavad Gita 10.34). [/perfectpullquote]

In the West, there has been undue emphasis on the masculine side of God. So much so that religious leaders can often become egoistical and attached to power and control. They can lose their compassionate essence.

Embedded in world religions is an intuitive understanding and call to the sacred feminine. In both Islam and Christianity, the image of Mary is held sacred. In mystic Judaism, the Shekhinah, the feminine aspect of God is described; in the Gnostic Gospels, Sophia is called upon as the Goddess of Wisdom; in Buddhism, Kwan Yin, is adored as the Goddess of Compassion and Mercy.

Just as in nature, the sun and the sunshine are inseparable, so the shakti, or energy, the shaktiman,the holder of energy; and the purusha and prakriti, are one.

Sita is a transformation of Ram’s love and His internal pleasure giving potency, they are one in identity, yet manifested as separate individuals in order to churn their pastimes of love, both in union and in separation.

God is one. Sita is God, just as Ram is God. God is both male and female equally. Sita and Ram are one. But, like a candle with two wicks, or a flower stem with two buds, they have taken different forms to reveal to the world eternal principles of divine loving exchange.

Vedic mantras state that where women are worshipped, there the gods dwell.  Today, in an international climate of the Me#Too movement, perhaps this is the reason for such mass dissatisfaction and disharmony in the world.  The powers that be may just not be sanctioning our longterm success and happiness.

But just as Bhakta Hanuman acts to bring Sita back to her beloved Ram, our success will be to act in the world to return Sita to Ram, to return Laksmi to Narayan, to return the beauty and treasures of the world to be offered back to their Source, for the joy, harmony and universal balance of us all.

In conclusion, there is a verse from a Bhakti poet of the name, Nanda Das. He gives us a glimpse into understanding the esoteric nature of the pastimes of Sita and Ram, in Ramayana, as understood by great bhaktas and yogis since immemorial time.

[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]  He says: There is more love in separation than in union, for in union, the beloved is found in one place only, while in separation the beloved is found to be everywhere. [/perfectpullquote]

Jai Sita Ram!

Thank you very much!

All the best,

Rukmini Walker

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Lecture Lecture

Beyond Despair and Denial: Facing Climate Change with Moral Urgency and Hope

Amid dire news of climate change, the question only intensifies:  What do we do now? As we sort through the accumulating data and endless politics, a vital element gets lost — the moral dimension of the environmental crisis, and its especially punishing toll on poor communities. The time is now for a galvanizing religious and spiritual witness.

This public conversation focused on ethical solutions and practical strategies for building a movement that meets the climate crisis.

Click on this link for view the discussion -- https://livestream.com/yaledivinityschool/events/8554877/videos/188635603

This event was presented by Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and is co-sponsored by the Yale Club of Georgia, with special thanks to The Cathedral of St. Philip.

Presenters:Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-Director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at YaleJon Sawyer '74 B.A., Founding Director of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis ReportingCodi Norred, Program Director of Georgia Interfaith Power & LightClifton Granby, Assistant Professor of Ethics and Philosophy at Yale Divinity School

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Lecture Lecture

Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam - SB 08.09.25 - Krsna Balaram Temple, Vrindavan, India

I gave this lecture on the Srimad Bhagavatam - SB 08.09.25 on Saturday, January 5, 2019, at the Krsna Balaram Temple in Vrindavan, India.  It covers the miraculous amrita - Krsna's words of nectar, which so many are seeking.  By hearing Krsna Katha, speaking Krsna Kahta, or attending Srimad Bhagavatam classes, we enter a path to conquer birth and death.  -- Rukmini

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuzAWc2AYM0&feature=youtu.be[/embed]

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Lecture Lecture

Unwrapping Christmas

If we want to unwrap the real meaning of Christmas, then we need to look beneath the tinsel and feel grateful to the Giver of all things before even opening the box.

Last year I was honored to give a talk "Appreciative Love - Gratitude: A Christmas Special", while in India for ISKCON Desire Tree on Christmas Day.

In this video, we explore the secret in appreciating and thanking Krsna for everything positive that we have in our lives, which can assure the spiritual transformation of all adverse situations.  In our spiritual journey, gratitude helps us advance a step ahead, ultimately helping us to see the hand of the Lord in everything.

May we be blessed with the strength to offer our unalloyed pure gratitude to the Lord and take His shelter to advance in our life with a peaceful inner-self.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QsLXlvqIA 

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Lecture Lecture

"The Power of Women's Voices - How They Have Changed the Spiritual Landscape", Part 2 of 2

What follows is part two of my series of excerpts from my address at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, Canada last month.  Alongside other esteemed women on the panel, we explored some of the great contributions of women spiritual leaders, teachers and saints within Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism.  -- Rukmini Walker November 3, 2018I’d like to illustrate these ideals by sharing some stories of a few visionary women who lead facing OUT, by facing IN, in deeply spiritual and introspective ways.  Some from ancient times, one from the time of the Bhakti renaissance in India’s sixteenth century, and some from our contemporary times today, a queen, a prostitute, a shunned princess, an illiterate village woman, and because our time is short just a nod to a sitting US Congresswoman, a woman physicist, and revolutionary environmentalist.Examples of Visionary Women(1) Kunti Devi:  She is the long-suffering heroine of India’s epic, Mahabharata, Mother of Arjuna, and the protagonist of Bhagavad Gita.  The example of her visionary wisdom in her own times of suffering is urgent even today.  She says, almost prescient of today’s situation, “birth in an aristocratic family or nation, wealth, power, advanced education, beauty, all these advantages tend to intoxicate us with pride so that we become unable to call God’s name, Krsna’s name with feeling.”  She says, “My Lord, please let my love for You, flow, uninterruptedly, as the water of the Ganges flows to the sea.”(2) Pingala:  She was a prostitute, a sex worker but she is described as one of our gurus in the ancient Bhagavat Purana.  She was invested in her work not only financially, but also emotionally, as she stood outside the door of her house waiting for a customer, trying to attract a man, with her beauty.   As the time became late, she stood there, after midnight, and had an epiphany: “Why am I looking for love, seeking affection from men, who should be the objects of my pity, while I neglect the true eternal beloved Lord of my heart? Who is always sitting in my heart, just waiting for me to turn to Him in love?”  At that time, she reflected so deeply internally experiencing that long lost love.  A deeply realized detachment, a renunciation of her previous occupation, and addictions, arose in her heart in Bhakti Yoga, self-realization and God-realization, arriving in tandem, in sacred relationship.(3) Mirabai:  The sixteenth century princess/poetess of Mewar in Rajasthan, India; She saw only God, or Krsna as her husband.  Instead of remaining involved in palace life, she would go outside to the temple and mix with the common people, and holy men to sing in Kirtan, and hear Krsna’s holy names and glories.Insulted by her rebelliousness, her mortal husband, the king, and his royal family tried to kill her by poison and in so many other ways.  Each time she was miraculously saved.  Seeing the absurdity of the world facing OUT, she was facing IN.

[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]  “Strange are the decrees of fate.  Behold the large eyes of the deer!  Yet he is forced to roam the forests.  The harsh crane, has brilliant plumage,  While the sweet-voiced cuckoo is black.  The rivers flow in pure streams,  But the sea makes them salt.  Fools sit on thrones as kings,  While the wise beg their bread.  Mira’s Lord is the courtly Giridhara (Krona), The king persecutes the holy ones.” -- Mirabai  [/perfectpullquote]

 (4) Sindhu Tai Saptal:  She is a simple, illiterate village woman. At the age of twenty, she already had children and she was again pregnant.  A man in her village was sexually abusing the women.  Sindhu Tai went to the police and reported him.  For revenge, that man came to her husband and told him: “Your wife is unfaithful to you and the child she’s carrying is not yours.  Her ignorant husband became furious.  He beat her, and after beating her, he threw her unconscious body into a cow shed to make it look like she’d been trampled to death by the cows.  When she woke up, her daughter had been born and there was a cow (another mother) standing over her, protecting her, as she broke the umbilical cord with a sharp rock.  She was hopeless, with nowhere to go sitting outside on the ground, outside the railway station.  With her infant daughter in her arms, she was contemplating suicide, thinking to just throw herself and her newborn baby onto the railway tracks to die.  As she sat under the shade of a tree, she looked up and saw that the branch that was giving her shade was broken just hanging dangling from a thread.  She thought “this branch is broken, but it is giving me shade.  I am also broken, but I could also give some solace to someone.”  As simple as she was, she was facing OUT, by facing IN. She walked over to the railway station and saw an old man who was thirsty and brought him water.  She began collecting orphans and helping them in whatever ways she could.  She eventually became known as “The Mother of the Orphans”, and people began to help her, so she began to open orphanages.  Her daughter, who was born underneath the cow got her PhD and joined her mother in her work, and her older children also joined her.  At one point, her now destitute former husband came to her and begged her to help him.  She told him, “I have only one relationship now, that of a mother.” But she allowed him to live in her orphanage.  When visitors come, she tells them that he is her oldest child and that he is a very bad child.  To date, she has adopted over 1400 orphans, and has been honored in over 15 countries.My time is up, but to just briefly mention two other great women who lead, facing OUT, while facing IN: (5) The bipartisan Hindu Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, she supports what’s right, even when she needs to vote against her own party, and (6) the fearless Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist and eco-revolutionary who’s speaking here today at the Parliament.In conclusion, I see true leadership as facing OUT to serve the world, while being spiritually INFORMED, and TRANSFORMED by facing IN.Let me close with another inspiration from Mirabai:"To be born in a human body is rare.  Don’t throw away the reward of your past good deeds.  Life passes in an instant, the leaf doesn’t go back to the branch.  The ocean of rebirth sweeps up all beings hard, pulls them into its cold-running, fierce, implacable currents.  Giridhari, (Krsna) Your name is the raft, the one safe passage over.  Take me quickly.  All the awake ones travel with Mira singing the Name.  She says with them, get up, stop sleeping, the days of a life are short.”Thank you very much!All the best,Rukmini Walker 

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Lecture Lecture

“The Power of Women’s Voices: How They’ve Changed the Spiritual Landscape” ~ Part 1 of 2

What follows is the first of a two part series of excerpts from my address at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, Canada last month . Alongside other esteemed women on the panel, we explored some of the great contributions of women spiritual leaders, teachers and saints within Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism.  

-Rukmini Walker

November 3, 2018

Here we are in Autumn.  Darker nights of the season, darker nights in our world.  Society can cause us to reach toward the light within ourselves to act for peace, understanding, justice within ourselves, in our communities, and as global citizens.  Light shines most brilliantly in darkness.  In this way, darkness becomes almost a servant of the light, by fueling its brightness.  In times like these, we are tasked to fill ourselves with light.  When we are filled with light, then no darkness can touch us.

Seeing the light, the soul in all living beings -- the earth, the animals, people of every color and nationality-- connect us all as a beloved community, as we all come from the same divine Source, that is God; Who in the Bhakti tradition we call Krsna.

A number of years ago, at conference I heard a woman speak.  She was a Supreme Court Justice from India.  She gave a metaphor, which I still find it important today.  “In India, traditionally families lived in a joint house, as in Spain or some other Islamic countries.  A large joint family home has a courtyard in the center, and all rooms of house face in toward the courtyard.  In contrast, facing out on the perimeter of house is the veranda.  Sometimes there would be a fountain in the middle of the courtyard representing the fountain of life.  The women of the family would be in the courtyard, building a beloved community, solving internal issues, healing illnesses with traditional herbal remedies, cooking together, and BONDING.

BINDING up the problems that confront family, caring for worship in the home…facing INWARD.  The men would be out on the veranda talking about finance, politics, business, worldly things, facing OUTWARD.

These days we have a different way of being in the world.  Today women hold positions of leadership in the top rungs of business, politics, medicine, science.  It’s a different way of being in the world.  But there’s a certain quality to a woman’s heart…

I like the metaphor of facing OUT to the world but simultaneously being INFORMED by facing IN.  Facing IN to see and heal the wounds in family, in community, facing IN to truly see and hear. 

In a holistic and visionary way, what are the deepest needs and hungers of family, of community, of society, of the world?  We know when women’s voices are silenced a door opens for children and women themselves to become abused.  We know conversely, what happens when women are empowered often in simple villages the men can be irresponsible, often have problems with drinking, etc.  But when money is given to a woman she will feed her children, she will invest in them, in farming, and in creating a foundation for her family often more than a man.

Now in tiny villages, there is micro-financing and so many other initiatives where women are feeling empowered to lead to lead by facing OUT to see what are the needs of the future, while facing IN to see what will practically benefit in visionary and holistic ways, their families, children, and community.  What are these INTERNAL ideals that will inform our world beginning now?

~~~~~

-end Part 1 of 2-

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