Like an Uprooted Tree
~by Ananda Vrindavan
Uproot yourself
before life does it to you
rudely and when you least expect it
Slowly loosen the roots
by the daily process of chanting
break the soil of lifetimes of conditioning
that make us think we belong here
crack the hard earth that packs the roots
by hearing about Krishna
shake off through service
the deep roots of desire
for name and fame
in this temporary place
so that when the time comes
and the storm of death blows through our life
we will easily let go
we will not struggle
to hold on to the small things of this world
which keep us from bigger places
and better things
Uproot yourself
and let yourself go home
Come what May
I love these deep and authentic poems by my dear sister and friend, Ananda Vrndavan.
She is present to each moment, observing her life with an introspective eye.
She is our community president here in Washington, DC. ~ Rukmini Walker
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by Ananda Vrndavan Devi
I heard the man’s jeans sweep against the floor
As he moved towards the altar with a weary air
Stood and then knelt in quiet heaviness
What is happening in his life I thought?
What is happening in all our lives?
At least let us keep moving
Towards the Lord
Come what may
Meditating on the Divine Feminine ~ Sri Radha
by Rukmini Walker
Friday, September 6th is the holy Appearance Day of Sri Radha, Lord Krsna's divine feminine counterpart. Here is some explanation of who exactly she is, as quoted from Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila 4.96-98:
A most joyous Radhastami to you all!
Following is a beautiful recording of the poem Radhar ki hoilo antare byetha written by Chandhi Das one of Lord Chaitanya's favorite poets, sung by Srivani devi dasi.
I hope you enjoy it!
[audio m4a="http://www.urbandevi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Radhar-ki-hoilo-antare-byetha.m4a"][/audio]
Radhar Ki Hoilo Antare Byetha
----------
Radhar ki hoilo antare byetha
Boshiya birole thakoye ekale
Naa shone kaharo katha
Sadai dhyane chahe megho pane
Naa chole nayoner tara
Biroti ahare rangabash pore
Jemote jogini para
Elaiya beni fuler o gathuni
Dekhoye khashaye chuli
Hasito bayane chahe megho pane
Ki kahe du hatha tuli
Ek dithhi kori mayur mayuri
Kantha kore nirikhone
Chandidas koy naba porichoy
Kaliya bandhuro sane
TRANSLATION:
Radhar ki hoilo antare byetha
(What is the cause of Radha’s heartache)
Boshiya birole thakoye ekale
(Sitting by Herself)
Naa shone kaharo katha
(She does not listen to anyone)
Sadai dhyane chahe megho pane
(In deep meditative mood she stares at the clouds)
Naa chole nayoner tara
(Her eyes aren’t moving)
Biroti ahare rangabash pore
(She doesn’t eat or dress up)
Jemote jogini para
(Her appearance is that of a hermit)
Elaiya beni fuler o gathuni
(Flowers from Her hair are falling off)
Dekhoye khashaye chuli
(Her hair is disheveled)
Hasito bayane chahe megho pane
(With a smiling face, She looks at the rain clouds)
Ki kahe du hatha tuli
(She raises her arms in obeisance)
Ek dithhi kori mayur mayuri
Kantha kore nirikhone
(She looks intently at the peacock and peahen’s neck)
Chandidas koy naba porichoy
Kaliya bandhuro sane
(Chandidas says “this is the effect of Radha’s new found love for Krishna”)
Typos
We all face that inner critic, the outer critics, and all those many voices of judgement and blame. I love this observant piece, written by my dear friend, Ananda Vrindavan, our community president here in DC. Does it resonate with you as well? ~ Rukmini Walker
by Ananda Vrindavan
I have a friend who is an editor
Not a typo slips past her keen eyes
She also edits life and finds mistakes everywhere
And in everyone, likely in herself too
She had her office desk in front of a window
And saw a parade of everyone with wrong bits
Walking past. She couldn’t change them
But was wise enough to change her place
Moving to a small room with a smaller window
Where she could see the sky and trees
And began to smile more and frown less.
We can only change ourselves, sometimes location
Sometimes perspective, to fix the mistakes and to make
Love run more freely, no matter what living typos
Might walk in front of us, perfect in themselves.
Thoughts on Prayer
by Nanda Carlson
The act of prayer
not for something I want
desire, or desperately need
but to pray in awe
of a vastness,
incomprehensible
a true mystery
where I am held, tenderly
part of an expansive
eternal wholeness.
So big, beyond the edges and borders
there is freedom within
a Love beyond reason.
Even in this tiniest of moments,
it is made known,
it is there, as it always was
Source, the Divine, Reality, Truth...
always present, never alone, never waiting.
So I pray
from this experience
with humility and gratitude
for being a part of this
Great Love,
in relationship with the Divine
and all others
from this knowing comes
a way of living in this world.
We are love, we are loved,
we act from love,
our perception, choices,
words and thoughts
begin to change and unfold
from a place much bigger
then who we think we are.
As Love moves through us
we pray in gratitude,
we pray to remember,
we pray for love
and for that eternal connection
and all that we do and are
becomes Devotion.
------
(reprinted from Bhakti Blossoms, 2017,
with kind permission of Golden Dragonfly Press)
Sacred Harmony
This poem was written by my dear granddaughter, Kairava. She sings kirtan each year with her father, sister and brother at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas. Kairava wrote this sweet poem two years ago, while at the Ashram, when she was 11 years old.
Happy Birthday Kairava!
~ by Kairava
The lights feel warm on my face
Our voices vibrate in harmony
My sister looks at me cueuing me to sing
As I pour my heart out into the melody,
My eyes gently close letting me be aware
Of the sacred sounds that will emanate from my lips
The sounds of the instruments and voices together
All blending so sweetly like a prayer to the lord as we sing
“Hey Krishna! Hey Yadava! Hey Sachet! Govinda, Damordara, Madhaveti.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD8efdWTDIw[/embed]
Gifting
By Catherine de Vinck
The hands of the clock turn rightcounting the hours sliding off time’s frame.In the dreamtime, the earth rolls onin the great void, ever recitingits tale of fertile beauty.Instructions have been left: how to care for,how to love, what is fragile, easily harmed.But we forget, pull out healthy roots,disperse ripe seeds to loss,cut and burn the trees.We try to decipher the past,pick up scattered bones of ancestors,display them under glass in museums.Still we do not read what they define:continuity of the strong filaments bindingage to age, people to people, woman to man.
Yet the gifting never ceases:nests fill with eggs, fields swellwith edible plants, water continuesto rise out of deep, hidden wells.Pulled by the moon, sea waves unscrollthemselves, foaming on the beach.What disappears returns,defying decay and death.In a corner of the yarda single tulip blooms year after yearnaming itself red and newin the spring air.
It Acts Like Love
~ by Rabia of Basra (c.717-801)
------------
It acts like love - music -
it reaches toward the face, touches it, and tries to let you know
His promise: that all will be okay.
It acts like love - music and, tells the feet,
"You do not have to be so burdened."
My body is covered with wounds this world made,
but I still longed to kiss Him, even when God said,
"Could you also kiss the hand that caused each scar, for you will not find me until you do."
It does that - music - help us to forgive.
Rabia of Basra (c.717-801) was an eighth-century mystic and saint of Islam who was known for her asceticism, miracles, and focus on God as love.
Listen Well
-by Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
Listening is at the heart of bhakti
At the heart of life. It’s the last
To go, did you know?
And here’s what I have found
In my new way of being
That life has become alive again
And new meaning arrived for
Service and humility
Words I did with practice
Wanting to be there
Looking for peace in those
Words alone, and not who’s behind them.
Which is, the other,
the other person,
The one who is making the noise
Telling their story by their life
Interacting with mine
And the Big Other who
Is so expertly and naturally
Everywhere but not in your face
If you don’t want it.
Suddenly, listening for me has
Freed me from myself.
I want to run to the top of the
Mountain and shout with arms up
“It’s not about me!”
And not because that’s how I’m ‘meant’
To feel, but because that’s how I feel.
Spring
-by Gauri Gopika Devi Dasi
On the edge of flight
Waiting for You,
The ocean within
With the trees
I move
Through every season
Ancient pillars of patience:
Witnesses of Your every wish
Rooted in Your energies,
I gain the skies, at last
Free
I fly to what is me
In the fresh spring breeze,
Awake to the calling within
Your seeds of
Love
Gently sprouting in all that be.
To Fear and Not
By Ananda Vrindavan devi dasi
-------
Fear is the illusion of this world and our body
And the journey into an animal birth
so close we are to creaturehood
Yet to step inside means
to stop the way we can ask
Such questions as to why we fear.
The consequences of our actions.
Offending others, especially those devoted to
Helping us cross the ocean of birth and death.
Suffering and pain, for myself and others.
Depression and the downward cycle of self.
Fear and what it makes us think of others.
Do not fear
Death, as we do not die
Eternity, even as the great unknown
Life, in all it’s complicated ways
Love, for what it asks us to do
Detachment, and let it hold us
Forgiveness, and the act of letting go
Acceptance, of things we don’t want
Fear, as it will always be there
We become fearless, not without fear
But with holding on to Krishna
The big hand we grasp as we walk
In our life and face the stairs
We have fallen down or climbed before
Feel the fear as we look at it
Then hold onto the railing and walk the steps
Fearlessness is holding on to a greater love
A steady hand, a stronger arm
Fearlessness is never alone
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Her poems regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
Unlocking the True Self Through Love
by Urmila Devi Dasi
Who are we? Our body grows in the womb and we enter the world with a ready-made identity as someone’s child, of a particular a gender and nationality. The various identities we clothe ourselves in are merely a mixture of social and cultural preferences, which come and go like trendy fashions. Yet, we make them solid as we gradually define our selves through them. But, are any such identities really that solid? Who are we beyond all these external designations of self?The Bhagavad Gita and all eternal wisdom—indeed, our own introspective experience—tells us that each of us are a spiritual being whose "I" has merely a most fleeting connection with all those external identities. And, as we are beyond the mundane, so is all life around us. All the "others" are transcendent entities as well. We are connected as parts of our common source: an all-pervading, Divine Person who is everywhere and in everything.Only when we awaken to our loving relationship with our supreme source, do we truly connect with both ourselves, and others. Additionally, we find the true residence for our various temporary identities—the ones that that create the illusion of worldly duties—and we offer them to that supreme source, Krishna, out of love. For our dealings with ourselves, and others on the illusory platform—this is my mother, my child, my sister, my enemy—are also valuable here.After all, until we are fully free, those identities and relationships are a large part of our story. They provide the framework upon which we paint the canvas of this brief life, and are often the springboard from which we dive into the clear pool of spirituality. In the meantime, delving into how we love others—or attempt to love them, as our sense of our authentic relationship with them unfolds—becomes part of our spiritual paths.The sacred Bhakti texts, the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad Gita insist that identity and relationships be the foundation for all else—material and spiritual. Relishing and rejoicing in our selves, cultivating neutrality towards friends and enemies, freedom from envy, and kindness toward every living being, are all essential on the spiritual path. As we dive deeper into our individual relationships with others we aspire to empathize with their struggles and heartbreak, and genuinely celebrate their triumphs.It is through lovingly connecting with our selves and others, in the context of serving the supreme divine person, Krishna—through our thoughts, hearts, and actions—that the budding flower and fruit of our soul unfolds and ripens. It is these sweetest of exchanges of love that we aspire to share with each other and Krishna. Spiritual practices are, therefore, all about entering into a personal relationship of love, certainly not arrived at via mechanical formulas.
Love is Not A Formula
Oh my dear Krishna!
To push a button
That opens up, then
The world within us
Awake from chrysalis.
It’s a dance, my king,
Where angels sing
And love perfumes
Hearts’ inner rooms.
How can one make
A way to take
Love, essence of life,
Cut it with a knife
Bottled in a jar
Studied from afar?
Love always resists
An analysis.
Capture is hopeless
And force is useless.
If we want to control,
We remain like a mole
Who desires the sun
While beneath everyone
Digs deep in the ground
Where the sun is not found
I do want to love
And need grace from above
For I’m too poor to know
How real love I can show
Can’t remember the key
That unlocks the real me.
(An earlier version of this article first appeared in Bhakti Blossoms, published via the Vaishnavi Voices Project, dedicated to honoring, celebrating and inspiring the voices of contemporary women in the bhakti tradition.)
Urmila Devi Dasi (Dr. Edith Best) has been practicing bhakti yoga since 1973 and travels the world teaching the science of the Bhagavad Gita and the practical application of bhakti to life. She has a PhD in education and has three decades of experience teaching primary and secondary students, which include 19 years of experience as a school administrator and leader. She has published Vaikuntha Children, a guidebook for devotional education, The Great Mantra for Mystic Meditation, dozens of articles, and Dr. Best Learn to Read, an 83 book complete literacy program with technology enabling the story books to speak in 25 languages at the touch of a special “pen”. Urmila and her husband, Pratyatosa, have three grown married children and many grandchildren. In 1996, Urmila and Pratyatosa entered the renounced order of life, or vanaprastha, in Sanskrit. You may connect with her through her Facebook page.
Yellow Rose
-by Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
---------------
Today
A single rose
Peers out at me
From the glass jar
Reminding me of the day
You were born so many years
Before we even imagined this time
When a rose would be offered back to us
In gratitude for bringing you up in a world of
Service and spirituality, a world of love
And laughter, a world of caring and
Sharing. We received it with joy
Surprised and yet not at how
You now live your life and
Have become a giver
Of yellow flowers
And so much
More
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Her poems regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
This I Know
By Ananda Vrindavan devi dasi
-------
When I sit down
with my beads
I hear the message
Speak only what you know
Which was speaking to another
Upcoming part of my day
But also spoke to me in general
And this I know
My japa grounds me
Holds me together
Soothes my mind
Frees my spirt
The mantra touches me
With sweetness
And safety and a feeling
Of home like no other
And the world whirls
And my mind whirls
As time marches on
As life barrels through
Krishna's name speaks to me
This I know while living and breathing
In the often great unknown of what's ahead
In the everyday moments of my life in front of me
And the journey back to where I first belong.
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Her poems regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
The Most Intelligent Petitioner
Anxiety attacks and breakdowns are a normal part of human life. No matter how sagacious, equipoised, tranquil, unimpassioned, silent and serene we appear on the outside, we all know that the world and its ruthless ways will one day drive us crazy and unsettle our minds to let all hell break loose.The Śrīmad-bhāgavatam (10.1.17 - 18) tells us that Mother Earth too once experienced a great anxiety attack when she was overburdened with demoniac kings who were hell bent on exploiting her resources. Taking the form of a helpless cow, she approached Lord Brahmā for protection.The poet Harisūri is never tired of asking the most important question — Why?Why did Mother Earth approach Brahmā? She is in fact one of the consorts of Lord Viṣṇu along with Lakṣmī devī. Why did she not directly approach her husband? What benefit would she gain by approaching Lord Brahmā?Harisūri composes a beautiful verse to intelligently answer his own question. His verse is as follows:
प्रेयानप्यनिशंवशोऽपिनितरांशान्तोऽपिकान्तःसुतंद्वारीकृत्यतदन्तरङ्गमिहसंप्रार्थ्योनजातुस्वतः।सत्स्त्रीलक्षणमेतदित्यविकलंप्रख्यापयित्रीतदाधात्रीसात्मभुवंययौप्रथमतस्तत्साधुमन्यामहे॥
(Sing like ṣaḍ-gosvāmy aṣṭakam):preyān apy aniśaṁ vaśo 'pi nitarāṁ śānto 'pi kāntaḥ sutaṁdvārīkṛtya tad-antaraṅgam iha saṁprārthyo na jātu svataḥsat-strī-lakṣaṇam etad ity avikalaṁ prakhyāpayitrī tadādhātrī sātma-bhuvaṁ yayau prathamatas tat sādhu manyāmahe
Translation: [Mother Earth thought], "Although Lord Viṣṇu is my beloved husband; although he is extremely calm in nature and submissive to all my desires, yet [Brahmā is born from his navel and thus he is like a son to him as well as to me. Therefore, it would be wise to] keep our affectionate son in front of me to speak on my behalf instead of praying directly to the Lord."
I [Harisūri] think that Mother Earth showed the characteristics of an extremely intelligent woman when she first approached Brahmā in this manner.— Bhakti-rasāyanam of Harisūri on Śrīmad-bhāgavatam (10.1.17). Translation by Hari Pārṣada Dāsa.PS: In other words, there is always a small chance that even a well-natured husband may deny a request made directly by the wife to him. However, when the child comes to his father and narrates the pain of his mother, the father feels an additional pressure of living up to the expectations of the son as well as the wife and the chances of refusing the request is almost nullified. What then to speak of a child who will narrate the distress of his mother through his four mouths? It was thus a wise strategy for Mother Earth to narrate her distress through the via-medium of Lord Brahmā. All the best,Rukmini Walker
Vrindavan
By Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
When will I walk
The path entering vrindavan
When will I be ready?
It waits for me
I see it in the shadows of
My early morning chants
When will I be fully turned
In the direction of that place
When will I be fully drawn in
When will I breathe no more
Of earthly desires and
Breathe fully the spirit
When will I hold still and be full
And be free
And really see
Photograph by Vilasa Manjari Devi Dasi
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org You can watch for her poems to regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. — Rukmini
A Reservoir of Love
By Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
-------
The Bhagavad-gita means
The Song of God
But oh how we forget to sing it
To ourselves and others
This song make the heart brave
As it makes its way
Into the heart of the soul
Which is connected
Since time immemorial to
The reservoir of original love
The essence of what we are made of
In our relationship with the supreme Beloved
Imagine a reservoir of love!
That’s where the Gita takes us
This Song of God, this song of love
Sip daily, and sometimes drink deep
And always share generously
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org You can watch for her poems to regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
Dance Through the City of My Soul
--by Acyuta Gopi
Oh my Lord of golden limbsRaised handsAnd love drunk eyes,Cause a revolutionIn my heart!Strike down the barriersOf my judgmental mindBreak down the doorsOf my selfish defensesAnd overturnThe tyrannical reignOf my tormented ego.I have been under the ruleOf my desiresFor far too long.I’m afraidI won’t be able to break tiesWith my dysfunctional mindWhich seems to govern all I do.But with Your swaying movementsYour sweet voiceAnd Your weapon of KirtanI know that You can doThe impossible.You can dance through the cityOf my soulAnd free me from myselfUntil my rebellious mindMy unsteady natureMy entire selfMoves to Your willAlone.Lead me.Rule me.Govern all that I doWith Your infallible Love.
[perfectpullquote align="right" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]
[/perfectpullquote]"For as long as I can remember, Kirtan or the Bhakti Yoga practice of mantra meditation through music has been the focus of my life. The art of writing soon took up residence in the spaces of my heart not occupied by music, and the transformative power of prayer soon followed suit. With the blessings of my family and my teachers, I have had the amazing fortune to travel the world singing, writing, and witnessing those heart transformations that I love so much, first hand. I can honestly say that conducting workshops, classes and seminars on kirtan has absolutely changed my life for the better, and I can't think of a better way to live. Now along with my family, I've focused my efforts on the NYC community and pouring my heart into the beautiful practices of Kirtan, writing, and the incredibly transformative tradition of Bhakti Yoga." -- Acyuta Gopi
And Who am I to Think?
By Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
-------
And who am I to think
that this life is all there is?
That the beating heart that stops
is me?
Do I go out the window that is
Opened by a kind witness
to my last breath?
Though a window I do not need in the
Grand scheme of things, yet am grateful
For the warm-hearted gesture of love.
And is this life all that is?
I look at the stars and
Wonder who is looking at me
Wondering the same.
We live with thoughts and
Possibilities that stretch
far beyond the boundaries
Of our body because we are
that possibility.
We are that energy of life
that makes us live
We are the soul
that is free and longs for
The love and connection that
links it all, us all.
I think there’s more to life
than meets the eye
It’s an invitation for you, me,
everyone
to meet that more.
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Please watch for her poems to be regularly appearing on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini