Radha waiting for Krishna by Raja Ravi Varma Radha's Devotion After a short while Radharani hears of Krishna's departure from Gokula and cries out with her heart “O Krishna! Govinda! Thou art my very life breath! Without Thy Presence, how shall this body continue?” Her skin becomes black her breath nil her heart still... Yet a final thought emerges, “He shall return!” and with this, life returns to Radharani. Radharani is the Supreme Person in the form of a cowherd girl of Vrindavana who was the avatar Krishna's expression of Divine Love. They are inseparable, and yet, here they are, as common lovers who only have eyes for each other. From childhood through a 100-year separation when Krishna departs from Gokula, their hearts remain One. Radha is the supreme devotee in the highest relationship of bhakti, the beloved lover of God. This relat...

O Lord, Thy Name inspires such glory in my soul! It expands in the universe embracing all! It touches the shore of blessed salvation And each day adds purpose and new revelation! O Lord, This body may whither, become old and diseased, But Thy Name in my heart shall never cease! This poem from Little Flowers of the Heart, written over forty years ago, expresses the love I have for the chanting of God's name(s). In all my years of yoga practice and in every Hindu community in which I have participated (and other traditions as well), we chanted beautiful songs, prayers and mantras that have sustained my soul with spiritual nourishment and a kind of ecstatic love. I feel it has brought me into the very presence of God and connected me to an ancient tradition that is still so accessible today. Even when I am not chanting or singing, I am humming: I can't help it! I am filled with a sacred vibration. According to...