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Aloha. Welcome to the Universalist Radha-Krishnaism website. I hope you will take the time to look around and see the opportunities for spiritual growth we offer those in the Kingdom of Hawai'i and the world.
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An Introduction Universalist Radha-Krishnaism: A Spirituality of Liberty, Truth, and Love awakens the soul to its natural state of divine love and establishes an intimate, personal relationship with God-dess. It presents esoteric Indian spiritual wisdom in plain English from a postmodern, Western perspective. Steve Bohlert (Subal Das Goswami) lived in India as an itinerant Hindu monk and served as a Christian pastor in the Midwest. His intimate knowledge of Hindu and Christian spirituality inspires seekers to rapidly progress on the path to full God-dess realization, which increases enjoyment in this life and the next. In Hindu Encounter with Modernity, Shukavak N. Dasa says:
Spiritual teacher, Steve Bohlert (Subal Das Goswami) makes the bold move of redefining and reforming Chaitanya Vaishnavism from an indigenous, Western postmodern intellectual perspective. Others present a traditional perspective which tends toward literal, fundamentalism. Many scholarly books also examine this tradition, which is one of the leading branches of Hinduism. Bohlert presents a major reformation of Chaitanyaism adapting it to the needs of today’s cultural creatives, also known as new progressives. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism is the fruit of a lifetime of spiritual teaching and practice in multicultural contexts. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism offers a complete philosophical system along with spiritual practices persons can incorporate into their daily life. The basis is devotion to God-dess, Radha Krishna, the Divine Couple. These teachings were formerly developed by the sixteenth century, Bengali reformer, saint, and mystic, Krishna Chaitanya (1486-1533), and his followers. Chaitanya is known as the Eastern Savior. These teachings came to Bohlert through his gurus, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1896-1977) and Lalita Prasad Thakur (1880-1980), Lalita Prasad’s father, Bhaktivinode Thakur (1838-1914) began the work of adapting Chaitanya’s teachings to a Western educated audience. Steve Bohlert makes the interpretive leap from an indigenous, contemporary Western paradigm. In today’s troubled times, persons thirst for self-knowledge and a sense of interconnection with God-dess and all being. They hunger for higher purpose and meaning in life. Most religions lack an appealing vision of eternal spiritual life and a practical means to attain it. While traditional Chaitanyaism offers those things, it remains inaccessible and impractical for most Westerners. Its Indian cultural externals obscure its essence and create a cult image as we see in the Krishna Movement, which introduced Chaitanyaism to the West in the 1960s. Their literalist interpretation leads to narrow fundamentalism. Fundamentalist religions of all stripes tend to be life denying. Universalist Radha-Krishnaism offers:
As we gain knowledge of the self related to God-dess and the world through divine love, this leads to a sense of interconnectedness with all existence--material and spiritual. A heightened sense of freedom, fulfillment, and enjoyment of life is the natural consequence. To effect these favorable results, Steve Bohlert:
Dr. M. Valle, who teaches college level philosophy and religion says:
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Copyright 2003-08 Steve Bohlert |
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