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WATCH: Krishna Das Music Video “Om Namah Shivaya”

VividLife Editorial — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:19:37 +0000

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.” With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das – known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD – has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling chant artist of all time, with over 300,000 records sold. His first studio recording in a decade, “HEART AS WIDE AS THE WORLD” invests KD’s magnetic chanting with an electrifying rock ‘n’ roll sensibility informed by a lifetime of experience and musical love.

Technorati Tags: chanting, hindu, inspiration, Kirtan, Krishna Das, Music, soul, yoga

Karma — Harmonious Coexistence With Our Environment

VividLife Editorial — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:30:25 +0000

In the Hindu language the profoundly powerful word KARMA is used to identify this “Law of All Laws” – the “Cause and Effect Law of the Universe.” If we subscribe to the laws of karma, we are open to the possibility that there is no such a thing as a “coincidence.” In reality, coincidence is a predetermined course of synchronistic events.

Everything that happens to us is a result of our ancestors’ actions or the actions of our own souls in previous lives. Theologians and philosophers have been studying these karmic issues for thousands of years, many of which are documented in a host of treatises and monographs (see bibliography).

KARMA. What is it? What does it mean? What kind of information does it carry? It is the unknown, unseen energy and residue from relationships we have accumulated throughout all our previous lives.

Most of us have actually known many of the people in our present lives in past incarnations. It explains why we are immediately attracted to or comfortable with a complete stranger, why we make strong, unexplainable connections, or why we encounter someone and feel an immediate disturbance. These are allexamples of negative or positive past-life relationships.

These karmic relationships are hard to break, especially if they were established on powerful emotional ties. Enormous energy is spent in establishing links between human souls, and they move from one life to the next as well as from one generation to the other.

The search for harmonious coexistence with our environment brings us closer to accepting and understanding the laws of karma.

Technorati Tags: Cause and Effect, environment, Harmonious Coexistence, hindu, inspiration, karma, Law of Laws, universe, vivid life

Rediscovering Spirituality in Religion

VividLife Editorial — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:55:01 +0000

“I’m spiritual, not religious.” If I had a dollar for every time I heard this, I could personally pay off the Canadian and American national debts and have enough left over for a lifetime supply of Chai Tea Lattes (my insanely expensive Starbucks addiction). Hyperbole aside, the revival of interest in “spirituality” in recent years has been accompanied by distrust for and disinterest in “organized religion,” especially among disenchanted Christians. People have discovered the transformative power of spirituality: the power to realize their highest goals and ideals, the power to overcome negativity, and the power to forgive. But what does it mean to be “spiritual, not religious”?

On the one hand, it reflects indifference and discontent with organized religion. People doubt religion’s ability to provide answers to our questions in today’s world. Also, they see how organized religion has contributed to global conflict and local abuses. On the other hand, it reflects a renewed interest in the ancient wisdom of sages from various religious traditions, re-tooled to suit modern sensibilities. But what would it mean to be “spiritual” without being “religious”? Let’s explore some problems and prospects.

Promisingly, interest in spirituality cultivates inner growth and self-realization, often leading to social and personal betterment. It helps us find “true north” on our ethical compass when we’ve lost our moral bearings. Moreover, it recommends openness to many different religious traditions and promotes tolerance. Problematically, however, it disconnects spirituality from its source, resulting in an arbitrary process of combining aspects of spirituality from different religions (or no religion). When we remove spirituality from its religious context, we lose its source of power. Individualistic spirituality, devoid of community, responsibility, and accountability, comes up empty.

We should embrace spirituality and tap into the renewed interest in spiritual awakening. It will enrich our lives and rejuvenate a world longing for deeper meaning. We should realize, however, that spirituality apart from religion will not yield lasting fruit. Once severed from its fountain source, the wells of wisdom will eventually run dry. Vibrant, lasting, and sustainable spirituality is grounded in a particular religious tradition and community. We rediscover spirituality not by turning away from religion, but turning toward it, probing more deeply for fresh theological resources. Christianity, for instance, has a rich and deep reservoir of approaches to spirituality that remain largely unknown and untapped by the modern skeptic and searcher. We would do well to rediscover these, since spirituality devoid of religion makes for shallow ground to cultivate our souls.

VividLife.me Contributor

Mark Scott Ph.D (Harvard)
Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology
Concordia University
http://theology.concordia.ca/faculty/scott.php

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