The Gathering

Above and Beyond will be closed July 4th. We have decided not to hold The Gathering this Sunday. We look forward to you joining us again on July 11th. Have a happy holiday. The Gathering, Eclectic Interfaith Spirituality, Steve Bohlert, Subal Das

Sikshastakam

I am happy to announce the web publication of Sikshastakam, Sri Chaitanya's Teachings, by Steve Bohlert, Subal Das. These eight verses are said to have been composed by Sri Krishna Chaitanya, 500 years ago. They outline the basis of his teachings which I also present in my Path of Love classes Path of Love, Devotional Yoga, Subal Das, Steve Bohlert. I provide purports to the eight verses which help to expand and illuminate the teachings. I wrote them while a sannyasi renunciate in India in 1973. I revised and updated them this month. I am thankful to Jagadananda Das, Jan Brzezinski, for allowing me to use his translation of the verses. I also included a picture of Sri Chaitanya and his associates which was drawn by the king's artist in their presence 500 years ago. I hope you will find this helpful on your path of spiritual progress.

Gay rights

I just returned from a press conference attended by about 25 local clergy opposing the proposed marriage amendment to the Michigan constitution. A statement was signed by 83 clergy opposed to the amendment which would prohibit gay marriages and eliminate existing domestic partnership benefits currently granted by many municipalities and state universities. It is good to see clergy from about 10 denominations and Jewish rabbis united on this important issue. When the rights of any group are discriminated against, it is a threat to us all. There was good attendance by the press, and I hope this will help to counter the anti-gay bias that a certain segment of the church and society is promoting. Many religious persons accept gays without prejudice. This needs to be more widely accepted rather than the narrow views of a few.

Poetry reading

One of the fun things we do at Above and Beyond is have a poetry reading every other Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm. There will be one tomorrow. I'm running out of original poems to read. So, I just wrote one and posted it on my website. Check it out. Selected Writings by Spiritual Guide and Minister Steve Bohlert. Also, come and check out the poetry reading if you're in the Grand Rapids area. We read original and other poems, acoustic guitarists play, coffee and tea are available and a good time is had by all. You're welcome to come and read, play or just listen.

Where is the hope?

I got a link to this article in my Sojomail today The United States of Ronald Reagan, Sojourners Magazine/September-October 2001. It's by someone who feels the way I do about the former president. I was so angry Sunday morning as I ate breakfast listening to NPR "news" gush on and on about how great he was for the whole hour as if this were news and nothing else was going on in the world that was news worthy. I had to turn it off. I couldn't listen to it any longer. I'm lucky I managed to calm down by the time I started The Gathering after venting to my wife and Philip who owns Above and Beyond.

The next morning, I became even angrier listening to the NPR news when I heard that John Kerry was taking a week off from campaigning and canceling all appearances in honor of Ronald Reagan who was a great "bipartisan president who brought hope back." Is this the best the Democrats have to offer? It was bad enough when I heard Kerry say last fall that Bush sure had him "fooled" about the war in Iraq. I thought "You fool! He didn't have me fooled, and you want to run for president?" Where is the leadership? Where is the alternate vision for America? Is there no real opposition party? He might as well say W is a great bipartisan president who's bringing us hope since W shares the Reagan vision.

Al Gore has been speaking out strongly lately. I like what Dennis Kucinich had to say in the primaries. I even liked Wes Clark.

I never voted until Reagan ran for president. I thought they were all a bunch of bums. However, I could see that Reagan was really worse than Carter, and so I started voting regularly. I voted for Clinton and was happy and optimistic when he won. I was disappointed with his performance as president and that had nothing to do with his sexual escapades. He was too moderate, but he was a hell of a lot better than what we have now. I'll vote for Kerry in the fall, but without any excitement. Rather, I'll look at him as the lesser of two evils, and I used to have a lot more respect for him than I do now. It's sad. I'm loosing faith in the political system as a means of bringing about change. I don't even know if we'll have a fair election since the last one was stolen. I even fear that Bush will allow another terrorist attack on the US, declare marshal law and cancel the election. Things are so weird now, anything is possible.

Meanwhile, I'm engaging in more spiritual practices and teaching them to those who are ready to learn.

The Gathering

On a brighter note, The Gathering got off to a good start this morning after a seven month hiatus. The Gathering, Eclectic Interfaith Spirituality, Steve Bohlert, Subal Das Above and Beyond is a much better venue for it than my home was. Some new people came, and it was a good experience for all. Please join us.

War sucks!

I just spoke to my son John, 22 years old, in the Army National Guard. He enlisted as soon as he turned 18 and was supposed to be discharged in November. However, now he has orders to go to Iraq in November. July 1st, he reports for four months of training in Texas and Louisiana. He had planned to return to college in the fall. He planned to go back to college a couple of years ago also but was sent to Egypt for nine months instead. This is definitely not what he signed up for. One of his main reasons for enlisting was to get money for college.

He has a good attitude however, even though he is opposed to this war and the Bush administration like me. His main concern is the effect his absence will have on his newly wed wife. They were engaged and pushed up their wedding with a small private ceremony so that she could get benefits while he is away.

I am opposed to Bush and his war, but of course I support the troops like my son. They don't make policy. They just carry out orders. I'm not going to be like some fathers of soldiers and support Bush and his war just because their children are over there. This makes me even more opposed to the war. My hope and John's is that he will come home in one piece both physically and pyschologically. Haven't we had enough killing and maiming in the name of honor, glory, nation and flag?

Love is the answer

There is a difference between following rules and regulations and ethical, civilized behavior. Of course one must act in a way which respects all living entities and the whole of God's creation.

I admit to a Christian influence in this regard. When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, he answered that one should love God with all of one's body, mind and soul and love one's neighbor as one's self. This is the essence of the law. Judaism and Hinduism both place a strong emphasis on purity codes. I believe both Jesus and Krishna Chaitanya came to show the way of devotion to God and to free persons from the oppressive purity codes.

Bhaktivinode Thakur said that many of the rules and regulations were interpolated into the scriptures in order to keep people in line and that one should not believe everything one reads in old books. Love must be given freely and spontaneously or it is not love. If one does not have love, then one may practice being loving by following the regulative principles. Of course hearing and chanting the glories of God is appropriate at any stage of spiritual development, and when one has love this will be done spontaneously, not because someone says we should.

If God exists, why is there so much suffering?

The most satisfying answer I have found to this question is based on the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Kirchner. To summarize: If God is all knowing, all powerful and all loving, there is a contradiction because if this is true how can an all loving God allow so much suffering to go on while having the power to stop it. To solve this contradiction, give up the belief that God is all powerful. God does not micro manage the creation. God does allow free will. Stuff just happens. People are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The body reacts to the poisons in our environment. Bad people do bad things to others, etc. However, God is aware of our suffering, is with us in our suffering, suffers with us, loves and comforts us and offers us a way out of this world and its suffering. We are left with a God who is all knowing and all loving and the loving is most important.

The need for spiritual regulations

I gave up following the regulative principles taught by my guru 30 years ago, and yet the desire for love of Radha Krishna still burns in my heart and gives me no relief. I didn't take a guru so that I could follow regulative principles, but rather to develop love of God. I accepted the regulative principles and sannyasa, vows of renunciation, because I was told they were necessary to attain pure love of God. However, my guru and his organization did everything they could to stand in the way of that attainment. All they wanted from me was to raise money, start, build and administer temples, and bring in new disciples as fresh meat for their religious empire. When I realized this and the depths they stooped to to attain these goals I resigned and left.

I set about stripping away the cultural externals of Indian Hinduism to see what would be left that is real. I found attraction to Radha Krishna, engaging in pure devotional service in various forms, a desire to enter into the spiritual realm of Goloka, etc. still remain and burn strongly. I agree that following regulative principles can be helpful for certain persons at certain times in their lives, but they are way over rated. It's what's inside that counts. Call me a Sahajiya if you will. I'll bear the title happily as I follow the natural, spontaneous path.

Wake up!

I saw "The Day After Tomorrow" yesterday. I think it is a great great movie and recommend that everyone see it. While some say it is unnecessarily alarmist, I say, someone needs to raise the alarm! The events in the movie may be exagerated, but such events are a possibility. The longer we as a people refuse to change our environmentally damaging lifestyles, the more serious the consequences. Nature, the earth has ways of healing and balancing herself. Ignore warnings at your peril.

My Position

I do not accept "easy universalizing." I rankle at impersonalist rhetoric which often casually equates the individual living entity with God. I oppose fundamentalist interpretations of religion. I oppose religious traditions that oppress their followers. I find no one spiritual/religious tradition which I can totally embrace without some disagreement. Differences do make a difference. However, using a smorgasborg approach, I accept the things I agree with and leave the rest, sometimes pointing out my reasons why.

On Thursday evenings, I present a class in devotional yoga including chanting and Bhagavad Gita study. On Sunday mornings, I lead an eclectic worship service which draws on the world's great spiritual traditions. I find this to be very exciting and stimulating. It allows me to draw on a lifetime of personal spiritual growth and the wisdom of the ages which I sort through lifting up certain things and leaving the rest.

I am not a very erudite scholar, especially when it comes to Western philosophy. However, like Nietzsche, I reject moral presuppositions, and like King Kamehameha II, who in a single stroke abolished the taboo system on the Hawaiian islands in 1819, I seek to abolish the taboo system. Yet, I embrace a strong ethical position and act on the basis of those ethics.

I am an intuitive and act on the basis on intuition more than rational intellect. I am a simple front-line mystic and preacher working in the Midwestern United States. I am a spiritual reformer coming in a long tradition of reformers whether it be the line of Chaitanya Nityananda, Calvin or Matthew Fox. My goal is to present a spirituality that works for intelligent 21st century Westerners. I am an iconoclastic anarchist and embrace personal freedom and choice. I welcome the new and refuse to be bound by the past.