Jagat

I spoke at the meeting of SHEN to a group of about 40-50 people at the University of Waterloo on June 17. I used Powerpoint to help organize my ideas, many of which have previously been jotted down in these blog. It was nice to condense and clarify them in a public setting and the presentation was well received. I have tried to put it down here, but of course, it is still a condensation as many of the ideas are in need of elaboration. 1. Prema Prayojana The inspiration for this talk comes from Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of divine love, who appeared in Bengal in the 15th century and inspired this movement of bhakti devotion. I have posted a statement attributed to him: সন্ন্যাস মোর কিবা কাজ, আমার প্রেম প্রয়োজন sannyāsa mora kibā kāja ? āmāra prema prayojana ! "What need have I of the renounced order of life? What I need is prema !" The expression prema prayojana really has a double meaning: On the one hand, perhaps Mahaprabhu was channeling ...