Universe or Multiverse?, edited by Bernard Carr. Cambridge University Press, 2007. The idea that there may be many universes other than the one we occupy has become a popular scientific speculation. This 517 page anthology “address[es] these issues and describe[s] recent developments . . . represent[ing] the full spectrum of views, from enthusiastic support of […]
In Search of the Multiverse: Parallel Worlds, Hidden Dimensions, and the Ultimate Quest for the Frontiers of Reality by John Gribbin This fascinating, well written book goes beyond The Universe Story and summarizes a number of scientific theories arguing that our universe is just one of numerous universes which exist in an all encompassing Multiverse […]
The Making of an Elder Culture: Reflections on the Future of America’s Most Audacious Generation by Theodore Roszak If you are old, intend to get old, or are related to an old person, I strongly recommend that you read this book. When I became the state networker for the New Age Caucus in 1979, I […]
Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, by Walter C. Willett, M.D. When I was nineteen, I began following a macrobiotic diet. When I became a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami the next year, I followed his vegetarian diet with lots of dairy, sugar, and spice for eight years. Then […]
The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era–A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos by Brian Swimme & Thomas Berry, Harper San Francisco, 1992. From the big bang to the present and into the next millennium, The Universe Story unites science and the humanities in a dramatic exploration of the […]
Beauty: The Invisible Embrace, John O’Donohue, Harper Perennial, 2005 Beauty does not linger, it only visits. Yet beauty’s visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm, it calls us to feel, think, and act beautifully in the world: to create and live a life that awakens the Beautiful. Beauty is a gentle but urgent […]
Thus it is important to note the theological point embedded in the devotional exaltation of enjoyment–it is not that enjoyment is the best way to worship Krishna, nor that it is his most characteristic quality, nor even that it is his best. It is that he himself is the quality of enjoyment. Only in enjoyment, in experiencing or “tasting’ him, can we both be and see him.
If Being is enjoyment then we can enjoy as much as we like, wherever and whenever we like, indiscriminately and without prejudice as to the object of our desire. But if it is also attachment, directedness, telos, then this too must be exemplified in an appropriate attitude to our object(s) of desire. (226-7)
The Place of the Hidden Moon: Erotic Mysticism in the Vaishnava-sahajiya Cult of Bengal, by Edward C. Dimock, Jr. SOME EXCERPTS AND COMMENTS In her 1989 foreword, Wendy Doniger says: This is the most reliable and indeed altogether the best book I know on all of the many Indological subjects with which it deals, some […]
Scholarly Comments on Chaitanya Charitamrita Some time ago, I wrote a blog expressing the need for a scholarly exploration of just who the historical Krishna Chaitanya really was. Recently, a friend commented on it saying, “let’s get the ball rolling.†Having some time available, I make some comments on what we may actually know, especially […]
Hindu Encounter with Modernity: Kedarnath Datta Bhaktivinoda Vaisnava Theologian, by Shukavak N. Dasa is a critical, theological biography of my grand-spiritual-teacher, Bhaktivinode Thakur. It supports natural devotion and Universalist Radha-Krishnaism. He was very influenced by 19th century rationalism, Christianity and Unitarian thought. Bhaktivinode presented the teachings of Krishna Chaitanya in a new way to intellectuals […]