Jeffrey Kagel / Krishna Das

Biography klik hier
Call and Response klik hier
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Chai 'n' Chat klik hier

Krishna Das

Biography
Layering traditional 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 western chant artist of all time. His album ‘Live Ananda’ (released January 2012) was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.

KD spent the late ’60’s traveling across the country as a student of Ram Dass, and in August 1970, he finally made the journey to India, which led him to Ram Dass’ own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji.

Given the name Krishna Das, KD began to chant as part of following the path of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion.

After two and a half years with Maharaj-ji, returned to USA – alas, six months after his return, word came that Maharaj-ji had died.

He took solace in music, finding peace and strength in both his Bhakti yoga practice as well as in such heroes as Ray Charles, Van Morrison, Steely Dan, and Bruce Springsteen (whom he laughingly calls “the Bodhisattva of New Jersey”). KD also co-founded Triloka Records, a California-based label specializing in world music, releasing such artists as Jai Uttal, sarod virtuoso Ali Akbar Khan, and legendary jazz musician/composer Jackie McLean.

In 1994, KD started leading chant at Jivamukti Yoga Center, NYC, with an ever-growing audience of yoga students that has led him to chant with people all around the world. In February 2013, Krishna Das performed at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles, CA streamed online to millions of viewers. The award-winning film ‘One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das’ has been in over 100 US cities, over 10 countries worldwide and is available on DVD everywhere.

With the release of his 16th album Peace Of My Heart , October 2018 – KD on behalf of the Kirtan Wallah Foundation offers nearly two hours of deeply moving, meditative and artfully restrained new recordings born out of a request from a yoga teacher who works with children on the Autism Spectrum. Forgoing the ecstatic tempo changes so common to temple-style kirtan, these 5 new tracks move slowly and deliberately. The song to song steadiness is both striking and soothing, and as emotionally impactful as ever.

“The chanting just hits you and you want to be a part of it,” KD promises. “That’s the point of this whole thing. That’s what cuts through all the ‘stuff’. You get lit up. You don’t have to know what it means.”

More about Krishna Das and his work on www.krishnadas.com

Call and Response

These talks are taken from the many questions received during KD’s workshops. In addition we will also share podcasts of KD interviewing teachers, colleagues, and friends. They will cover various topics, include a transcription for your easy reference.

Call and Response Episode 64: Consciousness, Spiritual Names, Vipasana
2022/04/12 - 18 min

Q: When you sing other lineages’ Names like “Tara” or “Jesus on the Mainline” like how do you integrate that with all the other Names that you got from the Vedic tradition?

“My parents were about as Jewish as the Pope. So, but still, I didn’t know much about Jesus and then I get to India and He looks at us and says, ‘Hanuman, Krishna and Christ are the same.’ Terrific. Who wants to hear that? I’m in India. You know? But He started talking to us about Jesus and whoa, it was powerful. Really powerful. I have to say, it was more powerful than the way He spoke about Hanuman, Krishna and Ram.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 64: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD August 15, 2020
2022/04/05 - 100 min

Taking time to look back and move forward. Conversations With KD episodes are derived from the recordings of KD’s online events from his home during the 2020/ 2021 days of social distancing and quarantine from the onset of COVID and beyond.

“Maharajji said, “Repeat the name, whether you feel good, bad, whether you have devotion or not, whether you’re tired, whether you’re angry, keep repeating the name.”

The Name will save you. It’s not your feelings that will save you. It’s the Name that will save you. There’s a big difference, and we don’t even know what that difference is because we are what we are, but Maharajji, when he was leaving the temple for the last time, he said, “I only know two things, ‘Ra’ and ‘Ma.’”

Those two syllables can wipe the destiny from your forehead. This is what we’re talking about. You’re talking about becoming liberated from suffering, free of our ideas about who we think we are, finding out who and what we really are…” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition August 15-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 63: Hanuman, How Chanting Heals
2022/03/29 - 27 min

Q: Can you tell us a story about Hanuman? Any story.

“There are certain things that we need that, that Being that is Hanuman allows us to realize in our lives to get what we want. Why shouldn’t we have what we want? God is not your mother telling you, “You can’t have that.” That’s a program. We have desires based on our karmas and many of those desires are good for us to fulfill. Some of them are not. Hanuman boosts up the ones that are positive and removes the ones that are negative.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 63: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD August 1, 2020
2022/03/22 - 100 min

“One must try to get what one needs in life. One can not refuse to enter the fight because by doing that, you’ve given up. And if you think you can find God or find real love or be liberated without going through the battle, you’re dreaming. It’s only through getting into the fight, getting into the battle, the battle to be real and be present regardless of what’s going on in the emotional or outside world. That’s the battle, and if we don’t get involved in the battle, we will not be able to ever find any peace of mind or find any real love. We have to get in there and fight so we can see what our issues are.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition August 1-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 62: The Spiritual Heart, Addiction, Longing
2022/03/15 - 20 min

Q: I was curious to hear about your experience with your sobriety…

“If I had to fight with my desire for drugs, I would have lost. That’s the deal. That’s the way I was made. If it had been up to me, every day to fight that desire, I couldn’t have done it. I just, you know, I’m being honest with you. So, I have such respect and honor so much the people who really do have to work with that every day and do work with it. Whether they’re successful every day or not. It’s a fierce battle for survival. And it’s very difficult. And truly, I don’t think anybody can do it on their own. I think if a person is doing it, it’s coming out of some kind of spiritual strength, inner strength which is not ego-based. Which is not based in the separate self, it’s based in the real self and that real self, your own self, your own true nature, is strengthening you to fight that battle.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 62: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD July 25, 2020
2022/03/08 - 76 min

“Hanuman is a being that not only liberates us, gives us freedom, but he allows us to satisfy the desires that we have that will be useful to us in progressing in life. It is not a renunciant sannysasi path. This is a path very much in the world, seeing God everywhere in everyone, not just in one little place, but seeing, being in the world and yet not of the world. So, as you do these practices and as you grow, a lot of things will happen, and the main thing is really just to have some humility about the practice itself, you know, to understand that it’s a spiritual practice, regardless of what comes to you in your life.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition July 25-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 61: Do What You Like,
Taking It Personally, As Time Goes By
2022/03/01 - 22 min

Q: I go to kirtans. I put in music in my car and I chant and I’ve developed a little bit of a practice. I have a daily sadhana, ultimately because of you… But I’m wondering what it looks like… besides going to kirtan or in my car, (what) do you recommend as part of… a daily sadhana of sitting, like in a meditation pose, and chanting and with music on in the background, that I’m chanting to? Or memorizing various… lines? I’ve memorized a few.

“Do what you like. Find out what it is that you like. You’re the only one who knows. Somebody can give you suggestions. Somebody can order you to do things. Somebody can tell you to do things. Somebody can say, “Don’t do this, don’t do that.” Fine. If that feels right to you. See, that’s what’s happening anyway. Even if somebody tells you something, you’re agreeing to either do it or not do it, for whatever reason. It might be you like to be punished, so you can do what you don’t like. I tried that for about 50 years. So, really, in all seriousness, the whole thing is to trust yourself.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 61: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD July 18, 2020
2022/02/22 - 109 min

“The only answers that you need have to come from you. There’s no shortcut there. You have to listen to your own heart about what you want to do and what you need to do, and then you have to have the courage to go do it, if that’s what it takes.” – Krishna Das

The bottom line is that no matter what the issue is, no matter what the suffering is, the real pain is in the mind, because that’s how we’re reacting to the physical, if there is physical issues, and if it’s mental issues, it’s also the way we react, and the only way to overcome or transcend or thin out or leave behind those reactions is to be able to invoke a deeper place within us, the presence of the love that lives within us, in whatever form opens your heart to that; counseling, therapy, talking; every other kind of assistance one can get. All they do is, they help us to let go. And the greatest help that we can get is to train ourselves, to release the stuff and move more deeply into our own hearts and into our own being.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition July 18-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 60: Gurus, Programs and Practice
2022/02/15 - 22 min

“We’re training ourselves to release whatever it is that is pushing us around. It’s not easy to see what it is because we’re being pushed from behind. It’s the shadows in our hearts, the dark corners in our hearts that push us around. So, it’s not easy to see the programs. That’s why, when we sit down to practice, we just keep letting go of anything that pulls us out of that moment of what we’re trying to do, and then come back.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 60: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD July 2, 2020
2022/02/08 - 34 min

“All chants are useful. All practice is useful. If it’s not COVID, it’s the fact that you’re going to die of something else, but you don’t pay attention to that. COVID is just making you aware of that in a very nasty way. But yes, death is a part of life. We live every day as if it’s never going to touch us, we’re never going to get sick, we’re never going to die. We just go on piling shit up, getting more stuff. This situation has faced everybody with impermanence, as they say, which is one of the signs of samsara, of the world, that things are impermanent and changing, and it’s a very painful lesson for us, all of us. No question about it. “ – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition July 2-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 59: Real Love
2022/02/01 - 21 min

Q: I just wanted to ask you if you believe in true love and whether you find or think that personally you have experienced True Love. That’s my question. Thank you.

“Love with a capital ‘L’ is a different thing. It’s not an emotion. It’s not a feeling like an emotion. It’s the whole universe. It’s very big. It’s vast presence. It’s like the sky of the Mind in which everything exists. It’s… outside of which there can be nothing, outside of real love. Everyone is included. Love is looking out of our eyes right now. Each one of us. Right now. Love is looking out of our eyes. But we don’t see the love. We see the stuff. We don’t see what’s looking. We only see what the looking sees.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 59: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD June 25, 2020
2022/01/25 - 38 min

“There’s a way that even through this camera and the computer and the internet, we actually are connecting in a very deep place, and so little by little one learns to be more aware of the places that we are connected and the way we are connected, and those emotions, which once seemed so huge, don’t seem so huge anymore.” – Krishna Das

I’m going to read you something. As you know, this practice that we’re doing is called “The repetition of the divine name or names.” In India, in the east, they understand that the Supreme being is beyond all form, but actually embraces all form as well. So, they said, there’s an unlimited amount, number of names of God, and that every being has divinity within them, their soul, the soul, that reflection. That ray of light that lights up every being is the same in all of us. Each one of us has that same ray of light.

So, a great Saint named Sri Anandamayi Ma, wrote this:
“At all times the repetition of the Lord’s name should be kept up. Through the practice of the Name, enjoyment, liberation, peace, all these will blossom forth. Invoke him by the name that appeals to you most for as much time as you can. The longer, the better. In this way you will, at some auspicious moment, discover the rosary of the mind, the Mala of the mind, the beads of the mind, and then you will continually hear within yourself the praises of the great master, the Lord of creation, like the never ceasing music of the boundless ocean. You will hear the land and the sea, the air in the heavens reverberate with the song of his glory. This is called ‘The all-pervading presence of the name.’”

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition June 25-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 58: Life On The Road, Everyone is Your Teacher
2022/01/18 - 18 min

Q: Do you use people, just in general that come up in your life, as your teacher?

“The more at ease you are with yourself, the more you’re willing and able to be at ease with anything that comes to you because it doesn’t force you, it doesn’t push a button that closes you down. So, that’s hard work. That’s how life is our teacher. Are we closing down? Are we protecting ourselves? Or distancing ourselves? Are we judging? And we do all the time. It’s natural. It’s human.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 58: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD June 18, 2020
2022/01/11 - 40 min

“My understanding is that everything in our life is a result of karma, and it’s like waves coming in off the ocean and they crash over us. If we fight with those waves, we create more karma. We are reacting against them. If we allow them to just crash over us, the energy dissipates. So, the way to meet the way we live every day is what’s important, the way we meet every day and every moment that arrives.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition June 18-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 57: Where Do Thoughts Come From,
Suffering, Favorite Chants
2022/01/04 - 24 min

Q: I’ve been coming to see you for many years and the last time I came after I left, there were just these uncontrollable tears for days, for weeks, like someone a sponge and tears were coming out and it felt like grief. And sometimes, when we’re together, when we come here I feel like, collectively there’s that energy of grief and I don’t know if it relates to suffering, you know, it seems like all humans are trying to avoid bad feelings and suffering, and like that’s the thing we push away.

“We’re already being called and when we, when we call out, we’re actually just calling back. When we chant here, we think we’re doing it. We think we made the decision to come here. We made the decision to sit in here instead of going for a walk on the beach. We made the decision to do this, do that. That’s our reality. There might be another reality which is that we were brought here and we were forced to sit down by our own hearts and made to chant because that’s what’s going to connect us. And that’s what we really want inside is to be connected to that love. “ – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 57: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD June 11, 2020
2021/12/28 - 32 min

“All the questions that you asked, they’re all issues that you can become aware of yourself. Don’t give up your practice. Deepen your practice as best you can. Keep it going. Remember, it’s not about what you’re feeling at the time of practice, necessarily. Keep it going whether you’re feeling any devotional feelings, whether you’re angry, whether you’re sad, whether you’re tired, do your practice. Do your practice. It’s the way. If we don’t plant those seeds, those fruits will never grow for us. So, regardless of how difficult it becomes in the world, regardless of what’s going on in your life, try to remember to remember, as often and as deeply as you can. “ – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition June 11-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 56: Hearing the Name,
Chanting the Name, and A Talk About Gurus
2021/12/21 - 21 min

Q: Thank you for being here. I want to know about your Guru.

“That Body died in 1973. So, does that mean that for these last years, these last, what, how many years is that? 46 years? That He’s been gone? He’s not available? I don’t have Him anymore? Is that what that means? Because that’s what it would mean if a Guru was a physical body. Gone. But that’s not the case. He’s more present to me now than He was when I was sitting in front of His physical body.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 56: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD June 6, 2020
2021/12/19 - 93 min

Namaste everybody. Can you send some chai over from India? I didn’t bring my tea this morning. I’m a train station. Only best jive. So nice to see you all. And anybody have anything to say? How are you? I’m doing good. How are you? Good morning, I guess. Thank you. It’s a little early for me to be a good morning person.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition June 6-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 55: The Practice of Chanting
2021/12/18 - 28 min

“As much as we like to think that we’re running the show, it’s always those little epiphanies, those things that (we) all of a sudden understand or all of a sudden, we just recognize something or we know something. It doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from within. It feels right. And if there’s one thing that the spiritual path is about, more than any other thing, or if there’s one thing that the spiritual path requires before anything, it’s that we learn to trust ourselves.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 55: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD June 4, 2020
2021/12/17 - 48 min

“We have to find a way to help implement the changes that have to come in our society, the changes that we hope will correct the imbalance of power and the devastating way that people of color are treated and hurt and abused and victimized. We definitely have to find a way to help make that happen, but we can’t allow our actions to come with negative emotions, if we can help it. It’s very hard, very hard, but that doesn’t mean you don’t do what you do. You do whatever you can do to help.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition June 4-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 54: Guru Puja Meditation
2021/12/16 - 23 min

“Every inhalation you’re drawing away the pain and suffering of all the Beings around you, all over the universe, actually, because you have, the center of your heart is the open clear light of freedom. It’s not any kind of a trap. It’s not any kind of a prison. It’s a prism through which all this is completely swallowed up into the vast infinite energy of love in the universe, of all the Krishnas and all the Ramas and all the Everybodys, Buddhas and the Kalkis from the future who conquer all darkness and sadness and injustice and suffering. And you triumph. Your inhalation draws that in and you triumph over it and your bliss triumphs over all that mass of sadness. It does not burn you out.” – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 54: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 53: Devotional Poetry of Shabkar
and Remembering Geshe Wangyal
2021/12/14 - 30 min

“Don’t be sad. Look at the mind that feels sadness. The guru is not other than the mind. It is the mind that remembers the Guru. It is the mind into which the Guru dissolves.” – Shabkar

KD: Saint John of the Cross wrote, “In the beginning, the Father uttered one word. That word is His Son and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence. And it is in silence that the heart must hear.” The Father uttered one word. That word is His Son and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence. And it’s in silence that the heart must hear.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 53: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 28, 2020
2021/12/15 - 51 min

“Any mantra will work for you if you do it, and any mantra you do will work for you, but we bring so much to the practice, our hopes and fears, our anguish, our desires, all our emotions. We bring our fractured will and a million little pieces. We can’t even do one round of mantra without, you know, thinking about 4 million other things. So, it’s not the mantra’s fault. It’s our fault. It’s our situation. Let’s not blame ourselves because we are who we are, but it’s our situation. It’s very hard to do practice.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 28-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 21, 2020
2021/10/26 - 36 min

“Nobody’s testing you, nobody’s judging you and nobody’s keeping score. Do what makes you feel good.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 21-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 52: Reincarnation, Sci-Fi Buddhism and Devotion
2021/10/19 - 34 min

“He encouraged us to love everyone, serve everyone and remember God, which is to repeat the Names of God. Japa. Ram Nam. Yeah. I always wanted Him to tell me what to do, you know? Give me some like, practice, some mantra. Some “this” that I could do, you know? But He was never, He never encouraged us to do spiritual practice for the sake of our own spiritual benefit, so to speak. He said, “Think about others.” And really, to tell you the truth, I didn’t get it, you know? “What is He talking about? What do you mean, think about others? What about me?” It takes a while to get with the program. Really, it does.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 52: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 51: Guru
2021/10/04 - 36 min

“Any yogi or yogini who develops ability to concentrate and become mindful, pushing that mindfulness to deeper and deeper levels, discovers the Realm of Infinite Love, the Realm of Infinite or Immense Love, Immense Compassion, Immense Joy and Immense Equanimity within themselves. So, they have all the heavens in themselves.” – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 51: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 16, 2020
2021/10/12 - 102 min

“It would be good to try to find a way to relax. I know that sounds very prosaic, but it’s a very big thing. And that means releasing thoughts, feelings, imaginations about the future. It means releasing a lot of the negativity and betrayals and viciousness of our growing up from the past and allowing yourself to be here just a little bit, you know,… you’re not going anywhere. And certainly, in this this particular situation with the virus, we’re not going anywhere anyway. So… it’s a good time to recognize how clearly you see the things that are floating around in your awareness. “ – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 16-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 50: Sadhus, and Nirvana in Samsara
2021/09/21 - 18 min

“For Maharajji, everybody was His near and His dear. Everyone. And in order to stay in that space, you couldn’t hold on to your stuff. It had to go.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 50: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 14, 2020
2021/09/28 - 42 min

“Listen, everybody’s doing the best they can. Period. Even you’re doing the best you can. Why dwell in judging other people? It makes you cranky and we’re all cranky enough, you know? Let it go. Let other people be who they are. You find your own way to live in this world in a good way. Don’t worry about other people and other things. Find what works for you and get it together. Don’t spend time worrying about whether other people are this or that, or whether they’re real or not real, or whether this is really spiritual. Who gives a shit? How do you get through your day in a good way? That’s all you need to care about.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 14-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 9, 2020
2021/09/14 - 136 min

“These are all the names of what lives within us as who we are. Already. It’s not something else. It’s not somewhere else. It’s within us. All these names lead to the same place. They’re the names of the same place. All these so-called deities are forms of our own true nature… whatever you sing is fine. It doesn’t make any difference. Sing what you’d like. If you think about it, you’re not doing it. So, I would just do it.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 9-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 49: How KD Met Robert Thurman
2021/09/07 - 18 min

“It was a wild time. There were a lot of… the Westerners in India, everybody would go to see teachers, different teachers and then when the seasons changed, all these different people would meet in the cities on their way somewhere else and exchange information and this kind of stuff and then you would go off in a different direction and it was an incredible amount of beautiful seeds were planted in those days. It was amazing, just amazing.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 49: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 48: Hanuman, Mrs. Hanuman, and Time Machines
2021/08/24 - 24 min

“When you attain that oneness, you’re also one with all Beings in all moments of time, past, present and future. So, because, after all, time is like a space, it’s like a subtler space than space is. You know, time, it’s a space of time, a space of duration, of continuum. Right? And so, everything is past and future. So, when you become Buddha, you’re all in all moments of the future, so then you become aware that everyone else will eventually become Buddha, and not only that but you then manifest to accelerate that process so they can do it as quickly as possible. The really dense ones might take a million lifetimes. The quicker ones, a hundred, etcetera. But You’re going to work on it with them. That’s your attitude. This is the sci-fi idea of Kalachakra, ok?” – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 48: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD May 7, 2020
2021/08/31 - 54 min

“All we have is what’s in front of our faces, which is the ups and downs of life. So, you have to learn to deal with those situations in the best way… and there’s no God outside of your Self, your true Self. And that true Self is the same in every Being. So, if you treat other people the way you would like to be treated, you won’t have any problems at all.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition May 7-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 30, 2020
2021/08/17 - 71 min

“Ram Dass, my best friend, one of my best friends, long-term spiritual friends and elders, just died a month or two ago. He’s so present. Any time I think of him, he’s present. I’m not looking for signs. I feel his presence. And you will feel your people’s presence if you just allow yourself to. You won’t be able to touch them physically. But that doesn’t mean they’re not here. Because we’re attached to our physical bodies. Because we identify with our physical and emotional parts. We can’t imagine something without that. However, there are many Beings, many many more Beings out of the body than are in bodies I’m sure. I’ve heard that many times. And if you want to feel those things, one has to open up to these realities through practice.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 30-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 25, 2020
2021/08/03 - 118 min

“You know, there were people, there were gurus in India, Beings in India that other Westerners went to. They would bounce up and down off the pillows, they would howl like dogs. They would be in bliss and fall over like this.

I sat around with mom Maharajji for two and a half years. Not one fucking thing happened. Except love. Except love that was so deep and so beautiful and so unbearable, so wonderful that I couldn’t pull myself away from that person. Nor did I want to, except when I got pissed off. So, the whole thing is learning to trust yourself.

Take your time. There’s no hurry. You’re not going anywhere. You’re just trying to get here, where you are already. Relax. Let it come to you. Be yourself. Be you. Follow your heart. Trust your heart. Trust yourself. Trust your deeper feelings. But in order to trust them, you have to listen deeply to yourself and then you have to pay attention. You have to honor how you feel. If you don’t honor those deeper feelings, you’re not doing the right thing to yourself, but most people don’t. Okay? But the spiritual path means really following your heart, following your deepest heart. What do you want? What do you really want? Don’t get caught. Don’t spend time getting things that you don’t really need. You might enjoy a little bit, but go after what you really want, which is the same thing everybody wants, which is love. And if you’re not getting what you want from one situation, recognize that that’s the case. That doesn’t mean you have to change anything, but you have to pay attention.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 25-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 47: Hindu-Buddhist Connections
and A Short Discussion of Hatred
2021/07/27 - 19 min

“Once it reaches India, the vajra idea, that’s when it’s coming from, central asia, chariot warriors and so on. They were kshatriyas, you know? But when it gets into India after some time, it comes to mean this infinite, stronger than the thunderbolt is this infinite energy of love and that infinite energy of love is not violent because its, it doesn’t need violence because it’s everything. So, it’s a really wonderful Indian vision, and it’s general, both sides, all sides in India, Jain, Buddhists, Hindu. “ – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 47: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 46: The Meaning of Ram
2021/07/27 - 23 min

“When you shape divinity, your notion of the Divinity, by saying ‘Ram Ram Ram’ and use the Name for ‘joy’ and ‘enjoyment’, ‘Ramaniya’, ‘to be enjoyed in that form’, you know, it’s a gerundial thing, ‘to be enjoyed,’ ‘Ramaniya’ means. And then, you are saying that, this great power that I want to merge myself with out of my devotion, I want to connect to out of my devotion and I want to feel the presence in me of that, then that is enjoyment.” – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 46: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 45: A Meditation With Bob
2021/07/13 - 26 min

“Why do we want Ram, the Divine Rama, and utter the name, Rama, which comes from a verb that means to play and to enjoy? Actually, Rama does. ‘Ramaniya’ means to enjoy something. And why do we say, ‘Jai Ram’? May Ram triumph. May the Divine triumph. Why do we celebrate that? This is India’s vision, actually, which is the vision of the goodness of the universe. India is really the garden of Eden in ancient time. The richest, most benevolent nature in Eurasia, by far. The ancient civilizations in India were the most peaceful. Everything is relative, of course, in the relative world, but they were. And so, it’s natural that from India, a reassuring prayer emanates throughout history as we know it, that the world is a beautiful thing, that the default situation, if you just let it all go, is all right, you will be embraced, you will be caught in Nirvana. You will be caught in the clear light of the void, as the Buddhists called it. You will be caught in the fundamental bliss energies, Satchidananda, as the Vedantists called it; Being, Awareness and Bliss.” – Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 45: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 23, 2020
2021/07/20 - 58 min

Q: Please put some light on how to overpower negative thoughts and anxiety, especially during meditation.

“If you’re meditating, you’re not supposed to be trying to overpower anything. You notice what’s going on and you come back to your mantra or your focus of attention. Where does it say you’re supposed to fight with your thoughts? That’s a misconception. That’s a struggle. Meditation is not a struggle. You just keep coming back again and again, again and again. And you’re training yourself to release those thoughts once you notice.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 23-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 16, 2020
2021/07/06 - 60 min

“We don’t know who God is, what God is, but he’s certainly not someone who sits in judgment of us. How could he even fit in there? We’re so busy judging ourselves. There’s no room for him to judge us or her to judge us.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 16-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 44: Share Your Story
2021/06/15 - 27 min

Q: Could (you) share some of your story about what was going on before you decided to go to India

“Everyone has a Guru. Everyone has a lineage that they’ve been involved with, especially if you’re interested in this crazy stuff in the first place, and everybody is, every moment, including this moment, receiving the fruits of their karmas. And the motivation for a great saint, they only have one motivation, they only have one agenda, which is compassion for us, because we don’t know what’s going on. So, they’re here for one reason only. For our sake. So, that means that everyone is getting exactly what they need at every moment. There’s no slippage in the system. If you’ve seen, if you’ve met a guru, a real guru, not a wannabe guru, not a “hope it’s a guru” not a fake guru… don’t let me continue, because it gets worse… if you’ve met a real guru then that was the best thing, that was what you needed. If you haven’t, that’s what you need.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 44: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 43: Practice Arising By Itself,
Dharmageddon and Does the Curriculum Change With Age
2021/06/15 - 29 min

Question: I’m just finding it to be that I don’t have to try so hard because it just happens and what I like about that, it seems like it took a long time to get there. It gets better and it seems like it’s just easy. You just fall into it. Why all the struggles?

“Let’s say you’re home when that happens, you’re just sitting around and you remember the Name, for instance, or the Name shows up in your head. If you’re home, you could, you could go with it for a few minutes, right? You could allow it to surface, really surface.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 43: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 11, 2020
2021/06/08 - 118 min

“It’s very difficult time. So, it’s a good time to be kind to yourself and allow what is to be for now. This is the moment you have. You don’t have any other moments. Now is what you have. 10 minutes from that will be now… What happens three years from now, you don’t know, but now is the time that you have to try to relax about all these issues that you have in your life and in your emotions, come to peace with them, greet them, get to know them. Stop judging yourself so harshly for feeling these things. Stop judging yourself harshly for not having what you think you should have. ‘Maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe I don’t have what it takes for this to happen for me.’ This would be a good time to let the sting of all those kinds of stories dissipate a little bit and don’t believe them so strongly every minute of every day. Right now, you can’t do much about anything. We’re stuck at home. We have our minds to deal with, and it’s our minds that all the suffering comes from; our minds, our emotions and our stuff.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 11-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 09, 2020
2021/04/20 - 69 min

“One has to set boundaries. They have to be healthy boundaries and we’re not really trained to do that. We’re not really trained. We’re not trained, as children, to have healthy boundaries. Our parents tend to step all over our boundaries and not respect us. We’re trained to do that in life. So, it’s very difficult. So, when we talk about letting go, let’s first talk about it as practice. So, while we’re actually doing the meditation practice, while we’re chanting, that’s when we train ourselves to let go, because we’ve added the mantra into our consciousness and we’ve agreed that we’re going to try to pay attention to that. So that helps us be aware when we’re lost in thought. When we become aware that we’ve been gone, we’re actually already back. We come back to the mantra again. The rest of the day we try to be kind and compassionate and good to ourselves as well by setting healthy boundaries.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition April 09-2020: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition Conversations With KD April 02, 2020
2021/04/16 - 42 min

“You know, all this craziness in the world is our doing. Nobody else is doing this. It’s us. We human beings are doing this. All of us. So, we human beings can change it. But not everybody believes that. Not everybody believes that there’s a better way to live. Most people live in fear, shame, guilt and selfishness and greed. And that’s what drives us and when we’re in that mode, it’s us and them and we’ll do anything we have to to protect ourselves and our small circle of people. That’s the kind of thinking that kind of has to go. It has to loosen up a little. Will it happen? I don’t know. I hope so. “ – Krishna Das

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Call and Response Episode 42: Only Jesus Died the Real Death
2020/12/11 - 24 min

Question: He, so the thing that kind of like I had an epiphany about was He never died, the part about Jesus, you know, “I never died.” I had that experience with Jesus, when He said, “I never died.” Could you say a little bit more about somebody who never died, and that whole idea?

“States of mind have their own qualities. Now, heaven is a state of mind. It’s not a place that you go to. Where are you going to go? How are you going to get there? Right? So, it’s a state of mind. When you’re in it, it’s eternal. That’s why it feels like heaven. “It will always be like this.” Pleasure, beautiful pleasure, unending pleasure, the world of the Gods. Heaven. The lower Gods. The devatas. Indra and the whole posse. But then there’s also hell, which they also say is eternal. But it’s not like it lasts forever. It only lasts as long as your karma puts you there. And when you’re there, it feels eternal. That’s why it feels so bad. It’s always going to be like this. It’s like our normal depression states. We think they’re going to last forever, but then they’re gone after ten or fifteen years. Or until we meet somebody else that knows how to push the right buttons. So, He lost himself in love. That’s how Maharajji said Jesus meditated. He didn’t watch His breath. He didn’t stand on one toe. He lost Himself in love. He immersed Himself fully in the love that surrounds us all the time. That lives within us. That’s who we really are.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 42: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 41: Karma and Consciousness,
Dealing With Negativity
2020/12/11 - 30 min

Q: I’ve been putting a lot of emphasis on my mind a lot of my life and to turn that around, I find that quite difficult. I’m a recovered Catholic and I’m trying my best to remove all belief systems. They’re inappropriate. Lately, in trying to find, and this is one of my shortcomings, always the quickest way to get somewhere, and I’m reading quite a few things on YouTube, believe it or not, and I found out that some people believe that there is no such a thing as karma when we reach a certain level of consciousness and I was wondering if this (karma) is a belief system?

“It’s real easy to see the atmosphere you create for yourself when you’re kind to people, when you care about people, when you’re someone that’s open to being with people in a good way. Your life becomes simple and filled with good things. Consciousness doesn’t have to be created. It’s here. Always.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 41: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 40: Dark Night of the Soul,
Gratitude and the Renaissance of Psychedelics
2020/12/10 - 26 min

Q: So Ram Das talks a lot about how, as you awaken or you go on this spiritual journey, the passions of life kind of start to fall away, and for me, personally, it can be such a release some days when I look out and I see people that this is it and that car is it and doing this and winning is it and I kind of see through it, and then there are days when I just want to go back to sleep because I want to be lost in it. It’s so hard sometimes, I mean just to, I don’t know, everybody’s going bowling as Ram Das says in his talks and you don’t want to bowl anymore. It’s just like, “I can take it or leave it.” Are we just supposed to get to that point where the highs are gone, the lows are gone and we’re just here? Now?

“On this path, those moments of darkness, all that energy fuels the longing to be free, fuels the longing to connect more deeply with what we want to connect with. It’s a good thing, ultimately. It’s a dark night of the soul but there’s a morning right after the night.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 40: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 39: Bad Aim and the Importance of Spiritual Practice
2020/12/10 - 23 min

The key to doing a spiritual practice is actually doing it. Every day whether you feel like it or not. Because if you only go with your, “You know, I’m tired today, I think I’ll skip it”, then the habits that are already pushing us around just get stronger and stronger. We have to create new habits that turn us within, that make us more available to our own inner self.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 39: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 37: Maharajji’s Language, Why Is Chanting Important?
2020/12/06 - 31 min

Why is chanting transformative? Why is the chanting of names transformative? Does it require an understanding of what those names, the stories behind those names, in order for the chanting of those names to be transformative?

“These names are mantras. These are sounds that come from a deeper place inside of us and they were brought into this world so you and I could hear them by saints, by yogis who have recognized the truth, have experienced reality through these names and they’ve experienced the reality of these names.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 37: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 36: There’s No Maharajji Outside of You,
Committing To A Practice
2020/12/06 - 43 min

So, when I try to tap into the energy or the meaning of Neem Karoli Baba, I feel like I’m grasping at clouds because I wasn’t there. He hasn’t written anything that I can read to understand.

“You’re looking to feel something from outside in a sense. You think He’s out there and you want to connect with Him. It’s not like that. He’s not out there, in fact, there is no “out there” there’s only here. But we’re not here, so we’re lost. We’re in dreamland. Sleepy-poo. So, when we wake up, you’ll remember everything.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 36: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 35: Too Little Too Much, Violence and Compassion
2020/12/06 - 25 min

I’m searching for understanding of how someone can be on this earth and literally be so unloved that he could walk in and kill people in a yoga studio and take his life. How can we make sure people feel the love that we feel in here?

“Don’t try to make it ok. It’s not ok. Eventually it won’t hurt so much. That doesn’t mean you’ll have figured it out. It just won’t hurt so much.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 35: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 34: Trust In Your Self. Maharajji and Buddhism
2020/12/03 - 21 min

When you talk about this incredible love, is it just the simple presence of consciousness that you can achieve through vipassana or different meditation techniques or is it something else? And if it is something else, how do you connect and experience that?

“As you sit and you go more deeply, you know, you shouldn’t think that you’re finished, just because you feel a little peace. That’s good. But you should be with that. You shouldn’t push it away or hold onto it. Be with whatever arises, right? And you’ll have many different experiences over time, lifetimes of practice. And whatever is, whatever your karma dictates, will come to you in the way that it’s supposed to.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 34: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 32: Keep Coming Back and
Cleaning Out The Dark Corners
2020/07/22 - 37 min

You don’t have to know anything. All you have to do is be happy. And think about other people once in a while instead of yourself. That’s all. It’s ridiculous how happy you can be when you don’t think about yourself. Ridiculous. Completely absurd. You wouldn’t think that would be the case but it is the case.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 32: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 31: Find Out Who You Are,
Maharajji and Buddha, Starting on the Path
2020/07/14 - 18 min

Do you have any advice for… I guess for someone who’s starting off or seeking their spiritual practice or spirituality all together.

“Relax. Take it easy. Watch some tv. Be good. Listen to music. It’s a ripening process. It’s not a learning process. It’s a ripening process and we ripen our hearts when we turn towards that love. And what turns us towards that love is the longing, the longing that’s in there, to really be in that love. That itself is the fruit of practice. The fruit of love is the longing for more of it. To be more deeply in that love. That longing is, it’ll ruin your life. But it saves your life.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 31: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 30: Family Karma, KD’s Mom
2020/07/07 - 23 min

I feel that my dharma is taking me into different direction, that family karma. Karma related to a lot of suffering, a lot of what I would consider tamasic energy, toxic and so if you or Maharajji would have any advice when you feel your dharma is, you know, upholding you and protecting you and…

“We don’t know our parents as people, for the most part, until maybe we get older. They’re people. I don’t know how my mother went through the day. I don’t know what my father… what tortures he had in his life, and betrayals and hidden desires that he couldn’t fulfill. I have no idea what went on with him. All I know is how he treated me and you know, another thing and it’s a theory of mine, I can’t prove it, but I kind of feel like we learn to see ourselves the way our parents saw themselves. Not the way they saw us. But the way they saw themselves, we absorb that. And we mimic that by seeing ourselves the same way. I don’t know, I can’t prove it, but it feels like that to me.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 30: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 29: The Evaluative Mind, Grace, Dada Mukerjee
2020/07/01 - 23 min

I said to Siddhi Ma, I said, ‘Ma, Maharajji said He has the keys to the mind, so to me that means that I am where He puts me, where He wants me to be. So, Ma, is it grace? In other words, is it His doing, or is it my effort that’s important? What’s the deal?’ So, She said, ‘Krishna Das, it’s all grace but you have to act like it isn’t.’ Which is very far out. It’s a done deal. None of this is happening. It just looks like it’s happening. But because we believe it, we have choices to make, we have practices to do. We have karmas to perform because everything is a karma. Every thought is a karma. So, you want to create the karmas that will bring the goodness into your life and into the life of other people around you also, since everything you do creates some kind of karma. Let’s at least try to create some happiness for ourselves with our actions and others.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 29: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 28: Suffering, Gratitude and Burning Out
2020/06/24 - 35 min

So, I can feel this softening thing happening in my personal relationships and my everyday life. I’m having a really hard time with the world stage, how to not either not run away from it or like, bring just furious disgust and I’m not sure how to handle, like, what do you suggest with that?

“We don’t know what’s going on… Western culture is a few hundred years old. Modern science is a couple hundred years old, maybe, at the most, and we think we know everything about everything. We don’t even know who we are. How are we going to know who anybody else is. So, the best idea is to become the best human being that you can and everywhere you go and everything you do should be from the best place you can do it from.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 28: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 27: Spiritual Experiences, Auschwitz
and Bernie Glassman
2020/06/15 - 32 min

Recently I’ve been having a draw to learn or feel more of my tradition and the ancestors and who’s come before me, and what moved me that I saw online was when you were in the barracks in Auschwitz, (you) sat down and sang to the children. My parents survived the holocaust. Their people did not. And when you sang and I experienced that video, I felt you were singing to and for me. I don’t know if that’s what your intent was but if you want to speak to that, please do because I want to know your experience and by way of request, if you want to sing that for our children, please do, Krishna Das.

“I had a great friend named Bernie Glassman who’s a Zen Roshi, who had many deep enlightenment experiences and finally realized that the only thing keeping him and others out of that place was his own fear. So, he began to move towards the places where he had the most fear and where culturally in the world there was a lot of fear. So, one of those places was Auschwitz. And he began going to Auschwitz every year and bringing people to bear witness to the suffering. It wasn’t to just to go and suffer, but it was to bear witness and that’s a practice, to bear witness. And the idea was, in order to bear witness to something, one has to look at it and see it and in order to see it, one has to drop one’s ideas about it. And be with it. To see it clearly, one has to drop one’s stuff.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 27: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 26: Resolving Trauma
2020/04/29 - 26 min

For my own karma, I would like to resolve those things that I’ve felt that I could have done better. Situations I could have handled better and I just wondered what your thoughts were on that, like, if you’ve hurt people in your past that you want to redress the situation but, I just wondered what your thoughts are, because sometimes people don’t want to be, a situation, you might be in a different frame of mind but they might not be, I’m just speaking very generally, but I just mean with respect to your own karmic situation.

“Well, you know, there’s the inner and the outer. In the outer world, not everybody we’ve hurt wants to forgive us. That’s their problem. Our work is to release all that energy that’s blocked up in those intense emotions and I don’t think we need to try to forgive other people right off the bat. I think we need to first kind of calm ourselves down” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 26: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 25: Planting Seeds and The Hanuman Chalisa
2020/04/14 - 27 min

KD discusses the importance of practice, particularly the practices of Mantra repetition and the Hanuman Chalisa, and recalls how Maharajji’s Western devotees initially began chanting the Chalisa.

“So, Maharajji said a couple of things. He said, “Hanuman Chalisa, every line of Hanuman Chalisa is Mahamantra.” Second, He said, “Hanuman Chalisa has the power to change fate.” Now, don’t, I have no idea what He’s talking about. But that’s what He said. And it feels to me, you know, we don’t know what’s going to happen, what’s coming to us tomorrow and the next minute and the next second, but not everything is pleasant. There’s sickness, there’s disease, there’s suffering, all kinds of things, so through this practice, those rocks, those boulders in the river of our lives are removed.” – Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 25: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 24: Paying Attention and the Guru
2020/03/12 - 24 min

We don’t know who we are. We don’t know what we really are. We don’t know what’s looking out of our eyes. We don’t know what’s experiencing the things we experience. We just experience, we wake up, drink some beer, go back to sleep and drink some more beer. That’s all we do. So, if we don’t know our Self, how are we going to know guru? How are we going to know God? Well, when your karma is ripe, to a certain point, I guess, the Self recognizes itself in someone that looks like they’re outside of you. Another human. Another Being. Another body. You recognize something in that Being and it’s something that comes from within. A recognition from within that is like coming home, you know?

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 24: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 23: Thoughts and Karma Meditation and Moping
2020/03/06 - 18 min

Given that we often refer to our minds as a wild monkey, that thoughts come up that we have no control over, it seems that, to be held responsible for thoughts that come up, that are not coming up because we intend them to come up, if there’s no intention, are we really responsible for the karmic consequences of our thoughts?

“You don’t have to believe blindly in karma… you’re not required to believe anything. Blind faith is not useful in any way whatsoever. But when you look at certain situations, when you look at your own behaviors, you can kind of see where certain things are coming from, you know? You can see where you were born, you can see how you grew up, you can see how your parents treated each other. You can see how they treated you, you can see how they treated themselves, and you can feel, kind of the effects on that, of that, in who you feel you are, and out of who you feel you are, that’s how you will meet every moment that arises, whether it’s a mental moment of thoughts arising or it’s a moment in the physical world of stuff happening. How you greet each moment, every moment, every second of your life is not only an effect of certain causes, but also, becomes the cause of certain effects at the same time.” - Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 23: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 22: Meditation and Moping
2020/02/27 - 20 min

I don’t like the outside silence leading me to the stuff in my head. But when I feel it with the chanting, I feel like, movement, and I process things. So I’m wondering, is there a difference for you between what we call meditation and now I think mindfulness and I’m wondering if you think there’s a difference between like, mindfulness, meditation, mantra chanting, like all the words?

“I sit down and I start singing and once I start singing, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except the singing and that, I don’t even know what to call it, that reflex, almost of paying attention, as soon as I’m gone, I wake up, I remember and I come back to the Name. Again and again and again. I don’t analyze what I was thinking. I don’t analyze how I’m feeling, you know? I just let it go and come back. It’s not important. I am not important.

The reason I mope around less is because I and how I feel and all my emotions and “how am I now? How am I now? How am I now? Is it good? Is this good? I think this is better if I do it this way. A little Vaseline over here will make it easier…” becomes unimportant. It’s just not about that. So, be unhappy. It’s ok. Enjoy. “ - Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 22: klik hier

Call and Response Special Edition: Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck
2020/01/15 - 69 min

David Nichtern is a senior teacher in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. This tradition combines a contemporary, secular approach to meditation with the ancient practices and philosophies of Tibetan Buddhism. David has created and taught meditation teacher trainer programs worldwide. He has also been a business consultant with companies creating a variety of offerings integrating meditation in a larger health and well-being context. As many of you already know, David is also a well known composer, producer and guitarist – a four-time Emmy winner and a two-time Grammy nominee, and often tours and plays with Krishna Das. In this podcast, the two chat about spirituality and making a living on the heels of the launch of David’s new book: Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Special Edition: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 21: Longing, Ripening and Dada Vaswani
2019/09/24 - 22 min

The other people who met Maharajji talk about is the experience of His unconditional love, as you said once, “His unbearable love,” and my guess is that for many people, certainly who’ve not had the experience of Baba in the body and who maybe don’t have… my guess is when you speak of that, many people wish to feel that, to feel unconditional love, maybe that’s why they keep coming, I don’t know. And so, after a lifetime of doing this and becoming a teacher, what can you say? You know, what can you say to people about having that experience, finding that experience?

“I would say that the more you long for it, the better it is. Period. You have to be where you are. You can’t be anybody else. You can’t be anywhere else. What you can do is look, be yourself 100% and the longing for that love is what brings towards it. Period. End of conversation. That’s it. Nothing else. That’s my only qualification for any of this, is longing. This insane amount of longing that destroyed my life. It destroyed everything I thought I was going to be in life and replaced it with all this nonsense. It was that longing which I brought into this life and when I speak about this love and my Guru and you feel “I want a guru, I want a guru,” that’s a good longing to have because that longing will not leave you until you find what it is you’re longing for. There’s no easy way to get through this. It sucks. Period. I can’t make it all right for anybody but I can tell you that the more longing you have, the better it is. “ - Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 21: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 19: Spiritual Love and Worldly Love
2019/05/14 - 26 min

I wanted to ask if you could talk a bit about your relationship with Maharajji and maybe the difference between love as we know it in the sense of a romantic relationship or relationships, and the love you felt when you were with Maharajji.

“He (Maharajji”, being completely free of subjectivity, would mirror what we needed to see for us, what we wanted to see but inside of that subjective take on Him, He would manifest real love.”- Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 19: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 18: How To Develop Faith
2019/05/14 - 07 min

Tell me a little bit about how your faith… and trust in the universe that happened over time… how did it develop for you? How do you develop faith?

“The mind can’t conceive of what’s not a thought. Emotions can’t feel anything that’s not a feeling, an emotional feeling. The body and the senses can’t receive anything that’s not a sense input. Faith and grace, they have nothing to do with the body and the mind or the emotions. It’s a blessing that comes to us due to a combination of our good karmas, the work that we’ve already done in our life and in our lives before if you believe in that, and the kindness of the Saints who have realized what this is all about and we’ve all, if we’re interested in this nonsense at all, it’s because we have a connection with some lineage at some time with our own past already. It’s not an accident.” - Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 18: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 17: Grace in The West
2019/05/14 - 09 min

How do we, in the West live the way you speak of? The way we all want to in our hearts? We need money in this culture… We can’t walk around, as you said, with a wraparound, shoeless and in the East you can. So…. it’s so difficult, how do we compromise in the West? Or, how do we recover peace in the West when we strive for the Eastern culture?

“Once, I was having a dream, I had this dream where I was being reincarnated, I was coming back to a body and I was heading right for India, right for India, and at the last minute I made a left turn and wound up in New York. But, I was impelled by my karmas. This was the place where I would be able to fulfill the things I needed to do. The hungers that I was, in another culture, I might not have been able to get what I needed to have in order to complete certain karmic desires. So, it’s not a mistake that we’re here. But it would be a mistake to try to do it like the Indians do it. We can’t, we’re not born that way. We have a different psychological shape. Very different. But we’re still, we’re no different from anybody on the planet anywhere, inside. So that’s all the same, it’s just the outer shell is different. We have to find a way to look at that and see what that is. Work with it." - Krishna Das

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 17: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 16: Spiritual Practice and the State of the World
How do we live a spiritual life in today’s political climate?
2019/05/13 - 17 min

When Maharajji was around physically… something was going on, some upheaval, political problems, and one of His devotees came to Him and said, “Oh, if there was only a king like King Janaka”, who, in the history of India, was an enlightened King, you know? “If there was only someone like Janaka to fix up all this political stuff.” Maharajji said, “there’s a King greater than Janaka now who is taking care of all this.” There is somebody running the show. “And if it has to go this way now, let it go.” That doesn’t mean we don’t do everything we have to do in regard to this, but the most important thing is to remember that, when you take your last breath, whatever karmas you have, whatever programs are still running in there, are going to keep running into your next incarnation. So you do your best work right now…

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 16: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 15: Our State of Mind Is Everything
How does one’s state of mind color one’s world view?
2019/05/13 - 11 min

I remember the first rainy season. Oh, everything was wet. The bed is wet. The hair was wet. The clothes were wet. You sat down, it was wet. You stood up, it was wet. You got on the bus, wet came down on you. There was no place it wasn’t wet. For three months, I was like…
And then, I remember like the second year, wet. By the third year, wet. Nothing. It didn’t, I hardly noticed. It was strange. I go to India now, it’s so hot. I lived there in those days. There was no air conditioning. There was nothing. It was 120 degrees and I don’t remember being hot. Now, it’s like oof. So, it’s, state of mind is everything. Everything. Everything.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 15: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 14: KD Chats with Bob Thurman
2019/05/08 - 65 min

Robert A.F. Thurman recently retired as Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in theDepartment of Religion atColumbia University,President of theTibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan civilization,Time magazine chose Professor Thurman as one of its 25 most influential Americans in 1997, describing him as a “larger than life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.” The New York Times recently said Thurman “is considered the leading American expert onTibetan Buddhism.Inspired by his good friend the Dalai Lama, Thurman stands on Buddhism’s open reality, and thence takes us along with him into an expanded vision of the world, whether the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the wonders of the life of the heart.He always shares the sense of refuge in the Dharma, which unfailingly helps us clear away the shrouds of fear and confusion, sustains us with the cheerfulness of an enriched present, and opens a door to a path of realistic hope for a peaceful future.“There’s two ways of looking at the sublime continuum, which is to say the Buddha Nature.There’s one way where the Buddha says, ‘Buddha nature is something we teach to reassure people who are frightened when we say ‘selfless’ and they think there’s no soul.’ So BuddhaNature sort of substitutes for soul. But that’s a lower way of looking at it. A higher way of looking at Buddha Nature is, it is Reality Itself in the form of the fact that enlightened Beings,Beings who are truly enlightened, which doesn’t mean every kind of deity, but some of them, maybe, but enlightened Beings feel, they viscerally feel themselves to be everybody else. So, for example, any Buddha, and there are millions of them, but particularly the one who worries most about us at the moment is Shakyamuni, you know, Siddhartha’s last Shakyamuni, He is you, Krishna Das, and Me, from His perspective. He’s us. He actually enjoys being us. He does.”– Robert Thurman

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 14: klik hier

Call and Response Episode13: Remembering Bernie Glassman
2019/03/21 - 20 min

Roshi Bernie Glassman, an American Zen Master affectionately referred to as “Bernie,” was a vibrant character who had a significant influence on American dharma. Along with being a Zen master, was also an aeronautical engineer, a social entrepreneur, an interfaith activist, and a clown. Bernie left his body in late 2018. In this episode, KD shares his recollections on his great friend. At 11:42 KD sings “Hungry Hearts” chant. This chant was recently recorded for
Bernie’s memorial.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 13: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 12: Krishna Das chats with Lama Surya Das
2019/02/06 - 67 min

Krishna Das chats with Lama Surya Das, one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars, and a long-time friend. In this interview, the conversation between KD and Lama Surya Das touches on the subjects of spiritual practice, retreat, death, mindfulness, compassion and more. At 55:20, KD and Lama Surya Das chant the Buddhist mantra “Om Mani Pedmé Hung” together.

You know, one time, Maharajji said, ‘I hold the keys to the mind,’ … and then He teased us and said, ‘I can turn your minds against me.’ ‘No Baba, don’t do that.’ And He’d laugh, you know? So I said to Siddhi Ma, I said, “Ma, Maharajji says He holds the keys to the mind, which means to me that I am exactly where He wants me to be at all times, otherwise I’d be somewhere else, mentally, I mean like, spiritually, internally. My experience would be different. So, I’m where He wants me to be. So where does personal effort come in? Is it all grace? Or is it personal effort’” She says, ‘It’s all grace, but you have to act like it isn’t.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 12: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 11: Well Being
2019/02/06 - 21 min

One time, an old lady came to Maharajji, and she said, “Baba, show me God. Show me God, Baba.” And she was all emotional. Baba said, “Ok, Ma. Not now. Go away.” So later, at the end of the day, see she had come from a local town, and at the end of the day, she had to catch the bus back to her family, so at the end of the evening, she comes back to pranam to say goodbye to Maharajji and catch the bus. So she bows down and Maharajji says, “Ok, Ma, come here. I’m going to show you God now.” “Not now Baba, I have to go home!” That’s where we are. You know? We want that, but not now, I’m too busy, I have a movie to go to. I have a date tonight, I can’t do that. So, just, you know, be good to yourself. Learn how to do that. Learn how to be good to yourself.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 11: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 10: Selfless Service
2019/02/06 - 8 min

One time, Mr. Tiwari, my Indian father, was sitting with Maharajji. Maharajji said, “So, you’re a brahmin, you’re supposed to know everything. What does Krishna teach in the Gita?” So now everybody, if you ask that question, they basically say, “Selfless Service,” right? So, he knew it was a setup, but he said it anyway. “You miserable brahmins, misleading the people. Only God does Selfless Service.” Because God is the whole thing. There is no Self. You know? There’s only That. All of us are just doing the best we can and we’re working on thinning that, that barrier or shell that seems so solid of self.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 10: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 09: Surrender
2019/02/06 - 27 min

Surrender happens by grace. It’s not an act of personal will. That might be a hard thing to understand because we don’t, you know, grace is such a foreign concept to Westerners, but you know, Ramana Maharshi said, “If you ask the thief to be the policeman, there will be a lot of investigation, but no arrest will ever be made.” That’s the thing about surrender. If you ask your ego to surrender, it’ll make a good job of looking like it’s trying to do that, all the time it’s getting bigger and stronger.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 09: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 08: Perceived Liberation
2019/02/06 - 6 min

I don’t know. You know, I’ve read a lot of stuff, I’ve been taking teachings from a lot of different types of schools of philosophy, of practice. They say that liberation is being able to live in your natural state, the natural state. On the Hindu side, it’s called sahaja samahdi, the easy natural state. In Tibetan Buddhism, it’s called Mahamudra or Zogchen or Rigpa, awareness, natural, natural state. I don’t think about it that much anymore, you know? I want to be living a good life in a good way. I want to be happy. I want to at least be in the ring with my bullshit, you know? So I’m not knocked out of the ring by it. I want to be in there with it. And to me, that’s a good place to be.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 08: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 07: Four Fruits Of Life
2019/02/06 - 19 min

Hanuman not only gives liberation, frees us, but in the process of freeing us, He allows us to satisfy the desires that we need to have satisfied to move on.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 07: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 06: The Atheist Mind
2019/02/06 - 7 min

The clouds come and go but the sky is always here, so, you can’t disbelieve the sky when you see everything going through it. You may not be able to see the sky, but you know it’s there.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 06: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 05: Judging and Acting
2019/02/06 - 14 min

You don’t have to judge. Judging means you’re seeing that person as evil. Or bad. And you’re not seeing that that person, just like you, is a result of many different things in that person’s life. Most people who abuse, have been abused. Right? Does that make them bad? It just makes them victims. Victims become victimizers. Not 100% but to a large degree. Most of what we’re taught about ourselves through our earlier life and our parents, we then absorb and we teach it to anybody around us. So, people who abuse are often abusing out of their own pain. That doesn’t excuse them. You wouldn’t let them hurt somebody if you were there. But you wouldn’t necessarily have to hate them to stop them. The not hating is the inner work. The preventing suffering on the outside is the outer result of that work.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 05: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 04: Desire and Willfulness
2019/02/06 - 15 min

Most of everything we do in life is designed to shine us up a little bit, so people will like us and look at us and appreciate us more and we get some attention, some affection. You know? But we don’t have to shine. We really don’t have to. So, if you’re noticing all the ways you’re trying to shine, that’s good. Otherwise how can you let go of that stuff if you don’t notice? Right? It’s not going to help you get happy. You’re just going to spend a lot of time shining yourself up. Then you fall apart.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 04: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 03: Bearing Witness
2019/02/06 - 16 min

Unconditional love, it’s a word, it’s a phrase, it’s hard to connect with that. Unconditional love. Just think about the sun. It shines evenly all the time on everything. On the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the high, the low. It shines on those miserable people who kill people and murder people and treat people like shit and it shines on the people who care for people and do charity and help people every chance they get. The sun shines equally on everything and everyone. That’s what it is. That’s unconditional.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 03: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 02: How does Love Relate to Life
2019/02/06 - 12 min

That’s the other thing that happens, you also start to accept all the parts of your life a lot more easily. All the shadows. You know, the shadows, if we don’t see them, they just keep pushing us around and they don’t go away by themselves. They must be looked at, they must be released, consciously released to some degree. So, when Maharajji sent me back to America after two and a half years, he said, “You go back to America. You have attachment there.” So, this is, this is what’s left after 50 years of dealing with attachment. Just, me and my main squeeze here. And my life, you know? But I think one of the things you’re asking, I’m not looking for that love in anybody anymore, in a person, in a human being.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 02: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 01: Talk on the Hanuman Chalisa
2019/02/06 - 19 min

Maharajji, Hanuman and The Flow of Grace Towards Love. - This is the way Mahrajji was. Everything that came towards Him got something burnt away, because you couldn’t come close to that fire with all your shit. You had to drop it or you couldn’t get there. Just coming towards that love burns stuff off of you in the first place. And that’s Hanuman. Hanuman is that love that’s always turned towards Ram, towards God, and anything that approaches Hanuman gets into that flow of Grace towards love. But in order to enter into that flow, you have to leave some of that luggage behind. You have to. It’s not always pleasant and it’s not, it doesn’t always feel good but you want the love more than you want all that luggage and so you will let go of that given the opportunity.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 01: klik hier

Call and Response Episode 00: Keeping Up with Daily Sadhana and Practice
2018/01/16 - 8 min

In this episode Krishna Das discusses keeping up with our daily practices (sadhana) despite distractions and hurry in our daily lives.

Krishna Das Call and Response Podcast - Ep. 00: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart

Pilgrim Heart Episode 74: Posturing in the Void

2019/4/9 - 72.05 min

This time on the Pilgrim Heart Podcast, Krishna Das talks about how we can approach spiritual practice in a way that does not shut ourselves out or leave us posturing in the void. Descent Into The Lake of The Mind - Krishna Das shares stories about Hanuman and talks about the lessons these stories have to teach us. He looks at the unique power that the Ramayana has to engage Westerners with their heart. KD talks about working with the limitations of the mind when we begin the practice of chanting mantra.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 74: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 73: Surrender to What is

2019/4/9 - 77.08 min

This time on the Pilgrim Heart Podcast, Krishna Das and Robert Thurman explore the path of surrender and the possibility of realization through faith alone. By Faith Alone - Robert shares the story of Sherenika The Wanderer, an ascetic who realized transcendent wisdom through his faith. He and Krishna Das talk about the possibility of transcendence though faith alone.

”Faith could be a path to wisdom. It could be a path to the experience of reality that is, which then leads to salvation. Then that reality is experienced as blissful nurturing compassion.” – Bob Thurman

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 73: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 54: Matters of Faith

2017/10/30 - 52.11 min

In this episode of the Pilgrim Heart Podcast, Krishna Das explores matters of faith and the heart. Faith or Delusion? – Krishna Das talks about the difference between faith and delusion. He looks at the strength that comes with faith and the clarity needed to accept it.

“Hope based on delusion is useless, but hope based on reality is called faith. You understand there is a path, you are on it and you are doing the best you can to overcome your limitations. There is no reason to feel hopeless about the future, because you are doing the best you can for yourself and others.”

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 54: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 53: Identity and Purpose

2017/9/29 - 49.08 min

On this episode, Krishna Das looks at the transformative power that practice has to break through who we think we are and uncover our true selves. Can’t Buy Me Love – Despite all of the talk of love, it is something so elusive that most of us don’t believe we can find that love or that it even exists at all. Krishna Das talks about the way that practice reveals that love is not something to find, but something we are able to access at any time and anywhere. He shares stories describing the sweet space of love that Maharaj-Ji created around himself, a kind of space available to us all.

“If we really believed that there is something to find we would already have it, which of course we do but we just don’t know it. So that is the quandary that we are in, we have to do these practices to clean the mirror of our hearts so that we can see our true nature; see the love and beauty that we are. But we don’t believe it exists so we don’t do it.”

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 53: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 52: Guru Within

2017/9/5 - 54.48 min

On this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das talks about the ripening of our spiritual practice and finding the Guru within.
Ripening of the Soul – One of the more important things to keep in mind about spiritual practice is that it is not something that provides instant gratification. Krishna Das discusses the slow process of practice that ripeness like a fruit as we discover the Guru within.

“You do the practices; you expose yourself to the teachings; you do your best to understand what direction you are supposed to be going in, and you live your life. Everything is already within us, you just have to unlock that door.”

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 52: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 51: Fate and Consciousness

2017/8/18 - 68.54 min

Time, Nature and Fate – Krishna Das reflects on a poem from the great poet and saint Tulsidas about free-will.
“We think we have free-will and so we act that way. Free-will means being able to make choices that are not conditioned by a previous situation. Free-will means being able to flow in any direction you want, not just the channels that we flow in habitually. It looks like free-will to us, but a lot of things look like a lot of things to us.”

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 51: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 50: Seeds of Practice

2017/7/14 - 30.34 min

On this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das encourages us to break down the walls of our ordinary minds by planting the seeds of practice. Krishna Das explains the reason for the repetition of the many names of God. He encourages us to free ourselves by planting the seeds of practice. “The root of all these names is pure being; is presence; is awareness; is love; is Atman; is; Buddha Nature; is self. All those things are the same thing; which is what lives within us and is who we really are, not who we think we are.”

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 50: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 49: Live from Open YuorHeart Paradise Retreat 2016
2017/6/9 - 47.46 min

Live from the 2016 Open Your Heart in Paradise Retreat, Krishna Das performs kirtan and delivers heartfelt wisdom. On this special episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das touches on the power of love and the grace of the Guru.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 49: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 48: Practice Practice Practice
2017/3/11 - 19.58 min

Krishna Das imparts wisdom on the role of practice in our lives. KD shows us how practice cultivates capacity through repetition and return. It Doesn’t Get Easier. In India, they say to do practice while you are young, when you can because it doesn’t get easier as you get older. Krishna Das shares words of wisdom about working on ourselves ASAP, so that when your heart breaks open, there is enough capacity to explore its new realms.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 48: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 47: Outside of the Room
2017/4/10 - 25.37 min

On this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das shows us how through practice we can find our way outside of the Room. Krishna Das shares the feeling of disconnection that led him to his spiritual practice of chanting. He shares the life changing moment that awakened him to the possibilities of the inner life.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 47: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 46: Desire and Enlightenment
2017/3/20 - 21.55 min

Krishna Das answers questions about practice, desire, and enlightenment. How do we balance our desires? Does a person need to travel to the other side of the world to find enlightenment? Krishna Das addresses these questions and more on this week’s episode of Pilgrim Heart.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 46: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 45: Sub Ek
2017/2/13 - 18.44 min

On this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das talks about our illusion of separateness and the reality that all is one, “sub ek.” In this simple phrase, “sub ek,” Maharajji summarizes the same thing wise men have always reminded us, that we are all one being. Krishna Das shows us how through practice we can dispel the illusion of separateness and begin a better way of being.

Ultimately, all of our practices are done with the aim of dissolving our sense of separateness. Most all of us think of ourselves as separate individuals from each other, which is relatively true. However, all of the great teachers and saints say that there is only one. There are no separate beings on the deeper level. As individuals, we are like waves. A wave rises up above the surface of the ocean, unique in its form. The wave, however, is nothing more than the ocean it came from.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 45: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 44: Faith and Spiritual Practice
2017/1/16 - 24.35 min

Krishna Das shares his wisdom on faith and spiritual practice. Spiritual practice is not an end in itself, it is a way to develop the strength to live a good life. KD gives a lesson on cultivating strength through spiritual practice. Krishna Das talks about his time in India learning to chant. He shares his first time hearing kirtan. At that moment, all the lights went on and Krishna Das realized that chanting was what he was looking for.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 44: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 43: Scandals, Maharaji and Relationships
2016/12/10 - 22.30 min

This week on Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das gets real about scandalous acts and relationships. Everyone is susceptible to getting caught up in their own trip, no matter how far into their inner journey they might be. Krishna Das speaks from his heart about Maharajji and what he taught KD about love.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 43: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 42: Spirituality & Music
2016/11/16 - 21.54 min

This week on, Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das answers questions about spirituality & music. What is the best way to deal with prejudice and misconceptions about our personal practice? KD answers this and addresses where the real power of chanting and kirtan comes from.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 42: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 41: Devotion Defined
2016/10/24 - 28.29 min

In this episode of Pilgrim Heart, Krishna Das answers questions from students on mantra, devotion, and practice. KD comments on spending time on worrying what others believe and listening to advice on what is and is not correct spiritual practice. What is the heart of devotion? Listen as KD reminisces about past “love” and learning what love and devotion really mean to him.

“Devotion is when love is not attached to an object, another person or thing. It is almost like being in love with the love.” -KD

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 41: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 40: Call of the Guru, Desire and Grace
2016/09/15 - 31.15 min

Krishna Das takes questions from his audience about desire, grace, and the call of the guru. We are given a glimpse of KD’s life after the death of Maharajji. KD speaks about the role of willpower and the importance of taking control of our lives.

Where do we turn in our darkest hour? Is there anything wrong with desires, or simply how we manage them? When we hear the call of the Guru all we must respond by accepting the call with open hands and heart.

“We have to cup our hands. It is raining everywhere, but unless we cup our hands we get no water to drink.” – KD on willpower.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 40: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 39: Relationships and Maharaji’s Early Life
2016/08/26 - 22.07 min

This podcast is an excerpt from a workshop with Krishna Das where he recounts lesser known details of Maharaji and his mysterious early life. Krishna Das reminds us that our basic spiritual work is a means for gathering the inner strength necessary to be a better human being toward ourselves and others. If those who are closest to us do not feel loved, then we likely need to reevaluate the motives and intentions that shape our relationships.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 39: klik hier

Pilgrim Heart Episode 38: Your Future is Now
2016/08/04 - 27.37 min

In this latest Pilgrim Heart episode, “Your Future is Now”, Krishna Das discusses how a human birth is an opportunity to overcome our animalistic tendencies and remove ourselves from the gravity of our own projections. In not knowing who or what we are, we learn that the only real security comes from entering into the presence of our own hearts. The names of God carry a magnetism that has the power to bring us home. The strength to let go comes from practice alone, so find what works and commit to a more peaceful you.

Krishna Das Pilgrim Heart Podcast - Ep. 38: klik hier

Chai 'n' Chat - video serie

Krishna Das sat down with some of our satsang over a cup of chai to answer a question of their choice. We filmed 16 parts to this series at YouTube Space in Manhattan early 2016. Each will cover a different topic.

Daily Sadhana / Practice
2016/10/11 - 6.33 min

Krishna Das Chai 'n'Chat - video serie - Ep. 01: klik hier

Spiritual Life and Service
2016/10/18 - 12.51 min

Krishna Das Chai 'n'Chat - video serie - Ep. 02: klik hier

Being Present
2016/10/25 - 12.43 min

Krishna Das Chai 'n'Chat - video serie - Ep. 03: klik hier

Chanting
2016/11/01 - 11.58 min

Krishna Das Chai 'n'Chat - video serie - Ep. 04: klik hier

Music in Relation to Chanting
2016/11/08 - 24.01 min

Krishna Das Chai 'n'Chat - video serie - Ep. 05: klik hier

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