Where were we? For those of you who are newly joining us or who suffered from momentary ADD and didn't read last week's blog (lol!), let me catch you up. Last week we talked about the worldwide Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries that ushered in an era of light, inquiry, and exploration. I introduced Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a great saintly personality, considered by Vaishnavas to be an Incarnation of Lord Krishna, who appeared at the end of the 15th century in Bengal. Because

Picture a time long ago, in the late 15th century, when Europe was emerging from the darkness of the Middle Ages into a new dawn of intellectualism, art, music, philosophy. Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that what was happening in Europe was an awakening of consciousness, an inquiry into the nature and value of the individual, an inquiry that had not been raised before. And perhaps it can be said that it was the quest for the answer to this inquiry which inspired the p

For those of you who were wondering about the challenge question that I put out last week, the four people who were in the kirtan photo were: 1) Dave Stringer, 2) Danielle Koppel, 3) Jon Seskevich, and 4) Donovan Zimmerman, co-founder of the Paperhand Puppets. Jon has been a long-time enthusiast and teacher of both meditation and kirtan in the area, and Danielle is one of the folks who began their relationship with sacred chanting thanks to Dave Stringer's concerts. I believe

Twenty bonus points and a free order of pakoras to anyone who can name all four of the people in this photo. I am only slightly joking. How about 40 more bonus points to anyone who can say where and when this photo was taken? The problem with throwing out a challenge question like that is, that I am not very patient and want to just blurt out the answer without having to wait for your guesses. I had also originally wanted to talk tonight about things that would require me to

It's Time for Kirtan! What: Samadhi's brand new monthly kirtan party! Bring friends. Bring children. Bring a vegan snack to share. Potluck will be at 6:30 in the hall. Suggested donation $5-$20. Where: Triangle Yoga, 930 Martin Luther King Blvd., Chapel Hill, 27514 When: Saturday, March 5, 7-8:30 pm.; and every first Saturday of the month after that. Who: The full 7-piece Samadhi Kirtan Band! Don't miss this chance to see all of us together, before some of the membe