Seeking shelter

Last month you may have sat looking out the window, watching the rain fall and wondering if summer really was here. While it can be hard to feel optimistic about life when it is pouring rain, it can serve as a useful allegory for bhakti yogis. There is a story about Krishna as a boy, lifting up a hill to protect his family and community of fellow villagers from the torrential rain. The story serves to remind us that the Divine is there to shelter us from life’s hardships.

Bhakti offers us a deep message about seeking shelter. This term is often found in bhakti texts where we are reminded to think about where we seek shelter in life or what we turn to in response to stress, hardships and boredom.

Prominent bhakti yoga teacher A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami encouraged his followers to eschew caffeine, drugs, alcohol and consumerism, which so many people end up turning to at some point in their lives, and instead seek relief in the practice of kirtan. 

The writer Shoba Narayan describes watching women dance and sing at a Krishna temple in Jaipur. She is struck by how they are lost in the song and dance of the Divine, the stresses of daily life forgotten.

We invite you too to come and join us at Barefoot Kirtan in the Park on Saturday, 23rd July to sing and dance with abandon on the grass of Russell Square and leave all the troubles behind. A host of lovely kirtan singers, including Radhika das, Keli Woods, and Ananda Monet, will take shifts to lead the chanting over the four-hour period. Drop in for as little or as long as you like but be sure to book your ticket here as spaces are limited.