Hari-kirtana das

Valentine’s Day invites giving, receiving, sharing, and connection.

In the Upadeśāmṛta (The Nectar of Instruction), 16th-century bhakti teacher Rūpa Goswami describes six loving exchanges that form the foundation of spiritual relationships:

Offering gifts

Accepting gifts

Revealing one’s heart in confidence

Inquiring confidentially

Accepting sanctified food

Offering sanctified food

These exchanges deepen human connection because they culminate in seva—loving service.

Seva is not obligation. It awakens the joy woven into our spiritual nature.

When we give, receive, confide, listen, cook, or offer with love, we align our relationships with something sacred.

Do these exchanges play a role in your loving relationships?

Bhakti-yoga isn’t partisan, but it’s definitely political.

Even basic teachings like “we are eternal souls, not just material bodies” carry deep political weight.

Bhakti demands honesty:
• Calling out falsehoods for what they are
• Demanding transparency when truth is hidden
• Standing up against cruelty—even when it’s uncomfortable

Silence isn’t neutrality—it’s a choice to protect comfort over justice.

What truths do you believe bhakti-yoga must voice today? Who needs to hear them? How should we speak?

Join the conversation below. Thoughtful reflections welcomed.

Yoga was never only about inner peace.

It has always been concerned with right relationship—with ourselves, with others, and with power.

Within the Bhakti tradition, three ethical principles are especially clear:
authority exists to protect the vulnerable;
fear is not a righteous method of rule;
and power exercised without mercy or truth violates dharma.

These teachings raise a serious question:
how do spiritual standards of authority, protection, and justice shape the way we think about enforcement today?

Thoughtful reflection and dialogue are welcome.

https://hari-kirtana-das.kit.com/posts/i-m-not-mad-at-you

I’m not mad at you When we dedicate our anger to a spiritual objective, we're nesting our anger in spiritual consciousness. How does that work?

https://hari-kirtana-das.kit.com/posts/understanding-how-we-got-here

Understanding how we got here Successful resistance doesn’t just put a stop to abusive authority; it makes sure the abusive authority never comes back by building something better.

https://hari-kirtana-das.kit.com/posts/the-yoga-of-belonging

The yoga of belonging Yoga communities can offer us a sense of belonging, but one could rightly question whether yoga itself has any communal attributes.

The values of yoga don’t vibe with consumer culture.

That’s why I prefer to call the biggest shopping day of the year “Buy Nothing Day.”

The values of yoga encourage us to consume less.

And when it comes to purchasing what we really need, yoga supports looking for alternatives to big corporations and giant retailers.
Instead of supporting companies that suck the wealth out of our communities and shovel it into the pockets of a handful of CEOs and shareholders, we can use our purchasing power to support small, locally- / women- / and minority-owned businesses.

So, if “Black Friday” is a golden opportunity to get a great deal on something you really need, put your money where your yoga is.

Or keep your money in your pocket and join me in celebrating “Buy Nothing Day.”

https://hari-kirtana-das.kit.com/posts/no-kings-yes-treats

No Kings — Yes: Treats! "After observing cruel Vena’s atrocities, all the great sages concluded that a great danger and catastrophe was approaching the people of the world."

https://hari-kirtana-das.kit.com/posts/dress-does-not-matter

Dress does not matter Yes, Portland protestors are wearing frog costumes and yes, Kristi Noem really did kill a puppy. But I digress. If we look beneath the surface . . .