When the guru jumped his bond and apparently headed to Mexico, I was a bit concerned that our Om Shanti Yoga Retreat might be canceled. Not a problem, though–Jogi Bhagat was just renting space (and they could certainly use a little income!)

Today’s news is that Barsana Dham is changing its name to Radha Madhav Dham. Some of its affiliations will be the same, but leadership is changing (no surprise). It’s still a very beautiful place where individuals or groups can arrange a pleasant retreat.

Here’s the Statesman article:
By Eric Dexheimer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 8:02 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Published: 7:52 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2011
With guru on the lam, ashram makes changes

As its founder and former spiritual leader continues to elude U.S. marshals searching for him in Mexico, the Barsana Dham ashram southwest of Austin has quietly begun rebranding itself.

The changes, which include adopting a new name and reshuffling leadership positions, appear to be an effort to separate the organization from Prakashanand Saraswati, the guru who last month changed from a respected Hindu religious leader to a wanted felon.

According to an email sent to devotees April 4, the new name of the ashram will be Radha Madhav Dham.

“I would like to take this time to extend my heartfelt concern to all the loving devotees of Shree Swamiji and Shree Maharajji,” wrote Raj Goel, the organization’s newly identified president. “We have endured difficult times over the past days, both during and after the trial. Even through this, we continue to feel Shree Maharajji’s grace in our devotional lives.”

Shree Swamiji is the name devotees use for Prakashanand. Maharajji refers to Kripalu Maharaji, the India-based spiritual leader of Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, or JKP, the international organization of which Barsana Dham is a part. The reference suggests that the ashram will remain affiliated with JKP.

The trial refers to Prakashanand’s conviction last month by a Hays County jury on 20 counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact. The charges stemmed from the accusations of two women who asserted that the guru molested them when they were young girls growing up on the ashram.

The verdict was rendered on March 4. On March 7, Prakashanand was to appear for his sentencing, but the night before, he disappeared from a devotee’s Driftwood house, where he’d been staying. The jury sentenced him in absentia to 14 years in prison.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Hector Gomez said Wednesday that his agents were still focusing the search for Prakashanand on the Nuevo Laredo area, where they believe the guru fled and has been living while trying to arrange transportation out of the country, presumably to India.

Going on the lam could cost the ashram and the guru’s supporters $11 million. The ashram put up a $1 million cash bond when Prakashanand was released after his arrest. Later, Peter Spiegel, a wealthy supporter and ashram trustee, signed a note promising $10 million if the guru were given his passport back and permitted to travel internationally.

Prakashanand’s passport was returned in May 2008, but state District Judge Charles Ramsay ordered it revoked in October 2010 when Hays County prosecutors claimed the guru was deceiving the court by asking for trial delays due to poor health while he traveled widely.

The Hays County district attorney’s office has filed civil actions seeking forfeiture of both amounts. Those cases are pending.

Meanwhile, Spiegel’s name has disappeared from the ashram’s list of top officers, according to the recent email announcing the changes at Barsana Dham. A California-based businessman who made his fortune in the direct marketing and infomercial business, he has been closely involved with the affairs of Barsana Dham for three decades.

Also gone from the new masthead is the name of Prabhakari Devi, the former vice president and longtime public face of Barsana Dham. She is a sister of one of the women who accused Prakashanand of groping her in the mid-1990s.

Reached by phone, Raj Goel declined to comment on the email. A spokeswoman for the ashram, Vrinda Deutsch, confirmed the veracity of the letter but declined to answer any other questions about it.

This is the second time the ashram has changed identities since moving to the Austin area. In 1991, when it purchased the 211 acres on which Barsana Dham/Radha Madhav Dham now sits, the organization was known as the International Society of Divine Love.

edexheimer@statesman.com; 445-1774

My current favorite poem of all time is by Billy Collins. “Winter Syntax” begins,

“A sentence starts out like a lone traveler
heading into a blizzard at midnight . . .”

I love the imagery of the lonely struggle to find words to express the intangible in the hope of conveying meaning to others. I’ll be preaching this Sunday at First UU Church in Austin about the longings we have for whatever is missing in our lives. (Your ideas are welcome! Help me ruminate….)

My visit to India fed me spiritually and raised new questions about wealth and poverty. We went to temples and other places of devotion. We saw the generous spirit of the people. We saw a five-star hotel going up next to the waste pickers, who will be pushed further outside Delhi.

Contrasts like these seemed stark. We have similar stark contrasts in the U.S., where the budget process on local, state, and national levels reminds us of the disparity in priorities among us. It makes home budgeting look simple by comparison!

What do we owe one another? Is there hope for governments, corporations, non-profits, and ordinary folks to feed our needs? We are hungry for food, shelter, health care, and perhaps even hungrier for spiritual nourishment. What sources and resources do we have to strengthen the Beloved Community?

Here is more info about the Dancing Shiva temple where Justin and I received special blessings from the priest. The fire ritual was intense, beginning with the clamorous ringing of dozens of bells of all sizes. In a stone temple, the sound sweeps through you. The experience was unforgettable.

From the website:

“22.00 — 22.30 Puja with lamps, hymns and music, after which Shiva, represented by his holy sandals, is taken in a procession with the small palanquin to join his consort in the
Bedchamber.

“The ringing of the bells recreates the sacred sound OM, which is the root and origin of the creation. The lamps represent the different forms and aspects of the divine energy that evolve from the One Absolute in the process of creation and manifestation.

“The several ritual objects which are shown before the Nataraja are part of what is called ‘protocol’.

“The ceremony of the return of Shiva’s sandals to the Bedchamber in the evening at 10 o’clock takes on special significance and grandeur once a week, on the Friday evening. Where the seven daily rituals which are performed in the Sabha before the Nataraja are the key to the understanding of the cycles of cosmos, the seventh ritual reveals the ultimate secret.

“Fire burning, bells ringing, and finally his Cosmic Dance…… Then, the cosmic energy of Nataraja is carried in a small palanquin around the courtyards accompanied by drums, instruments, singing and chanting. Finally to join the cosmic energy of Shakti, his consort, in the Bedchamber, realizing the cosmology.”

Cities for People | New Urban Network.

(Thanks, Lonely Planet, for additional information that fleshes out things I learned in India.)

Tamil is the language spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India. It is an ancient and distinctive language of which residents are quite proud, along with their culture and history. Tamils consider themselves the keepers of Dravidian culture (pre-Aryan). Dravidians were pushed into south India by the Aryans some 2-3000 years BCE. At the same time, they influenced the Aryans, who incorporated some Dravidian beliefs into the Vedas. One example is vegetarianism: before these groups mingled, the nomadic Aryans ate meat for sustenance. Early Hinduism contained both Aryan rituals and Dravidian concepts like renunciation, karma, and reincarnation. Aryans also segregated from the darker skinned Dravidians and may have laid the foundation for the caste system.

[The star of David is a Dravidian symbol; the swastika, an Aryan symbol. The swastika was later co-opted by the Nazis and drawn as a mirror-opposite.]

Tamil leaders were among those who fought for independence from the British, which was gained in 1947. Since then they have fought against the caste system (no longer in the Constitution) and against the Hindi language. For a time they even fought for their own independence as a nation, Dravida Nadu, but that effort has ceased. They continue to wield major political power in the region.

Tamil speakers still tend to shun Hindi and English, the official languages of India. Tamil has given us words like “catamaran” and “juggernaut.”

Juggernaut is a representation of Krishna, who is worshipped in Puri, Orissa. During an annual festival his image is dragged through the streets in a heavy chariot. It is said that pilgrims of old would throw themselves under its wheels as an ultimate sacrifice. Hard to steer, and with no brakes, one of these chariots fell and crushed hundreds of devotees—thus the meaning of “juggernaut, a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force.”

Valluvar Kottam is a modern-day memorial to the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. It replicates ancient Tamil architecture and features an enormous stone chariot—a Juggernaut—35 meters high. A life-size statue of Thiruvaluvar sits inside the chariot. There is also an enormous auditorium inscribed with the poet’s work. Thiruvalluvar lived around the 1st century BCE and worked as a weaver. He became famous for his classic poem Thirukural, composed of 1,330 couplets that set out a moral code for millions of followers. They are wisdom couplets similar to those of Confucius.

The monument is indeed an impressive site, difficult to photograph for its size and the time of our visit. We climbed to the roof of the auditorium; it’s beautiful up there, with wind socks blowing in the breeze. Abhi remembered coming here as a kid, not long after it had been built in 1976, and the memory washed over him as we stood there.

Inside the auditorium and on the grounds was a nation-wide handicrafts fair, with goods from at least 15 of India’s 28 states. Some of the most charming (and handsome or beautiful) sales people enticed us to look at their wares. Diane and I bought sandals that caught our eyes. There were musical instruments, wood carvings, silks, and leather; metals, toys, and palm-leaf scrolls. Here are some of the pictures I took:

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Here is a link to more (scroll down)!