When will @Street.tooth GBC rock another bhakti burner?😥
Welcome to this zine!
In this zine you will get to know 2 awesome devotees; Mahatma Das who has been practicing and teaching bhakti for 50 years and Jagattarini devi dasi who is an inspiring bhakti artist.
Podcast with Mahatma Das | Spiritual Success in the Materialistic Context
Jagattarini devi dasi | Bhakti Artist Spotlight
-How did you start practicing bhakti?
As a child I was very anxious and depressed about death and the goal of being alive. I have a loving and supportive family. But something was always missing. My parents as atheists explain to me that you live then die and disappear forever. It gave me so many panic attacks. Then at 18 I gave me 2 years to find happiness and the goal of being alive, if not I planned to kill me. Around 20, on a drunken depressive night, in despair and for the first time of my life, I prayed to the universe, to send me someone to help me because I wanted to change. 2 weeks after i met my husband, who is a devotee of Krishna, and he presented me Bhagavad Gita and its knowledge. It answered all the questions that no one was able to answer.
That's when I decided it was the right path to follow. And I waited all my life for it.
It was 10 years ago.
-Tell us about your art practice? Any projects in the works?
As I work a lot, full time as a florist, I try to be always very efficient when I create. I don't have that much time to draw or paint.
I use different mediums and different styles. There is one series which is often in black and white, with ink and markers. it's a long work in progress. I draw feelings, or emotions that I felt, with the imagination or scenery that I saw in real life. Often it's a combination of both.
Another part, it's my work with gouache and watercolor. I love to paint nature and people. To feel what's in their heart and in the energy of nature.
I draw comics sometimes when I have time. But it's more rare.
I sketch still life and nature to always ameliorate my technique.
I also draw on the walls of Parisian underground, or in the city. I draw ducklings and friends, they are saying mantras and quotes from Bhagavad Gita.
It's not because I practice Bhakti yoga, that I will automatically draw Krishna, or stories directly linked to him. I found it very difficult to represent Krishna in a sincere way. I think the result will be too much influenced by my mind. Krishna is not different from his picture. It's something very special. But a few times in a year, I feel a strong desire to draw, paint Krishna. Recently I had the vision of little portraits (miniatures) of Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman, that I serve at home. The idea is blooming little after little in my mind. When it is clear, I will paint it.
-Whats something not many people know about you?
I'm fond of stories about hell and how the soul goes there before taking another body (the tortures, the yamadutas...)
-What do you think about when creating?
I think about the emotions and feelings that I put in the drawing. How can it affect people. I often draw feelings and thoughts that people don't want to have. Thoughts about their existence, the goal of their life, the death, the time that goes away.... The material struggle.
-What's with the birds?
There are 2 type of birds in my drawings. The ones with a white circle on their heads are a personal interpretation of the yamadutas. The being who comes to pick you at the time of death, and bring you to hell.
The other one is a fat duckling, a self portrait. Because it's somehow how I feel often. Clumsy, anxious and disoriented , as will say my husband.
-Who is Krsna?
He is incredible and unpredictable. He can be your best friend, your parent, your Lord, your lover. He controls everything and at the same time He gives you your freewill. He is the perfection of selfless love.
I still have so many things to know about him.
-What can people expect if they chant Hare Krsna?
Expect nothing, but to please Krishna..personally I didn't like it at first, to chant on Japa. I preferred kirtan. But I did it because I knew that it pleases Krishna to repeat his name.
Besides, recently I started to like it more. I could see how it changed the heart, the mind. Like a soft breeze that appeases everything. It also becomes a refuge to get rid of my bad thoughts and doubts, fears. I understand a little now, when devotees say "take refuge in the name of Krishna".
@juliette.inigo
Film
An Australian doco featuring Sri Kesava.
Sri Kesava had a pretty cool band that reminds me of blondie and Veruca Salt.
Check it out here
I have asked her for an interview for a future podcast so maybe we will get a sequel to this ancient doco.
Wisdom
Attempting to strengthen the spiritual intelligence, I push myself to see the events not only from the temporal standpoint but also, most importantly, from the spiritual frame of reference. Otherwise, I know I won’t see the crisis clearly at all.
Baby Gopal - Shiva (Rock)
Forever - Mahatma Das & Friends (Ambient)
Agnideva - Gopinath (Kirtan)
Not For Sale - Invocation Song (Hardcore)
Read the Bhagavad Gita among friends🌛
To get started on your spiritual journey or journey alongside other righteous people, join the Gita Gang zoom room every Saturday night
https://chat.whatsapp.com/HNOJ9FOEXAcBinfyzyJJib
Support this zine
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You can also support this project by wearing one of my garments.
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