WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:04.349 Hi, I'm Professor Iqbal Akhtar here at Florida 00:00:04.349 --> 00:00:08.369 International University and here with the Interfreights 00:00:08.369 --> 00:00:11.869 Project as part of our courses here at Florida 00:00:11.869 --> 00:00:16.109 International. And we are honored today to have 00:00:16.109 --> 00:00:21.309 Haridas, who's here from Sacred Vedic Arts. He'll 00:00:21.309 --> 00:00:24.910 talk to us a little bit about his... where he 00:00:24.910 --> 00:00:26.949 grew up and kind of his spiritual journey. We'd 00:00:26.949 --> 00:00:31.469 love to learn more about you as a person, and 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:32.890 then we'll talk about kind of the work that you're 00:00:32.890 --> 00:00:37.149 doing here in Miami. Thank you. First, thank 00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:40.289 you so much for having me. I'm really honored. 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:42.950 So I'm the secretary for the Sacred Vedic Arts 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:46.210 Temple, and we're actually a pretty small, independent 00:00:46.210 --> 00:00:49.090 temple. We've now been in existence for four 00:00:49.090 --> 00:00:53.450 years, and we mostly focus on... the arts aspect 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:57.189 of our practice. A woman who founded our center, 00:00:57.350 --> 00:00:59.710 she has been a painter and a monk for nearly 00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:03.869 60 years. So we really work on promoting the 00:01:03.869 --> 00:01:06.109 arts as well. Okay, so talk to us, before we 00:01:06.109 --> 00:01:08.829 get into that, you said your temple, you're part 00:01:08.829 --> 00:01:12.069 of the Hindu tradition, right? Yeah. Okay. So 00:01:12.069 --> 00:01:15.250 should I give you some personal background first? 00:01:15.290 --> 00:01:17.170 Yeah, please. Okay, so I was actually born into 00:01:17.170 --> 00:01:20.079 a Jewish family. I was not born as a monk. I 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.299 was not born into a Hindu family. We were relatively 00:01:24.299 --> 00:01:29.400 religious, especially for most Jewish families 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:32.799 in a more secular role. We were somewhat conservative, 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:37.719 but we went to shul during the weekends. We actually 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:39.920 didn't follow the Sabbath, which was interesting, 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.439 but we did our best to keep kosher. Went most 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:45.459 weekends. My dad served on the temple board. 00:01:49.049 --> 00:01:51.829 That was a large part of my childhood until about 00:01:51.829 --> 00:01:55.390 13 after my bar mitzvah. My parents got divorced 00:01:55.390 --> 00:01:57.450 and my dad was the one who really kept the Judaism. 00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:01.010 So afterwards, the Judaism and the religion really 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:03.730 kind of wasn't so strong and prominent within 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:07.709 my family. But I still really kept to it, especially 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:11.229 from a cultural side. So growing up on Long Island, 00:02:11.270 --> 00:02:13.770 growing up in New York, you were either Italian 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:17.909 or you were Jewish. And that was it. And so I 00:02:17.909 --> 00:02:20.069 knew everybody who I knew was Jewish. And so 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:22.169 I went to college. I went to Philadelphia. I 00:02:22.169 --> 00:02:25.430 went to Drexel University. And all my friends 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:27.610 who I started hanging out with were also Jewish. 00:02:27.949 --> 00:02:32.250 In fact, I joined a Jewish fraternity. So it 00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:35.830 had no religious aspects to it. Like maybe we 00:02:35.830 --> 00:02:40.569 would do Shabbat, but it was pretty rare. It 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:43.669 was much more of a cultural thing. I became much 00:02:43.669 --> 00:02:46.439 more interested. in spirituality and religion 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:49.680 in general as I was preparing to leave college. 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:53.000 I was seeing around me, oh, my friends are leaving. 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:57.680 And, you know, we had these relationships, but 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.960 they weren't so deep. And so I started really 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.740 seeking an understanding of who I am, where can 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:05.120 I find meaning? And so I initially started going 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.879 to the local Chabad, which I just started on 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:11.620 campus. And I found actually a pretty nice connection 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:15.689 there. And what I'd really craved was to deeply 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:18.930 understand what we were doing. Even though I'd 00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:22.830 been going to school, like the temple school 00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:25.449 when I was young, I still didn't really understand 00:03:25.449 --> 00:03:29.909 what it was about. And so I started seeking out 00:03:29.909 --> 00:03:32.469 a rabbi to say, okay, who can I learn from? Who 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:36.590 can I learn Torah from? But nobody was available. 00:03:37.449 --> 00:03:40.229 And eventually I was actually ready to leave 00:03:40.229 --> 00:03:43.979 my job. and go to israel and go learn to be a 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:45.900 rabbi and thankfully i had a friend who looked 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:47.639 at me and said i think you're just running away 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:49.699 from your problems you need to actually confront 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:52.240 your problems and i was like oh you're right 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:55.500 i was experiencing a lot of anxiety you know 00:03:55.500 --> 00:03:58.300 i'm suddenly out in the world working responsible 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:02.099 and couldn't behave like i did when i was in 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:05.639 college and was trying to understand who am i 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:08.699 and what am i doing in this world and so because 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:11.000 of that i said okay let's actually take it easy 00:04:11.550 --> 00:04:18.290 And explore more of who I am. So because I hadn't 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:20.670 made a deep connection with the teachings of 00:04:20.670 --> 00:04:22.730 the faith or really understood what it meant 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:27.350 beyond ritual, I didn't develop a deep connection. 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:32.750 And through the demands of work, I really started 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:35.970 losing that connection. But I really needed some 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:40.410 sort of practice. I was... I had a lot of anxiety. 00:04:40.529 --> 00:04:43.689 I had a lot of stress. I was also depressed since 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:46.509 I was young, so I really needed something. And 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:49.509 from there, I started practicing yoga. And I 00:04:49.509 --> 00:04:54.569 actually became very atheist because the yoga 00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:57.490 practice was really about the body, really about 00:04:57.490 --> 00:05:02.370 just deep, deep, deep meditation. And also looking 00:05:02.370 --> 00:05:04.110 around at the world, I could see there were so 00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:06.910 many problems in the world, but nothing was really 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:11.470 resolving. And to me, religion was ritual, at 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:14.170 best ritual. And then there was a lot of negative 00:05:14.170 --> 00:05:17.149 connotations, especially in the media in those 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:19.389 days, and probably still pretty prevalent today. 00:05:19.829 --> 00:05:22.430 Now, it's been four years as a monk, so I'm pretty 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:27.910 far from the media. And so as I started doing 00:05:27.910 --> 00:05:31.250 this yoga practice, I reached pretty deep states 00:05:31.250 --> 00:05:35.230 of meditation. And I'd actually really thought 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:38.160 that was the thing for me. I was really thought 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:40.660 like, okay, I'm just going to do this yoga practice, 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.519 do deeper, deeper meditation until, I guess, 00:05:44.540 --> 00:05:46.439 until death. I didn't even really think that 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:50.800 death was a thing that could happen. But then 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.680 one day, I just suddenly started having these 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:57.680 thoughts of, I need something more. And at the 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:00.839 same exact time, a friend of mine in Philadelphia 00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:04.980 was starting a yoga studio specifically for Bhagavad 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:08.029 Gita and Kirtan. I said, okay, I'm going to go 00:06:08.029 --> 00:06:12.170 check that out. And the first kirtana really, 00:06:12.250 --> 00:06:15.209 which is singing and chanting, especially the 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:20.610 Hare Krishna mantra. And as a group, it really 00:06:20.610 --> 00:06:22.629 just struck me in the heart. It struck me in 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:26.689 the heart and I just kept going. Something about 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:29.310 it was just like so perfectly aligned with everything 00:06:29.310 --> 00:06:33.500 also who I was, what I'd wanted from life. I 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:35.439 really connected, especially like even the way 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.319 it was packaged. The person who was doing the 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.259 kirtan was this ex -punk rocker. And I loved 00:06:41.259 --> 00:06:45.120 punk rock. I loved all of it. And so it was just 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.899 so perfect. And we formed a little kirtan group. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.360 So we would just go to this yoga studio once 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:54.980 a week. We would sing. We would chant. And it 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:57.639 was a lot of fun. So we'd all experiment. Most 00:06:57.639 --> 00:06:59.779 of us had no idea what we were doing playing 00:06:59.779 --> 00:07:04.439 instruments. It was incredibly DIY, but we laughed, 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:07.220 we joked, it was fun, and the community really 00:07:07.220 --> 00:07:10.240 came together around it. Additionally, we studied 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.060 Bhagavad Gita, but at this point, I was still 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:17.259 pretty standoffish to any concept of God. In 00:07:17.259 --> 00:07:20.220 fact, when I first started reading it, I remember 00:07:20.220 --> 00:07:25.379 I just thought, God, what is this? What year 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:27.540 is this? Who's here looking at me and saying, 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:29.920 this is the way, this is the way, this is the 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:33.639 way? I said, this isn't for me, okay. But I still 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.560 liked the singing and chanting so much. I would 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.500 do it at home. I would go to our group. And that 00:07:39.500 --> 00:07:44.480 became my spiritual practice. Then around 2016 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.839 was a major change. It really called everything 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:52.439 into question for my life, especially like what's 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:55.480 happening in the world and what part do I have 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:59.259 to play in it. And it felt like I couldn't really. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:04.279 uh that i didn't know what my port my part was 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:09.000 and i didn't have power within that so i really 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.540 started exploring more and more who i was i started 00:08:12.540 --> 00:08:15.639 traveling to asia more my friend and i would 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:19.120 get motorcycles and just travel we took a lot 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:24.959 of risks and i also started chanting a lot more 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:29.660 uh and i actually ended up leaving my job after 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:32.440 seven years and after continuous steady promotion, 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:36.659 to go to India. I thought I could teach yoga. 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:38.820 I'd been practicing for a while. I'd been teaching 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:41.679 for a while. Okay, I can always rely on this 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:46.779 if I need to make money. And I mostly went to 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:49.879 religious places. I wasn't really intentionally 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:53.840 religious. In fact, I laugh now because I don't 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:55.820 know, didn't know any of the culturally religious 00:08:55.820 --> 00:08:59.879 things, but I just happened to be going. to the 00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:05.500 religious sites and staying there and when i 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:09.000 left i actually left on a like a not great note 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.360 i'd actually had a pretty bad mental health crisis 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:14.860 while i was there and that forced me to come 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:21.039 back i started along the way i'd had a lot of 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:26.200 spiritual experiences to really make it clear 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:29.049 that okay something is really there And there 00:09:29.049 --> 00:09:32.649 really is something for me to understand and 00:09:32.649 --> 00:09:35.889 connect with. But when I left, I didn't really 00:09:35.889 --> 00:09:38.610 know what it was. And I came back to Philadelphia 00:09:38.610 --> 00:09:43.289 in 2019. And the groups weren't the same. The 00:09:43.289 --> 00:09:45.309 relationships weren't the same. Things were changing. 00:09:45.870 --> 00:09:50.250 Of course, then COVID happened. And even though 00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:53.029 that was really difficult, I could tell something 00:09:53.029 --> 00:09:58.940 really stupendous was happening for me. kind 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:00.659 of unfortunately gone back to doing the thing 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:03.120 I never wanted to do, which was work in an office 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:08.580 again. Interestingly, I'd gotten a much higher 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:12.039 pay raise. I was working many less hours, a much 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.399 less stressful job, but still I wasn't finding 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:19.360 satisfaction. And I really didn't want life to 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.899 be about you go to college, you get a job, you 00:10:21.899 --> 00:10:24.500 have a family, you have kids, you get a promotion, 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:27.539 they go to college, you have grandkids, then 00:10:27.539 --> 00:10:30.320 you die. Really, I wanted there to be something 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:35.100 more. And I really didn't want to just feel like, 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:37.360 okay, I'm sitting behind this desk waiting for 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:42.220 death. And so I had actually begun exploring 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.700 my Jewish roots again. But again, I never really 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:47.879 connected with a teacher. And I've been really 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.639 praying deeply for a teacher to come. And I was 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:56.519 open to whatever tradition. I eventually went 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.980 down to Guatemala, went to a kirtan and bhakti 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:05.360 yoga retreat. And there I really connected with 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:09.919 the followers of the faith who were there. They 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.860 were my age. They were fun. And something about 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:18.059 it was so vibrant, inspiring, and fulfilling 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:20.879 that I ended up telling my job, okay, I'm going 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:22.919 to take another week off. I was working at a 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:24.899 place where it was, you had unlimited paid vacation 00:11:24.899 --> 00:11:27.820 days. It was one of those tech companies. And 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:30.820 when I was there, they said, if you're serious 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:33.200 about growing your spiritual practice, you should 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.500 go meet this woman, Shamarani Didi. She's opening 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:42.860 a temple in Miami. And so that was August. In 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:45.500 October, I flew down to see her. The temple had 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:48.759 opened two weeks before. And the whole time down, 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:51.200 I'm thinking, you know, will I have a spiritual 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.590 name? Maybe I'll get like spiritual initiation. 00:11:54.309 --> 00:11:55.889 You know, maybe this is what I've been praying 00:11:55.889 --> 00:11:58.269 for. This is the community I've wanted to live 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.129 in. Things that I had thoughts I hadn't had before. 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:05.389 And it was a really, it was a really mystical 00:12:05.389 --> 00:12:07.909 experience for me meeting her. I'd also been 00:12:07.909 --> 00:12:10.029 reading a lot of the books of the followers from 00:12:10.029 --> 00:12:13.669 of Neem Karoli Baba, especially Krishna Das, 00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:17.210 who's now a famous Kirtania. I was inspired by 00:12:17.210 --> 00:12:19.549 how when he had met his guru, he was able to. 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:21.940 give up everything and just go and be with them. 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:26.919 And when I met her, I had this feeling of like, 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:32.100 wow, such a great energy just being around. And 00:12:32.100 --> 00:12:34.240 I felt so much at home just walking into the 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:38.279 temple. And one of the first things she did is 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:40.460 she said to me, would you like a name? I said, 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.559 okay. She said, okay, your name's Haridas. And 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.860 I've learned now that it's rare that she gives 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:50.580 a person a name that quickly. And what does Haridas 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:54.080 mean? Haridas means servant of God. Hari is a 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.799 name for God. Hari means he takes things that 00:12:57.799 --> 00:12:59.840 we think are good for us but are actually getting 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:02.039 in our way so that we can then get the thing 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:05.600 that we truly want. And Das means servant. I'm 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.700 actually technically Haridas Das. Haridas refers 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:16.139 to a saint who lived in India in the 1500s. So 00:13:16.139 --> 00:13:18.490 then she asked me when I'm moving down. It was 00:13:18.490 --> 00:13:20.769 literally the first question she asked me. And 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:25.250 I ended up moving down two months later. I got 00:13:25.250 --> 00:13:27.450 home, told my job, either you move me to Florida 00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:31.289 or I quit. They said, okay. They gave me a huge 00:13:31.289 --> 00:13:34.529 raise, huge promotion, transferred me down. And 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:38.309 still six months later, I left my job so that 00:13:38.309 --> 00:13:43.549 I could serve the temple full time. To me, it 00:13:43.549 --> 00:13:47.340 was a deep answering of my prayers. of this was 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:50.299 a person who was really following the path a 00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:54.399 person who i could tell had all the great qualities 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:59.039 in full and didn't have like lust anger greed 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:03.720 pride jealousy or illusion i remember when i 00:14:03.720 --> 00:14:06.940 like as i was leaving she was praying in front 00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:11.100 of uh the altar and i've just felt such power 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.200 that i've never felt from another person praying 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:17.799 before and so being around her just inspired 00:14:17.799 --> 00:14:21.200 me so much to be able to actually start letting 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.940 go of the things that weren't serving me like 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:28.639 i i didn't like holding on to so much money i 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:32.240 didn't like uh having to i didn't like working 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.299 a job that wasn't giving me any sort of fulfillment 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:38.740 i really wanted to serve this temple especially 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:43.480 uh to help it grow to me it was like steve jobs 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:48.360 steve jobs was working in a garage. Him and Steve 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.720 Wozniak building it to computers and thinking 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:52.960 these people, they were willing to do it for 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:57.179 an ideal to make money, make technological advancement. 00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.019 Why can't we do this for spirituality? And so 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:02.600 I figured like that was a good enough reason 00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:05.940 to take the risk. I left my job. I eventually 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:10.179 gave all of the money I had in savings and my 00:15:10.179 --> 00:15:14.740 car as well. And now I wear pink. This means 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:18.879 I've taken a vow of renunciation. It means I'm 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:22.620 vowing that for the rest of my life, I will be 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:26.960 celibate, no drugs, no intoxication, no meat 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:32.120 -eating, no gambling, and will commit myself 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:34.759 to developing spiritually. I'm what's called 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.539 a brahmachari, which means that I'm the student 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.919 of the guru. So I live purely just to learn. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:46.519 and to learn through service to that bonafide 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:54.460 medium of spirituality. Interesting. Have you 00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:58.220 tried to explore your Jewish heritage at all 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.860 since you've taken three of ours? Not since, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.720 but I did beforehand. You did beforehand, okay. 00:16:03.940 --> 00:16:06.279 I did the whole, like, ancestry. Yeah, yeah. 00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:07.820 Went to every single little town that we came 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:13.529 from. Okay. Do you still feel Jewish? Kind of, 00:16:13.529 --> 00:16:16.570 I think. I think a large part of our philosophy 00:16:16.570 --> 00:16:18.210 is that we aren't these bodies, we're spirit 00:16:18.210 --> 00:16:20.929 souls. So culturally, yes, I still feel Jewish. 00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:25.649 And I also still have these thoughts. Like, wow, 00:16:25.750 --> 00:16:27.809 it would have been so much easier for my parents 00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:30.690 if I had been able to go the Jewish route. But 00:16:30.690 --> 00:16:33.129 it just didn't manifest. And my parents and I 00:16:33.129 --> 00:16:35.370 now actually have the best relationship we've 00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:40.509 ever had. So in a way, I culturally still feel 00:16:40.509 --> 00:16:46.950 Jewish. But not too much. Okay. Why the color 00:16:46.950 --> 00:16:51.169 pink? It stands for saturation in love of Godhead. 00:16:51.289 --> 00:16:56.450 Okay. So our lineage specifically is devoted 00:16:56.450 --> 00:17:00.570 to Krishna. From our understanding, Krishna is 00:17:00.570 --> 00:17:05.430 the supreme personality of Godhead. God has many 00:17:05.430 --> 00:17:11.799 names. Many names, but still one in truth. And 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:16.440 so we're worshiping Krishna. Krishna is like 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:19.720 God when he's on his day off or when he goes 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:21.859 back to his family. You know, he isn't necessarily 00:17:21.859 --> 00:17:25.140 a CEO. He still has all the capacity, but he's 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:28.279 actually with his friends and family. And so 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:34.000 his most dear beloved is Radha. And so this color 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:41.930 has to do with Radha and her love for him. I 00:17:41.930 --> 00:17:43.609 know you have an interest in interfaith dialogue 00:17:43.609 --> 00:17:46.009 and sort of connecting across religious traditions. 00:17:46.410 --> 00:17:49.269 Talk to us a little bit about that interest and 00:17:49.269 --> 00:17:50.569 sort of how that, I know you talked a little 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:54.930 bit about your background, but what is your community's 00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:57.990 interest and sort of connection with other religious 00:17:57.990 --> 00:18:02.069 traditions? Well, from what I've learned from 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:05.049 our books, there's, we don't see it as like, 00:18:05.130 --> 00:18:07.150 hey, we're, it's a different God. It's a different 00:18:07.150 --> 00:18:10.190 thing. It's one moon, different phases, different 00:18:10.190 --> 00:18:13.730 angles of vision. He appears in different time, 00:18:13.809 --> 00:18:16.549 places and circumstances for people in order 00:18:16.549 --> 00:18:19.470 to grow in the way that's most fit for their 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:26.230 heart. And so to me, it's where we're in the 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:28.569 same family. We're striving towards the same 00:18:28.569 --> 00:18:33.470 goal. And for me, what I saw in 2016 and 2020 00:18:33.470 --> 00:18:38.869 really calls for a need for some place of sanity 00:18:38.869 --> 00:18:44.160 and some place of... regular conversation. Like 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:46.579 we can have regular conversation. We can come 00:18:46.579 --> 00:18:50.140 together and we don't have to fight despite having 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.039 differences. And that's to me, I see a major 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:57.460 place for us as faith leaders to, to guide, guide 00:18:57.460 --> 00:18:59.599 the next generation forward and how just we can 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.980 engage with one another. So through the sacred 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:08.160 video cards, what are, what type of effect are 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:12.250 you trying to have here? in in miami through 00:19:12.250 --> 00:19:15.369 sacred video guards they've tried our main goal 00:19:15.369 --> 00:19:19.589 is really to awaken uh the dormant love of godhead 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:22.250 within each person okay not necessarily not to 00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:24.210 convert into like say now you're part of our 00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:29.390 faith but to uh kind of be a space and be a container 00:19:29.390 --> 00:19:33.130 and be a vehicle for one to have their natural 00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:38.490 propensity for love arise And so being here, 00:19:38.569 --> 00:19:41.789 living in this society, what do you see as the 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:45.690 major obstacles to that happening? What are the 00:19:45.690 --> 00:19:47.750 major challenges that people have in order to 00:19:47.750 --> 00:19:53.150 be able to come to that realization? The bodily 00:19:53.150 --> 00:19:57.269 conception of life. The conception that I am 00:19:57.269 --> 00:19:59.009 this body and everything in relation to this 00:19:59.009 --> 00:20:02.809 body is I, me, and mine keeps us from being able 00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:05.990 to... live deeper on the level of the heart. 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.970 It's also like it creates so much tension and 00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:12.369 fight when I'm thinking, hey, I'm the Jewish 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:15.470 guy. You're the Muslim guy. Can we get along? 00:20:16.410 --> 00:20:21.250 Whereas when we're really fixed in our own practice, 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:24.089 we can see through that and understand the person 00:20:24.089 --> 00:20:28.089 who's in front of us. There are real things, 00:20:28.269 --> 00:20:31.809 real tangible things that need to be crossed. 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:35.700 But as we can develop the understanding of who 00:20:35.700 --> 00:20:40.220 we are at our core, it naturally releases the 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:43.920 feelings of lust, anger, greed, pride, envy, 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:48.400 and jealousness from one's being. So we can at 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.240 least engage with one another from a platform 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:57.779 of understanding. Have you found resistance to 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:01.680 that message here as you kind of have? try to 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.359 engage with other people in Miami? Honestly, 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.000 I don't think we've put the message forward enough. 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:12.259 Okay. We're so grassroots. Okay. We're just now 00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:13.920 getting like, hey, we're settled as a temple. 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:17.900 Okay, we can do it. Okay. Versus we're just getting 00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:20.180 into how do we develop our messaging, how to 00:21:20.180 --> 00:21:23.180 develop our programming, how do we best reach 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:28.079 people. Okay. Wonderful. I mean, when you were 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.359 doing your, you know, when you were kind of doing 00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:35.019 your spiritual search, did you look into any 00:21:35.019 --> 00:21:39.819 other religious traditions aside from these versions 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:42.240 of like either Judaism or sort of Hinduism? I 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.079 mean, like Buddhism or other faith traditions 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.240 either? Little bits into Buddhism. Like, especially 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:52.259 like Tibetan Buddhism seemed pretty cool. Sure. 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:55.400 fun to read i didn't i didn't totally get the 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:57.759 tibetan book of the dead okay from what i understand 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:00.220 it's kind of books of book of prayers right um 00:22:00.220 --> 00:22:05.200 i did a little bit with like south american shamanism 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.319 because i was like the cool thing to do sure 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:12.140 um but i didn't get so such a deep understanding 00:22:12.140 --> 00:22:19.069 so i mean do you feel that you're um do you think 00:22:19.069 --> 00:22:21.049 that this is your final phase of spirituality 00:22:21.049 --> 00:22:23.630 or do you think that there might be another phase 00:22:23.630 --> 00:22:26.630 that comes after this i hope so i mean i i did 00:22:26.630 --> 00:22:29.390 take the vow for like lifetime okay uh so i'm 00:22:29.390 --> 00:22:32.650 hopeful what i like also about our philosophy 00:22:32.650 --> 00:22:36.109 about our practice is that it's there's like 00:22:36.109 --> 00:22:38.609 a spiritual science to it there's like a there's 00:22:38.609 --> 00:22:41.210 progressive stages to it and then thankfully 00:22:41.210 --> 00:22:43.990 it isn't like a closed box like you must do this 00:22:43.990 --> 00:22:47.180 right but it's like hey if you do this this is 00:22:47.180 --> 00:22:51.420 what you should expect. Right, right. Yeah, because 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:53.779 even within Judaism, I know there's like Kabbalah 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:55.440 and there's some other sort of mystical sort 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.579 of sciences as well, spiritual sciences. I don't 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:00.720 know much about it, to be honest with you. But 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:05.000 that's something that I saw. Because I was recently, 00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:09.299 I had taken a trip to Israel and sort of, it 00:23:09.299 --> 00:23:10.940 was very interesting to see kind of like the 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:13.640 diversity of... religious experiences there it 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:15.880 was just it was really mind -boggling honestly 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.339 like the types the variations of Judaism that 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:22.440 exist and that's been very interesting you know 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.480 also doing this sort of interfaith dialogue so 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:27.259 we have this interfaith project between Muslim 00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:29.059 and Jewish students here on campus after October 00:23:29.059 --> 00:23:32.619 7th and trying to create new connections I think 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:34.960 and one of the things that we're trying to do 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:40.509 with the students is trying to get them to connect 00:23:40.509 --> 00:23:44.029 with each other on their lived reality and spiritual 00:23:44.029 --> 00:23:46.809 practice so what does it mean to be a person 00:23:46.809 --> 00:23:50.029 of faith living in a secular society what are 00:23:50.029 --> 00:23:52.009 the challenges that you have you know vis -a 00:23:52.009 --> 00:23:54.269 -vis the majority things like that and those 00:23:54.269 --> 00:23:56.490 are also ways to be able to find commonalities 00:23:56.490 --> 00:23:59.559 rather than getting right into the heart of the 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:01.799 political situation which has to be very very 00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:05.099 divisive and very challenging so i think well 00:24:05.099 --> 00:24:06.440 that's kind of one of the things that we're trying 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:08.200 that's one part of it the other part is trying 00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:12.220 to work with communities so trying to have communities 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:15.339 or groups of people connect with each other and 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:17.539 kind of having a long -term relationship with 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:20.039 each other as a way of being able to affect change 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.400 and sort of openness to other religious traditions 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:26.299 I think one of the things that's remarkable about 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:31.779 Hinduism also is that it's, as a religious tradition, 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:36.579 I know your tradition has its own perspective, 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.000 but I think Hinduism, kind of more broadly speaking, 00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:49.259 it tends to, I don't know how to put it, it tends 00:24:49.259 --> 00:24:53.849 to be, and this is kind of paradoxical, But it 00:24:53.849 --> 00:24:55.730 kind of embraces everything. And then there's 00:24:55.730 --> 00:24:59.230 also a nothingness as well. And that allows a 00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:04.349 lot of space for, historically at least, for 00:25:04.349 --> 00:25:06.910 engaging with other religious traditions as well. 00:25:07.509 --> 00:25:09.170 So I think it's kind of one of the reasons why, 00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:13.349 for instance, you know, like Christianity, when 00:25:13.349 --> 00:25:16.509 there was missions during the colonial period 00:25:16.509 --> 00:25:21.730 to India, and there were no major conversions. 00:25:22.519 --> 00:25:23.640 Because people are like, all right, that's fine. 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:25.660 You want another person? All right, we'll just 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:29.079 add Jesus to the group. And that wasn't a threat 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.480 to the religious tradition. It has the ability 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:35.640 to encompass so much over millennia. So I think 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:37.980 it's quite a powerful tradition. I like that 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:40.759 there are people in India who, there's churches 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:42.819 and they just do puja to Jesus. It's the same. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:46.079 Right. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's one of 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:47.980 the powerful things about the Hindu tradition 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:50.180 at its best. I mean, there's also kind of the 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:52.640 political version that's not so kind to people, 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:57.740 unfortunately. But especially, I think, the spirituality, 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:04.519 you know, it also goes along with, like you were 00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:09.339 talking about a little bit earlier, it goes along 00:26:09.339 --> 00:26:17.920 with people's own... inclinations and so it's 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:20.660 not like there's a one law for everybody but 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:22.940 it could be that you know you are inclined towards 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:27.819 religion through through academic learning or 00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:30.140 sort of through sort of the that you know and 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:33.819 so there's a whole path of non sort of meditation 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:38.380 or if you're interested more in sort of the popular 00:26:38.380 --> 00:26:40.460 devotional you have the bhakti sort of tradition 00:26:40.460 --> 00:26:42.160 so there are many different traditions that exist 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:45.440 and um and so there's a lot of adaptation that's 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:48.619 sort of possible according to one's own sort 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:51.819 of personal inclinations as well you know yeah 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:54.240 what i what i find interesting within hinduism 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.700 is that the the conception of the transmigration 00:26:57.700 --> 00:27:01.599 of the soul is so key to understanding the progression 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:05.779 of one's soul in its development and so like 00:27:05.779 --> 00:27:08.789 in bhagavad -gita there's karma yoga, gyan yoga, 00:27:08.970 --> 00:27:11.549 and bhakti yoga. And the understanding that we 00:27:11.549 --> 00:27:14.190 receive in our lineage is that it's not that 00:27:14.190 --> 00:27:17.250 it's one or the other, it's that it's progressive 00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:21.329 steps along the way. For us, so we're technically 00:27:21.329 --> 00:27:24.750 Gaudiya Vaishnavas, which means that we believe 00:27:24.750 --> 00:27:29.589 in a supreme person and we follow the precepts 00:27:29.589 --> 00:27:35.420 from the golden avatar, Gaudiya. And so... What 00:27:35.420 --> 00:27:39.640 we learn is that our goal, really actually our 00:27:39.640 --> 00:27:44.240 process to achieve our goal is shudha bhakti, 00:27:44.240 --> 00:27:48.640 the pure bhakti. The goal itself is pure love 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:54.059 for the Supreme. And the process we enact to 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:58.220 get there is shudha bhakti. And it's that not 00:27:58.220 --> 00:28:02.539 every person is qualified or ready. to perform 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:06.039 shuddha bhakti so that's why we have karma gyan 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:10.480 and bhakti because some of us like i need to 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:12.500 be doing work in the world i'm from new york 00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:16.720 my parents literally it's work is life you live 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:22.059 to work and so thankfully thankfully our center 00:28:22.059 --> 00:28:24.240 and our teacher and our tradition having been 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.700 uh having really been born in the west through 00:28:27.700 --> 00:28:31.660 uh this great saint shuddha prabhupada he just 00:28:31.660 --> 00:28:34.259 started engaging people in this massive global 00:28:34.259 --> 00:28:37.019 movement that our tradition is really one of 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:40.039 just engaging the person where they are and then 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:43.420 the process itself naturally removing what's 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:46.940 called anarthas or unwanted things, unwanted 00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:52.519 habits from the heart. Sure. How are, I mean, 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:56.119 I don't know enough about kind of the whole cosmology 00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:01.869 of the Hindu tradition, but how are, Traditionally, 00:29:01.890 --> 00:29:04.849 Hinduism has also been an ethnic religion. You're 00:29:04.849 --> 00:29:08.069 generally born into it. How are people seen? 00:29:08.230 --> 00:29:11.410 Like, how are you seen by other Hindus within 00:29:11.410 --> 00:29:14.289 the tradition? We're actually like really good 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:16.890 friends with the more traditional Hindus. Okay. 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:19.430 Like within our group, the Gaudiya Vaishnavas 00:29:19.430 --> 00:29:23.569 are actually probably now predominantly Indian. 00:29:24.049 --> 00:29:27.710 It was like the movement really started in... 00:29:28.269 --> 00:29:31.190 really be like burst open that is in the west 00:29:31.190 --> 00:29:34.430 in the 1960s so there are a lot of westerners 00:29:34.430 --> 00:29:38.329 uh they actually like really well then mixed 00:29:38.329 --> 00:29:42.230 with the indians in india and then the movement 00:29:42.230 --> 00:29:46.750 bursted in india as well so at this point there's 00:29:46.750 --> 00:29:51.990 more uh ethnically indian folks who are godia 00:29:51.990 --> 00:29:56.369 vaishnavas uh and what i'm finding here is actually 00:29:56.369 --> 00:29:58.640 most in like they still actually really respect 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:02.279 me as though i'm like a renunciate within within 00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:06.579 the order and um what i what i appreciate about 00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:09.900 hinduism as i'm as i'm learning is that even 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:12.220 though you know i'm a godia vaishnav whereas 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:14.160 they might be a shy white it's still an understanding 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.319 of like wow you were a sadhu you are devoting 00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:24.279 yourself to god yeah that's very um yes it's 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:29.220 very interesting to see um So is your movement 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:31.200 the same as the Hare Krishna movement? Yeah. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:35.200 I mean, it is, right? So it's like a part of 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.500 that larger movement. We're the same branch, 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:41.460 different branch, same creed. Okay. All right. 00:30:41.500 --> 00:30:49.920 Okay. What is the ultimate vision for the world 00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:54.599 from your tradition? So I know, like, for instance, 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.299 like, the Buddhist tradition would be, you would 00:30:57.299 --> 00:31:01.200 have, like, you know, the, at least from the 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:03.660 Mahayana tradition, we have kind of Avalokiteshvara 00:31:03.660 --> 00:31:06.220 as kind of one of the bodhisattvas, and this 00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:09.319 idea is that ultimately we aim towards the liberation 00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:13.380 of all beings, right? What is the ultimate aim 00:31:13.380 --> 00:31:19.720 in your tradition? Your hope for humanity. Our 00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:23.789 hope for humanity on a... It's a return to God 00:31:23.789 --> 00:31:28.750 consciousness. Not necessarily to our path. What 00:31:28.750 --> 00:31:32.369 we understand is that we're in something called 00:31:32.369 --> 00:31:39.009 the Kali Yuga. The last age, yeah. It's a cycle. 00:31:39.089 --> 00:31:41.549 It's the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. We just 00:31:41.549 --> 00:31:46.230 started. It lasts another 427 ,000 years. The 00:31:46.230 --> 00:31:48.109 idea is also that the world ends and then it 00:31:48.109 --> 00:31:53.380 begins again. Right. We also happen, our faith 00:31:53.380 --> 00:31:56.960 as Gaudias, we happen to believe that this is 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.000 actually the Danya Kali. So actually the very 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:03.900 fortunate age of Kali where the Lord himself 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:08.960 incarnated to give this, the holy name, not just 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:13.900 as the mantra, but he actually deeply infused 00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:18.259 it with all the potencies available, including 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:24.900 extremely deep. loving relationship. So in all 00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:29.519 Kali Yugas, the process for deliverance of one's 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:32.640 soul, of transcending the material platform, 00:32:32.859 --> 00:32:38.039 is the chanting of the holy name. But chanting 00:32:38.039 --> 00:32:41.299 the holy name doesn't necessarily always have 00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:47.400 the potency and the devotional sentiment, devotional 00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:52.089 mood in it. This age of Kali happens to be a 00:32:52.089 --> 00:32:55.990 special one for that. It only happens once every 00:32:55.990 --> 00:33:01.309 8 .6 million years. Yeah, it's once every 8 .6 00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:07.029 million years. And so our vision is that every 00:33:07.029 --> 00:33:10.190 person will be, and our understanding is that 00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:13.609 because of his appearance, at some point within 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:16.529 this age of Kali, everybody will be just naturally 00:33:16.529 --> 00:33:21.779 awakening to their love of God. In your tradition, 00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:30.759 then also, is there a, in awaiting of a final 00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:34.039 avatar, like a Kalki avatar at the end of time? 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:41.519 For us Goryas, no. Like we actually, I think, 00:33:41.579 --> 00:33:44.000 I don't know if we actually think Kalki is or 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.839 isn't coming in this Kali Yuga because of the 00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:49.950 appearance of... lord chitanya the golden avatar 00:33:49.950 --> 00:33:54.369 okay but typically in in a typical kali yuga 00:33:54.369 --> 00:33:57.049 the understanding is at the end kalki comes and 00:33:57.049 --> 00:34:02.450 obliterates right but uh from my understanding 00:34:02.450 --> 00:34:05.930 that's not supposed to happen in this age of 00:34:05.930 --> 00:34:10.369 kali i'm pretty far from like the like that levels 00:34:10.369 --> 00:34:13.150 of knowing we're also like we're very focused 00:34:13.150 --> 00:34:15.949 on one point of devotion okay because that's 00:34:15.949 --> 00:34:22.239 yeah we're so I know, but I also, at least I 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:25.119 have some sort of intellectual understanding, 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:28.199 but actual knowledge, that's a bit beyond me. 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:33.119 Yeah, no problem. And what do you hope to do 00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:38.800 in the next few years with regards to this temple 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:42.690 and interfaith work more generally? Well, with 00:34:42.690 --> 00:34:45.010 this temple, I hope to do a lot more promotion 00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:47.869 of Didi's artwork. We did the first exhibition 00:34:47.869 --> 00:34:51.510 of hers ever. It's been 60 years. She's literally 00:34:51.510 --> 00:34:56.210 like extremely renowned. And it's the first time 00:34:56.210 --> 00:34:59.550 she ever did a gallery exhibition. So really 00:34:59.550 --> 00:35:03.190 amazing exhibition. We want to do it more often. 00:35:03.829 --> 00:35:09.559 We also want to expand into... modern experiences 00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:13.739 like immersive art experiences. That is a pretty 00:35:13.739 --> 00:35:16.760 large goal. And then as far as interfaith work 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:21.940 goes, I'd like to see more connection with students 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:24.980 on an emotional level. You and I are planning 00:35:24.980 --> 00:35:29.820 this panel, and what I see is if it goes well 00:35:29.820 --> 00:35:33.460 and continues to grow, so we do more and are 00:35:33.460 --> 00:35:37.869 able to talk more on personal experience. For 00:35:37.869 --> 00:35:40.489 example, when I talk to students, they talk about 00:35:40.489 --> 00:35:42.730 the importance of death and how death has affected 00:35:42.730 --> 00:35:45.429 their lives. And my thinking is, how great would 00:35:45.429 --> 00:35:48.429 it be for people in the cloth to be able to speak 00:35:48.429 --> 00:35:51.289 about how death shaped their lives? Not about, 00:35:51.309 --> 00:35:53.590 this is what I believe about death. That's what 00:35:53.590 --> 00:35:55.969 he believes about death. But like, how have I 00:35:55.969 --> 00:35:58.030 personally been affected? Yeah, death is a shared 00:35:58.030 --> 00:36:00.170 experience. Absolutely. And it's a very, you 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:01.570 know, I think it's one of the things that... 00:36:01.900 --> 00:36:03.820 American culture tends to be very uncomfortable 00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:06.480 with, but it's something that it's very grounding, 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:09.880 I think, to the human experience. So, yeah, I 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:12.019 think that's birth, death. These things are very, 00:36:12.059 --> 00:36:15.320 very powerful ways of connecting us across traditions. 00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:19.579 Yeah, absolutely. Wonderful. Well, thank you 00:36:19.579 --> 00:36:24.239 so much, Haridas Das, for your time and for coming 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:27.699 on our series. And we look forward to working 00:36:27.699 --> 00:36:29.820 with you on the projects in the future.