Book Review:
Exploring the Bhagavad Gita:
Philosophy, Structure and Meaning
By Ithamar Theodor
(Ashgate, 2010)
Reviewed by Klaus Klostermaier, University of Manitoba, Canada
Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award for 2011
Ithamar Theodor approaches the ancient Bhagavad Gita
with a modern mind and finds much in it that deserves our attention. Locating his study
within Comparative Theology and identifying the various layers of meaning in the text will
help those unacquainted with it to find their way through this complex classic. Combining
the philosophical-theoretical with the ethical-practical the author shows the universal
relevance of the Gita's teaching. Since Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan nobody has offered as
penetrating a study of this classic as Ithamar Theodor has done.
To order this book please visit Ashgate Publishing website:
http://www.ashgate.com
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CD Review:
Lotus Eyes
The Red Rock Rishis
Reviewed by Lori
Erbs
Lotus Eyes, the Sedona-based
Red Rock Rishis band debut CD, is a refreshing and unparalleled collage of
transcendental mantra music that simultaneously heals, entertains, and spiritualizes
its audience. Expertly orchestrated, it features lead and supporting
vocals in a natural symbiosis of harmony, with simple yet sublime melodies
that spiral listeners into deeper and deeper appreciations of the subtle
complexities of this mature musical work.
“Holy Places,” the second track, is a veritable ecosystem of vibrations,
offering a playful rendition of the Hare Krishna maha mantra accompanied
by peacocks and other creatures of this divine aural forest. The next song,
“Eternal Spaceman,” has truly captured the essence of Sedona’s mystical and
etheric realm, with the maha mantra echoing in blissful interludes that open
up chakras and channel the astral body into vortices of interdimensional
potentiality.
The band’s vocal symmetry culminates in “Sailing Through the Spiritual Sky,”
with the pure pleasure of chanting Hare Krishna catalyzed by a very creative
and ecstatic arrangement filled with intriguing synthesizer riffs.
Rama’s precise sitar performance coupled with Hanuman’s definitive percussion
are the audible threads that underlie the indigenous charm permeating this
album. There is something here that mere words cannot communicate…some microcosm
of the immense potency of the Holy Name chanted by spiritually free beings
that is waiting to be tapped by adventurous savants of the Kali Yuga.
To order
the Lotus Eyes CD please visit:
http://www.redrockrishis.com
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