Rajanaka Studies, Auspicious Wisdom & Soulful Contemplation

The Gated Universe Contemplating Empowerment, Possibility, and Grievance Douglas Brooks 1 The World According to Rudra This began as another tl;dr essay, thinking aloud preeminent, the deliberation on mortal life rising from the inner storm that howls and weeps as if Rudra of the Veda its inner source. Rudra’s name means just that: howling, weeping, bleeding. He is chaos featuring itself in expressions of primal energies recurring and rearranging all that is possible.

Friday, June 12, 2026 My Dear Friends, Please read this. This week my beloved daughter Madeleine Grace passed. She went to bed and did not wake in the morning. She was perfectly herself when she went to bed. There were no other circumstances or reasons. I ask you with all deep respect and affection not comment in any way. Please no expressions of condolence or outreach. Please understand I hold your affection and care, I understand too your desire to express your feelings.

Our Invitation to South India December-January Saturday, May 23, 2026 Aho’ Rajanaka, I hope this finds you well. This email is our invitation to the India Pilgrimage 2026. As you likely know we’ve been making this pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu for the last twenty years: it’s a very special something. If you’re interested in your first time, please read on. If you’re interested in returning, as so many do, know that we will do everything we can to make this as rewarding as ever.

Confronting the Crisis of Our Times Valediction to the Class of 2026 1× 0:00 Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -21:21 -21:21 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Valediction to the Class of 2026 Delivered to the University of Rochester Department of Religion & Classics This past Sunday I was privileged to deliver the valediction to the graduates, friends, and families of the University of Rochester Department of Religion & Classics.

If you are interested in traditional Indian philosophies, or for that matter any thinking whose ostensible purpose is the love of wisdom, the pursuit of truth or value, it’s important to understand what you’re getting into. What’s thinking for? What can it provide for us? For traditional philosophers there must be an irrefragable conclusion, but why? Must we be conclusive?

This is a long one. If you take your time, I think it may be worth your time. This week is my teacher’s birthday and marks too the day of his passing. Appa loved a good conversation, the kind you can revisit and rethink. Appa wanted conversation to be like art: worth it the first time and worth it every time you return. I make no such claim here but I do wish good conversation on you all.

Sunday, March 22, 2026 Aho’Rajanaka, I hope this finds you well. This is the Rajanaka Summer Camp invitation. I’ve been mentioning Camp in emails and Zooms for months, the confirmed dates are Thursday July 9th through lunch on Monday July 13th. Come for all, come for some, come for any, there will be recordings too. Feel free to skip the prelude that describes Camp. There are only two principal innovations this year.

In the yoga traditions every philosopher writing in the Sanskrit language is also a serious grammarian. In fact, the Grammarians form their own storied philosophical schools and are among the very earliest to see the relationship between the formation of language and the deepest human experience. They don’t get often the credit they deserve but like the Logicians (i.e., the Nyaya), the Vaiyakarana provide the armature on which all the rest sculpt their arguments.

Given the heartbreaking state of the world, it’s a good time to return to our yoga for the practices that address the complexity of emotions. We’re going to need greater composure, honest insight, a nimbler awareness. We’re going to have to become more vigilant to practice more of what we preach, which means also making time to restore, recollect, and revise. Yoga isn’t about arriving at certainty; it’s about not needing certainty to improve on ourselves.

What Do Actions Have to Do with Moral Consequences? I want to be confident there can be accountability for human actions, particularly those that warrant our attention because they involve the rights of all to live with dignity, in freedom, and with the security that promises more choice and far less fear. Is it cynical to think that the rich and powerful will ever remain beyond the reach of the law or, in truth, any kind of answerability for their actions?