The Baul Tradition

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This book traces the Baul Path, a Tantric spiritual tradition, from its earliest roots in the subcontinent of India, to its dissemination in the West in modern times. “Baul” – meaning “madcap” or “taken by the wind” – describes one who has a vision of reality so piercing & clear that they are called to live in a way that goes against the common grain: the safe, plodding life of the mainstream. In the East, for centuries, Baul bards & yogis wandered the dusty roads of Bengal singing & dancing with joy in praise of God. Their poetry-songs uplifted ordinary people, transporting all above the daily grind for survival & into a direct experience of the sublime. Sahaja is the hallmark of the Baul Way, referring to the naturally ecstatic essence of being. According to the Bauls, sahaja nature is inborn, & underlies one’s human personality & habitual social conditioning. It is a blueprint of love, beauty, bliss, wisdom & dignity. From the Baul view, to rediscover sahaja is to love God. The spirit of sahaja arises in individuals in all cultures, in all times & places, the author asserts. In this book, however, she details the unique & vital approaches to life & spirituality that the Bauls, both East & West, have demonstrated throughout their history, & in their philosophy, teaching & practice. The Baul sadhana, or spiritual life, rests on four pillars: Radical reliance on the guru; Wandering and begging as a way of life; Teachings encoded in song and dance; Yogas of the body: including hatha, sexuality & breath. Each of these tenets is elaborated in depth, as the author highlights the notable differences in their expression “then & now,” in East & West. The outstanding contribution of this book is its first-hand account of the introduction of Baul spirituality to the modern world through the life & work of Khépa Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American teacher & the spiritual Heart Son of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the revered Beggar Saint of Tiruvannamalai, south India. In 2008, M. Young accompanied Khepa Lee to Bengal where they met with eminent Baul gurus & practitioners, many who had long awaited an exchange with their American “brother.” On this trip, his band of Western Bauls shared their American rock & blues in a unique interplay between East & West. Foreword is by Parvathy Baul, internationally acclaimed musician and representative of the traditional Baul path. M. Young’s work is a feast of scholarship, rich in memoir & practical wisdom.

Song of the Great Soul provides a glimpse into the fascinating world of Bengal's Baul tradition, an ancient synthesis of music, poetry, yoga, social commentary and mystical teaching. Author Parvathy Baul, world-renowned for her spellbinding performances, uses stories from her life along with drawings, woodcut prints, paintings, and translations of Baul poetry to introduce this vibrant tradition to contemporary readers. Wandering Baul singers are beloved throughout India for the haunting sweetness of their songs, the esoteric wisdom embedded in their poems, and their stirring call to abandon discrimination based on caste and religion. In Song of the Great Soul, one of the world's leading teachers of the Baul tradition offers a first look at this unique path, declared by UNESCO to be "a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity."

This book traces the Baul Path, a Tantric spiritual tradition, from its earliest roots in the subcontinent of India, to its dissemination in the West in modern times. "Baul" -- meaning "madcap" or "taken by the wind" -- describes one who has a vision of reality so piercing & clear that they are called to live in a way that goes against the common grain: the safe, plodding life of the mainstream. In the East, for centuries, Baul bards & yogis wandered the dusty roads of Bengal singing & dancing with joy in praise of God. Their poetry-songs uplifted ordinary people, transporting all above the daily grind for survival & into a direct experience of the sublime. Sahaja is the hallmark of the Baul Way, referring to the naturally ecstatic essence of being. According to the Bauls, sahaja nature is inborn, & underlies one's human personality & habitual social conditioning. It is a blueprint of love, beauty, bliss, wisdom & dignity. From the Baul view, to rediscover sahaja is to love God. The spirit of sahaja arises in individuals in all cultures, in all times & places, the author asserts. In this book, however, she details the unique & vital approaches to life & spirituality that the Bauls, both East & West, have demonstrated throughout their history, & in their philosophy, teaching & practice. The Baul sadhana, or spiritual life, rests on four pillars: Radical reliance on the guru; Wandering and begging as a way of life; Teachings encoded in song and dance; Yogas of the body: including hatha, sexuality & breath. Each of these tenets is elaborated in depth, as the author highlights the notable differences in their expression "then & now," in East & West. The outstanding contribution of this book is its first-hand account of the introduction of Baul spirituality to the modern world through the life & work of Khepa Lee Lozowick (1943-2010), an American teacher & the spiritual Heart Son of Yogi Ramsuratkumar, the revered Beggar Saint of Tiruvannamalai, south India. In 2008, M. Young accompanied Khepa Lee to Bengal where they met with eminent Baul gurus & practitioners, many who had long awaited an exchange with their American "brother." On this trip, his band of Western Bauls shared their American rock & blues in a unique interplay between East & West. Foreword is by Parvathy Baul, internationally acclaimed musician and representative of the traditional Baul path. M. Young's work is a feast of scholarship, rich in memoir & practical wisdom.

In this multi-sited ethnographic study, Knight explores the everyday lives of women of the Baul tradition of musical mystics in India and Bangladesh. She demonstrates that Baul women construct a meaningful life as they navigate between conflicting expectations of Bauls to be carefree and of women to be modest.

Carrying on the living tradition of mystic minstrels, the Bauls roam the countryside of eastern India enacting the spiritual love dalliance of Radha and Krishna through songs and dances. The Path of the Mystic Lover explores the Bauls' lifestyle and philosophy, describing their sexual and ritual practices as well as their sacred teachings.

Noted for their haunting melodies and enigmatic lyrics, Bauls have been portrayed as spiritually enlightened troubadours traveling around the countryside in West Bengal in India and in Bangladesh. As emblems of Bengali culture, Bauls have long been a subject of scholarly debates which center on their esoteric practices, and middle class imaginaries of the category Baul. Adding to this literature, the intimate ethnography presented in this book recounts the life stories of members from a single family, shining light on their past and present tribulations bound up with being poor and of a lowly caste. It shows that taking up the Baul path is a means of softening the stigma of their lower caste identity in that religious practice, where women play a key role, renders the body pure. The path is also a source of monetary income in that begging is considered part of their vocation. For women, the Baul path has the added implication of lessening constraints of gender. While the book describes a family of singers, it also portrays the wider society in which they live, showing how their lives connect and interlace with other villagers, a theme not previously explored in literature on Bauls. A novel approach to the study of women, the body and religion, this book will be of interest to undergraduates and graduates in the field of the anthropology. In addition, it will appeal to students of everyday religious lives as experienced by the poor, through case studies in South Asia. The book provides further evidence that renunciation in South Asia is not a uniform path, despite claims to the contrary. There is also a special interest in Bauls among those familiar with the Bengali speaking region. While this book speaks to that interest, its wider appeal lies in the light it sheds on religion, the body, life histories, and poverty.

A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day. LONGLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

Freewheeling Mimlu Sen lives in Paris, where one day she witnesses an electrifying performance by three Bauls, mystic minstrels from Bengal, who spin like pillars of dust. Their music inspires her to return to Calcutta, and to go on an extraordinary journey with one of them, Paban Das Baul, from her respectable home in the city to his humble village, and further on, into the verdant Bengali countryside that is their common heritage. Paban takes Mimlu through the itinerant Baul’s route—from the festival at Kenduli with its marathon performances, to tranquil Shantiniketan, where Bauls frequently stop en route and disrupt quotidian life; Agrodwip, deep in the Vaishnava world, to Nabasana, where mesmerizing guru Hari Goshain presides over Baul games and ultimately, her initiation; and to Boral, where she holds her own big Baul festival, a mahatsava. Along the way, she encounters tantrics and tribals, exorcisms and witch sightings, catfish that climb trees and esoteric sexo-yogic secrets—and she falls in love. Baulsphere takes you into the heart of rural Bengal, and into the fascinating world of the Bauls. Passionate, enthralling and searingly lyrical, it is a stunning book.