Manjuali Devi Dasi – A Life Shared on the Bhakti Path (video)

The monthly Urban Devi sanga featured Manjuali Devi Dasi sharing her personal reflections, daily actions, and the gifts of fellowship of the bhakti path. She revealed how contemplative prayer, daily practice, and an enthusiasm to meet life’s daily challenges with awareness, support our quest for self-realization and a loving relationship with the Divine. She shares her insights from a life dedicated to bhakti on how to trust our inner guide and, at the same time, embrace guidance from our teachers and great saints. Personal stories of exchanges with her teacher, Srila Prabhupada, are woven into the tapestry of her presentation.

Manjuali Devi Dasi began practicing Bhakti Yoga in 1971. She was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in May 1972 in Los Angeles. She and her late husband Jayatirtha das were sent to England to manage the Krishna Temple in 1976 by their Teacher. Manjuali worked for many years as a Media Librarian for The Times of London. Later, Manjuali moved to the southwest of UK, and worked in the field of Psychotherapy and Counseling for an educational awarding body, producing training films and other educational material. Manjuali is a Bhakti practitioner and active in interfaith dialogue, environmental and social causes in her community.

(From automatic transcription)
It says in the bible you can’t enter the kingdom without being like the innocence of a child right so even in the bible it says that we have to have that sense of wonder and that sense of mystery it’s always just around the corner where is he beautiful so someone listening oh boy where is he little blue boy so someone listening might be thinking oh she has so much faith and I just don’t have so much faith how can we strengthen our faith by hanging out with those who have faith [Laughter] that’s one way and how can we by prayer i always go back to prayer asking ask and you shall receive sheila prabhupad he he taught us that when we chant our japa when we read we do it prayerfully we invite the lord and what is faith faith comes it faith is a total gift it’s a total gift but everybody can have it it’s accessible to everyone so what actually is the spark that actually makes us say oh what inspires us we’re all different so different things some somebody can look at a beautiful painting or paint a beautiful painting and they immediately feel the hand of the lord and that someone can play a most beautiful or listen to a symphony and see divinity in that music someone can actually work in the garden or take care of animals and see divinity there or hold a newborn baby and look at the the miracle of birth and see divinity there divinities all around us and how and how is our faith straightened.