Yoga: Art and Practice

Radhanath Swami, acclaimed teacher in the Krishna-bhakti tradition, and Karan Bajaj, an Indian-American author, will reflect on the art and practice of yoga, inspired by the art on view in the exhibition Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual.

A meet-and-greet and book signing will follow in Café Serai, where Radhanath’s latest book, The Journey Within, and Bajaj’s The Yoga of Max’s Discontent will be available for purchase.

About the Speakers

Radhanath Swami is a renowned teacher, author, public speaker, social activist, and a saint in India’s venerable Krishna-bhakti lineage. Born and raised in Chicago, he came to confront a deep sense of alienation from suburban life and the civil injustices of mid-century America. At the age of nineteen, his internal struggles led him on a search for God. Hitchhiking from Europe to India, his journey culminated in an intimate study with some of the most honored gurus and spiritual leaders in India. He documents this odyssey in The Journey Home, a memoir of his search for spiritual truth.

Today Radhanath Swami travels regularly throughout the world, sharing the teachings of Bhakti-yoga. He directs and inspires a number of social action projects including hunger eradication, schools and ashrams, eco-friendly farms, hospitals and eye camps, and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.

Karan Bajaj is an Indian American author of four contemporary Indian novels, Keep Off the Grass, Johnny Gone Down, The Seeker, and The Yoga of Max’s Discontent. Bajaj’s first novel, Keep Off the Grass, which became a bestseller with more than 70,000 copies sold in the year of release, was a semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and was longlisted for the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Award. Karan Bajaj also is the Chief Marketing Officer of Aden + Anais in New York. Bajaj earlier worked as a Director for Kraft Foods, a Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble, and a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in India, the Philippines, Singapore and the United States. He was nominated to be a “Top 40 under 40 Marketer in the U.S.” by Advertising Age in 2007.

Image credit: Shiva Vishavarupa