Clarification (was Questions about Alexandra vs. Alexandre)

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Hi all,

 

I've just joined this list today, since Caitlin informed me that my name came

up. I'd like to clarify a few things. I apologize in advance for the lengthy

response! I have read the emails surrounding this topic, and I do hope that if

you've been involved in this thread, you will take this response as a respectful

reply to the discussion, which is the spirit in which it is intended.

 

First of all, kafka/Alexandra is NOT Chandra Alexandre, nor is she me (Erin

Johansen). Chandra and I are different people, as well.

 

Alexandra has popped up on a few lists I've d to and helped moderate,

and I have noticed that she tends to ask many very specific questions, and in

some cases asks them in a way to try and show her own knowledge on the subject

(which seems a little

incongruous or disingenuous to me). This behavior has started this sort of

flurry in many other places, and it has tended to be disruptive to the group.

Chandra and I have both made note of this before, as this very same sort of

thing happened on two of SHARANYA's email lists.

 

Chandra Alexandre, PhD, is the founder and executive director of SHARANYA/The

Maa Batakali Cultural Mission, Inc. As to her credentials, she holds a Master's

degree in Women's Spirituality and a PhD in Asian and Comparative Studies, and

has spent several years working with Shyam Sundar Dash, a Brahmin priest of Kali

in Puri (which is in Orissa, India). He is the Founder and President, and

residing Priest of the Maa Batakali Temple in Puri, which is where our devi

mandir gets its name. I am not sure she would refer to him as her "guru," in the

very loaded sense of the word, but she is like a member of his family, and he is

her respected teacher in the Shakta lineage. He and his family are aware of her

pursuits and are happy for her to be spreading "Mother worship." In fact, he is

an advisor to the organization.

 

Chandra was also the co-founder of New Moon-New York, as someone has mentioned,

and is a hereditary witch, having learned the Craft from her grandmother. All of

this is stated very clearly on the website in her bio, and in the Frequently

Asked Questions section we state very clearly that we do not claim to be, nor do

we wish to be, gurus. The commitment in our tradition is to one's own self - and

those of you who know the Upanishads will know that the concept of knowledge of

self is very important to the Hindu tradition, and that concept has lent itself

to many other traditions around the world.

 

At SHARANYA, we DO NOT claim to have any of the following: 1) exclusive means

through which Western practitioners can access the Shakta path of Hinduism, 2) a

purely Shakta Tantra practice, 3) a purely Hindu practice. In fact, we embrace

all life-affirming paths, and offer Sha'can as our own tradition, which is

simply ONE way for a Western practitioner to access the Shakta path. We also

welcome many ways of knowing Devi, and encourage community participation in

discussing different ways to know Her. We combine authentic puja with Western

goddess spirituality, and thus it is different from

purely Hindu pujas.

 

We serve a community that feels drawn to the Hindu goddess/es, but is unsure how

to respectfully approach Her/them. What we provide is solid scholarly research,

authentic puja, as well as new forms of ritual that are more accessible to the

Western practitioner. We believe in a direct access approach to Goddess, and

therefore our priestesses facilitate ritual, but do not intercede between the

Goddess and the practitioner as a Hindu pujari might. This is clearly the

Western component of our tradition.

 

As for the ordination process, the titles we present are particular to our

organization and our tradition, just as any ordained official would have a title

particular to his or her own tradition. Our ordained priestesses are just that.

We are a Federally recognized 501

(3)c non-profit religious organization, and our devi mandir is qualified to

legally ordain individuals. We call our ordained priestesses "Rashani," and they

are required to go through several years of rigorous training before receiving

ordination. We do not claim to be Hindus, and do not lay claim to any sort of

Hindu ordination structure, because we are a blend of Eastern and Western

traditions that is unique. That being said, Chandra does hold a Hindu lineage,

as previously stated, and has translated that to the West in a respectful way.

 

I myself am obtaining a Master's degree in Asian and Comparative Studies (and

will eventually obtain a PhD), and I have a deep love for Maa that manifests

itself in daily practice of japa, scholarly study, puja, and other forms. My

background is as a High Priestess in the Western witchcraft tradition, and I

have had a deep calling from Maa for many, many years. Sha'can was simply the

right path for me, but I in no way believe that it's right for everyone. As the

Program Director for SHARANYA, it's my job to help educate the public about

Kali, and make more accessible the programs and practices that we offer, not to

proselytize. We are not interested in converting anyone, or in bashing anyone

else's tradition or beliefs.

 

Chandra and I have both done and continue to do a considerable amount of

research on the Shakta tradition, particularly Shakta Tantra, and have both

studied Sanskrit to aid in that pursuit. I myself have not studied with a guru

in India, but then again, I am not a Hindu. Chandra, however, continues to work

with Shyam, and is qualified to initiate people into the Sha'can tradition by

virtue of her initiations in the Hindu tradition, as well as the Wiccan

tradition. There is diversity of opinion and belief in our organization, and

some are more "new agey" (as someone said in this thread) than others, and we

are happy to accept many ways of knowing the divine and expressing love for Maa.

Most of us (including Chandra and myself!) remain firmly down to earth, and

don't take ourselves too seriously. We do take Maa very seriously, but are also

happy to laugh and sing and joyfully practice our faith.

 

SHARANYA itself is an organization dedicated to social change in India and in

the US, and to helping Western women and men discover the power of Maa as the

blissful mother, the fierce warrior, and the essence of the universal principle.

In fact, most people in the West (and many in the East) view Kali Maa as

terrifying and somehow "evil," and we simply wish to dispel these myths and show

Her as we know Her - fierce, protective, sweet, loving and gentle... she is the

ultimate Mother, after all. Our work in the world is in helping women and girls

in particular to accept themselves and their bodies through work with the Black

Mother. Jaya jagatambe! jai shyama maa, jai tara maa, jai kali maa!

 

At any rate, I offer all of this by way of clarification. If you have any

questions, there is a lot of information on our website, www.sharanya.org. The

website itself has just been redesigned, and we are still in the process of

putting up all of the information we have, but the majority is up there,

including information about the tradition, a FAQ that answers a lot of these

questions, bios on our staff, board of directors, and advisors, and a lot of

other information.

 

Ultimately, what it comes down to is that the person who started all of this

(kafka/alexandra) is not affiliated with SHARANYA/The Maa Batakali Cultural

Mission. SHARANYA is an organization that presents a unique, authentic and

respectful blend of Eastern and Western goddess traditions, and we do not in any

way claim to be the only

way to access Eastern tradition for Western practitioners, but rather embrace

any life-affirming path.

 

If you have any questions or comments, I would be happy to address them, though

most people on this list may appreciate if you emailed your questions to me

privately, rather than continuing this thread on the list.

 

Thank you for your time in reading this very long post!

 

Blessings and sa'ham,

Erin Johansen

Program Director

 

SHARANYA/The Maa Batakali Cultural Mission, Inc.

"Where East Meets West in Her Name..."

 

 

 

 

, "Caitlin" <caitlinbp@g...

wrote:

 

 

One more thing.

 

I've sent some of the emails to Erin, since Kafka was writing about her, and

she may be able to clear up some of this mess.

Best,

Caitlin

 

, sankara menon

<kochu1tz wrote:

 

 

very simple. Silly. mixing and matching is not the mre.Whats this "ordained"

priestess called? Rashini? ever hear of such an expression not in Hinduism as

far as I know. who is her initator? names are absent. But then any name can be

flaunted. The poor "guru" will not know anything about his/her name being used.

Silly is one word for it all. Did u notice the deafening silence from the

subject under discussion? and the same silence descended once earlier when I

questioned the motives behind the knowledge mining.

 

 

Hello All,

 

I've been a lurking here for some time, but it's time I pipe in. I am a

member of SHARANYA and have known both Chandra and Erin for sometime. I'm

including Chandra's bio here so you can see names are NOT absent. I understand

of course that the world is full of people pretending to be gurus/have all

sorts of secret knowledge and

claim lineage they don't possess. Please don't jump to conclusions here, this

Kafka person is obviously not Chandra nor does she know her or Erin. My guess

is that she has conversed with one of them a few times via email, and wanted to

add some creditability to her nonsense by name dropping. I also happen to know

that neither of them are memebers of this group. I'm including some info about

SHARANYA and I hope you will all look the website over and see what we are

really about.

 

Best,

Caitlin Powell (This is my real name, you'll find me on the staff page if you

want to check my credibility:)