Asha-bandha

About

Āśā-bandha was inspired by talks by world-travelling monk Devamrita Swami on making positive progress in life. Āśā-bandha is a Sanskrit term meaning “hope against hope”, and this hope refers to the hope that if one continues to persevere in living the best life one can for oneself and others, lead by the torchlight of knowledge, one will surely attain the desired goal – pure, unconditional love. Āśā-bandha is discussed in the text Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (The Nectar of Devotion), written by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, a devotional teacher, poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. It is written in the spirit that we are all family, all interconnected and bound by the original loving nature of the self and the Supreme self. And so this piece was written with the future performers in mind in the mood of giving and sharing in this sense of eternal camaraderie and with the hope that the listeners will also receive the benefit of these collaborations.