What’s Your Relationship with Krishna?

Urban Sadhu Exploration February 2026

PYS 4.15 vastu-sāmye citta-bhedāt tayor vibhaktaḥ panthāḥ 

Meaning: Each person will perceive and interpret an object in a unique way according to their state of mind. All objects are empty and only appear through the lens of the individual’s projection. – Austin Sanderson

Some years ago, when I was still a Jivamukti Yoga teacher, I attended the Jivamukti Tribe gathering, an annual convention that brings the brand’s teachers together from all over the world. At the time, the founders had been initiated into Pushtimarga, a religious sect of Vaishnavism founded in the early 16th century by Vallabha Sampradaya. Note that I use the term “religious,” not “spiritual,” because Pushtimarga is a religion. It was established as a reaction against the political and religious oppression of the indigenous Hindu population by the Islamic conquerors. The sect worships Lord Krishna as the “universal God of love,” focusing on the relationship between Krishna and Radha within the Raas Leela (Dance of Divine Love). At this point, the environment within Jivamukti felt cult-like and uncomfortable for those of us not willing to go down the same religious path as the founders.

I recall an awkward moment when a well-meaning German teacher asked me, “What is your relationship with Krishna?” On hearing the question I curtly responded, “That is between Krishna and myself; it’s none of your business.” My response came from a deeply personal mindset. As an American who values religious freedom and the anonymity that comes with it, I do not feel I need to explain my religious values to a professional colleague; also, as someone who was raised Protestant, I was always encouraged to have a personal relationship with God that I did not have to express publicly. In Protestantism, privacy in spiritual matters is cherished. 

Protestantism is a religious movement within Christianity founded by Martin Luther, whose aim was to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Luther emphasized the idea that an individual could have a “direct and personal relationship with God” in an ordinary, everyday kind of way. This informality directly challenged the traditional authoritarian, dogmatic institution of the Roman Catholic Church. According to Luther, a Catholic priest no longer had the authority to ask to hear an individual’s confession or the right to seek information about a parishioner's relationship with God. It was none of their business.

While I am no longer a practicing Protestant, the concept of spiritual autonomy has stuck with me throughout my spiritual journey and has probably kept me from being seduced by more than one religious cult. Because I am suspicious of religious authority, Jivamukti was as close as I have ever come to being involved with a cult. Cult leaders and religious institutions demand that followers give up a personal relationship with God and take on the same cookie-cutter relationship as the institution’s leadership requires. Anything outside of that is considered heresy. The Oxford Dictionary defines a heretic as “a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted.” Historically, orthodox institutions have used extreme measures to punish and suppress the heretic – think of the Spanish Inquisition. Ironically, the concept of heresy goes against any spiritual teachings that view a spiritual journey as ascending to a higher consciousness. Consider Christianity and how each of the twelve Apostles had a unique personal relationship with Jesus. Jesus said James and John were “sons of thunder,” quick-tempered and eager to debate with him; Peter was impulsive; and Thomas was filled with skepticism. But it was by having unique relationships with Jesus that each Apostle ascended into a higher union with God.

When a person forms a personal relationship with Krishna (or any divine form of God), each person will project onto that relationship. In the Mahabharata Shakuni, Gandhari’s brother saw Krishna as cunning because Shakuni was cunning. Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, saw Krishna as negative because Duryodhana was negative. Gandhari, queen and mother of the Kauravas, saw Krishna as passive-aggressive because she was passive-aggressive. Yudhishthira, eldest of the five Pandavas and king of Indraprastha, saw Krishna as ethical because he was ethical. Bhima, the most muscular of the five Pandavas, saw Krishna as powerful because he was powerful. Arjuna, the third of the five Pandavas, saw Krishna as a skilled person because he was skilled. Sahadeva, the youngest of the five Pandavas, felt that Krishna had worldly wisdom because he had worldly wisdom. Each one related to Krishna according to their own mind’s projections, but the yoga sadhus, those who spent hours in deep meditation on Krishna, would smile and say “I don’t know” when asked to define their relationship with Krishna.

These stories are meant to express the complexity of the unique relationship each person has within the context of spiritual development. In the Kena Upanishads, verse 9 states, “It is unknown to those who know, and known to those who do not know.” To admit that you don’t know something is to understand that there is more to explore and learn. To say “I don’t know” requires spiritual humility. This is why Patanjali gives us insights about the projections of the mind onto the object. He lets us know that our minds will project onto the object (in this case Krishna), and we will be limited by those projections if we attach ourselves to them.

At this moment in history, America faces a similar religious crisis with the rise of MAGA and white Christian nationalism across the nation and within the federal government. Fascist movements often exploit religious identity, a process called “clerical fascism.” Identification with religious dogma gives the fascist movement legitimacy, a way to dominate and subjugate. The MAGA movement joins a brand of homegrown American Christian fundamentalism with a false relationship to Jesus Christ and his teaching to establish white “Christian” dominance in society, education, and political life. You will often hear the Christian fascist asking the question, “What is your relationship to Jesus?”; this creates the “us vs. them” polarization to demonize the opponent. The best response to these people is a simple  "It’s none of your business.”

On a personal spiritual level, the other reason I refuse to answer questions like this is, if I tell you what my relationship with God is, I am assuming I fully know and understand that relationship; however, that knowledge is limited by my mind’s perceptions. The goal of any yoga sadhu is to detach from the subjective projections of the mind and embrace the unknown. After some years of personal yoga sadhana, I have started to understand that a “direct and personal relationship with God” is the only way to obtain that objective reality.

In hindsight, a more compassionate response to the question that the German teacher asked me should have been “I don’t know,” but at the time I was not cognizant enough of my spiritual limitations to respond so thoughtfully. Most of us (including me) are not at the level of an enlightened sadhu. As our yoga sadhana deepens, our ability to express ourselves also deepens. Personal relationships take time and investment on a personal level; those spiritual relationships can’t be dictated to us by peer pressure or cult leaders.

Austin Sanderson, Urban Sadhu