Administration: 03/02 - Bhakti List Guidelines - Reminder.

[Guest guest]

Dear Members:

 

Over 90% of our members are sending postings which strive to promote the goals

and objectives of the bhakti list. However, there are a few members who either

do not know the objectives of the List, or do not pay attention to these goals.

There are a handful of members who treat this List as a place to just send

whatever is of interest to them, without being concerned about whether it has

anything to do with the goals and objectives of the List or not. I would like

to suggest that the best kind of moderation for these people is to

self-moderate. I do not enjoy having to either reject or delete the postings of

this very small monority of members.

 

For the benefit of these members, I am reproducing the stated goals and

objectives of the bhakti list, in a slightly different format from what you find

the home page, in items 1 and 2. The paragraphs that follow items 1 and 2 are

my own understanding and interpretation of items 1 and 2. I hope this helps

clarify the objectives for these few members.

 

1. Discussing Vedanta as systematized by Ramanuja (also known as Sri

Vaishnavam, Visishtadvaita, and Ubhaya Vedanta).

 

2. Discussion of Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the mystic poems of the

Alvar saints as they relate to No. 1 above.

 

I personally feel that the use of the List should be for either sharing our

AcAryas' knowledge and teachings on the above, or for us to learn from each

other as it pertains to the two objectives above. In discussion, there are

three types: vAdam, jalpam, and vitandam. Of these, vAdam is the discussion

that is based on pramANa-s, with the only objective being to learn the truth.

This has been extensively carried out by our pUrvAcArya-s on the different

faiths and religions (including the different vedic as well as non-vedic and

anti-vedic faiths), and so we do not have to resort to our own opinions

independent of the AcAryas' opinions and teachings. jalpam is the discussion

that some people would like to have, where they have a stated position, and they

will push it without listening to anything that anyone else has to say.

vitaNDam is when the person will just blindly oppose anything anyone else says,

irrespective of what the other person says. I do not think this Forum should be

the place for anyone to look for a venue to carry out either jalpam or vitaNDam

against the viSishTAdvaita philosophy in any form.

 

This precludes postings that one-sidedly promote other (that is, non-rAmAnuja)

vedic as well as non-vedic faiths, or announcements of

public/private/commerial/religious events that are not consistent with items 1

and 2 above, etc.

 

I hope that all members keep these guidelines in mind when posting to the List.

 

-Moderator.