[ADMIN] Resuming duties as moderator...

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

After a break of nearly three months, I am beginning the

process of resuming my role as moderator of the Bhakti List.

My heartfelt gratitude to Sri Krishnamachari who has ably

served in this capacity for the last few months. As I'm sure

you are all aware, it is a difficult job given the diverse

voices that are present on our list, and Sri Krishnamachari

has done his best and done very well in moderating the list

with a fair hand.

 

I will be slowly transitioning back as full-time moderator.

We each have different styles so there may be some threads

of discussion which will have to be wrapped up pretty soon.

As always, please pay attention to the group's charter which

is mailed out every month to every member.

 

The intention of the Bhakti List is to engage in dispassionate

discussion of the religion and philosophy of the Sri Vaishnava

tradition, with emphasis on the understanding of the Alvars

and Sri Ramanujacharya. The key idea here is *dispassionate*

and *polite* discourse, without extreme views slanting the

discussion one way or another. The role of a moderator such

as myself or Sri Krishnamachari is to make sure an open forum

remains so people can feel comfortable bringing up issues

without having themselves shouted down.

 

Finally, I thank all of you for your patience and continued

participation. One of the lessons I've learned is that it is

exceedingly difficult to moderate a religious group such

as this. This is one of the reasons I felt I needed respite

from this role. It seems that a large minority of members are

extremely sensitive and are unwilling to read viewpoints different

from their own, particularly when they challenge their basic

assumptions. One violent reaction or two is enough to shut

an interesting thread of discussion down. I always hold out

hope that this List will serve in some small measure as a place

for introspection, not only by individuals but for our movement

as a whole. To me, this is part of the process of 'jijnAsa',

or inquiry into the highest Brahman, who is none other than our

innermost Self.

 

In the service of the Divine Couple,

Mani