[ANN] Impending Suspension of the Bhakti List

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImate rAmAnujAya nama:

 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE INDEFINITE SUSPENSION OF

THE BHAKTI LIST, EFFECTIVE MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003.

 

Dear Members,

 

The time has come to make an important change in the

Bhakti List and related email groups. As you

have no doubt noticed, the character of the Bhakti List has

changed markedly over the last three years, mostly for

the negative, and it is doubtful that the List itself

is serving any useful purpose in its present form.

The flow of thought provoking discussions has reduced to

a trickle. The joy I felt in the old discussions and

postings is all but missing today.

 

I can speculate as to the causes of the List's demise --

the proliferation of alternative discussion groups,

the explosion of Internet use by all and sundry, moderation

and organizational missteps on my part come to mind -- but to

analyze this now is not my goal. What is clear is that the

Bhakti List in its present form is simply not working, and

does not offer anything substantially different from the many

other discussion groups currently in existence.

 

I have discussed the state of affairs with a few

esteemed members, and other than our sentimental attachment

for the way things used to be, none of us can come up

with a quick fix solution to the problem. We also do not

want to host a forum which does not do justice to the

many informative discussions that were carried out in

years past. Continuing in this manner would only dilute

the List archives and reduce the overall historical value

of the group.

 

In light of all this, in consultation with my fellow

moderators, we have come to the conclusion the

Bhakti List has to be INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED,

until we can devise a system which will encourage

positive, thought provoking discussion like we used

to have. Posts from the general membership will

be suspended as of MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003. I don't have a

timetable for when the Bhakti List will be restarted

and cannot speculate as to when it will happen.

However, having an open and affirming forum which

discusses Sri Vaishnava religious practice is important

to me, and given that few other lists serve this need

you can rest assured I will constantly be thinking on

how to properly solve this problem.

 

I should make it clear that you need not and should

not do anything to change your membership in the List.

The suspension of discussion simply means that posts

from members at large will not be accepted for some

time for the bhakti-list, sv-general, sv-poetry, and

sv-rituals. The bhakti-list will continue to exist

as an entity (the other lists will be shut down in

the near future).

 

The sv-lectures announcement list continues to serve

a useful purpose and is unaffected by this change.

All lecture announcements can be freely posted there

as usual.

 

Very occasionally, you may still see a few messages

appear on the Bhakti List. These will be mostly from

long running series which I feel must be seen to their

completion, such as Sri Krishnamachari's Sahasranama

effort. The fact that this and other series such as

Sri Madhavakkannan's Divya Prabandham translations

originated in the Bhakti List is a great source of

pride to me and a credit to the List, and to cut them

short now would be a shame.

 

 

I thank all of you for being members of this forum

for all these years. I thank all of you for putting

up with me as an imperfect moderator. I thank

Sri Dileepan, Krishna Kalale, Sudarshan Iyengar,

and Vaidehi for joining me in starting this group

in 1994. I think Sri Sadagopan and others who contributed

so much to the growth of this group, and for Sri

Krishnamachari, Madhavakkannan, Arun, and Balaji for

stepping in as moderator when I needed a break. I thank our

Alvars and Acharyas who were and are the inspiration

for this group. Finally, I thank Lord Ranganatha who

inexplicably found it fit to place me in the position

of manager and moderator of this List, in which capacity

I have no doubt only deficiently served. I pray that He

guides me to a solution which enables the quick restoration

of this forum.

 

I remain,

adiyen ramanuja dasan

Mani