Guest guest Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS for the Achintya List revised 6/02/02 Home Page: http://www.achintya.org achintya/ Moderator: achintya-owner Subscribe: achintya- Unsubsribe: achintya Submission: achintya 1) What is the Achintya list? The Achintya list (short for Achintya Beda Abeda Tattva) is a moderated mailing list devoted to discussions of Gaudiiya Vaishnava philosophy (Achintya Beda Abeda Vedaanta) in the line of Shrii Chaitanya Mahaaprabhu and the six Gosvaamiis. The subject matter of the Achintya list encompasses all aspects of Gaudiiya Vaishnavism or Krishna-consciousness, including philosophy, culture, and history. 2) There are lots of other Krishna-conscious internet forums. Why should I to this one? There are many other sincere efforts by devotees at providing Krishna-conscious forums for dialogue. However, in many of these cases, the discussions have been marred by a tendency towards heated exchanges, name-calling, politically-motivated postings, fanatical behavior, and/or Vaishnava aparaadha. The Achintya list is unique in that it uses Brahminical culture as a paradigm for all discussions. All postings are strictly moderated in such a way as to prevent behavior that would be frowned upon in a Brahminical community of Vaishnavas. Thus, list members are not allowed to disparage other individuals or institutions, behave in a condescending fashion towards each other, or argue endlessly without addressing scriptural evidence. 3) How can I join the Achintya list? The best way is to go to http://www.achintya.org and click on "join this group" in the upper right hand corner. This will take you through a registration process which will give you a free Groups userid and password. You will need this groups userid and password to access the group's special features, which include message archives, web-based posting, file downloads, webpage bookmarks, online chatting, calendar, and photo album. Alternately, you can simply send a blank e-mail to achintya-. However, this will not give you the free Groups userid, and thus you will not able to access the special features of the list. 4) I already have mail. Do I need a groups userid as well? Yes. The mail account is NOT the same as a groups userid. You will need the latter if you want to read the Achintya list archives. 5) I am already d to the Achintya list with e-mail only, and I do not have a groups userid. How can I go about getting one? If you already have a Groups userid, but you have not linked it to the Achintya list, simply go to www.achintya.org and click on "find your membership." Groups will attempt to find email addresses by which you are d. If successful, you simply have to click "get web access" next to the e-mail address with which you are d. If this does not work, or if you do not have a Groups userid, you can simply go to www.achintya.org and click "join this group" as if you were joining for the first time. Go through the registration process, giving the e-mail address with which you are already d to the list. Once you are complete, groups will link a new groups userid to your already existing e-mail address. 6) I have a COM account, and I am having trouble getting e-mail from the Achintya list, even though I can post to it. I have to go to the webpage to see the postings. What gives? Some COM members have reported problems of this nature. The following fix from Rama Kesava dasa (nine9) may address this issue: - I learn from the PAMHO SysOp that the reason many COM susbscribers are having problems receiving texts (or not getting any at all) is because he decided that we would have to read on-line, due to the amount of messages that are received from . (Apparently 13,000 per month.) There is a way to make it work, though! If you turn off the "Spam filter" the messages are then delivered. To turn off WinCOM's spam filter, you execute the following command: @switch off spam filter or go to "Change my Personal Settings", under the "Change my settings" tab in the Commands members, and switch it off there. -- 7) I consider myself a Gaudiiya Vaishnava, but I am not a member of ISKCON nor a follower of Srila Prabhupada. Is it okay for me to join? Yes. The Achintya list is open to everyone, regardless of their spiritual background or spiritual master (or lack thereof). It is not necessary to be a Gaudiiya Vaishnava to join. All that is requested is that members conduct themselves according to brahminical standards of conduct. The Achintya list is not the property of any specific, religious organization. 8) I want to post something, but I feel a little intimidated because there are so many scholarly discussions. Should I just sit on the sidelines and observe? No! Feel free to post, as long as your postings are relevant to Gaudiiya Vaishnavism. The list is meant for devotees of all different stages of learning and realization. Many devotees like to post basic questions and answers pertaining to Krishna-consciousness. Other devotees like to share experiences they had while on pilgrimmage in India. Achintya allows for all variety of discussion as long as the basic theme is one of Krishna-consciousness. 9) Some of my postings were rejected from Achintya. What should I do? First of all, don't be upset. Look at the moderator feedback in the rejection message, which will usually explain the specific error. The most common errors are: - quoting too much replied-to text - not entitling your message appropriately (when you respond to the digest format of the list, your mail reader will use the digest number as the subject line. You MUST delete this and manually enter the actual subject of your message) Sometimes the errors are more serious in nature, such as: - posting remarks which disparage other individuals, spiritual leaders, or religious institutions (note that merely refuting another person's opinion is NOT the same as belittling him) - prolonging arguments without addressing an opponent's evidence, or failing to quote evidence when asked to do so - posting blatantly irrelevant articles In most cases, specific feedback will be provided, so you will know where the problem is. If no such feedback is provided, you may write to achintya-owner with a request for feedback. No matter the error, it is usually possible to edit one's posting and resubmit it, and most rejection notices are delivered with this in mind. Therefore, please do not take a rejection notice personally, but instead see it as an opportunity to improve upon your posting. 10) I like the Krishna-conscious thrust of this list, but occasionally I see opinions posted that seem contrary to Srila Prabhupada's teachings and/or devotional service. Should I just so that I do not have to see these? If your faith in Srila Prabhupada is so fragile that an occasional, contrary opinion will shatter it, then perhaps yes. However, a more mature approach might be to read the rebuttals that other list members offer, and/or try to offer a rebuttal of your own. Remember that while Achintya is dedicated to pleasing Srila Prabhupada and Lord Chaitanya, it is still a discussion group, which means that opinions relevant to Vedic culture and bhakti-yoga will often be discussed and debated. The general philosophy of the Achintya list is that friendly discussion between different individuals helps everyone to understand each other's perspective. Interaction between different members of different levels of understanding helps to weed out misconceptions and strengthen conviction in the correct understanding of scripture. Because of the variety of people who join the Achintya list, it is likely that there will be debates from time to time between: (1) different Gaudiiya Vaishnavas on the proper understanding of Achintya Beda Abeda philosophy (2) Gaudiiya and non-Gaudiiya Vaishnavas on the proper interpretation of scripture (3) Vaishnavas and secular-minded individuals regarding general philosophy of religion, authenticity/origins of scripture, etc. These discussions are welcome so long as members remain civil, address each other's points (rather than arguing for the sake of being argumentative), and show mutual respect. In other words, members must maintain an open-minded mentality, and thus be prepared to be proven wrong if an opponent has given a superior, evidence-based argument. The moderator will not allow debates in which participants mock each other, engage in name-calling, behave in a condescending manner, refuse to address key points, or show other signs of simply prolonging the argument because they do not want to give in. A good attitude is required for those who wish to debae. 11) I am not a very intellectual person, but I would like to participate in the discussions. How can I be more prepared for the occasional debate? Know your evidence! For Gaudiiya Vaishnavas, this means knowing Srila Prabhupada's books. There is simply no way around this. Srila Prabhupada's Bhaktivedanta purports contain abundant examples of objections and refutations, and Gaudiiyas are advised to study them. Other Vaishnavas can study the writings of their respective traditions. If you would like further guidance on constructing arguments or avoiding logical fallacies, the following links might be useful: http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/index.htm Note that this is no substitute for knowing scripture, nor is logic considered to be valid independently of scripture when discussing spiritual matters. The website above is given to present guidelines for logical debate. No endorsement is intended of its conclusions. 12) I sometimes notice delays between when I post an article and when it appears, if at all, on Achintya. Why is this? As there is only one moderator on the Achintya list (and he is a busy man at that), problems arise when list members post articles that stretch the limits allowed by the rules. In such cases, it becomes difficult to decide how best to apply the rules in approving or rejecting the posting. The best way to avoid delays in posting is to be fully cognizant of the Achintya rules, keeping your postings within the parameters allowed by them. Articles which "test the limits," for example, by including irrelevant material, containing veiled personal attacks, or not following submission guidelines, will almost certainly take more time for consideration, if not rejected outright. 13) Where can I review the rules for posting to Achintya? You will have received a copy of the rules when you d to Achintya. An updated copy is always available in the file area of the Achintya webpage, located at: achintya The document is available in both text file and html formats. There will be monthly mailings of the updated rules, as well as this FAQ, for all Achintya list members. 14) I really enjoy looking at the Achintya website (www.achintya.org), and I would like to volunteer to perform some service for the Achintya page. Whom should I contact? Send an e-mail to achintya-owner. There are many areas in which the Achintya page can be improved. Help is always appreciated. 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