Starting varnasrama colleges.

[Guest guest]

> > It would be better if you would spend

> > your energy now in answering on the questions, how to establish it now

> > and which steps are better, which pits we should avoid.

> > I'd like to hear your strategic plans.

>

> Isn't it indicative that, besides the complaints that these

> have not been established yet, and hankering for having them,

> none presented any idea of how to do it?

 

I beg to differ, many have made suggestions, and in some places beginings

are happening. But it's certainly not an overnight thing. Mayapur has made a

start. Pancaratna Prabhu is there and he has written an excellent paper on

the way to start developing varnasrma. Also in Alachua devotees are thinking

along these lines.

 

One thing that is certainly a problem is a lack of unified vision in the

movement, which is agravated by a lack of unified leadership. As has been

mentioned, one may as well try to start a project oneself, as rely on any

leaders to do so. And why not. Srila Prabhupada was all for devotees going

out to start new centers. So surely he would be happy if individuals started

varnasrama colleges.

 

This is something Sumitra Mataji suggested, and we are trying to get going

here. I personaly was amazed when I learned of the details Prabhupada gives

regarding the solutions varnasrama can give, and I think other devotees also

will become enthused to study those writings. Why not start the process of

change by bringing these teachings to the attention of other devotees?

 

Pancaratna prabhu argues that it may be best to have a seperate body

independant of ISKCON to atart varnasram training. I feel that to create a

body that is as unseperable as the BBT is from ISKCON may be appropriate.

 

The main difficulty as I see it, is that ISKCON was designed along certain

lines. We have proven ways of running ISKCON centers. But because Srila

Prabhupada did not actualy get around to going to Gita Nagari to teach us

how to 'live off the land', therefore we dont have that many of his

practical examples to follow, for varnasrama. He left it up to us, so it is

our duty to pull together and cooperate to get things going in that regard.

Talking about varnasrama with enthusiasm would be a very positive step in

the right direction, instead of assuming that it can never be done, becasue

we are all so useless. You have to make a start somewhere.

 

> Speaking about colleges, there you got much more conditions to

> get fulfilled. I guess that is the reason why we got no such

> institution so far.

 

While this is true, it is not at all impossible, it just falls outside our

normal purview of things. Many colleges the world over were started by

individuals with a vision. In South India, a friend of mine had actualy

started a college, and Abhirama Prabhu was also dabbling with the idea, and

would have carried on, if it were not that his other commitments were

greater. He is now dedicated to designing Mayapur project with varnasrama

considerations at the fore.

>

> The first one is, any college/school is a "pure" money consumer.

 

This depends on the goal or focus. Often, when a person joins a company

after years at school, the first thing he is told is 'forget everything they

taught you in school'. Srila Prabhupada was emminently practical, and so

should we be. One idea is that the schools become trade schools. Or in other

words they actual generate income while educating. This is an age old

practise.

 

As I mentioned earlier in Auroville there are over 60 cottage industries

which were all started by individuals and that now train and employ local

people. The foreigners who started many of the enterprises learned a trade

on the job in other units. All of these people were inspired by the vision

of Sri Aurobindo, who envisioned a place, Auroville where sincere souls

could work together to create a sort of God conscious community. What is

inspiring is that that is the goal of Auroville, that is what focus's them.

There is nothing at all stopping us from doing the same, except the desire

to do so.

 

> Even gurukulas struggles with their finances, but these got

> covered basically from the side of the parents who pays for

> their children. Who will pay for the schooling of the members

> of the society in general? In any case, the strong society as

> the base is the requirement.

 

I would have thought a combination of: production oriented trade schools,

self sufficency by the students actualy growing their own foods (apparently

there were trade schools in Ireland that were largely self sufficient), and

some fund raising, or fee paying could do the job. These are time tested

methods. If we cannot do them, its just because we did not organise it

properly, this is where leadership is required. Someone has to take the

lead. But yes you are right, a strong society as base is required. Thats why

our farm temples would be the best places to start. The key is to provide

employment in those places. Such employment can come from cottage

industries, that rely on materials locally available. This is where all

economic development started from in the first place.

 

> Then the high quality of the training/teaching that would be

> *at least* concuring to the "materialistic" colleges/schools.

 

I am not sure I would agree here. Not that we should not give good training,

but that the training should be focussed on the priorities of a varnasrama

based society.

 

We

> are still (compared to the actually established karmi society!)

> a group of some idealistic dreamers. Still unable to give the

> qualitative answer on how to properly and successfully school

> our own children, what to speak of the population in general.

 

This is very true. Look at our society, it is basicaly a free for all. If

you are a humble devotee, you just do what you are told, or if you are a

clever politician, you can get a good position, or if you can pull a saintly

image, and learn a lot of slokas, you can be a teacher or headmaster of a

school and abuse kids for years before being caught. Our integrity is held

together be a few sincere devotees who carry on no matter what.

 

In the karmi world, look at all the structures that are in place to ensure

that things go the way they should. Look at all the departments of

government. Look at the enforcement agencies. What do we have? Practicaly

nothing. Our 'Ministers' are almost jokes, with no budgets, no offices,

almost nothing. What about our enforcement of ISKCON law? Our justice

department? A few things are going on, but very little. But whatever we do

have needs to be strengthened, and built up, along the proper lines.

 

So we have to do something about it, and as far as I can see, the social

system that Srila Prabhupada told us about is the thing that will actualy

save us. So it boils down to the few devotees who believe in Srila

Prabhupadas varnasrama system to do something. There are many devotees out

there who do not even beleive in varnasrama, despite all that Srila

Prabhupada has said. So at least the few who do have some faith in his

vision should share that enthusiasm, and cooperate in whatever way they can

to try to take those small steps to get varnasrama off the ground.

 

> I have just written down here a few *questions* that are the

> most basic ones. I have no actual answer on them. One could go

> theorizing with some proposals and ideas, though. But that's

> all one can do here in regard of "starting varnasrama colleges".

> Otherwise, we go on with our "I_am_better_than_you,_prabhu" so

> called discussions and debates, and blaming the ISCKON leaders

> for not having done it yet.

 

Yes such forums as this are very limited, but the one thing they can do is

enthuse others, if the talk is positive, and if we examine each step to be

taken one by one.

 

So I agree lets stop all this naysaying that varnasrama cant be done, as we

are hopeless at everything anyway, lets stop blaming the leaders, and lets

work towards doing whatever we CAN do, even if its only being enthusiastic

about the idea that Srila Prabhupada presented the VAD system, that could

solve all the problems.

 

YS.