Guest guest Posted February 22, 1999 Report Share Posted February 22, 1999 Dear Prabhus Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Here is our latest Sri Mayapur Project newsletter, including part of our annual report to the GBC, and news of our new website. I hope this meets you well. Your Servant Bhagavat Dharma das ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHRI MAYAPUR PROJECT NEWS. VOL. 2, NUMBER 3. FEBRUARY 1999. >From the Communications, New Delhi. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakash gauranga nitya-seva haibe vikasa 'One astounding temple will appear, from where Lord Gauranga's eternal service will be preached all over the world'. Lord Nityananda in the Navadwip Mahatmya. -------------------- Contents of this edition. 1) Editorial. 2) News Bytes. 3) Managing Director's Report. 4) Exhibitions Progress. ============= 1) EDITORIAL. ============= Led by Abhirama prabhu, our small team entered the GBC room at the top of the Conch building in Mayapur. Pada-Sevanam and I had been there earlier and put up drawings and sketches. It was time for the annual report of the Project to the GBC members. Abhirama spoke first. His theme of 'More Bang and Less Bucks' generated a chuckle around the room. After he read his introduction, I handed round our report. The GBC members seemed pleased that the Project was secure and in capable hands. Pada-Sevanam spoke next, outlining some of the sacred geometry of the Temple. The members applauded. Pancharatna spoke about the welfare work in the region, Kalakantha spoke about the Exhibitions, (report below), and read out a letter from Ambarish prabhu, who offered his support. Finally, our Construction Manager, Gaura Sakti took all of us by surprise by his heartfelt appeal to the GBC to stick closely to Srila Prabhupada's vision. Abhirama rounded off and all of a sudden, our time was up. The meeting closed and we sat around and discussed issues with one or two remaining members and Anuttama prabhu, the new GBC Communications Minister. We all began to breathe a little more easily. We felt that our service was appreciated, and despite the difficulties we faced after the resignation of Harikesa prabhu, the GBC members were keen to see the project continue. The full version of the report is available as an Acrobat PDF file, zipped to 2.8Mb, including full colour graphics at our temporary website: http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~bhagavat/smp.htm The site also contains back copies of this newsletter. We will be developing this site during the year, and transferring to our own domain when it is available. Please bookmark us and check often. During this coming year, we have several important goals; 1) Complete the design of the Temple, and move to the stage of working drawings. 2) Complete the manifestation of the beautiful seven-foot Panca-tattva deities, and install Them in Their temporary home. 3) Start to 'knit' the Master Plan together with the on-the-ground situation in Mayapur, with the help of Hari Sauri prabhu and the Implementation Committee. 4) Dig a new deep well for the grhasta community, and reduce the risk of Arsenic poisoning in the water supply. 5) Build a community centre for the grhasta devotees. 6) Design and build a sewage system for present and future developments. 7) Design a stabilised mud-block housing area, with aggressive sustainable systems. 8) Begin a major fund-raising campaign, focused in India. 9) Develop a Sri Mayapur project website. I hope you will find this edition informative and inspiring. Thank you very much for all your support and encouragement. All glories to the sankirtan devotees who are continually making personal sacrifices to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books. All glories also to all the residents of Sri Mayapur, who in many ways are brave pioneers. Thank you for taking care of us each time we come, and for keeping us in touch with the issues. Your Servant Bhagavat Dharma das Internet: bhagavat (AT) netcomuk (DOT) co.uk COM: bhagavat.dharma.mg (AT) com (DOT) bbt.se ============== 2) NEWS BYTES. ============== a) The flags are out. The Construction department has put up red flags on 20 feet high poles at the four corners of the proposed Temple moat in Mayapur, and at the centre. Look out for them if you are in Mayapur for the festival. b) Sri-Sri Panca-Tattva. The seven-foot high Panca-Tattva deities, who will grace the main altar in the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, are nearing Their manifestation. On the Gada building roof, a team of devotee sculptors and artists produced clay models, which were then converted into fibreglass moulds. The next stage will take place at a foundry in Calcutta, where moulds will be carefully made, and the Deities will be cast in asta-dhatu, eight metals described in the shastras. The project devotees and the pujaris are hoping and praying for the Lords to take Their place in the temporary Panca-Tattva temple before Gaura Purnima 2000. c) Srila Prabhupada's 1955 determination. Srila Prabhupada's meditation on developing Mayapur was very long term. Recently, with the arrival of the new folio programme, we found a letter, which he wrote to a godbrother in October 1955. 'I am glad that Sripada Sridhara Maharaja has advised you to purchase a land at Mayapur. Yes we must have a temple at Mayapur. If every one of us possess a temple there, the importance of Sridhama Mayapur will automatically increase and we must have this ideal in view always.' d) Personnel We are fortunate that one of the senior planners from the Master Plan office in Bangalore, Dhiraj Narayan, has joined us here in Delhi. He is working now on knitting together the Master Plan with a newly prepared topographical map of the area. If you have any questions about the Master Plan, please contact Dhiraj on COM as Dhiraj Narayan, or via the Net at dhiraj.narayan (AT) com (DOT) bbt.se ========================================= 3) MANAGING DIRECTOR'S REPORT TO THE GBC. Abhirama Dasa ========================================= "Bhaktivinoda Thakura in the beginning wanted to develop this place very gloriously, befitting the holy name of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. So he started this movement of developing Mayapur. He could not finish it, so it was handed down to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. So under his effort, assisted by his disciples, this place has gradually developed, and our attempt is also to develop this place...We have got great ambition to develop this place nicely and gloriously, and fortunately we are now connected with foreign countries, especially with the Americans. Bhaktivinoda Thakura's great desire was that the Americans would come here and develop this place and they would chant and dance along with the Indians." >From a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur, February 21, 1976 Dear Maharajas and Prabhus. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to our loving spiritual master Srila Prabhupada. 1998 was a significant year for the Mayapur Project, as it was for the movement. The resignation of our chairman was a body blow, as was the loss of promised funding. Still, the spirit among the Project team is excellent. Our new motto is "More Bang - Less Bucks"! With this motto, we hope to attract the Lord's blessings, and make the Mayapur Project a reality in our lifetimes! We do not intend to miss the opportunity to satisfy the previous Acharyas. We are using as much genius as we can find, to cut unneeded expenses and design a Temple building that will be a 'wonder of the world', without 'costing the Earth'. This year, we have trimmed the cost of the Temple, and designed the construction so that we can build in phases; with the first phase costing well under $65 million. Compared to earlier designs, this is very low, and we have not sacrificed the beauty or grandeur at all! We have closed our London, Washington and Bangalore offices and brought all planning and design under one roof in Delhi. We hope to begin working drawings later this year. We want to begin construction in the first years of the new millennium. This is a Temple designed to last a thousand years. We feel it is 'a gift of the ancients to the children of the new millennium'. As we were developing the phased idea, we turned to Srila Prabhupada's vision, via the Folio programme. We have gained a stronger determination and a clearer sense of purpose. Aside from the well-known quotes, we found many practical directions. Srila Prabhupada began philanthropic work in the region, and wanted to develop it. We are sponsoring an independent local organisation called the Sri Mayapur Vikas Sangha, which has attracted funding and support from the international donor community. By showing a sense of local responsibility, our sponsorship of the SMVS has won us many friends in the region. We will continue to support the Sangha. We are working on a travelling show with exhibits that will tour planetaria and science museums. This is being done in Alachua under the guidance of Sadaputa, Toshan Krishna, Kalakantha, and Ambarish Prabhus. We plan to tour cities around the world next year. We will to promote the message of the Vedic Planetarium, while assisting the global preaching mission of ISKCON. We are developing plans for a 'Vocational Training School', modelled on Srila Prabhupada's concept of 'Varnasrama College'. We want to bring a higher standard and broader scope to the educational opportunities at Mayapur, and begin to train the kind of devotees who will eventually populate Mayapur and make it the Varnasrama Society that Srila Prabhupada envisioned. Srila Prabhupada clearly indicated that the Mayapur Project has a significant part to play in the culture and future growth of ISKCON. Far from being an isolated development, Srila Prabhupada always saw the Project as the international headquarters and educational institution for ISKCON. On three occasions he wrote to tell Jayapataka Maharaj and others that Mayapur was not just for Bengalis, but was for his '...international students and big life members'. Of course, Srila Prabhupada wanted vigorous preaching among the Bengali community. He saw the important role of management in Mayapur for those educated and capable local devotees who were joining. We are very fortunate to have a core of Indian devotees who have become the leaders of our Mayapur community, as Srila Prabhupada wanted. Srila Prabhupada was keen for his disciples to take advantage of the spiritual qualities of Sri Mayapur. He wanted a flow between the ISKCON centres and the holy dham. He hoped students would grow and advance in spiritual life, both to remain and develop Mayapur and also to return to the preaching field with renewed vigour. Mayapur was to be the heart of ISKCON, pumping the preaching spirit around the arteries of the thriving movement. The feedback we get from some devotees worries us. This global spirit that Srila Prabhupada fostered seems to be diminishing. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly spoke of gathering global support for Mayapur. The very image of the lame man and the blind man, informs us of his thinking. Now, some feel that the Mayapur Project presents a threat to local projects. Others feel that Mayapur is not relevant. Some argue that Srila Prabhupada did not want thousands of devotees flying off to Mayapur, but wanted them to develop Mayapur in their own locality. (Others argue that this will be impossible in some post-apocalyptic future). A criticism that we have received goes like this - 'What is the need for more investment in bricks and mortar, when the social fabric of our society is falling apart'. We are certainly not blind to the fundamental problems within our movement, but we feel that the solution is to turn to Srila Prabhupada's instructions and his vision. 'OK', say the critics, 'Can you honestly say that Srila Prabhupada would be funding temple construction at this time? Surely, he would be encouraging investment in social development?' We are convinced that Srila Prabhupada's vision of a developed ISKCON World Headquarters, in Mayapur, along with application of his instructions for a Varnashram society are the two major solutions we seek. The danger we see now is a clamour for rationalist solutions, heavily weighted with Western-value judgements. We believe Srila Prabhupada was a revolutionary thinker. He gave the world a precious gift, a way of thinking and living. Now it is time to apply his practical teachings. Mayapur is our largest, most enduring and most successful community. No doubt there are issues to be addressed, but Mayapur is thriving, with strong temple programmes, massive book distribution, well-engaged grhastas, a network of Nama-Hatta preaching and three developing schools, despite past problems. The community spirit is strong and largely free of major divisions. An investment in Mayapur is an investment in ISKCON. As Ambarish prabhu puts it, "A rising tide raises all ships". Those of us involved in the Mayapur Project feel part of a glorious and nourishing culture. Srila Prabhupada wanted to start "a spiritual revolution!", a "cultural conquest!" At this difficult stage in our history, we appeal to each GBC member to look more closely to Srila Prabhupada's stated aims. Our conviction is that two of Srila Prabhupada's objectives have been neglected - the development of Varnasrama and the building of the Mayapur temple and town. A society without a social and cultural structure is doomed to failure, as is a society without a home. Mayapur is our Mecca, our Jerusalem, and our Vatican City. Mayapur is the place on this earth to focus our spiritual society. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Srila Prabhupada has not left us clueless as to how to solve our problems, we have just chosen to ignore his direction, at our great peril. Let us reconfirm our commitment to and faith in his instructions. This is the way forward! Varnasrama and Sridham Mayapur! This is the Holy Grail, the missing pieces of the puzzle that we are all seeking! We need your support and guidance. We do not need to tax the overburdened Temples, rather we feel that this Project can inject a new spirit and energy in our Society. Srila Prabhupada indicated that the Temple could be built with funds from his BBT and collecting in India. If we have these sources and the help of a few major donors, we will deliver this Temple in the next decade. Please help us serve our mission, by endorsing and assisting us when needed. I beg your continued blessings for our endeavours and pray to remain your servant, Abhirama Das, Managing Director. Sri Mayapur Project Development Committee. ======================= 4) EXHIBITIONS PROGRESS Kalakantha Dasa ======================= Srila Prabhupada requested his disciples to build a Vedic Planetarium in Sridham Mayapur. As with so many of his instructions, Srila Prabhupada's amazing foresight and wisdom is just now beginning to dawn on us. For many years Sadaputa Prabhu has researched Srila Prabhupada's writings and other Vedic texts to prepare for this project. Now the plans for the actual Mayapur Planetarium are coming closer to reality. The time has come to prepare some of the presentations to be shown in Mayapur. Many of these planetarium presentations will be of great interest to planetaria in the Western world. And there are thousands of them - 1700 in the United States alone! In co-operation with the Mayapur Foundation, the Bhaktivedanta Institute Alachua team is now preparing a pilot Vedic Planetarium presentation. They are finalising an agreement with a nationally known planetarium consultant to help adapt the Vedic teachings to this medium. While creating this pilot presentation, Sadaputa Prabhu and the team of devotees, will gain the skills to independently produce many more such programs in the future. In addition to the Vedic Planetarium, the team is simultaneously working on a series of Science and History museum exhibits that may also be part of the Mayapur project. These exhibits will also be of great interest to the many large museums in the West. To help prepare this travelling exhibition, the Institute has retained the former director of the Miami Science Museum. Among other credits, he was the designer of the famous robotic dinosaur exhibits that have become extremely popular in America and Europe. After studying our materials, this gentleman is convinced that we can produce a popular exhibition on Vedic culture that can tour major Western museums, much as famous exhibitions from China and Egypt have done before. These two presentations will be powerful cultural weapons, sure to enhance our preaching in the West on an unprecedented scale, and sure to give a huge boost to the credibility and mission of our Founder-Acharya and the Sri Mayapur Project. ==================== 6) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ==================== I would like to thank the following devotees who helped with this issue: Abhirama Dasa, Kalakantha Dasa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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