Troubled Times? Take Deep Shelter in Srila Prabhpada's Vani

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

On January 6, 1976, Srila Prabhupada directed the GBC to implement a

graduated system of sastric exams to ensure that his disciples carefully

studied his books. He hoped--by encouraging the systematic study of his

books--to strengthen his followers and his movement.

 

Vigorously attempting to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's directive, the Mayapur

Institute of Higher Education (MIHE), beginning on January 6, 2002, will

offer the Vaisnava Training and Education (VTE) Bhakti-sastri Course. This

course--six years in the making--uses a personalized approach to learning

and encourages students not just to memorize the contents of Srila

Prabhupada's books but also to digest the philosophy and practically apply

it.

 

No tuition

 

We will be making an experiment this year by offering the VTE Bhakti-sastri

Course free, but we will need to cover the operating costs through your

donations. The VIHE in Vrindavan just made this experiment, and it

financially strained the VIHE. We are therefore counting on financially

capable students to reciprocate in a mood of gratitude for the

knowledge they receive.

 

For the last five years, the international standard for tuition for this

course has been Rs 10,000. And to keep this program functioning we need a

bare minimum of Rs. 5,000 per student. But we will graciously accept

whatever more is offered so that the program can be developed to higher and

higher levels of spiritual and educational effectiveness. In addition to

receiving donations from financially capable students, we will cultivate

donors to sponsor qualified but needy students. Students will be responsible

for their course materials, accommodations, prasadam, and tuition for

non-Bhakti-sastri courses during the MIHE semester.

 

 

Scheduling

 

I am pasting at the end of this message an overview of the VTE Bhakti-sastri

Course schedule. We have arranged the schedule so that the devotees taking

the Bhakti-sastri Course can fully participate in the MIHE semester, the

Gaura Purnima Festival, and the VTE Teacher Training Courses.

 

Incidentally, this will be the thirtieth annual Gaura Purnima Festival and

so far more than fifteen GBC's will commit themselves to staying on after

the GBC meetings to participate in either the MIHE or Festival seminars.

This will be a great opportunity to really get to know our leaders better.

 

 

Student Qualifications

 

The VTE designed the Bhakti-sastri Course for devotees who have been

seriously practicing Krsna consciousness for at least a year and have basic

sastric knowledge and understanding. All students must follow the four

regulative principles, chant sixteen rounds, and attend the daily morning

programs. Before a prospective student comes to Mayapur, his ISKCON

authority must submit to the MIHE administration a letter of recommendation

indicating confidence in the prospective student's qualification to

participate in this course.

 

 

Why Take this Course?

 

By coming to Mayapur you'll have easy access to serene places of study,

potent places of pilgrimage, a reference library, great association,

gorgeous Deities to worship, enlivening morning and evening programs, nice

accommodations, and great prasadam. Devotees taking this course will

experience a change in their consciousness and the quality of their lives

and increase their capability and qualification to serve Srila Prabhupada's

mission.

 

We thus urge you to visit the MIHE website at http://www.mayapur.org/mihe so

you can see in detail the VTE Bhakti-sastri Course schedule, the line-up of

teachers, and the many courses to be offered during the third annual MIHE

Gaura Purnima semester.

 

Your servant,

Janmastami dasa

 

P.S. If you are unsure whether you should risk traveling to Mayapur, I

recently heard or looked up these relevant, persuasive quotes:

 

"Sometimes the members of the Krsna Consciousness Society are afraid of the

impending danger of world war and ask what would happen to them if a war

should occur. In all kinds of danger, they should be confident of their

protection by the Visnudutas or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as

confirmed in Bhagavad-gita (kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktaƒ pranasyati

[bg. 9.31]). Material danger is not meant for devotees."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.18 Purport

 

"Although material nature is subject to repeated creation and annihilation,

that spiritual nature remains as it is eternally. In the Tenth Canto of

Srimad-Bhagavatam, that spiritual nature, the spiritual world, is described

as Vrndavan, Goloka Vrndavan, Vraja-dhama, or Navadvipa-dhama."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.1.1 Purport

 

So what safer place is there than Sri Dhama Mayapur in troubled times?

 

Furthermore, Lord Nityananda says (in the Navadvipa-dhama-mahatmya) that

"materialistic persons cannot enter the dhama, nor is there any material

influence there; maya has eternally covered the dhama with a film of dull

matter." The "film of dull matter" prevents materialists from entering the

dhama, and nowadays this covering might include the fear generated by the

media's coverage of the conflict in Afghanistan and potential terrorist

attacks elsewhere. Please don't be frightened away by maya. Come to the

Bhakti-sastri course.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

2002 MIHE and VTE Bhakti-sastri Course Schedule

 

December 24 Application Deadline for the VTE Bhakti-sastri Course

 

January 6 Registration for the VTE Bhakti-sastri Course

 

January 7 Beginning of the VTE Bhakti-sastri Course

 

February 4 Application Deadline for the MIHE Semester

 

February 13 Opening Ceremonies of the MIHE Semester

 

February 19 Advaita Acarya's Appearance Day

 

February 25 Lord Nityananda's Appearance Day

 

March 1 GBC Meetings Begin

 

March 5 Bhakti-sastri Course Breaks until April 8

 

March 6 VTE Teacher Training Course 1 (VTE TTC1) Begins

 

March 12 GBC Meetings End

 

March 13 VTE TTC2 Begins

 

March 17 End of the MIHE Semester

 

March 18 Parikrama leaves Mayapur

 

March 24 Parikrama returns to Mayapur

 

March 28 Gaura Purnima

 

April 1 - 4 VTE Bhakti-sastri Teacher Training Course

 

April 8 Bhakti-sastri Course Reconvenes

 

June 21 Bhakti-sastri Course Ends