Guest guest Posted October 1, 2002 Report Share Posted October 1, 2002 Rabindranatha ACBSP wrote: > Last Sunday, myself (Rabindranatha) and some other devotees here in New > Dvaraka (ISKCON of Los Angeles), had our second Varnasrama College Committee > Meeting. There the point was brought up that in order to establish a > Varnasrama College in America that is self-sufficient, then we have to first > develop a good plan, in order for it to be successful and to avoid mistakes > that were made in the past. > > Thus in order to come up with this plan for establishing a Varnasrama > College in America, I am making a request to all interested devotees to help > me in this regard by one or more of the following: > > 1) Your ideas My idea: Your group should meet at least once a week to have a class and discussion on material from the Prabhupada Varnasrama book which has been assembled by the GBC Farm Research Committee. Without hearing intensively from Srila Prabhupada, it will not be at all possible for your group to develop a unified vision. My suggestion would be to read and discuss 1 chapter each week. You might not want to read the whole chapter at each meeting, but you could read what you think is the most important or interesting excerpt. There are 40 conversations/lectures/interviews. So you could learn quite a bit in a year of classes, and develop a unified vision of what you are doing. If you do not study intensively Srila Prabhupada's instructions, then your group will gradually diverge into two separate groups -- those who want to set up a strictly Vedic institution -- based on Manu Samhita, etc. -- and those who want to set up some type of New Age community, based on modern management concepts. Both of these views needs to be substantially modified by Srila Prabhupada's conception. Without doing that your group will gradually break apart. As you build a common unified vision based on Srila Prabhupada's instructions, then you will find you have a better vantage point to accept and reject various proposals that arise. your servant, Hare Krsna dasi > > 2) Helping with research > 3) Writing up the final proposal > 4) Letting me know of other good resources > 5) Letting me know of others that may be interested > > Thank you very much. > > Your Servant, > > Rabindranatha Dasa Adhikari -- Noma Petroff Academic Department Coordinator BOWDOIN COLLEGE Department of Theater & Dance 9100 College Station Brunswick ME 04011-8491 Phone: (207) 725-3663 FAX: (207) 725-3372 http://academic.bowdoin.edu/theaterdance/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 2, 2002 Report Share Posted October 2, 2002 Dear Hare Krsna Prabhu, Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Please be so kind and inform us where could we find the Prabhupada Varnasrama book which has been assembled by the GBC Farm Research Committee. Thank you in advance. Your servant, Paramesvari dd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 3, 2002 Report Share Posted October 3, 2002 Send someone to New Vrindaban and we can talk about it. - "Rabindranatha ACBSP" <Rabindranatha.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net> "Cow (Protection and related issues)" <Cow (AT) pamho (DOT) net> Monday, September 30, 2002 7:50 PM Varnasrama College update > Last Sunday, myself (Rabindranatha) and some other devotees here in New > Dvaraka (ISKCON of Los Angeles), had our second Varnasrama College Committee > Meeting. There the point was brought up that in order to establish a > Varnasrama College in America that is self-sufficient, then we have to first > develop a good plan, in order for it to be successful and to avoid mistakes > that were made in the past. > > Thus in order to come up with this plan for establishing a Varnasrama > College in America, I am making a request to all interested devotees to help > me in this regard by one or more of the following: > > 1) Your ideas > 2) Helping with research > 3) Writing up the final proposal > 4) Letting me know of other good resources > 5) Letting me know of others that may be interested > > > > Thank you very much. > > > Your Servant, > > Rabindranatha Dasa Adhikari > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 1, 2003 Report Share Posted January 1, 2003 Many interesting points here. Hope everything goes well. I see there is a lot of interest in ancient Vedic texts, but no mention of studying the Prabhupada Varnasrama book. I'm just wondering why your curriculum doesn't have more emphasis on Srila Prabhupada's instructions. My personal feeling is that the Vedas are so vast and complex that I become "bewildered by the flowery words of the Vedas" when I read them. My experience is that too often people just select the little parts that they like and reject the rest -- actually, I'm like that too. Manu Samhita states that a priest should not refuse to eat the meat of an animal offered in a sacrifice, but I personally don't think we should set up a society where priests are eating meat. That already exists. On the other hand, the thing I find with Srila Prabhupada is that many things have been adapted for the present age -- so I find his instructions on varnasrama more relevant than the Vedas. For example, the Vedas assume that a vaisya will automatically learn to plow from his father. Prabhupada understood that in modern times, someone's father is probably not a farmer (only 1% of Americans are farmers) -- and an accountant, shop-keeper, professor, or custodian cannot teach someone how to farm. Thus, Srila Prabhupada recommends that brahmanas can teach cow protection and how to farm. His perspective sounds more workable to me. So, just wondering why the curriculum places emphasis on Vedic texts, but does not include the Prabhupada Varnasrama book? your servant, Hare Krsna dasi - "Rabindranatha ACBSP" <Rabindranatha.ACBSP (AT) pamho (DOT) net> Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:40 pm Varnasrama college update > Varnasrama College update > > By Rabindranatha Dasa Adhikari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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