Letters to the editor

HpS – ASA --  The questions that come up to my mind, and others, is the function and position within education in ISKCON of the GBC College. Why wasn't it made a part of the Ministry of Education?

Kaunteya Das -- ​I am not sure I understand the question; the Minister of Education himself is a member of the Board of Advisors of the GBC College:

http://www.gbc-college.com/ board-of-advisors/

As a GBC, Sesa Prabhu has been active part of the step-by-step establishment of the GBC College in various presentations to the GBC and the various votes thereby.  

As you may remember, we personally invited you to also become a member of the Board of Advisors. 

I am personally open to any suggestion on how to further collaborate or interact. 

HpS – Wow!   We, me, Rama-giri-dhari Das et al were very misinformed about this. Thank you for clarifying it, but we never received any invitation to be on the Board of Advisors. We are very humbled and will read the information that Rupanuga Ji sent us and go ahead.

Hare Krishna Estimado Gurumaharaja,
Por favor acepta mis humildes reverencias.
Todas las glorias a Srila Prabhupada.

Recientemente hemos agregado índices palabra por palabra en la nueva versión de Vedabase (https://vedabase.io/en/search/synonyms/). Hasta ahora solo en inglés, pero lo agregará a más idiomas.
Nadie ofreció ayuda para importar español. Es un poco frustrante, pero así es la vida. Entonces mi esposa estará importando español a una nueva versión lenta pero segura. (Estoy seguro de que Srila Prabhupada está feliz con ella)
Preparar un buen almacenamiento en caché, por lo que vedabase.io será muy rápido. En general, tenemos entre 35-55 personas en el sitio al mismo tiempo, nos gustaría ver a cientos :)
El cliente de escritorio fuera de línea está en progreso (Ekanatha Prabhu de Archives acordó usarlo, si es agradable, en lugar del antiguo software Folio) - Debería funcionar en Mac, Linux y Windows
Tener el primer libro en hindi (https://vedabase.io/hi/library/) y primer libro en bengalí (https://vedabase.io/bn/library/)
...
El servicio de Vedabase es muy satisfactorio pero frustrante ya que algunas veces recibimos cartas groseras sobre por qué este y ese libro en este y ese idioma no están ahí. Probablemente reacciones por mi mentalidad grosera y egoísta en vidas anteriores.

Pero también hay cartas alentadoras y nos alegra ver cuántas personas están obteniendo la asociación de Srila Prabhupada a través de ella.

Estoy muy agradecido con usted, Srila Prabhupada y Krishna por permitirnos hacer este servicio ya que fue nuestro refugio y esperanza en los momentos más difíciles.

Tu sirviente Prahlad Nrsimha das

Mono y Piggy! - ¡Nuestra cara está en la tierra! ¡No tienes ofertas para ayudarte a migrar a los españoles! (Tal vez deberíamos haber publicado en español (Haremos eso)). Incluso si ya terminaste, habrá más trabajo para el español en el futuro.

Vedabase.com es un desafío directo a Maya The Black Witch. Solo estamos resistiendo sus ataques porque White Whitch lucha para protegernos. ¡Necesitamos ayudarla no siendo traviesos!

Hare Krishna Dear Gurumaharaja,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

• Recently we have added word-for-word indexes into new Vedabase version (https://vedabase.io/en/search/synonyms/). So far only in English, but will add it into more languages.
• Nobody offered help for importing Spanish. It is little frustrating, but that is life. So my wife will be importing Spanish into new version slowly, but surely. (I am sure Srila Prabhupada is happy with her)
• Preparing good caching, so vedabase.io will be blazing fast. Generally we have between 35-55 people on site at the same time, would like to see hundreds :)
• Offline desktop client is in progress (Ekanatha Prabhu from Archives agreed to use it, if it wlll be nice, instead of ancient Folio software) - Should work on Mac, Linux and Windows
• Have first book in Hindi (https://vedabase.io/hi/library/) and first book in Bengali (https://vedabase.io/bn/library/)
• ...

Vedabase service is very satisfiyng yet frustrating as sometimes we get rude letters why this and that book in this and that language is not there. Most probably reactions for my rude and selfish mentality in previous lives.

But there are also encouraging letters and it makes us happy to see how many people are getting association of Srila Prabhupada through it.

I am very thankful to you, Srila Prabhupada and Krishna for letting us to do this service as it was our shelter and hope in hardest times.

Your servant Prahlad Nrsimha das

Monkey and Piggy! - Our face is in the dirt!    You had no offers to help you migrate the Spanish!!  (Maybe we should have published in Spanish (We will do that)). Even if you are done now, there will be more work for Spanish in the future.

The Vedabase.com is a direct challenge to Maya The Black Witch. We are only withstanding her assaults because the White Whitch is fighting to protect us. We need to help Her by not being naughty!

On Saturday, January 6, 2018, 10:27:33 PM CST, Kaunteya Das JPS (Mayapur - IN) wrote:

I have my serious doubt that the ppt [www.jayarama.us/archives/gbc-college.pptx] fully, clearly or faithfully represent the mood and mission of the GBC College. 

I would hesitate in supporting its presentation in Brazil. 

I appreciate the attempt to encapsulate both the mission of the College and the whole process of devotional service in some simple, snappy ideas, but the depth of meaning of both, I believe, warrants a different approach. 

I suggest we need to sit and discuss more before trying to produce "sutras" for the use of the College. 

Don't you have, Maharaja, something more... universal? Something directly based on sastra or Srila Prabhupada's instructions? 

The basis of the service of the Zonal Secretary is the zonal service of the GBC Zonal Secretary. Do you have, Maharaja, the book "Being a Prabhupadanuga" - which contains quotes from the Founder-Acarya on the GBC service and leadership in general? That could form a good basis for a presentation.

Ys, Kdas

___________________________________

Hanumatpresaka Swami Responded 2018 January 7

AGTSP!    Paoho.

Thank you Kaunteya Prabhu for your comments. This is exactly what I was very much hoping for.

1. We were asked to make three presentations: General Philosophical Perspective, Lessons from our own 40-years+ management/leadership Experience in ISKCON and Practical Techniques of Time and Information Management. We hoped for the last one to be a workshop.

2. The PPTX is of course a PPTX and is Sutras that need to be explained in the personal format of the lecture. The basic Philosophy of Education that we show with the Arrow, Heart and Half moon has evolved out of about seven years of presentations at European and American, Ministry of Education symposium. It is totally based upon Sastra. I didn't include the sources because I didn't want to burden the PPTX. I will put them below.

3. The questions that come up to my mind, and others, is the function and position within education in ISKCON of the GBC College. Why wasn't it made a part of the Ministry of Education?

The MOE was personally established by Srila Prabhupada. Actually M. Urmilla DD comments that it was the only international Ministry established by Srila Prabhupada, and formally the GBC Resolution is that it will be responsible for monitoring all educational initiatives in ISKCON. Then establishing the GBC College as a directly autonomous agency confuses us in terms of organization and administration. For example, there is directly discussion in the Ministry about having training courses in the Ministry for Administrators. Of course, the basic reason could be because the Ministry is dysfuntional. Working, giving blood, for the Ministry, for maybe ten years I can certainly agree with that. It is a big struggle and new Director, Secretaries, Zonal Representatives, Web-page... are certainly things that I think nobody in the Ministry would oppose for discussion and implementation for a moment. In my initiation letter Srila Prabhupada said that this is was our American disease. Always wanting to do something new. Better to keep the old system and fix it. 

4. How to classify the word "Leader". Yad yad acarati sresthas... Every father and mother with children would be a leader, every Sannyasa, actually any initiated member of ISKCON, no?
So we were applying the Varna-ashrama-dharma analysis that Leader in the sense of the GBC College applies to GBC related leaders. I have several disciples in South America, PhD, holders, professional teachers, that were very enthused to go to the training session, but I discouraged them because I was seeing it as administrator training. On the other had I have been working with Maturesha Das and encouraging National Council Members and Temple Presidents and other leaders to attend. Even looking for economic help.

5. Rupanuga Das kindly sent us a copy of "Being a Prabhupadanuga". It is a wonderful effort. We looked at the division of the material and then read a selection in the last part in detail. We feel that it has already had a lot of work done, but needs a lot more. The Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Albert Camus, said that unless you rewrite six times you are a coward. Personally we would like to see surrounding text edited. It gives perspective but in many cases makes for a lot of extra reading. Then there is the heirarchy of Sastric basis. Jayadvaita Swami has an essay at the start of the new Vedabase on disk on the relative position of Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, letters and room conversations. Of course, there is even a letter from Srila Prabhupada to Brahmananda Das that he should not publish his, Prabhupadas, letters unless specifically instructed to do it. As I know the history, Hansadutta Das got hold of the letters and published them without BBT, Archive or Srila Prabhupada's permission after Prabhupada left. [Seems kind of like Wiki-Leaks <img alt="Emoji" height="16" src="https://s.yimg.com/nq/yemoji_assets/latest/yemoji_assets/1f604.png" title="Emoji" unselectable="on" width="16" />]. Rupanuga Das told me that you had a list of SB classes that went along with the Seminar and that he would ask you to send those to me. Can we get them? As we have mentioned we personally saw an entire university curriculum that H. H. B. S. Damodara Swami had sent to Srila Prabhupada for his approval for an ISKCON university that he was proposing for Berkeley, California. Srila Prabhupada approved it and then added that for understanding science, we would use the instructions of Lord Kapila and for understanding Political Science the instructions of Prthu Maharaja.

Here is where we get back to the Philosophical basis of our education that I feel we can get very involved in the details of graphic communication skills, teaching arithmetic or learning management skills, and forget that the goal is Prema, the King is a very great soul, a Prematmika, and the means is to achieve and teach that is Sankirtan.

Sripada Rupanuga Das also sent us the Vision and Mission Statement for the GBCC and we will read it and the Prabhupada Anuga volume more and more.

So I guess that is our perspective.

I am very, very sure that it is just one perspective on a big elephant and am very eager to hear others. We are investing a lot of our time (at $400/hour <img alt="Emoji" height="16" src="https://s.yimg.com/nq/yemoji_assets/latest/yemoji_assets/1f60e.png" title="Emoji" unselectable="on" width="16" />) and direct cash at about $1000 to make the travel. We really look forward to these dialogs and more interaction in Brazil.

We sent another letter about Visas and travel to you all. There is so much potential for ISKCON in Latin America.

HpS - Copy to ASA

Philosophy of Education Sastric Basis

NOI is the First Sastric Reference

NOI Preface: Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given many other books, such as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Vidagdha-mādhava and Lalita-mādhava, but Upadeśāmṛta constitutes the first instructions for neophyte devotees.

Our Mission is to Distribute Prema.

Preface NOI: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in the mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the best of the gopīs. Therefore, to understand the mission of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and follow in His footsteps, one must very seriously follow in the footsteps of the Six Gosvāmīs.. . . rūpa-raghunātha-pade ha-ibe ākuti, kabe hāma bujhaba se yugala-pīriti. “When I am eager to understand the literature given by the Gosvāmīs, then I shall be able to understand the transcendental loving affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”

We Need a Little Training is DVAD

NOI 2 - The first step in human civilization consists of occupational engagements performed according to the scriptural injunctions. The higher intelligence of a human being should be trained to understand basic dharma. In human society there are various religious conceptions characterized as Hindu, Christian, Hebrew, Mohammedan, Buddhist and so on, for without religion, human society is no better than animal society.

What are Sastri References for VAD

For a start:

SB 1.9.26 — At Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry, Bhīṣmadeva first defined all the classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual’s qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.

SB 1.9.27 — He then explained, by divisions, acts of charity, the pragmatic activities of a king and activities for salvation. Then he described the duties of women and devotees, both briefly and extensively.

SB 1.9.28 — Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and statuses of life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well acquainted with the truth.

Then we gave a longer list in the PPTX.

URGENT: 4^TH report ART and the SACRED

ASA - Hare Krsna!   This is not URGENT... It is late!<img alt="laugh" height="23" src="http://hps.monkeywarrior.com/sites/all/libraries/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png" title="laugh" width="23" />

Hare Krishna respected Gurudeva, please accept my humble obeisances
¡All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!!
¡All Glories to you!!

By mercy the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sadai Nimai-Nitai, we already have the agreement signed and sealed by the Director of the National Library of Peru to perform ART AND THE SACRED from 24 to 26 October 2018. Now, with Walter and Ramón’s help we are writing formal letters addressed to India, China, Japan and Russia embassies trying to get their sponsorship and participation.

Through this agreement we can upload the NIOS bilingual videos to a network of the Ministry of Culture that has more than 500,000 users, but, a requirement they have, is that our video should have more than 1000 visits, so we humbly ask the members of the blog to help us spreading the word and thus meet the goal of more than 1000 visits each. The links are the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25tmFeMRxo&t=3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dx_aHNMxT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2IDfcJPg_M&t=20s

HpS - O.K. We visit!

As well, for your South American Sankirtan tour in March-April 2018, we are managing with Jesuit University Antonio Ruiz de Montoya to carry out a conversation about "POETRY and MUSIC, PRABODHANANDA SARASVATI and NAROTTAMA DASA THAKURA: Sacred Art in Classical India in the XVI century ", and the presentation of the film "ART AND THE SACRED, the journey of a pilgrim".

Next week we are going to meet Walter León to start doing the bilingual (printed and digital) promotional brochure of ART AND THE SACRED, we hope to send you the content and design proposals for the second week of January. We are making with Miguel Polo the call to SOLARIS No. 3. and also managing in some institutions their sponsorship in carrying out all activities.

Gurudeva to try to make regular reports I have asked a bhakta for help, he has accepted and will write each ekadasi, with the pseudonym "Ajam, the horse".

Gurudeva, allow me to humbly offer you a few words for your Auspicious Vyasa-puja No 70. On Tuesday the 19^th, we had in our asrama, a beautiful meeting where Héctor Béjar, Oscar Naters, Ana Zavala, Walter Leon, Emma Zevallos and some 10 devotees were present. After puspanjali they were asked to define in two words their appreciation about you and these were their comments:

Héctor Béjar said "Spiritual Quality"

Oscar Naters said "Persistent and wise"

Ana Zavala said "Playful and Kind"

Walter León said "Brave and Spiritual"

And Miguel Polo could not attend, but he said on the phone "Enthusiast and Dialogant Attitude"

Respected GURUDEVA, you are a Genuine Guru because you are a legitimate and exemplary disciple, I humbly ask you to forgive my offenses and my clumsiness, sincerely, I am trying to surrender my heart to you and get a drop of your niskapata-kripa.

Gurudeva, I offer you this poem as a sign of my eternal gratitude

HANUMATPRESAKA SWAMI

He who sends Hanuman as His messenger

In this world you suffer

under a mantle of selfish illusions

Darkness takes over our desires

And it ties us with unbridled lust

You arrived in autumn and turned it into spring

You accompany the Sun that evaporates ignorance

You taught us that dawn is the clue and the key

fruit of Bhakti, son of Bhaktivedanta Swami, star of the dawn

Hare Krishna respected Gurudeva, your insignificant servant, Abhiram Thakur das.

URGENTE: 4to Informe EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO

Hare Krishna respetado Gurudeva, por favor acepte mis humildes reverencias
¡Todas las Glorias a Srila Prabhupada!!
¡Todas las Glorias a Usted!!

Por la misericordia Srila Prabhupada y Sadai Nimai-Nitai ya tenemos el convenio firmado y sellado por el Director de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú para realizar EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO del 24 al 26 de octubre de 2018. Ahora con la ayuda de Walter y Ramón estamos haciendo cartas formales a las embajadas de India, China, Japón y Rusia para tratar de obtener su auspicio y participación.

Por medio de este convenio podemos subir los videos bilingües de NIOS a una red del Ministerio de Cultura que tiene más de 500, 000 usuarios, pero, un requisito que nos piden, es que el video tenga más de 1000 visitas, así que humildemente les pedimos a los miembros del blog que nos ayuden a difundirlos y así cumplir la meta de más de 1000 visitas de cada uno, los links de los videos son los siguientes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G25tmFeMRxo&t=3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dx_aHNMxT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2IDfcJPg_M&t=20s

También, para su gira de Sankirtan a Sudamérica en marzo-abril 2018, estamos gestionando con la Universidad Jesuita Antonio Ruiz de Montoya hacer un conversatorio sobre “POESÍA y MÚSICA, PRABODHANANDA SARASVATI y NAROTTAMA DASA THAKURA: Arte Sagrado en la India Clásica del siglo XVI” y la presentación de la película “EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO, el viaje de un peregrino”.

Con Walter León nos vamos a reunir la próxima semana para empezar a hacer el folleto bilingüe (impreso y digital) promocional de EL ARTE Y LO SAGRADO, esperamos enviarle las propuestas de contenido y diseño la segunda semana de enero. Con Miguel Polo estamos haciendo la convocatoria a SOLARIS No. 3. También estamos gestionando en algunas instituciones su auspicio en la realización de todas las actividades.

Gurudeva para tratar de hacer regular los informes le he pedido ayuda a un bhakta, él ha aceptado y va a escribir cada ekadasi, él va a escribir con el seudónimo “Ajam el caballo”.

Gurudeva ahora permítame ofrecerle humildemente unas palabras por su Auspicioso Vyasa-puja No 70. Nosotros tuvimos en nuestro asrama el martes 19, una bonita reunión donde estuvieron presentes Héctor Béjar, Oscar Naters, Ana Zavala, Walter León, Emma Zevallos y unos 10 devotos. Después del puspanjali nosotros le pedimos que definan en dos palabras su aprecio a usted, estas fueron sus respuestas:

Héctor Béjar dijo “Calidad Espiritual”

Oscar Naters dijo “Perseverante y Sabio”

Ana Zavala dijo “Lúdico y Bondadoso”

Walter León dijo “Valiente y Espiritual”

Y Miguel Polo no pudo asistir, pero por teléfono dijo “Entusiasta y Actitud Dialogante”

Respetado GURUDEVA usted es un Guru Genuino porque es un Discípulo genuino y ejemplar, humildemente le pido que perdone mis ofensas y mis torpezas, sinceramente, estoy tratando de rendirme de corazón a usted y obtener una gota de su niskapata-kripa.

Gurudeva le ofrezco este poema en señal de mi eterna gratitud:

HANUMATPRESAKA SWAMI

Aquel que envía a Hanuman como su mensajero

En este mundo se sufre
bajo un manto de ilusiones egoístas

La oscuridad se apodera de nuestros deseos

Y nos ata con lujuria desenfrenada

Usted llego en otoño y lo convirtió en primavera

a Usted lo acompaña el Sol que evapora la ignorancia

Usted nos enseñó que el amanecer es la clave y la llave

fruto del Bhakti, hijo de Bhaktivedanta Swami, estrella del amanecer

HARE KRISHNA QUERIDO GURUDEVA, su insignificante sirviente, Abhiram Thakur das.

HpS - Tan mucho depende en esta momento si Oscar puede relacionar bien con Hector y podemos producir esta collection interelacionado de Kalyan, Hector (Radhika y Beverley) pronto.   Proxoma Ekadasi.

hare krsna 

agtsp

agthps

there is a person, maybe you know him, sir ken robinson, a British educator, writer and lecturer. Doctor of the University of London, researching on the application of theater in education. he live in Los Angeles now

looks like trough his knowledge and experience he realize some ideas of the vedic culture; like we are not tabula rasa and each person have his own personal hability (varnaasrama?)

he could participate in solaris or an interviw. look s like an interesting person. i just look something  in youtube. we can try to contact him. what do you think?

here some links in youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6MNTXi82GM

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Robinson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPB-41q97zg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

thank you guru dev

your servant Ambarisa das

HpS - ASA ---- Thank you so much for your essential contributions. We just got to this after this trip to India. The wikipedia article is great. Now we will look at the youtube links when we get a solid internet connection!  If anybody else looks at them and sends a review to the Blog that is also great. Sankirtan. Bridges between people. After we see the youtube we can maybe open a dialog with him.