Letters to the editor

HpS - Hare Krsna!    Thank you all very much. We just got back from an intense tour of Australia and two one hour sessions with Prana Das.
Now we are in Kolkata and looks like we shall be able to get some good work done.
On this tour we met and have corresponded with Bala-govinda Das of Pune and have considerable confidence in him as an editor for this much needed ISKCON book on Phil. Ed.
We will see him here in the next few days and can probably get some more things nailed down on the book.
We read the attached article to our great delight and several things stand out.
1. This is a big task, the 'Philosophy of Education' and this article for 'Viplavah' can serve very well in that development.
2. It is an extremely important task. Our community, ISKCON, are very often people who can apply intelligent ideas in practical life.
3. As Acting Editor for this issue (and why not have others be Acting Editor for following issues (as we look for an Editor with a One Year Contract)) I think the article is fine to be published as it is but ...
Seems it needs a header that will give little introduction to the Author, explains that it is an extract from a longer Phil. of Ed. that is xxx (30-pages?) long, Section Headings are put in with an informal Table of them at the front. It seems that definite topics are being handles eg. Teacher Qualification, so just put a Section Heading. If you all can do this and even then edit it a little bit as you put those Headers in that would be great, or our Editorial Staff of Apes and Goats can do it here.
4. How to contact and serve the Author's service.
5. There are no direct citations from ISO nor BG, so maybe just a word that this is a very camera-flash summary, taste, of the real work where the refined relationship with Sastra is presented.
6. The audience seems to be self declared in the beginning as "Vedic Learners", which I guess would also give us followers of other Indian traditions and even Buddhists, but the definition of terms within the article seems that it is being written for a wider audience. Our article starts with the perspective of the Britannica and the history of Phil. Ed. in the West as a perspective.
Does your final article relate the material to Western educators such as Piaget et al?
7. I will write the 'Message from the Editor' after all the material is assembled and can include some little comments on the article like these there.
8. We have several comments that are related to specific content. Very stimulating article and topic.
Only one line is so unclear to us that we want ask for clarification: "Any learning that cannot...". Do you mean to drop the 'Any', and include topics outside the nine processes in education?

Thank you. So far the Journal has received a lot of reaction, mostly asking for more, but some offering suggestions for direction and limits.

Hare Krsna!!

Esteemed Prana Das,
Thank you for the extremely stimulating and informative time while here in Australia.

1. Our Hamlet and Arjuna word document and power point show for your school are in our archives at our web site, www.jayarama.us. Look for "wcl-2princes...". "wcl" is an abbreviation we use for "world classical literature".

2. I was going to record an interview with you to get an easy article for this wonderful book NIOS is producing, "Education in Ancient India and Man Making in Modern Times, Siksa-drsa", but the work we did was more fundamental and I think I now have a better perspective on you contribution. Can you answer the following questions in a format that we can publish in the book?
a) What has been your life in education, both formal, external degrees, work experience; and internal motivation, realization. How do these relate to the title of the book? Brief.
b) What have been the principles and practical advice in terms of the title of the book that you can extract from your above mentioned experience for developing man making in modern times, specifically how your ISKCON as both an institution and community of collegues would fit into this.
Thank you. Even a draft would be helpful. We can work on it together and use it for the book and also other efforts.
HpS

Esteemed Ananta-rupa Das,Bali-mardana Das, ISKCON-Boise, Anjana Suta Academy Bhakta-vrnda,
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Please Accept Our Humble Obeisances and Well Wishes.
Considering the Blog postings and personal e-mails, conversations with the administrative authorities in Temple, GBC, MOE, Ministry of Sankirtan et al we would like to make the following delightful suggestions.
1. We continue working on ISKCON Educational Development using ISKCON-Boise and its Center for Bhaktivedanta as a case study for developing the MED’s central theme of “Every Temple an Educational Center”.
2. Following Srila Prabhupada’s NOI we propose that Daily Srimad Bhagavatam reading is required for every ISKCON member and Temple and we have to get that going for the Temple Yatra.
3. Since 6.30AM Saturday, Boise time, is a practical hour for President and Members of our   yatra to meet physically in the Temple, we have a regular weekly review of the daily study of the first two cantos at that time. 6.30-7.30AM Pada-pada week review.
4. This can made available by telecommunication, at least by President or his Designee dialing 701 801-1220, entering the meeting number 992 055 489 and following it by the Host Code, then pushing *9 1 to record the class. We will send the Host Code privately. Then speaker can just talk into the telephone or get a headset or go to broadcasting using the internet from the startmeeting.com web site if they want to expand the technology.

.On-Line, Our-Yatra-Binds.

5. Daily Saturday morning SB class on the first two cantos is wonderful for all members of the community because for those who are still entrapped in sex indulgence, recital should not go  beyond the first and second canto (SB 2.2.12), while it also satisfies Srila Prabhupada’s rule that those who are studying for a Bhaktivedanta diploma study cantos 7-12 AND the previous material. If we know so much, share it.
6. Our Anjana Suta Academy (ASA) has introductory materials for the SB if you go to our webpage archives and look for “bhaktivedanta library” and “pdp cantos 1-2 and 12 canto summary, ppt “
7. We would suggest going back to these introductory materials later and just jumping into the matter where Ananta-rupa Das and daily attendees are now reading . . . SB 1.4. We think it is essential that we develop this as a spontaneous and systematic study in Boise that can then be generalized to all of ISKCON, regular Saturday morning Pada-pada, Canto One and Two recital.
To start with this can just be as simple as reading the translations together for the current chapter, but we also have pdp-csg, pada-padma-chapter study guides, at our Website.

“tato jayam udirayet”, this SB is our very means of conquest (1.2.4).

8. We should start this next Saturday, 2107 October 14, with our Temple President Ananta-rupa Das making a presentation of the week’s Temple study and the study assignment for the following week. Those who are Bh. Vaibhava or Bh. Vedanta students etc can make comments from their previous studies etc. The calendar can be reset each week.
The Temple should organize enough of a curriculum to offer a prototypical diploma for Pada-padma studies.
9. Contact us through our Blog or as you can for any help.
10. If we can’t get this going on our own steam then I suggest we get advice from the Ministry of Education with the help of our Regional Representative, Bali-mardana Das from ISV and ultimately from our GBC manager, His Holiness B. Narayana Swami. We can’t get involved in the administration much beyond our simple Sannyasa nature.