Synthesis of separate group–discussions, including:

• educational systems,
• materials,
• resources required;
• 'education that my yatra already does well';
• sorting of needs into priorities for the group (not the yatra);
• report back to the members

[This is not a well articulated presentation of the discussions' results, rather raw working notes of the groups' leaders. Nevertheless, you can understand what they were thinking & talking about; I find this quite interesting. -phani.]

Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta

Academy of Indian Traditional Sciences

A dialogue between Eastern and Western experiences and cultures

Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta (CSB)  has been founded by Matsya Avatara das (Marco Ferrini) in 1995. It's an Academy committed to the study and teaching of Vedic-Vaishnava Tradition. It is a non-profit society recognized by the Italian Government. Its Academic Department of Traditional Indian Sciences works in several Universities and collaborates with Institutes, Colleges and researchers worldwide.

Ancient Indian culture, rich in values that have perennially inspired civilizations, and specifically scholars, nowadays continues to be of great relevance to all of humanity. Traditional ancient Indian philosophy, psychology, Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga disciplines merge with modern scientific discoveries to surpass the divisive boundaries of knowledge.

by Jaya Krsna das

Photo © www.trilokaphotos.com

Content: History; current education in Europe; the strategy of the Ministry of Educational Development; the GBC Succession Committee on leadership training

A fragment of a discussion between HH Bir Krihsna Maharaja, Kripamoya Prabhu, and Matsya Avatara Prabhu regarding the coming European Leaders' Meeting were published by Vaishnava Blog Feeds recently. The source of this information isn't mentioned and the discussion's context isn't clear, but these three senior preachers provide interesting glimpses into their vision for ISKCON's future development:

Kripamoya Prabhu: What could we do to keep more of our existing members happy and actively engaged?

Bir Krishna Swami: Change our managerial paradigm from domination based to empowerment based. Separate the spiritual leaders from the temporal managers.

Kripamoya Prabhu: How could ISKCON in Europe become widely known as a movement whose members are experts in the field of spiritual development?

Bir Krishna Swami: Change the structural paradigms of our movement.

The north american GBC and spiritual strategic planning initiative are actively seeking qualified secong generation man and women to fill an array of important leadership positions within our Iskcon movement.

by Matsya Avatara dasa

Why become an academic scholar when you can be a natural scholar in the eternal Vaisnava tradition?

Why not consider joining the BBT’s new, dynamic school, the Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham in Krishna’s favorite place, Sri Govardhana?

Currently the Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitham is offering a three-year Bhagavata-sastri course, the students of which learn the Sanskrit grammar and six Sandarbhas of Sri Jiva Gosvami, acquire the skills to read and speak Sanskrit fluently, and become immersed in the study of the major Bhagavatam commentaries of our line. Graduates of this course will be able to pursue further individualized study and will have the opportunity to become translators and editors for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, or find other engagement in ISKCON as teachers and researchers.

By Govardhan Giri das

At Krishna-katha Desh, we are experiencing new highs in the field of training Krishna's children.

A few years back, we had a small children's class with about 15 students, mostly children of our congregation members. It had to be stopped due to unavoidable reasons (read - caught by the authorities !!!) and somehow it took us years to get back again.

However, with some good planning and homework, we started our "Bhaktivedanta Paatshaala" with 40 students last April. We have four groups divided age-wise and a separate syllabus for each group. Now the paatshala has a strength of more than 80 students. Our congregation members children are only about half of that number. The others are "outsiders" - so to say.

He’ll think, “I don’t like pain, so why should I give pain to an animal just so I can eat?” He’ll be honest: “I don’t like to be cheated, so why should I cheat others?” And he’ll always speak beneficially: “I like to hear the truth, I don’t like to be insulted, and I want to hear what is useful to me. Let me speak to others that way.” A truly educated person, therefore, will try not to hurt anyone, even by his words.

When our children go to school to be indoctrinated with the thesis that we are just walking mechanistic soul-less bags of chemicals, which yell ouch! when its c-fibers are firing, being mere units of stardust hurtling mindlessly through outer space for no reason whatsoever, except through the velocity of the fateful detonation at the beginning of time, a nasty trend is set.

Forty Today!

(Get Your Act Together!)

By Kaunteya das.

[This article was sent in time for ISKCON's 40th birthday, but due to not working internet connection & sickness I wasn't able to post it before now -- phani.]

Life starts at forty, or so they say. does this apply to our beloved International Society for Krishna Consciousness? And if it does, in what way the immediate next years will be different from the previous forty?

I wish that ISKCON, spurred by this epochal turning 40, will promptly become more professional, efficient and effective in offering its precious gifts to the world and to those who already identify with it. Of course this will be possible when (soon, I pray) there will be established standards of serious education and training for all levels of leadership in the Society. This includes temple presidents, congregational directors, regional secretaries, sannyasis, initiating spiritual masters, GBCs, and many other services. Look at any “normal” organization, secular or religious: they all have, firmly in place, specific formation programs for those who will fill their ranks of responsibility (and, yes, every rank carries some essential responsibility!). We might despise such mundane societies as being shackled by tamas and rajas, but they invest years in the forming of their officers (and the best companies invest a lot in the training of the totality of their personnel). So, although rajas should manifest in impatience and tamas as lack of vision, they put the time and the money in creating a better future, while we still don’t have mandatory standard training even for the highest posts.