The First ISKCON Studies Conference
1,825 Views / EMail This Post / Print This Post / Home » The First ISKCON Studies Conference
By Tattvavit das
The after-dinner speech, by Krsna Ksetra Prabhu, at the ISKCON Studies Conference at Prabhupada-desh, in Italy (held from July 27th - 30th), summed up the spirit of the conference, entitled “ISKCON and Interpretation: Context, History, Theory, and Practice.”
Krsna Ksetra Prabhu said, “When I joined ISKCON, in Germany, the questions were fairly simple: whether to eat seconds or thirds of halava, which town to go to for sankirtana, and so on.
“The answers to some of our philosophical questions, though, were sometimes stereotyped, and Srila Prabhupada taught us that Krsna consciousness is not stereotyped. So I began to think that we needed to go deeper into our tradition to secure more thoughtful answers to the questions we asked.
“Ours is a tradition of ’samvada,’ or discussion, and our goal is to continue the discussion and get others involved in it. Srila Prabhupada told us to discuss his books from all angles, and that’s a lot of angles: 360 degrees. We want ISKCON to be an ongoing tradition, a living tradition. The second- and third-generation devotees are growing up, and Srila Prabhupada expected his teachings to last ten thousand years.
“This ISKCON Studies convention on the topic of interpretation has taught us that it is possible to see things from different angles, and that if you see something one way, it may be difficult to see it another way. When Srila Prabhupada said, ‘Don’t misinterpret,’ he meant ‘interpret well, interpret skillfully,’ so that we can communicate our tradition well and skillfully to the world.
“Interpretation can be surprising. One Jew from Texas once visited Israel and spoke with a local farmer about the size of the farmer’s land. He had just a few hectares. The Texan, however, had a much bigger spread of land, and he told the Israeli farmer he could drive from morning till noon before he reached the boundary of his property.
“‘I used to have a car like that,’ the Israeli farmer replied.”
Presenters at the conference were Jayadvaita Swami, Ravindra Swarupa Prabhu, Krsna Ksetra Prabhu, Sesa Prabhu, Braja Bihari Prabhu, Pranava Prabhu, Radhika Ramana Prabhu, Federico Squarcini (Virabhadra Prabhu), Kumari Priya Prabhvi, and Bhakta Rembert Lutjeharms. The special guest speaker was Massimo Introvigne, the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions, an international network of scholars. About forty devotees attended the conference.
The conference was organised by the ISKCON Studies Institute, which recently became one of several educational programs recognized by ISKCON’s Ministry of Educational Development.
To read a description of the presentations, visit: http://www.iskcon.com/is_programme.pdf
Podcasts of the presentations can be heard at: http://podserve.biggu.com/podcasts/show/iskcon-studies
The podcasts are gradually being posted and it will take a week or two before all of them are on the Podcast Web site, so keep checking back for more.
convert this post to pdf. Comments are closed. Please check back later.
Comments • [comment feed]
LOL! Funny story about the Israeli farmer. :-)
It sounds like it was a wonderful conference and a great after-dinner speech. I wish I could have been there (and not just to sample the Italian prasadam). :-)
I am especially interested in the statement, “Ours is a tradition of ’samvada’, or discussion, and our goal is to continue the discussion and get others involved in it.”
Of course our main occupation is distribution of literature, and literature by its very nature entails discussion. Naturally people will want to discuss what they are reading. In coffee shops and college cafeterias, people often meet each other by asking, “What are you reading?” Book distributors can stop people by remarking or inquiring about the books tucked under their arms.
People gather by water coolers and discuss the popular movies and TV shows. Critics write book reviews and film reviews and music reviews, and entertainers and authors flog their latest creations on the talk show circuit and at “signings” and similar events. Obviously, as we get everyone discussing Srila Prabhupada’s books, more and more people will be interested in reading them.
Of course discussion of topics of Krishna are special discussions, which not everyone is really qualified to participate in. There are faithless “interpreters” who cannot generally be admitted into the wonderful discussions of faithful devotees.
“This confidential knowledge may never be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me” (B.G. 18.67) “Without understanding Krishna from the authority of a pure devotee, one should not try to comment on Bhagavad Gita.” (From Srila Prabhupada’s purport to text 18.67)
On the other hand, “For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me. There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear. And I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence. And one who listens with faith and without envy becomes free from sinful reactions and attains to the auspicious planets where the pious dwell.” (B.G. 18.68-71)
Also, sometimes pure devotees hold “open class” to give an opportunity for those nondevotees who are not envious of Krishna to become free from all sinful reactions and to become devotees. (See, Purport to 18.71)
[In L.A. Ratha Yatra at the Q&A booth last Sunday there was one unfortunate Indian gentleman who was trying to insist that Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are all on the same level. He seemed perplexed and disappointed that all the Vaisnavas headed by Dhananjaya thoroughly disagreed with him. You could practically see this poor atheist thinking, “How is it that all these people are so misinformed?” “Why won’t they accept these basic tenets of impersonalist philosphy?” Toward the end of the day, however, after probably experiencing hours of frustration wandering all over the big festival finding no one sympathetic his Mayavada nonsense, he finally purchased from me one Bhagavad Gita As It Is. So perhaps now, although he was envious of Krishna, his spiritual life may somehow begin by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy.]
The discussions among sincere devotees, considering from different angles, being fresh and not “stereotyped”, is where so much real nectar is. “Munayah sadhu prsto ‘ham bhavadbhir loka-mangalam yat krtah krsna-samprasno yenatma suprasidati” (S.B. 1.2.5)
I always loved the wonderful Bhaktivedanta Purport to that verse, about the questions and answers that are going on everywhere, even among the birds, the merchants and customers, students and teachers, politicians and press agents, lawyers and judges.
John Donne (I think) said “Man is a social animal” (at least I know he said “No man is an island”), and that social tendency is expressed in all these conversations, discussions, talk shows, songs and literature. But when the discussion about Krishna is properly conducted by the nonenvious devotees, society becomes perfect. Such discussions completely satisfy the self and make the world auspicious.
The Lord says:
naham tistami vaikunthe
yoginam hrdayesu va
tatra tisthami narada
yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah
“I am not in Vaikuntha nor in the hearts of the yogis. I remain where
My devotees engage in glorifying My activities” (Padma Purana).
mac-citta mad-gata-prana
bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityam
tusyanti ca ramanti ca
“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” (B.G. 10.9)
I particularly enjoy reading the BBT publication of Bhrhad-Bhagavatamrta with Gopiparanadhana’s translation of the Dig-darshani commentary by Sanatana Goswami. It is amazing how the very author of the text wrote an extensive commentary in which he constantly considers different angles and even contradictory interpretations of his own words. Clearly, this is a tradition of “samvada” or discussion.
Srila Prabhupada impressed on us the importance of not accepting any unauthorized interpretations, which was very important, but as beginners we might have been unable to have satisfying, unstereotyped discussions. However, once we learn how to remain always faithful to the authorities, we do not have to be so afraid of hearing and considering different interpretations or insights from devotees who are truly faithful and nonenvious.
We need to hear well to chant well. It helps to be humble and respectful and to listen carefully and charitably to the sincere devotees, who should be encouraged and made to feel comfortable talking about their realizations and what they have properly heard from authorities.
I pray that I may be admitted into the society where pure devotees are constantly discussing Srila Prabhupada’s books from all angles and sharing their various realizations and bona-fide interpretations with each other.
p.s. Dandavats.com offers us an interesting opportunity to “continue the discussion and get others involved in it.”
Thanks again to Praghosa and all those who work with him to make this nice website available, and to all the devotees who expand the discussions.