Radhika Ramana (Ravi Gupta) prabhu on the left
By Anantarupa das
Hare Krishna Prabhus and Matajis:
On Thursday the 17th, the Pope in Wash DC will meet with Interfaith leaders. Boise’s Radhika ramana das ( Ravi Gupta) is one of the “Hindu representatives ” that will meet him.
Attached are two links: http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/346748.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080415/ts_nm/pope_usa_interfaith_dc
A few other papers and news services also carried the story.
The gift to be presented was pre-selected by the Catholic Diocese. They would not let us present the Gita.
YS Anantarupa das
Ravi Gupta on German TV in broadcast on the Pope’s visit to the US:
http://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video305350.html
He is in view from seconds 46-50.
From the Web site of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops
Participant Profile: Ravi Gupta April 9, 2008 by usccbdigitalmedia
At the April 17 meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and representatives of other religions, five young adults will present the Holy Father with symbols of peace from their faith traditions.
Dr. Ravi Gupta will present a gift from the Hindu community. Dr. Gupta is beginning his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Religion at Centre College, Kentucky. With a doctorate in religion from the University of Oxford, he is the author of The Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami: When Knowledge Meets Devotion. A recent participant in a USCCB-Hindu consultation, Dr. Gupta is committed to pursuing interreligious dialogue in both his professional and personal capacities.
Dr. Gupta will present to Pope Benedict a gift of the sacred syllable Om in brass sculpture. Hindus believe that Om is the primordial sound of creation itself, in which God is disclosed and where the worshiper experiences peace. Bronze or brass is widely used for Hindu liturgical ornaments. Flames and incense in the sculpture represent ritual worship in a Hindu temple.
Dr. Gupta described his feelings about participating in this gathering as follows:
I am deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity to render this service. When religious leaders come together in a spirit of friendship, this sends a very strong message to the world about the need for understanding and cooperation between religious traditions. This is the first step in a long process of change. It is important for each one of us to return to our own communities and build this cooperation at a grassroots level. Education is key here, for ignorance of other traditions leads to misunderstanding and intolerance. Here in the United States, we have a wonderful opportunity to make this happen. You see, many of the religions being represented at this event have their majority membership outside the United States, but the U. S. community nevertheless carries much influence back home and our voices are heard carefully. I certainly hope all the delegates take this responsibility seriously and put it into action.
What Radhika Ramana said
“It was a great honor to meet His Holiness Pope Benedict on behalf of the Hindu community in America,” said Dr. Gupta. “I was impressed by the intimacy of the gathering, and the Pope’s genuine interest in meeting with us. It was my feeling that the Pope – as both a holy man and a scholar – wished he had more time to spend with his guests, and to be able to know us all better,” Gupta said.
“I greeted the Pope with our traditional Hare Krishna greeting,” reported Gupta. Then I said, ‘Your Holiness, you are well aware of the richness within Hinduism, including a strong tradition of monotheism and religious tolerance. I hope these can be a foundation for a strong and continued dialogue with the Church.”
The Pope responded, “Yes, our dialogue should continue to grow,” accepted the OM symbol, and held Dr. Gupta’s hand before the next representative came forward.
“It was a historical occasion,” said Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON GBC Member. “The tensions on the world stage call for religious leaders to understand each other better and to teach their respective congregations to not only respect, but to learn from one another. The Pope, while careful to not minimize his own tradition’s values and faith commitments, opened the door wider for increased cooperation with the Church.”
They do so many sinful acts and they go on saying that they are religious. They have created so many religious systems on the bodily concept of life.
Bg 2-14 LON Aug 20, 1973 Contents of the Gita Summarized
What a pity that a devotee accepted going to a function where he was denied representing Srila Prabhupada, by giving his Bhagavad-Gita.
y.s Karuna Purna dasi
How fortunate for the Pope that he spent a minute with a sadhaka who has accepted initiation in the line of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the six goswamis, and our Srila Prabhupada. Sure, it might have been nice to present a copy of Bhagavad-gita as It Is, but what are the chances His Holiness would ever have read it? Okay, I know: “If they even touch them. . . .” But he did get to touch the body of that sadhaka, Radhika-ramana das, and Lord Caitanya says that when we accept initiation and engage in atma-samarpana, Krishna accepts our bodies as being as good as His own.
Consider this: Out of goodness knows how many leaders of America’s Hindu communities, including the gentleman who offered a prayer in Congress, this young devotee of Krishna was chosen to represent them all in this gathering. I’d be curious to know how that came about. It seems to me that the Pope got an opportunity for ajnata sukriti. Pretty fortunate.
This was a good interfaith/ PR move for ISKCON.
As the Pope assumingly eats meat, it is naturally difficult for some devotees to understand how he can be truly ‘holy’. Fair point, but for one reason or another, perhaps due to previous lives, the Pope is the leader of hundreds of millions of Catholics around the world. This was good PR and this kind of thing is in ISKCON’s interests.
What need to analyze? The Pope welcomed a devotee of Krsna in a spirit of open friendship and understanding. He heard “Hare Krsna” at the greeting, this is a wonderful beginning. Establishing friendship and sharing mercy. The result of the meeting? The Pope may remember and welcome Krishna’s devotees in the future. Hare Krsna, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.
It was very nice that Radhika Pr was invited, and it was undoubtedly an honour . However, in my mind this meeting had not much to do with an interfaith meeting. It is quite sad and disappointing that Benedikt XVI takes a step back and arranges (or approves of) a meeting in which representatives of other religions pay him respect and present some symbolic gifts. This has very little to do with a sense of equality that is required for a serious dialog. In this context, I did not really understand the meaning of this event. Any thoughts?
Rasasthali Dasi