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Any suggestions for attractive introductory topics to Krsna consciousness?

Madhukari Dasi - February 20, 2008 12:32 pm

In March, my college will be hosting a trial Krishna society under the name 'eastern philosophy society' or something similar. We will meet fortnightly for a couple of hours if enough people attend and provide a little prasad :P . I need some help with ideas for talks, bearing in mind that the students are either reading western philosophy, theology, philosophy of religion, ethics and/or psychology. Most of my friends and people i know practice either Jesuit Catholocism, Islam, Judaism, other forms of Christianity, their own self-made spirituality or atheism.

Some ideas so far, taken from the SOAS and Kings college Bhakti yoga societies:

 

Spiritual Science:Relation, Means and End

 

Evolution, Eros and Ecstasy: The subjective evolution of consciousness

 

Action, Reaction: The metaphysics of Karma

 

Infinite Reservouir of Beauty

 

One World, One God, One Religion

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions, further develop one of these titles or just point me in the right direction with some literature that explains Krsna consciousness in comprehensive western philosophical terms? I haven't read Guruje's book 'Ancient Wisdom for Modern Ignorance' yet. Will that help?

Tadiya Dasi - February 20, 2008 1:38 pm

Hi Madhukari,

 

(Nice to see you posting on the Tattva-viveka :P)

 

I would definetely want to say something about Mahaprabhu, and the unique aspects of his "prema-dharma." One session could be dedicated to Bhagavad-Gita and it's philosophy (I am sure that the students there would appreciate Guru Maharaja's Gita. And you would have a wonderful opportunity to distribute his books! ;).)

 

Guru Maharaja's book - Tattva Sandarbha - would be an excellent resource for those who are interested in philosophy. And maybe you could have copies of the Joy of Self -book to hand out to those interested, as it is a very nice introductory type of book. I would say that any of Guru Maharaja's books would probably be good for this event, because I think your audience (spiritually inclined, philosophical, intelligent people) is exactly the kind of audience that Guru Maharaj wants to reach with his books.

 

Jaiva dharma (the eternal religion of the soul) could be a nice topic too. Speaking about the sacred shakti - Srimati Radhika - would probably be met with interest, especially among the women students ;):P . Then there are aspects of the philosophy like being a vegetarian (you could also talk about prasadam, and how it differs from the practise of "blessing the food" found in most religions), giving versus taking/exploiting, etc.

 

I would also recommend listening to Guru Maharaja's lecture CDs for ideas, especially those in which he addresses a more "general" audience rather than just devotees. And, of course, I hope that you get a lot of good ideas from the experts here in Tattva-viveka, who may be able to help you more than I can....

 

Good luck, and keep us posted! :)

Prema-bhakti - February 20, 2008 3:38 pm

Madukari,

 

Haribolo! :P I agree with Tadiya. I think it is very helpful to listen to GM's lectures from the Contemporary Preaching series.

 

One of my favs from late is a lecture given in Salem, NC, 6.21.07 called Harmonizing Unity and Diversity. I thought it to be a perfect introductory lecture as well as deep and philosophically engaging for people somewhat in the know. GM just has a way of doing that so well.

Nanda-tanuja Dasa - February 20, 2008 3:52 pm

I don’t think “Evolution, Eros and Ecstasy: The subjective evolution of consciousness” is an entry topics to Krsna consciousness. Unless you have an excellent speaker on the subject it can be pretty confusing for beginners.

 

Couple of topics for your consideration: “The role of Guru”, “The Matrix of material life”, “The method and the goal – sadhana and sadhya”, etc. Build a strong foundation first.

 

I’m not sure you need to speak about Mahaprabhu in the beginning, start with generic Vaishnavism with “krsnas tu bhagavan svayam” underlining.

Prema-bhakti - February 20, 2008 4:25 pm

GM told me to study the Gita. If you learn it well you can preach to anyone. :P

Syama Gopala Dasa - February 20, 2008 5:21 pm

It also depends on whether you want to capture people's hearts or brains. And whether you are capable of doing any of the two. People like stories.

Syamasundara - February 20, 2008 6:20 pm

I like the idea of talking of sakti as supreme. It will certainly turn their heads around, but you have to know what to say. Lately I've had a lot of exposition to expressions of that in this world, albeit perverted.

In this world there are dominant and subservient people; it's fascinating to see how upon closer analysis it's the subservient who run the show, because they are the ones who give pleasure, satisfaction, gratification, whether we are talking sexually, politically, psychologically or what not, and they could decide not to give it at any moment.

You could give an overview on dedication in this world and then go higher and higher, narrower and narrower.

Oh, and chant and pray! You are not the doer.

Madhukari Dasi - February 21, 2008 5:11 pm

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I will definitely try to implement those ideas and perhaps use 'The matrix of material life' as the first talk?

 

I will get my hands on Guruje's CD 'Harmonising unity and Diversity'. Also 'unity in diversity' is a much loved concept by the principal. :)

 

For the first few talks at least, I've been thinking of asking someone else like Tridandi maharaj from the Sri Caitanya Saraswat Math or an open-minded speaker from ISKCON to present a talk on one of the topics. And if any of you decide to pass through London in the future.. :P But I will provide GM's books and am in the process of getting some funding from the college from them. I dont think I have enough knowledge, devotion and confidence to run the whole show yet.

 

There seems to be a lot of support building up for this kind of society, but some view it as a discussion group to reflect and debate on the variety of insights from the east. Perhaps the name 'eastern philosophy society' is ambiguous and too misleading? If we are to retain this name, perhaps it might be worth expaining briefly the Buddhist, Advaita and others' stance on the given subject?

Syamasundara - February 21, 2008 5:54 pm

Yes, you want to keep things clear for everyone from the start, as it already seems you have embarked in something a touch bigger than you can handle. It's better to maybe have few people come with little expectations, than having people leave disappointed with what you want to represent.

Nanda-tanuja Dasa - February 21, 2008 7:13 pm

Madhukari, you can download "Harmonizing Unity and Diversity" here:

http://www.swami.org/MP3_CDSUB/06_21_2007.mp3

 

I agree with Syamasundara, keep things clear and simple. To cater to the scholarly mind you probably have to concentrate on Vedanta more at first and then smoothly transition to bhakti. Those lectures shouldn’t be about preaching, but to teach people about our tradition and Eastern thought in a Western setting.

 

'Eastern philosophy society' maybe ambiguous, but it doesn’t sound too sectarian and will be attractive to more people. I personally see no harm in inviting a Buddhist priest to share his thoughts as well. If somebody will be attracted by Buddhism what is the problem? You just have to work that much harder to make your presentation of our tradition more beautiful, convincing and irresistible :P

Bijaya Kumara Das - February 24, 2008 5:19 am

Every culture knows the story or has a story about Little Boy Blue. That may be your in. Find out the true story about who we all owe our obedience to, Little Boy Blue.

 

It should be nice and simple.

 

Hope this works.

Madhukari Dasi - February 28, 2008 3:24 pm

I couldn't find anything of significance about Little Boy Blue on the internet.

 

For clarity (and less deception:) ) I'm considering changing the society's name to 'Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality Society' (as opposed to simply eastern philosophy) and introduce the first talk as part of a series on the tradition of Bhakti. Prabhupada said purity is the force.

 

Someone suggested that instead of focusing on presenting the philosophy in a convincing way, we should pay more attention to making the two hours enjoyable and humorous with plenty of mouth-watering prasad. The idea behind this is to not simply present the philosophy and consequently tear it down, but for them to get a taste of Krsna consciousness. I'm not sure this will be welcomed by all, but many students here do just want to have a good time.