Tattva-viveka
Nectar of Devotion study group
Babhru Das - July 24, 2005 8:41 pm
Inspired by the Finnish devotees' Bhagavad-gita study group, I've been planning for some time to conduct a study group here in East Hawaii focused on Srila Prabhupada's Nectar of Devotion. I've finally gotten it started. Two weeks ago we had a sort of planning meeting combined with a memorial kirtan and feast in honor of Bhakti-tirtha Maharaja. Yesterday afternoon we had our first discussion meeting. Here's an announcement I sent out by email to measure the local devotees' interest. The "Richardson's" in the headline refers to a local ocean park, a favorite of the devotees here, with gret snorkeling. We often see (and swim with) sea turtles when we go there.
Better than Richardson’s: Snorkeling in the Ocean of The Nectar of Devotion
Dear East Hawaii devotees of Krishna,
Please accept my heartfelt dandavat pranams. All glories to guru and Gauranga.
As many of you may know, I have been planning for some time to conduct a study group focused on Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion. Now I’m ready to start. I conceive of this activity not as a standard, passive class as given in ISKCON centers, but a little more as something like a graduate seminar, where I serve as a guide or facilitator and we all study the book together. The purpose would be to make more profound our understanding of a book Srila Prabhupada gave us in 1970, to increase our appreciation for this gift to the world of Gaudiya vaishnavism, and to deepen our Krishna consciousness.
My idea is that the group would meet regularly, either once a week or twice a month. Each meeting would be a discussion of any questions that arise and/or exploration of the realizations the participants experience in what we hope will be deep, careful reading of each chapter of NoD. There would be some requirements for participation. One, naturally, would be ownership of a copy of Nectar of Devotion. (I’ll supply supplementary materials.) Another would be a commitment to regular (not necessarily perfect, but regular) attendance and completion of the assignment for each chapter. Without such commitment the group’s success is likely to be rather limited. If we can make this commitment to each other, I think we may find that we can help each other make some real spiritual progress.
Here’s what I would like to know from you. Would you like to participate in this devotional activity? Would you be willing to commit your time and energy to regular participation? Do you have a copy of NoD, or should I arrange to order some? Do you think it would be more productive to meet weekly or twice a month? What days and times would be best for you? (Please try to find at least two times, and give them in order of preference.) Would you be willing to host the group at your home occasionally? Regularly (not every meeting, but maybe every second, third, or fourth meeting)? Would you be willing and able to help with light prasadam refreshments?
Satyaki and I would be happy to begin the meetings at Audarya Bhavan, our home in Paradise Park. We could meet here as often as you like, or we’d be happy to share hosting with any of you.
When you respond to this email, please click on Reply All, rather than just replying to me alone. That way we can all see each other’s level of interest, concerns, and preferences, and work them out in conversation and maybe build a consensus about most of these issues. I don’t intend this to be the kind of activity in which I, or anyone else, will impose any of these on anyone else. I hope it will be a community activity, an opportunity for me to serve the local devotees in a way that helps us find deeper association among ourselves. And I fully expect that if we begin to splash around together in the ocean of The Nectar of Devotion, diving under here and there, we will find wonders we didn’t necessarily expect. And, as Tripurari Maharaja might say, if we drown in the process, what would be the loss?
Yours in service,
Babhru
Babhru Das - July 24, 2005 8:49 pm
Here's my "syllabus," or at least an explanation of what I had in mind when I conceived this activity.
Exploring the Ocean of The Nectar of Devotion: A Devotional Study Activity
When Srila Prabhupada’s Nectar of Devotion became available in the summer of 1970, it was a momentous occasion. Of course, whenever any book came out back then, it was a big deal. But Srila Prabhupada made it clear to us that this book was particularly important. He gave a short lecture in Los Angeles to introduce the book. He told the devotees, “[Every one of you should read this Nectar of Devotion repeatedly. The whole substance of Vaisnava philosophy and activities, everything is there. So every one of you read this Nectar of Devotion once, twice, thrice. . . . [E]verything is very clearly explained in this Nectar of Devotion. So each chapter you should read very carefully. And if you cannot understand, read it repeatedly. Don’t all of a sudden, reading one or two page, immediately question, “Prabhupada, what is this? What is this? What is this?” Go on reading, and the answers will automatically come. So this book is, this valuable book is now published. You should take full advantage.”
When we got copies of Nectar of Devotion in Honolulu that summer, Goursundar, our temple president, gave each of the devotees living in the temple a copy, and he started an extra daily class. Every afternoon, before we went back out on sankirtan, we had a class in Nectar of Devotion. Over the years, so many books have been published, and NoD seems to have become more or less forgotten by many devotees. I don’t have any doubt that Srila Prabhupada would have published the entire Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu if he had been with us longer; nevertheless, he did leave us with Nectar of Devotion, and it occurred to me that if a group of us would commit to reading it carefully and discussing it together, chapter by chapter, we would certainly see our understanding of what Krishna consciousness is, and our faith in Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada, increase.
Each participant must have a copy of The Nectar of Devotion. I will supply other supplementary materials that I hope will help us move around purposefully in this ocean of nectar and facilitate meaningful discussion. I don’t intend this to be a passive endeavor, in which everyone gets together regularly to hear me, or any one devotee, give a lecture on NoD. Because of our diverse experience in devotional service, each of us is likely to see things in any given passage that others may or may not see, or may see from a different perspective. Each may be able to offer thought-provoking insights—or questions—that may not occur to others. Everyone’s contributions will help advance conversation and progressively profound understanding, so I encourage everyone to read carefully, engage with the activities I assign, and participate in discussions when we meet.
Each meeting will focus on one chapter of NoD. I will provide supplementary materials, often including relevant verses from Brs. and other sources, and comments from other devotees, and I will assign some activities meant to encourage us to venture more deeply into the text, maybe even to integrate it more into our lives. We sometimes hear that Srila Prabhupäda called NoD the “law book” for the Krsna consciousness movement and infer that it’s mainly a catalog of do’s and don’ts. As we read it, though, we’ll discover that this book deals mainly with the law of love that governs the land of Vraja. That’s what he wants us to assimilate, and carefully reading The Nectar of Devotion makes this easier.
Babhru Das - July 24, 2005 8:59 pm
And here's the assignment for the first meeting, which we held yesterday. We had ten devotees in attendance: Jagaddhatri, Pariksit (the well-known artist for the BBT and Disney films), Vidagdha Madhava, Chandrika (veteran of many years' gurukula service and former wife of Rupa Vilasa), Nanarani, Kumkum, Gopavrindapala (the old book distributor), my wife Satyaki, Stritama, and myself. It will take me a little time to put together a digest of our discussion. (How does Krishnagi do it?) When I do, I'll post that, as well as Assignment 2.
Exploring the Ocean of The Nectar of Devotion
Assignment 1
The first assignment should not be too challenging. Read Sria Prabhupada’s Preface. As you do so, make whatever notes seem useful to you. Write down any questions you have or that you think may open productive discussion. Write down any relevant thoughts or realizations your reading yields. Keep in mind two things. One is the history of Srila Rupa Gosvami, Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu and NoD. The other is the purpose(s) of Nectar of Devotion. How many specific purposes does Srila Prabhupada give for writing this book?
Also, write a couple of paragraphs concisely exploring Srila Prabhupada’s mood and mission in relationship to the principle given by Rüpa Gosvämé regarding elevating everyone to the position of a gosvämé. How does it affect your present life in Krishna consciousness? Do you really think that everyone can become a gosvami? What does studying this book have to do with our lives, and what do you hope to accomplish by this study?
Shyam Gopal Das - July 25, 2005 4:13 pm
Very nice, Babhru prabhu. I can see by your clarity and clear assignment that you must be a good teacher. Please keep us update.
Babhru Das - July 28, 2005 7:50 pm
I haven't been able to get a digest together yet, but I'll post it as soon as I have. Because our local Rathayatra festival (which is part of a Festival of the Pacific parade sponsored by the Hilo Japanese Chamber of Commerce) will be on Aug. 6, our next meeting will not be until the 20th.
However, I posted this for a practical reason. When I told Swami I was planning this, he suggested two things: that we conduct something similar here on TV, and that I come to Audarya this summer to conduct a workshop there over a period of several weeks (at least six weeks). Unable to make the latter happen (yet, at least), I'd like to open discussion of how we could do the former--have regular, scheduled discussion of The Nectar of Devotion here on Tattva-viveka. As with the program here on Hawaii, I'd prefer that it not be something that folks drop in on casually, but the result of a commitment to reading and exploring it together. We may need to set some corner of the board aside for this, or something similar. Vrindaranya probably knows best what would work. Everyone is welcome, of course, but I would like a commitment to working together regularly.
Any ideas?
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - July 28, 2005 8:32 pm
As an additional text book on the subject I would highly recommend Waves of Devotion by Dhanurdhara Swami. It’s a wonderful book which is a must for anyone who is interested in studying Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. You can get it here. Babhruji, I would love to participate in your study group, you have my commitment.
Babhru Das - July 28, 2005 9:05 pm
Yes, I have Maharaja's book, and it's one of the resources I use for supplementary material. I wish I had a copy of Brs (I do have Bon Maharaja's Part 1 on disk, but it's a little clunky to use), but Haberman's is a little pricey for me.
Bhrigu - July 29, 2005 12:11 pm
I would also like to take part, Babhruji. For the first part, Bon Maharaja's edition is very useful.
Shyam Gopal Das - July 29, 2005 3:59 pm
As I hope my enthusiastic reply earlier made clear: I'd like to join too.
Maybe we could set up something along the lines of this: http://www.atutor.ca/ It's a free website based system for setting up courses etc... I could set it up, but let me know if this may be too much.
Vrindavandas - July 29, 2005 4:36 pm
If you do it I want in as well.
Vrindavan
Babhru Das - July 30, 2005 5:21 am
Well, it looks as though there's interest. Maybe after the Finnvasion is over, we'll find others who want to play.
I'm not sure we would need to use the ATutor program, but let me explore it a little. We may be able to do it right here, since the focus is really discussion of chapters we've read at the same time. As I envision it, we're working together to see what's there, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.
Everyone who wants to play should make sure they have a copy of NoD. I suggest ordering them through Vrindavan, since part of the cost goes to Audarya. I'm ordering a couple tonight for our classes here.
This should be cool!
Dhiralalita - August 2, 2005 12:44 pm
From Barbru:"Here’s what I would like to know from you. Would you like to participate in this devotional activity? " 
yes.
"Would you be willing to commit your time and energy to regular participation?"
Yes.
"Do you have a copy of NoD, or should I arrange to order some?"
I have a copy
"Do you think it would be more productive to meet weekly or twice a month?"
Weekly sounds good
"What days and times would be best for you? (Please try to find at least two times, and give them in order of preference.)"
Friday evenings
Saturday evenings
"Would you be willing to host the group at your home occasionally? "
Yes
"Regularly (not every meeting, but maybe every second, third, or fourth meeting)? Would you be willing and able to help with light prasadam refreshments?"
Yes
This last proposition might be unpractical for most of us since we live in so many different places.
Radhanama Dasa - August 3, 2005 3:44 am
Babhru-
I would love to take part in this. Also I have Haberman's BRS (unfortunately it's in the LARGE to-be-read pile ) if you would like to use if for the study group I'd be more than happy to send it to you.
Chris
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - August 3, 2005 4:16 pm
I've taken care of this already. 
Babhru Das - August 3, 2005 8:38 pm
Thank you so much, Chris; that's very thoughtful. However, as Nada-tanuja points out, he has already kindly covered this. So you could use Brs to supplement your study of NoD and to enhance your contributions to the group.
For Dhira-lalita: I posted that introductory note just to show what I'm up to out here and what I had in mind for the group. Of course, the logistics would be very different for TV. (Wouldn't it be cool, though, if we could figure out how to share prasadam?)
With that said, I would like to ask once more if there's anyone else who'd like to participate. It's nice that Dhira-lalita wants to play; that way I won't be the only long-time aspirant in the group. How about a couple of others? Jagadish? Satananda? Ratna, Karnam, or Archana? Y'all have been kind of quiet.
When we know who'll participate, we can figure out how, starting with the matter of time. We could start an assignment, then after one week, or two (I'm looking for suggestions here, hoping for consensus) start a discussion. I could start a separate thread in this forum or Philosopical Discussions for each chapter, and we could post our understandings, realizations, questions, confusion, doubts, responses to others' posts, etc. until we feel we've played out most of the possibilities. Maybe two-week intervals would be good, so we have a week to explore the previous chapter together and a week to study the next. What do you-all think?
Audarya-lila Dasa - August 3, 2005 9:16 pm
I'd like to join as well Babhru. I think the two week interval is a good place to start. I have NOD but none of the supplimentary texts as hand - I have BRS bindu but that doesn't follow along chapter by chapter - it may be a good reference for specific topics though...
Babhru Das - August 3, 2005 9:36 pm
Oh, please do! For those who have it, the Bindu is really nice for some topics, but you're right to point out that it doesn't follow Brs chapter by chapter. I'll post things from Bindu with other supplementary materials, and those who have it are more than welcome to share anything they find helpful.
Madangopal - August 3, 2005 11:42 pm
I would really like to participate, but I'm about to dive into a lot of school work. I'm hoping that you can set this up in some way that people like me can observe from the sidelines. I know you wanted commitment... My heart is totally there, but the time may be more difficult to find.
Can you make some room for those who just want to audit the class?
Radhanama Dasa - August 4, 2005 2:10 am
So you could use Brs to supplement your study of NoD and to enhance your contributions to the group
That's exactly what I'll do, well supplement my study anyway... I'm not so sure about the enhanced contributon part
Babhru Das - August 4, 2005 2:12 am
Yeah, but we still have to charge the fees! 
I guess we'll do this here at TV, so anyone can come sit in the room, and anyone could make comments or ask questions. I know we're all busy, which is why I suggest a two-week cycle; I don't want things to lag, but I don't want anyone to feel so burdened that they'll be reluctant to participate.
Our TV format will be a little different from what I'm doing here on Hawaii. Even here (at Audarya Bhavan), I expect a couple of participants will end up being less regular in their attendance than they may intend at the outset. (And I also have two devotees who participate by email--my older daughter, who lives in Montana, and a woman in Australia.) But I think that the maximum benefit for all will be that those who participate do so regularly.
No Tattvavivekins should feel excluded; I just think the dance will be more fun with fewer wallflowers.
Gauravani Dasa - August 4, 2005 3:23 am
Nanda-tanuja Dasa - August 4, 2005 4:07 am
I could start a separate thread in this forum or Philosopical Discussions for each chapter, and we could post our understandings, realizations, questions, confusion, doubts, responses to others' posts, etc.
I think we should open a new forum under Tattva-viveka and call it "Classroom" or something along these lines; in that forum you can start new threads one per chapter of the book. Make a descriptive names for a thread, such as "Nectar of Devotion -- Chapter 1" so it's easy to navigate. We can use this forum only for studying books.
Vrindaranya Dasi - August 4, 2005 4:28 pm
I would like to participate as well.
Ys,
Vrindaranya
Igor - August 4, 2005 4:30 pm
Nanda Tanuja's idea about "classroom" is great!
I will participate!
Babhru Das - August 4, 2005 5:32 pm
I also like Nanda-tanuja's idea of setting up a separate forum. Who would arrange that--Vrindaranya?
Gauravani Dasa - August 4, 2005 9:57 pm
I like the idea of a forum specifically for studying books as well.
The Classroom forum has been created. I think it would be interesting to use this forum for discussing Guru Maharaja's Siksastikam commentary when it is published. It would also be a good way for a new-comer to quickly find a specific set of book-related questions and answers.
Babhru Das - August 4, 2005 11:15 pm
Cool! Thanks, Gauravani. And I agree that this could be a great place for study and disussion of Swami's books. Siksastakam will be a wonderful book for discussion when it's in print, but I think we could have somewhat structured discussions of others as well. Bhagavad-gita, of course, and Aesthetic Vedanta, but also discussing Joy of Self and Rasa would benefit us individually and as a group.
Thanks again. I'll wait another day to see if anyone else wants to participate, and we can start, I guess.
Hari-priya Dasi - August 5, 2005 8:12 am
I would also like to participate. (At least if it doesn't necessarily require much previous knowledge of the subject matter...) Two-week cycle sounds all right.
Hanna
Jagadish - August 5, 2005 2:17 pm
I was signed up in my husband's name so i am trying again.
Dhira-Lalita
Dhiralalita - August 5, 2005 2:26 pm
When we know who'll participate, we can figure out how, starting with the matter of time. We could start an assignment, then after one week, or two (I'm looking for suggestions here, hoping for consensus) start a discussion. I could start a separate thread in this forum or Philosopical Discussions for each chapter, and we could post our understandings, realizations, questions, confusion, doubts, responses to others' posts, etc. until we feel we've played out most of the possibilities. Maybe two-week intervals would be good, so we have a week to explore the previous chapter together and a week to study the next. What do you-all think?
Two weeks in between postings sounds good. A discussion is a must, I believe.
Guru-nistha Das - August 5, 2005 4:46 pm
I want to participate, too. Two week periods sound good, and the whole idea of studying different books systematically is great.
My suggestion for possible books to go through in the future is Jaiva-dharma.
Babhru Das - August 5, 2005 5:33 pm
Hanna, cultivating our knowledge of Nectar of Devotion is precisely the purpose for our activity. So those who have studied NoD and those who haven't are all more than welcome.
Babhru Das - August 5, 2005 5:35 pm
Jason - August 5, 2005 7:38 pm
I would like to try and participate. Thanks.
Babhru Das - August 9, 2005 2:49 am
Well, it seems there's a desire to do this here, so let's get started. I'll post Assignment 1 again on a separate thread to get us started.