namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

Last night I had the opportunity to catch up with a friend of mine, Madana-mohana das. It was funny, because after not seeing him for a year or more, a couple of days ago I suddenly started thinking of him and wondering when I would see him again. We got to talking, and it turns out that he is one of the masterminds behind the recent GBC Resolution 311, or at least he hangs out with them.

This essay addresses some important philosophical aspects about the meaning and nature of a text. Specifically, it focuses on the ontology of the printed word and the effect that the scholarly convention of annotation has had on the life, culture, and society of the West.

One thing that appears to be a hot topic at the moment is Srila Prabhupadas choice of words and interpreting what he meant, the example is given by the text below and Prabhupada’s use of the word “Rape”

link

Be sure to read Sitapati Prabhu's thoughts and analysis of the BBTI's response to the GBC's resolution 311. One statement of his struck me as particularly comment-worthy:

The GBC just let everyone down, supporters and opponents of Resolution 311 alike. As the saying has it: "I lost my caste, and I'm still hungry." The GBC alienated half of the society and effectively did it for nothing for the other half.

In the different yugas different conditions prevail.

In Satya yuga, the "age of truth", conditions are such that the balance of power lies with the brahmanas. Everyone is a paramhamsa in this age and there is no varnashram, so everyone is a brahmana. In this age the process of self-realization is meditation.

In Dvapara-yuga, the "second age", which usually follows Satya-yuga, the process of self-realization is Deity Worship. In this age the balance of power lies with the Ksatriyas.

The inevitable happened and Resolution 311 died on the delivery table.

Resolution 311 was an ISKCON GBC resolution that recommended that the BBT annotate Srila Prabhupada's as a strategy to deal with two issues facing ISKCON today: weak preaching and outreach, and internal cultural issues.

H.H. Jayadavaita Swami released an official statement from the BBT on his blog.

A deus ex machina (Latin IPA: de:us eks ma:khina (literally "god out of a machine") is an improbable contrivance in a story. The phrase describes an artificial, or improbable, character, device, or event introduced suddenly in a work of fiction or drama to resolve a situation or untangle a plot (such as an angel suddenly appearing to solve problems, or the entire story having been just a dream one of the characters was having).

Wikipedia

After hundreds of devotees have signed an online petition against GBC Resoluton 311, including many senior devotees and disciples of Srila Prabhupada, and the issue became a hot topic on several devotees' blogs, the directors of the BBT decided to keep Srila Prabhupada's books as they are and not to add footnotes or annotations, or change them in any way to make them more palatable to today's educated audiences.

The BBTI (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International) released their public response to the GBC's resolution 311, which requested the BBTI to publish versions of Srila Prabhupada's books with explanatory endnotes and appendices.

The BBT directors and trustees have turned down the GBC's recommendation that the BBT add endnotes or appendices to explain potentially off-putting statements in Srila Prabhupada's books.

You can find the BBT's official statement here:

http://www.jswami.info

or (permanent address)

http://www.jswami.info/bbt/editing/no_notes