BHAKTIVEDANTA INSTITUTE AND ITS ROLE IN ISKCON

The Bhaktivedanta Institute (BI), the scientifìc and academic wing of ISKCON was established in 1974 by Srila Prabhupada and he made Sripada Maharaja the director from the very beginning. It has centers in Mumbai and San Francisco (Berkeley). The main purpose of the Bhaktivedanta Institute is to present the science and philosophy of Krishna Consciousness among scientists and intellectuals of the world. It promotes the studies of consciousness research incorporating quantum physics; neuroscience; vaishnava vedanta philosophy; life's origins; bioethics; and philosophy of science. BI also conducts international conference on science and religion to create a dialogue among scientists and religious leaders of the world. Other areas include conducting in-house research, publication of papers, monographs and books and interacting with scholars worldwide. Srila Prabhupada, having full confidence in Sripada Maharaja and noting his leadership qualities had entrusted the full responsibility of developing BI and its preaching activities.
Prabhupada pronounced, "Bhaktivedanta Institute's preaching work is the most important preaching arm of ISKCON." He also said that BI will enhance the prestige of ISKCON. Thus Srila Prabhupada laid extreme importance and confidence in the preaching activities of BI.

M.S/Ph.D. PROGRAM IN CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES

One of thè landmarks of the achievements of BI in recent times is the inauguratìon of Masters of Science (M.S.) and Ph.D. degree programmes in Consciousness studies in B.I., Mumbai in collaboration with Birla Instìtute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, one of the most prestigious engineering institutions of India This is the first of its kind in the world. And Sripada Maharaja's very able assistant Rasaraja Prabhu is instrumental in developing this project. Many internationally renowned faculty members from premier institutions participate in this program

ORGANIZING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

Srila Prabhupada instructed Sripada Maharaja to organize conferences in every city of the world and thus invite scientists and scholars from around the world so that they can participate in discussions. Under the guidance and supervision of Srila Prabhupada, Sripada Maharaja organized "The First International Conference on Life Comes from Life" from October 14-16,1977 in Vrindavan, India. Over two hundred scientists and scholars attended the conference. Srila Prabhupada was very pleased with that program and he said to Sripada Maharaja," Organize conferences in every city of the world." Under the chairmanship of Sripada Maharaja, the First World Congress for the Synthesis of Science and Religion was organized in Bombay in 1986 as a part of the five hundred appearance anniversary celebraions of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. It was attended by over 1200 scientists and scholars. Prof. George Wald, Nobel laureate in Biology from Harvard University delivered the keynote address. Other prominent speakers were His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Dr. Karan Singh, Prof. Harvey Cox, the well known theologian from Harvard University, Prof. Joseph Weizenbaum from the Dept. of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, MIT, Prof. John Searle, the well known philosopher from the University of California, Berkeley, etc. In 1990, the First International Conference on the Study of Consciousness within Science was organized in San Francisco. Over 400 scientists and scholars including Sir John Eccles, the Nobel laureate in Neuro Physiology, Prof. Karl Pribram from the Dept. of Psychology of Standford University, etc., attended the conference. Prof. George Wald participated again. It was a trend setting conference and now there is a tremendous interest in this field among many scholars around the world.

SECOND WORLD CONGRESS FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION
A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE TO SRILA PRABHUPADA

The Second World Congress for the Synthesis of Science and Religion was organized in the brand new Science City Auditorium in Calcutta from Jan. 9-12, 1997. It was a historic event and over 2000 scientists and educationists from around the globe assembled in order to celebrate the 100th appearance anniversary of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Those who did not know about Srila Prabhupada became extremely enlivened by attending and participating in this programme. And many scientists visited Mayapur, the birth place of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the head quarters of ISKCON just after the conference. For the first time, a Nobel laureate scientist visited Mayapur and appreciated the life and philosophical works of Srila Prabhupada.
Prof. Charles Townes, the Nobel laureate in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley delivered the keynote address and Dr. Robert Muller, the former Asst. Secretary General of the United Nations delivered the valedictory address. Their speeches along with that of a few others are presented in the pages following the messages of the prominent leaders of the world sent on the occasion of the congress.



BHAKTIVEDANTA INSTITUTE

After completing his Ph.D., in July 1974, Maharaja went to Vrindavan, India to see Srila Prabhupada. In Vrindavan, Srila Prabhupada and Maharaja would take a walk every morning along with other senior devotees. During those walks Srila Prabhupada would speak to Maharaja about presenting the science and philosophy of Krishna consciousness to the world's intellectuals. One day after a morning walk, Srila Prabhupada called Maharaja to his room and expressed his desire to start an academic wing of ISKCON. He asked Maharaja to become the director of that academic wing, to which Maharaja humbly replied: "Srila Prabhupada, I have neither the experience nor the knowledge of how to run such an institute. I am completely unqualified”. However, Srila Prabhupada responded by saying, "I will give you all of the instructions required to run the Institute. You simply follow them." Over the following months Srila Prabhupada and Maharaja worked on the details of forming the Institute.
Maharaja suggested the name "Bhaktivedanta Institute” and Srila Prabhupada humbly agreed to it. Maharaja showed Srila Prabhupada the logo that he had designed for the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Srila Prabhupada liked it very much and instructed Maharaja to add the words athato brahma. jijnasa, the first verse of the Vedanta Sutra, at the top of the logo. In 1975, Srila Prabhupada visited Atlanta on Maharaja's request and gave estensive instructions to Maharaja and his colleagues about the purpose and functions of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Maharaja as working in Atlanta at Emory University as a research fellow of the National Science Foundation.
Srila Prabhupada proceeded to give Maharaja many specific instructions, through conversations and letters, on how to organize and operate the Institute. Some of these instructions were of a private nature and some of them were not. He sometimes used strong words like ‘fools' and ‘rascals' to emphasize the urgent need to save humanity from the materialistic concepts of life propounded by most contemporary scientists. However, he repeatedly stressed that all the activities of the Institute should be carried out with great skill and politeness and that those engaged in this work should be exemplary in their dealings with scholars. A Vaishnava is very compassionate, as are his activities. Therefore the task set forth by Srila Prabhupada of introducing the Bhagavata Paradigma to the scientists was to be done with the utmost respect for their free will. Srila Prabhupada frequently emphasized the need for the world's scientists, intellectuals and leaders to bring a God-centered approach to their research and activities. He felt that if they would do this it would create immense benefit for the entire society. This understanding given by Srila Prabhupada is emphasized in Bhagavad-gita, verse 3.21:

yad yad àcarati sresthas
tat tad evetaro janah
sa yat pramànam kurute
lokas tad anuvartate

"Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, ali the world pursues”
Maharaja was able to lay the foundation of the Bhaktivedanta Institute under Srila Prabhupada's direct guidance. He organized a conference in Vrindavan, India from October 14-16, 1977, produced literatures and delivered lectures at various institutions. During the initial period of the Institute, Maharaja was still working as a research scientist at Emory University, Atlanta, U.S. A. and therefore most of the Institute's major activities were done after Srila Prabhupada's departure from this world.
After Srila Prabhupada's departure, Maharaja underwent a long struggle to establish the Bhaktivedanta Institute's activities. This was primarily due to a lack of financial support. Srila Prabhupada had instructed Maharaja to establish a Bhaktivedanta Institute center in America. For this purpose, in 1978 Maharaja temporarily rented a house in Atlanta. After one year he shifted the Institute to Philadelphia. There he and the other members produced the bulletin for the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Soon after that, because the funds required to run the Institute were exhausted, Maharaja moved to Oklahoma City where he oversaw the running of a motel with the help of Sri Ramanbhai Patel in order to generate funds for the Institute. With the meager income from the motel he began to work on some publications.
Later, Atreya Rishi Prabhu, who knew Maharaja from prior interactions in the company of Srila Prabhupada, requested Maharaja to move the Bhaktivedanta Institute to San Francisco. Atreya Rishi Prabhu owned a few houses there and out of friendship offered Maharaja the use of one of them for the Bhaktivedanta Institute.
In the early 1980 Maharaja began to give presentations on Bhagavata Culture at various universities in South India. By the sincere efforts of the local devotees, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which managed the famous Balaji temple, impressed by Srila Prabhupada's mission, donated a piece of land at the base of the Tirumala hill for the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Thereafter, Maharaja opened a Bhaktivedanta Institute branch in Tirupati, which has now become the ISKCON Tirupati center. Thus, in India, the Bhaktivedanta Institute was started in Tirupati with the aim of presenting the scientific, theological and philosophical teachings of the Bhagavada-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam for the welfare of humanity, by the combined effort of TTD and ISKCON. Simultaneously, he began organizing an international conference on the Synthesis of Science and Religion that was to be held in Bombay in commemoration of Sri Chaitanya's 500th birth anniversary. In spite of the financial obstacles that Maharaja faced in establishing the Bhaktivedanta Institute, it is now a well-recognized research and educational institution. Maharaja's acceptance of his spiritualmaster's instructions as his life and soul has made Srila Prabhupada's vision of introducing the Bhagavata Paradigm to the world's scientists, intellectuals and leaders a reality. In the name of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Maharaja has organized three major conferences and a large number of seminars. He has published two important books on the synthesis of science and religion and many other literatures, which have all received wide acceptance from the academic community. As director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute he has interacted with thousands of scholars from around the globe, including many Nobel Laureates, leading scientists and religious leaders.
In northeastern India, Maharaja has also started a network of schools in order to promote the goals of the Institute. Over 4.000 students attend these schools and receive a scientific education centered on the spiritual values of the Bhagavata tradition.
Maharaja has often expressed his gratitude towards those who have helped him in the development of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Because of their dedicated help, the Institute has succeded to become what it is today. He thanks all those who have directly or indirectly helped to fulfiII Srila Prabhupada's earnest desire for a successful Bhaktivedanta Institute. For more information on the Bhaktivedanta Institute please visit the website at:



CONFERENCES

Srila Prabhupada continually emphasized to Maharaja the need for organizing conferences in major cities of the world. His idea was to provide a platform for mutual dialogue among scientists, religious leaders, and academicians. In this way both scientists and spiritual leaders would have the opportunity to learn from each other and thereby broaden their respective worldviews.
The first conference Maharaja organized was under the direct guidance of Srila Prabhupada and was held in Vrindavan, India, in October 1977. lt was entitled ''The First International Conference on Life Comes From Life'. Srila Prabhupada was extremely concerned about every detail of the conference, beginning from the venue, to the reception, accommodation and the general hospitality of the invited scholars. In fact, he called Maharaja almost every hour during the conference to inquire about its progress. He was extremely pleased with Maharaja's humble effort in organizing the conference. He later said, "...arrange for such conferences one after another.”
Since the first conference in Vrindavan, with his limited resources, Maharaja has been humbly trying to fulfill Srila Prabhupada's instruction of organizing conferences under the banner of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Maharaja has held many conferences around the world. He has organized three major international conferences; First World Congress for the Synthesis of Science and Religion, Bombay (1986); First International Conference on the Study of Consciousness within science, San Francisco (1990); and Second World Congress for the Synthesis of Science and Religion, Calcutta (1997) where, thousands of scholars from different fields participated, including many Nobel Laureates and well-known spiritual leaders. The participants have all expressed their gratitude to the Bhaktivedanta Institute for the platform of dialogue created at its various conferences.
Maharaja has organized numerous smaller conferences and seminars including a symposium on "Consciousness and the Origin of Life", Bombay (1978); an ayurvedic conference entitled "Health and Consciousness", Bombay (1978); a conference on "The Model and Structure of the Universe", Bombay (1981); an International symposium on Science and Religion, Tirupati (1981); a seminar on Religion and Science, Gandhi Bhavan, Hyderabad (1983); eight regional Bhagavata Science Conferences on the theme "Spiritual Knowledge: The Missing Element in Modern Education" in Madras and Bombay (1985); a conference on "Bio-ethics", Toulouse, France (1992); a seminar on "Science, Spirituality and the Future of Humanity", Imphal, Manipur (2000), and a seminar on "The Role of Spirituality in the New Millennium", Kumbha Mela, Allahabad (2001). For the past 25 years Maharaja has also been organizing an annual seminar in Imphal, Manipur. Each year, on Janmastami day, Maharaja holds a seminar on a topic pertaining to that year's major issue.
Along with organizing seminars and conferences on behalf of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, Maharaja has been an invited speaker at countless other conferences. He is an excellent devotional singer, songwriter and poet. He always chants hymns of the Vedas as an auspicious invocation at all the conferences he organizes. When Maharaja is invited to attend a conference, he is almost always requested to chant some hymns or prayers from the Vedas.
For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada, Maharaja is currently organizing a conference entitled "The Second International Conferente on Life Comes From Life'' to be held in Rome, Italy on November 12 -14, 2004.



PUBLICATIONS

Srila Prabhupada instructed Maharaja to write books and articles that scientifically present Krishna Consciousness or Bhagavata Culture. In order to fulfill this instruction, Maharaja has authored The Fundamental Principles of Reincarnation, Theobiology, and What is Matter and What is Life?. He published the Bhaktivedanta Institute's monthly bulletin for a number of years. He co-edited two major volumes, Synthesis of Science and Religion - Critical Essays and Dialogues and Thoughts on Synthesis of Science and Religion, containing important thoughts from some of the most prominent contemporary scientists and thinkers of the world, including several Nobel Laureates.
In 1973, Maharaja offered a small book to Srila Prabhupada on his appearance day celebration in Los Angeles. Srila Prabhupada liked the book so much that he ordered it to be printed and distributed in large numbers. The book is entitled, The Scientific Basis of Krishna Consciousness and is based on the instructions Maharaja received from Srila Prabhupada. Sri la Prabhupada would often show the book to his guests, stating that the book was written by one of his scientist disciples. He ordered the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) to pubblish and print over 100,000 copies of the book. This book is still being used extensively for presenting Krishna consciousness to students at colleges and universities throughout the world and over a quarter million copies have been printed to date. It has also been translated into many different languages.
Srila Prabhupada desired that an academic journal with a modern scientific perspective of the divine Bhagavata Paradigm be published as the Journal of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Srila Prabhupada gave it the title, Savijnana, being inspired by the Bhagavad-gita Verse 7.2:

jnànam te 'ham sa-vijnànam
idam vaksyàmy asesatah
yaj jnàtvà neha bhùyo 'nyaj
jnàtavyam avasisyate

“I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know”.

Capturing the mood of Srila Prabhupada, theEnglish subtitle Scientific Exploration for a Spiritual Paradigm has been added.
The first issue of the journal was published and offered by Maharaja to Srila Prabhupada on his 25th disappearance festival in Vrindavan, India, on November 8, 2002..
Maharaja is currently working on a book entitled Life Comes From Life (Life's Origin -A. Synthesis of Scientific and Spiritual Perspectives) that will address the mistakes in Darwin's theory of evolution while providing scientific explanations for accepting the spiritually-based Bhagavata Paradigm of life's origin.
Srila Prabhupada also instructed Maharaja to write a scientific commentary on the Vedanta Sutra, the topmost philosophical treatise of the Vedic literature. In Los Angeles in 1973, Srila Prabhupada said to Maharaja, "...we can publish this scientific explanation of Vedanta Sutra. you have to explain scientifically that human beings' only business is to inquire about the Absolute Truth. ... you have to prove it logically and scientifically... I will guide you for every sutra”. Praying for Srila Prabhupada's mercy, Maharaja has humbly started writing his scientific commentary on the Vedanta Sutra as per Srila Prabhupada's instructions. His commentary on the first verse has been published as an article in the first issue of Savijnanam.



WORLD PEACE

All human activities are primarily aimed at achieving peace and happiness. Therefore, scientific and technological advancement, religious practices and all other human endeavors are meant to bring happiness to society. Peace and happiness are two sides of the same coin, without peace therecannot be happiness. Srila Prabhupada's peace formula; taken from Lord Krishna's instruction in the Bhagavad-gita.; is simply that we should all act with the understanding that the Supreme Lord is the beneficiary of all human activities,, He is the proprietor of everything and He is the benefactor and well-wisher of all. Maharaja has organized and attended many conferences as a humble attempt to educate people in this sublime message of peace.
Many people feel that religion is one of the causes of war in human society. Both intra-religious and inter-religious conflicts create a disturbance in achieving and maintaining world peace. Maharaja feels that inter-religious dialogue among the world's religious leaders is a powerful means for creating a culture of understanding and discovering the commonalities amongst various religions and societies. He feels that a dialogue can create a congenial atmosphere of tolerance and friendship and ultimately benefit all humanity. The future of the planet is solely dependent on all of the religions of the world working together to formulate a global standard of ethics and morality to guide human action in the right direction. For the last 25 years, Maharaja has been organizing seminars and inter-religious discussion groups around the world. In addition he has led padayatras for peace and religious harmony in Manipur since early 1980. He is regularly invited to many inter-religious conferences throughout the world.
Maharaja has participated in many functions aimed at creating dialogues for peace, including — • ‘International Conference on Science and Religion', Rome, 1981; • International Conference on Science and Religion' St. Petersburg, Florida; 1982; • ‘Art Exhibition for Peace' in Rome, Italy, 1987; • 'On the Eve of the Third Millennium - Collaboration between different Religions' organized by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, 1999; • Conference on 'Religions Agenda for the 21st Century ' hosted by Inter-religious Organization, Singapore, 1999; • 'Inter-religious Friendship Group' meeting hosted by the former President of the U.S.A. and Nobel Laureate in Peace, Jimmy Carter at the Carter Center, Atlanta, U.S.A., November, 1999; • 'Parliament of the World's Religions', Cape Town, South Africa, December, 1999; • 'Operare per la Pace' (Working for Peace), Rome, Italy, 2000; • ‘World Meeting of Presidents and University Rectors' Rome, 2000; • An ‘International Conference on the Culture of Peace', Imphal, Manipur, 2000; • 72 Hours Interfaith Peace Building Program, a worldwide program of United Religions Initiative, 2000; • Round-table conference on ‘Uniting for a Culture of Peace in a Time of Crisis' of world religious leaders held at the UN Plaza, New York, October, 2001; • ‘A Day of Prayer for Peace' conference hosted by the Vatican, Assisi, Italy, 2002; • Charter signing ceremony of the URI cooperation circle, Kuala Lumpur, October, 2000, (Mahaharaja was invited as the Chief Guest of the function); • Global Summit of the United Religions Initiative held in Rio de Janeiro, BraziI, August, 2002; • International Peace Summit, Assisi, Italy, October, 2002 and a Workshop at the Goldin Institute for International Partnership and Peace held in Chicago organized by the CounciI for a Parliament of the World's Religions, October, 2002.
Maharaja has been actively participating in the worldwide inter-religious activities of the United Religions Initiative (URI) an international organization and spiritual parallel of the United Nations, founded by Bishop William Swing of San Francisco. He feels that the way the URI is structured sets an excellent example for inter-faith cooperation. He greatly appreciates its ability to inspire and encourage different communities from the grass roots level up to the institutional level. Maharaja is an advisor for URl's Organizational and Development Committee and was instrumentai in founding the URI Manipur Cooperation Circle. Since its founding in 2001, the URI Manipur Cooperation Circle has been regularly conducting seminars in different districts of Manipur for the purpose of promoting peace and understanding amongst different communities.
In the spirit of hope for a world of peace, just before the turn of the new millennium, the children of the Federated Church School of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, contacted 50 prominent religious leaders of the world to inquire about their visions for a better world, among the leaders contacted was Maharaja. The children requested him to answer three short questions. Maharaja's answers to these questions provide a deep insight into some of the most important means towards achieving world peace.

Question 1: "What is your religion and what does your religion say about the best ways to build peace?"
Answer: “I am a Hindu. I follow the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. A Vaishnava means a servant of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is God. Another name of Lord Vishnu is Lord Krishna. Often there is a misconception that Hinduism teaches pantheism or worshiping many Gods, but Hinduism is monotheistic, just like in Christianity, Judaism or Islam. There is only one Supreme God. God has unlimited abilities and one of those abilities is that He can expand Himself according to time, place and circumstance, as He feels necessary. Hinduism recognizes the many plenary expansions of God. Hinduism further recognizes many other empowered personalities called Demigods or Archangels who are assigned to perform certain duties to help run the material universe under the guidance of the Supreme God. Just like the President of a country has many Departmental Heads, Senators, Ministers, and Ambassadors
to do his country's work, similarly the Supreme Lord has many Demigods or Archangels to do certain tasks for Him. The followers of the Hindu tradition pay respect or honor all of the Demigods or Archangels, for they are all representatives of the Supreme Lord.
God has different names in different religious traditions. In Islam He is called Allah, in Christianity He is called Jehovah and in Hinduism He is called Krishna, which means that He is all-attractive. As the Bibles the scripture for Christianity, the Koran for Islam, the Torah for Judaism, so the Bhagavad-gita is the main scripture of Hinduism. Bhagavad-gita means the 'Divine Song of God'. It teaches that all living beings are His dear children. Generally, all religions say that we are all children of God, Who is our common Father and thus we are all brothers and sisters and the best way to build peace is for us to respect each other by acknowledging this truth. Peace is the birth right of all of us.
The Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 5, Verse 29, gives us a 'peace formula' that is guaranteed to work. The formula is simply that the Supreme Lord is the beneficiary of all human activities, He is the proprietor of everything and He is the benefactor and well-wisher of all. So, if we dedicate all our activities to the Supreme Lord and acknowledge that He is the owner of everything and that He is our ultimate shelter we can attain lasting peace in this world.
If you would like to read the Bhagavad-gita As It is, written by our spiritual preceptor His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada you can find it on-line at http://www.iskcon.org/sastra.”

Question 2: "Assume that on January ist, 2000, leaders from all the world's religions and wisdoms were meeting because too many wars in the world were taking place between people of different religions. If you could send one message to these leaders, what would you say to them?"
Answer: “Dear respected religious leaders of the world,
All religious traditions teach us that we are all children of God, our common Father. To have peace and harmony among all religions, communities, and nations is our common cherished goal. Please inspire each and every member of your religious tradition with the understanding that we are all brothers and sisters. Although we perform different religious rituals, speak different languages, have different colors - we are all God's dear children.
Human life is very precious in God's sacred creation. We should respect one another and should cultivate unity while allowing for diversity. We are all eternal spiritual beings in temporary material bodies and the ultimate goal of human life is to achieve love of the Supreme Lord.
The Vaishnava scriptures of Hinduism teach us that when we misidentify ourselves with our temporary body instead of with our true eternal self (the spirit soul), our material desires cause us to have feelings like, 'this is mine', 'my religion', 'my country', 'my property'. But these secular mentalities are not helpful for realizing the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people. The essence of Hindu theology is that we should completely transcend the bodily concept of life and develop our innate love of God. Through spiritual education we should all come up to the consciousness that we are all pure spirit souls. In that consciousness we can see the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people and that we are all spiritual children of God. Actually, all genuine religious traditions teach us to love God in brotherhood. If this were truly practiced by every religious person in each tradition, he or she would never fight with anyone in the name of God.
The dawn of the new millennium has arrived. It would be a great gift to humanity if the religious leaders of all traditions could truly imbibe the spiritual understanding of all religions, "We are all children of God, the Supreme Father" in order to cultivate a true culture, of peace and harmony among all religions of the world.
Religion should never be used for political purposes or material gain, nor should we allow ourselves to be used by others for such ends. We should all agree not to commit any crimes against creation in the name of God. We should always be mindful not to be misguided by individuals in the name of religion but be guided by those persons who are sincerely following the essence of their respective religious teachings”.

Question 3: "Our visions of a better world are no war, abundance, peace and friendship. Our hopes are for a world where everyone has a home with safety, food, and love. What are your visions for a better world?"


Answer: “Our vision for a better world is a planet in which everyone is educated to realize that this human form of life is the most important gift of the Supreme Lord. We should not use the human life for anything other than progressing towards pure love for God. We should also cultivate divine virtues and respect all creation. With these principles in mind, things like a
better home, abundance, more love and friendship, will be achieved automatically by the grace of the Lord.
As we enter the next millennium, we should pray that in this electronic age of information we have more communication among various religious groups that will hopefully lead to regular dialogues among all religious leaders of the world in order to bring about peace and harmony on earth. My dear students, I hope that all of you do well in your studies by the blessings of the Lord and I pray that you can also study other scriptures, besides your own, in order to have a better understanding of other religious traditions. I thank all of you for your thoughtful questions. Hare Krishna. May God bless you.
Your well-wisher, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami”.

A reception was held in Ostia, a District of Rome, Italy on September 7, 2000 and Maharaja was honored with a global award by Mr. Paolo Orneli, President of Ostia for his contributions in the fields of science and religion, culture, education, and world peace. There Maharaja spoke on "Human Rights on a Legal, Bioethical and Spiritual Perspective”