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Since our last report in February 2007 many things have happened.
1) Promotional events for this years Festival were presented as planned at
San Marcos University in Lima Peru on March 1st and 2nd. Many scholars and
students of Oriental culture attended. Next the same events, Science,
Politics and Philosophy: Where is Humanity Headed, were presented at two
prominent universities in Argentina. Then returning to Lima and Miami a
lecture presentation on Meditation and Stress: From the Existential to the
Practical was presented, again with packed auditoriums and much interest
generated for more expanded events by scholars and sponsors.
2) We are now editing the papers presented at these seminars and expect to
have them available for distribution very soon.
3) By the mercy of our volunteers in California, Sanatana Sundaram and
Gandharvika Devi Dasi, DVDs of last years Festival, The Bed of Arrows
and History of the Vedas with Professor Ravi Gupta have been mailed out to
everyone on our mailing list. If you did not receive these and would like to
be on our mailing list then please write to:
NIOS - Secretary
304 Astor Way
Franklin, TN 37064
USA
4) By the efforts of Mr. Mohan Padmanabhan, Microsoft, has accepted NIOS as
qualified to recieve their funding from an employee matching grants system.
The first fruit of that was received in April with a check for $3,500.
5) After very strenuous round of meetings and discussions the Festival
schedule and content for October is becoming very fixed.
Thursday, October 11th, Festival starts with invocatory events at La
Cantuta National Education University.
Friday, October 12th, academic sessions at San Marcos University
with presentation and round-table discussions on Classical Indian
Epistemology from Jiva Goswamin by Professor Ravi Gupta with participation
from national science counsel and scholars in education and philosophhy.
Also, a dialog between H.H.Hanumatpresaka Swami and Professor Miguel Polo on
Buddha and the Bhagavata. Papers and presentations on other related academic
topics are invited.
Saturday. October 13th will focus on more cultural events with a
presentation on the classical roots and manifestations of Hindi language by
Dr. Ravi P. Singh, President of NIOS and the International Hindi
Association. Students of the NIOS approved Anjana Suta Academy Hindi seminar
which is now in its 6th week will also show there learning with songs and
dialog. In the evening will be the main event, a cultural presentation with
dances of Dasa Avatara, the Ten Incarnations by Jayadeva Goswami, and a new
movie, based upon Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's Light of the Bhagavata,
produced by Oscar Natars, Anna et al.
Sunday, October 14th, will be in the ISKCON Temple and Cultural
complex in beautiful Chosika 30-minutes from Lima including fire sacrifices,
music dance and much more.
Throughout the Festival their will be an exhibition of the art of Light of
the Bhagavata organized by the national ecology counsel that will later
travel throughout Peru promoting a fundamental change in consciousness for a
better ecology.
6) Oscar is working on the script for the movie at this point. A budget and
copyright permission has been submitted to the book's publisher, the
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, and everything should be released by the first
week in June.
7) International participants in the Festival can enjoy and help with all
the Festival events but a cultural tour of Lima and afterwards of other
exciting places in Peru such as Cuzco, capitol of the Inca Empire, are also
being organized for a practical fee.
8) Investigating plans for the future San Marcos University is enthusiastic
to continue the studies of classical Indian culture and after serious
consideration on their part they suggest that NIOS and its agents in Peru
propose a Specialization in Classical Bhagavata Literature as part of their
exisiting Master's Degree in Culture.
9) Here in Tennessee, Hanumatpresaka Swami and Rabbi Rami Shapiro visited
the Vanderbilt University Campus and had excellent experiences with contact
and events organized by the newly formed Center for the Study of Religion
and Culture. NIOS and the Center have many topics of serious interest in
common such as Religious Elements in Ecological Solutions, Religion and
Society, Religion and Science.
10) Finally Swami will be traveling in the USA, Washington D.C., Houston,
Texas, Arizona, San Francisco, Idaho, Seattle for a few months and then
return to Tennessee for August and September. During this time much
promotion of NIOS and writing will happen and then in the last weekend of
September NIOS will have its annual event in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
For more information please contact us:
e-mail: bhartiyasanskriti@unmsm.edu.pe
Corresponding Secretary
Thanu Subramanian
615 599-8424
304 Astor Way
Franklin, TN 37064
USA
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