Devotional Practice
a VTE publication
Introduction
This section of the website is based on the handbook Devotional Practice, an excellent training handbook produced by Manor Training and Education, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England.
This handbook was originally intended for use in group instruction for new people, but we hope it will also be of use for our web audience.
Because of the different format, the web version has been edited a lot. If you would like a copy of the original handbook it can be purchased for £6, plus postage. Contact us at info@iskcon.com for further details.
Follow the menu down the right side of the page to find your way around the book.
Introduction (from the original book)
When Srila Prabhupada started the ISKCON movement in 1966 he had, at that time, only published the first three portions of his lifework, Srimad-Bhagavatam. As he travelled the world, and as his movement grew, Srila Prabhupada presented many more standard Vaishnava works: a wealth of philosophy, history and culture, with translations and detailed commentaries in readable English, the books totalled over sixty volumes.
Although Srila Prabhupada had frequently suggested the systematic study of his books, the very substantial quantity of scholarly information always presented newcomers with a dilemma: what to study, and in what order, to gain a grasp of the entire Vaishnava theology, culture and practice? For some time after his passing in 1977, education within ISKCON, both in the residential communities and in the congregational groups, continued in a relatively ad hoc fashion.
IIn 1995 a group of senior devotees from many parts of Europe met to discuss the standardisation of teaching within ISKCON. They compiled a list of all the subjects explained within Srila Prabhupada's books, placed the subjects in logical order, and set about devising lesson plans and accompanying teachers' manuals. The result was The Vaishnava Training and Education Syllabus, which was gradually implemented within many courses at the movement's centres throughout Europe and Russia.
ISKCON's congregational groups, variously termed nama-hatta, sanga, bhakti-sanga or bhakti-vriksha, depending on which country you live in, now well out-number its residential communities. The movement is thus largely a network of such groups meeting weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Such groups regularly chose to work their way through Bhagavad-gita, but this sometimes proved a lengthy task, taking years to complete even with regular meetings. Unfamiliar concepts and terminology sometimes made discussion inaccessible for newcomers to the groups, while certain teachings of Vaishnava practice, history or culture, were left unexplained for years.
This course is designed to cover all the basic themes and topics a devotee needs to know. The volume of text has been kept deliberately short and simple, and much information is presented as lists or bullet-points.
We recommend that you either begin or continue your systematic study of Srila Prabhupada's books in the following order:
Easy to read compilations such as:
- Science of Self Realisation
- Sri Isopanisad
- Bhagavad Gita As It Is
- Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto One
- Teachings of Lord Caitanya
- Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Nectar Of Devotion
- Nectar Of Instruction
- Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Canto Six
- Srimad-Bhagavatam, remaining Cantos
The complete coursebook and further information can be obtained from:
Sita Rama Dasa
Bhaktivedanta Manor
Hilfield Lane, Aldenham
Watford WD25 8EZ
UK
E-mail: mte@pamho.net
|| Next >