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[ADMIN] Resuming duties as moderator...

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • February 5, 2003 


Dear Members,

After a break of nearly three months, I am beginning the
process of resuming my role as moderator of the Bhakti List.
My heartfelt gratitude to Sri Krishnamachari who has ably
served in this capacity for the last few months. As I'm sure
you are all aware, it is a difficult job given the diverse
voices that are present on our list, and Sri Krishnamachari
has done his best and done very well in moderating the list 
with a fair hand.

I will be slowly transitioning back as full-time moderator.
We each have different styles so there may be some threads
of discussion which will have to be wrapped up pretty soon.
As always, please pay attention to the group's charter which
is mailed out every month to every member.

The intention of the Bhakti List is to engage in dispassionate
discussion of the religion and philosophy of the Sri Vaishnava
tradition, with emphasis on the understanding of the Alvars
and Sri Ramanujacharya.  The key idea here is *dispassionate*
and *polite* discourse, without extreme views slanting the
discussion one way or another. The role of a moderator such
as myself or Sri Krishnamachari is to make sure an open forum
remains so people can feel comfortable bringing up issues
without having themselves shouted down.

Finally, I thank all of you for your patience and continued
participation. One of the lessons I've learned is that it is
exceedingly difficult to moderate a religious group such
as this. This is one of the reasons I felt I needed respite
from this role. It seems that a large minority of members are 
extremely sensitive and are unwilling to read viewpoints different
from their own, particularly when they challenge their basic
assumptions. One violent reaction or two is enough to shut
an interesting thread of discussion down. I always hold out
hope that this List will serve in some small measure as a place 
for introspection, not only by individuals but for our movement 
as a whole. To me, this is part of the process of 'jijnAsa',
or inquiry into the highest Brahman, who is none other than our
innermost Self. 

In the service of the Divine Couple,
Mani


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