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[ANN] Impending Suspension of the Bhakti List

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • May 1, 2003 


SrI:
SrImate rAmAnujAya nama:

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE INDEFINITE SUSPENSION OF
THE BHAKTI LIST, EFFECTIVE MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003.

Dear Members,

The time has come to make an important change in the
Bhakti List and related email groups. As you
have no doubt noticed, the character of the Bhakti List has
changed markedly over the last three years, mostly for
the negative, and it is doubtful that the List itself
is serving any useful purpose in its present form. 
The flow of thought provoking discussions has reduced to 
a trickle. The joy I felt in the old discussions and 
postings is all but missing today.

I can speculate as to the causes of the List's demise -- 
the proliferation of alternative discussion groups,
the explosion of Internet use by all and sundry, moderation 
and organizational missteps on my part come to mind -- but to 
analyze this now is not my goal.  What is clear is that the 
Bhakti List in its present form is simply not working, and 
does not offer anything substantially different from the many
other discussion groups currently in existence.

I have discussed the state of affairs with a few 
esteemed members, and other than our sentimental attachment
for the way things used to be, none of us can come up
with a quick fix solution to the problem. We also do not
want to host a forum which does not do justice to the
many informative discussions that were carried out in
years past. Continuing in this manner would only dilute
the List archives and reduce the overall historical value 
of the group.

In light of all this, in consultation with my fellow
moderators, we have come to the conclusion the 
Bhakti List has to be INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED,
until we can devise a system which will encourage
positive, thought provoking discussion like we used
to have. Posts from the general membership will 
be suspended as of MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003. I don't have a 
timetable for when the Bhakti List will be restarted
and cannot speculate as to when it will happen.
However, having an open and affirming forum which 
discusses Sri Vaishnava religious practice is important 
to me, and given that few other lists serve this need
you can rest assured I will constantly be thinking on
how to properly solve this problem.

I should make it clear that you need not and should
not do anything to change your membership in the List.
The suspension of discussion simply means that posts
from members at large will not be accepted for some
time for the bhakti-list, sv-general, sv-poetry, and 
sv-rituals. The bhakti-list will continue to exist
as an entity (the other lists will be shut down in
the near future).

The sv-lectures announcement list continues to serve
a useful purpose and is unaffected by this change.
All lecture announcements can be freely posted there
as usual.

Very occasionally, you may still see a few messages 
appear on the Bhakti List. These will be mostly from 
long running series which I feel must be seen to their
completion, such as Sri Krishnamachari's Sahasranama
effort. The fact that this and other series such as 
Sri Madhavakkannan's Divya Prabandham translations 
originated in the Bhakti List is a great source of
pride to me and a credit to the List, and to cut them 
short now would be a shame.


I thank all of you for being members of this forum
for all these years. I thank all of you for putting
up with me as an imperfect moderator. I thank 
Sri Dileepan, Krishna Kalale, Sudarshan Iyengar,
and Vaidehi for joining me in starting this group
in 1994. I think Sri Sadagopan and others who contributed
so much to the growth of this group, and for Sri
Krishnamachari, Madhavakkannan, Arun, and Balaji for
stepping in as moderator when I needed a break. I thank our
Alvars and Acharyas who were and are the inspiration
for this group. Finally, I thank Lord Ranganatha who 
inexplicably found it fit to place me in the position 
of manager and moderator of this List, in which capacity 
I have no doubt only deficiently served. I pray that He 
guides me to a solution which enables the quick restoration 
of this forum.

I remain,
adiyen ramanuja dasan
Mani





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