Thursday, August 9, 2007

Closed for Summer


Hare Krishna! Apologies to the regular readers of the ISKCON Communications Blog for not having posted in quite some time. I have been in Italy - first for an ISKCON Studies Institute conference, and then for some personal holiday time. The trip has been wonderful on many levels, but my expectations that I would have time to blog and a dependable internet connection have both proven unrealistic.

Here in Italy, I have noticed that life moves at a different pace than it does in North America. For instance, walking and bicycling is more common, meals can last several hours, and it is not frowned upon for grown adults to make time for naps in the middle of the day. Along those lines, I have also noticed that a lot of businesses and services simply close shop during these - the hottest, slowest days of summer. I have even started to get used to the simple handwritten signs on the doors of shops, cafés, or offices: <chiuso per ferie> aka closed for summer.

Unapologetic, in August many Italians pack up, flee the cities, and head for the mountains and seaside for some needed rejuvenation. And the unadorned notes they leave behind simply state the truth - "We are taking a break right now. We will be back soon enough. The world will not fall apart without us here, nor will anyone forget about us. We need this time to ourselves, but we will serve you again."

Readers, please consider this blog post my "closed for summer" sign for the IC blog. I hope that when I am back in the States and have had a chance to catch my breath and deal with the overflow of emails awaiting me, I can get back to blogging with a new passion. I'm also excited to explore some new ideas - like making this IC a team blog and building a first-draft IC website.

But all of that will happen, I hope, in due time. Til then, please excuse the locks on the door and shutters on the windows.

ys,
Vyenkata Bhatta dasa

2 comments:

jaga said...

We thought you might be interested --


SCIENCE AND SCIENTIST
Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and Life
January-March 2008

Bhaktivedanata Institute's latest quarterly newsletter
is now available online.

You can download the January-March 2008 issue from:
http://scienceandscientist.org/current.php

____________ _________ _________ ____________ _________ _________ __

What's it about?

Modern science has generally been directed toward investigating
the material world, excluding consideration of the conscious
scientist who is essential to the whole process, since, of
course, the very existence of the scientific endeavor itself
depends upon consciousness. Complete scientific knowledge must
consequently include both objective science and subjective
consciousness.


In addition to other programs, Bhaktivedanta Institute's Science
and Scientist Newsletter is humbly offered to inspire scientists
and scholars to contribute their sincere efforts toward
developing this grand synthesis. The result will be valuable not
only for helping to better understand the "hard" problems of
science such as the nature and origin of life and the cosmos, the
mind-brain connection, artificial intelligence, etc. But the
pressing problems of ethics in science, world peace, and
interfaith dialog will also benefit from a more inclusive
scientific worldview.


In our modern era science and religion are the predominating
influences determining the fate of mankind. Promoting and
developing a culture of harmony between such diverse fields has
the potential to expand our conception of reality and advance
human knowledge in the new millennium, in which it is said the
study of life will be pre-eminent. Let us welcome the dawn of
that new epoch with great hope and determined endeavor.
____________ _________ _________ ____________ _________ _________ __


Newsletter Homepage: http://www.scienceandscientist.org


Newsletter Subscription:
http://www.scienceandscientist.org/subscribe.html


Please send comments/questions to:
editors@scienceandscientist.org

jaga said...

We thought you might be interested --


SCIENCE AND SCIENTIST
Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and Life
January-March 2008

Bhaktivedanata Institute's latest quarterly newsletter
is now available online.

You can download the January-March 2008 issue from:
http://scienceandscientist.org/current.php

____________ _________ _________ ____________ _________ _________ __

What's it about?

Modern science has generally been directed toward investigating
the material world, excluding consideration of the conscious
scientist who is essential to the whole process, since, of
course, the very existence of the scientific endeavor itself
depends upon consciousness. Complete scientific knowledge must
consequently include both objective science and subjective
consciousness.


In addition to other programs, Bhaktivedanta Institute's Science
and Scientist Newsletter is humbly offered to inspire scientists
and scholars to contribute their sincere efforts toward
developing this grand synthesis. The result will be valuable not
only for helping to better understand the "hard" problems of
science such as the nature and origin of life and the cosmos, the
mind-brain connection, artificial intelligence, etc. But the
pressing problems of ethics in science, world peace, and
interfaith dialog will also benefit from a more inclusive
scientific worldview.


In our modern era science and religion are the predominating
influences determining the fate of mankind. Promoting and
developing a culture of harmony between such diverse fields has
the potential to expand our conception of reality and advance
human knowledge in the new millennium, in which it is said the
study of life will be pre-eminent. Let us welcome the dawn of
that new epoch with great hope and determined endeavor.
____________ _________ _________ ____________ _________ _________ __


Newsletter Homepage: http://www.scienceandscientist.org


Newsletter Subscription:
http://www.scienceandscientist.org/subscribe.html


Please send comments/questions to:
editors@scienceandscientist.org