Theos-Talk Archives (January 2003 Message tt00143)

Subject: re karmic preferences/tendencies manifesting as Theosophy, 
RC, Bhakti yoga, science, history, etc ...
 
>Mauri <mhart@idirect.ca> wrote: 

>Date: Thu, 09 Jan 2003 09:43:46 -0500
>From: Mauri 
>To: "theos-talk@yahoogroups.com" 
>CC: Theosophy Study List ,
>"kpauljohnson " 
>Subject: re karmic preferences/tendencies manifesting as Theosophy, 
RC, Bhakti 
>yoga, science, history, etc ...

>The following excerpt is from an article entitled "Quest for 
>the Devine," in the Feb. 2002 issue of the Reader's Digest 
>(by Vince Rause, from "Los Angeles Times Magazine"). I 
>thought it might help in breaking, instead of making, some 
>karma around here, maybe. I'm referring to some recent 
>posts that tend to display various biases, preferences, 
>karma. But then, of course I'm speculating, again.

>Here's the excerpt:

><<the Univer­sity of Pennsylvania, at a restaurant in 
>suburban Philadelphia. Newberg and I have met to discuss 
>his biological theory of religion, which he be­lieves 
>provides a neurological basis for the human hunger for 
>God. The theory has made the 35-year-old a leading figure 
>in the emerging sci­ence of neurotheology, which 
>ex­plores the links between spirituality and the brain. 
>Newberg tells me something I'm not sure I can grasp: The 
>fabled "higher reality" described by mys­tics might, in 
>fact, be real.

Dear Paul Mauri and theosophist Friends,

In 1990 I represented J.M. Richards Biophysics Laboratories at the 
First International Conference of the Study of Consciousness Within 
Science. This conference was organized by my Madhva-Gaudiya-
Bhaktivedanta lineage Vaishnava god-brothers at the B. I. (see 
below), and was attended by such scientific luminaries as Dr. George 
Wald. My Father, Ralph L. Sherman Senior, an electrobiophysicist,  
was a pioneer in EEG, who patented the first computerized method of 
EEG analysis, and was instrumental in the founding and development of 
the biophysics field's Society For Mathematical Biology. Because my 
mother was ill, Dad could not attend the conference. So, as a 
Research Associate of the J.M.R. Labs, I attended in his place. This 
was personally meaningful to me in that it afforded me the 
opportunity to meet with some of my Father's old international 
friends from the Society of Mathematical Biology. At one point 
during the proceedings, Dr. Robert Rosen said "None of us would be 
here today if it wasn't for your Father". This was a reference to 
the fact that my Father materially supported the foundational 
international work of the Society for years, funding publication, 
conferencing, the work of various Society members, their 
international travel, university and private laboratory set-up, and 
even supporting the families of oppressed scientists from behind 
the 'Iron Curtain' to the extent of taking care of income for their 
basic needs. He took personal risks to help these people 
professionally and personally. On one occasion he smuggled 
literature including a Bhagavad-gita into a Russian 
Orthodox 'Communist' scientist who wanted it, and later secretly 
housed an escaped Rumanian scientist who was then granted permanent 
asylum in America. At the conference, everyone there had been 
influenced in some way by the formative work of the Society, and so 
Dr. Rosen wanted to acknowledge Dad's unique contribution as one of 
the Society's most committed founders and benefactors. Another 
recipient of my Father's anonymous sacrifices has been myself. His 
efforts are why I am able to make any contribution today. All his 
life he has worked invisibly empowering other people. He worked 
hard, earned a fortune and gve it all away helping others. He never 
sought recognition for himself in anything that he did. The above 
paragraph is my little tribute to him, a man unknown to the world, 
whose sacrifices have influenced the lives of many. 

Over the years I have worked as a research assistant to my Father, 
and currently we are working on publishing a retrospective edition of 
ORGANISMIC SETS by Dr. Nicholas Rashevsky, one of my Dad's personal 
mentors, and the 'Father' of the field of Mathematical Biology / 
Biophysics. All of the current scientific brain-mind 'consciousness' 
research is based in biophysics. It is amazing how far we have 
come. I remember in the 1960s when Dad used to pay 25 cents an hour 
for us teenagers to sleep in his EEG lab for REM studies. I remember 
the 'road hypnosis' EEG studies Dad did for the government to 
determine what was the link between the lack of visual stimulous and 
altered states of consciousness in high alitude jet pilots. My own 
interest in consciousness took me into the study of it in history and 
religion. Now things seem to have come full-circle, and here we are, 
discussing 'neurotheology'. 

For those seriously interested in cutting-edge science regarding 
consciousness, I recommend the Bhaktivedanta Institute as a 
resource. If you are in the San Francisco Area, pay them a visit, or 
if they are having a colloquium, check it out. Their publications 
are usually very technical, but if science is what you want, B.I. 
publications are a resource that focuses real science on the issues 
of consciousness.

David Sherman, Research Associate, J.M.R. Laboratories, Biophysics

( aka Bhakti Ananda Goswami)

ps I am not affiliated in any way with the B.I.

*******************************************************************

BHAKTIVEDANTA INSTITUTE REFERENCES

http://www.bvinst.edu/gradstudies/body-frame.htm

The Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai (B.I.) is a research and 
educational Institute, with centers in Bombay and San Francisco. The 
Institute promotes consciousness-related research and study within 
mainstream scientific disciplines. It organized the First 
International Conference on the Study of Consciousness Within Science 
in 1990 in San Francisco. Fourteen invited speakers, including three 
Nobel Laureates, presented papers in the two-day conference. A 
monthly colloquium on Consciousness and Science, started in the Bay 
Area after the conference, has entered its seventh continuous year. 
The institute's in-house research spans a number of areas including 
foundations of quantum mechanics, artificial intelligence, origins of 
life, philosophy of science, and East/West comparative philosophy. As 
part of its program to interact with academics from leading 
universities and research establishments, the institute offers 
short / long-term research fellowships. Plans for expansion in the 
near future include setting up a biofeedback laboratory and the 
starting of an international journal for consciousness studies. 

http://www.bvinst.edu/gradstudies/History.htm

The History

The Bhaktivedanta Institute cherishes the privilege to have started 
the world's first graduate degree program (M.S./Ph.D.) in the rapidly 
emerging field of consciousness studies. This program has been 
launched at Bombay in collaboration with the Birla Institute of 
Technology and Science, one of India's top technical schools. While a 
growing number of major universities offer degree programs in related 
fields such as cognitive science, our program is, to the best of our 
knowledge, the first full-fledged program exclusively dedicated to 
consciousness studies.

 
Prof. Charles Townes (co-inventor of LASER and 1964 Nobel Laureate in 
physics) formally inaugurated the M.S./Ph.D. program in 
consciousness studies on January 14, 1997 in Bombay. He also 
participated in a panel discussion on the theme Science in the 21st 
Century, which was held to mark the occasion. 
 

Our M.S. degree program runs for approximately one and a half years, 
consisting of three semesters (2 semesters of course work and one 
semester for dissertation). The M.S. degree is an essential pre-
requisite to enter the Ph.D. program. 

The first group of students entered the M.S. program in January 1997. 
The Institute expects to have at least twenty students in the Masters 
program within the next few years. An international quality education 
at low-cost together with the opportunity to go to India promises to 
make this degree program particularly attractive to overseas students.

Our graduate program is a natural culmination of the active 
participation of the Institute in the development of the new 
scientific field of consciousness studies in this decade. In a modest 
sense, the Institute can be said to have played a pioneering role in 
the development of this field.

The Institute hosted the First International Conference on the Study 
of Consciousness within Science in 1990 in San Francisco. The 
conference featured sixteen invited speakers including three Nobel 
Laureates. About 490 scholars from different universities in North 
America and overseas attended as registered participants. The 
conference was considered a trend-setting major academic event of the 
time. Immediately after the conference, the Bhaktivedanta Institute 
started and has continued to run a colloquium on Consciousness and 
Science in the San Francisco Bay Area. The colloquium has been 
meeting regularly for eight years, with a list of speakers that is a 
veritable who's-who of leading researchers in consciousness studies.

What is Consciousness Studies? 

A graduate program in any field can be only as good as the research 
carried at the host institute. The staff of the Bhaktivedanta 
Institute pursue vigorous state-of-the-art research programs in many 
areas of consciousness studies. The Institute has developed a unique 
perspective on what consciousness studies should entail, and the 
insights developed have already enriched the planning and conducting 
of the graduate program.

The degrees are awarded by the collaborating parent institution, the 
Birla Institute of Technology and Science. BITS, as the Institute is 
known within India, is internationally recognized as one of India's 
premier technological universities and is also a leader in the area 
of distance education and off-campus programs in Asia. Originally 
started in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology in the 1960s, the BITS academic program is similar to that 
of North American universities. Each course is planned, taught, and 
evaluated by the instructor-in-charge who ensures that the education 
imparted uses the teaching and evaluation format most appropriate for 
the course. The M.S. program in consciousness studies is designed to 
take full advantage of the latest theoretical and experimental 
results in this rapidly-emerging field. Courses are taught using both 
the latest textbooks and recent papers from professional journals in 
the field. The Institute has a small but growing library, currently 
holding about 3000 books, with subscriptions to many journals in the 
field of consciousness studies.

http://www.bvinst.edu/conferences/

Publications

FORTHCOMING
 
Gomatam, R. (2002) "Einstein's Critique of Quantum Theory - A 
Reassessment" 
to be read at the annual meeting of the History and Philosophy of 
Science Association
June, 2002, Montreal, Canada. 
http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/marquisj/hopos/frames/program_frame.html
 
 
Gomatam, R. (2002) "What is Neils Bohr's Interpretation?"
to be read at the conference organized by the Canadian Society for 
the History and Philosophy of Science
May, 2002, Toronto, Canada. 
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r20430/schps_toronto_2002/gomatam.html 
 
Sinari, R. A. "Life-Worlds as the Experimental basis of Philosophy"
(accepted for publication in Journal of Indian Council of 
Philosophical Research) (JICPR) 
Sinari, R. A. "Review of Ernesto Grassi's Heidegger and the Question 
of Renaissance Humanism: Four Studies" 
(to be published in JICPR) 
   
RECENT PAPERS
(Note: This is only a partial list. For a full list of all 
publications, please see the concerned faculty's individual page*. 
For copies of paper, you may write to the concerned faculty directly)
*Webmaster: The said page is undergoing redesign. Thus is not 
available online for the moment. Inconvenience regretted.
 
Gomatam, R.(2002) "On the Connection between Physics, Ordinary 
Language and Consciousness -- Relearning the lessons from Quantum 
Theory" 
Paper presented at the conference on "Philosophical Consciousness and 
Scientific Knowledge: Conceptual Linkages and Civilizational 
Background" organized by the Center for Studies in Civilization, 
March 1-3, New Delhi 

L. Behera and K. K. Anand (1999) "On guaranteed tracking and 
regulating performance of nonlinear dynamical system using fuzzy 
neural network"
IEEE proceedings Control Theory and Applications, vol. 146, no. 5, 
September 1999, pp. 484-491 

Sinari, R. A. (2001) "The Bipolar Weltanschuung of the Indian 
Scientist"
a project report submitted to the Indian Council of Social Science 
Research, New Delhi 

Sinari, R. A. (2001) "Reflections on John Searle's Philosophy of 
Consciousnesses"
a paper published in the July-Sept 2001 issue of Journal of Indian 
Council of Philosophical Research 
(JICPR, Vol. XVIII No.3) pp.91-106 

Sinari, R. A. (1999) "The Internality of Consciousness Experience"
Discussion and Comments appeared in JICPR, Vol. XVII No.1, 
September-December 1999, pp 158-163 

Gomatam, R. (2001) "What is Bohr's Interpretation?"
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the South African Philosophy 
of Science Association
Durban, January 9-11 

Gomatam, R. (2000) "Quantum Dialog" by Mara Beller, 
Book Review appeared in 
Philosophy in Review, vol. XX, no. 6, December 2000, p. 390-1, 
University of Alberta 

Gomatam, R. (1999) "Quantum Theory and the Observation Problem"
Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6 (11-12), p. 173-190 
appeared in the Special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies 
titled, "Reclaiming Cognition", Dec, 1999 http://www.imprint-
academic.demon.co.uk/books/reclaiming_cognition.html 
 
Gomatam, R. (1999) "Quantum Theory and Information"
a paper presented Quantum Approaches to Consciousness Conference
July 28-August 1, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 
http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/quantum.html#events 
 
   
MONOGRAPHS IN PRINT
 
Stapp, Henry P. (1994) "A Report on the Gaudiya Vaishnava Vedanta 
Form of Vedic Ontology"Bhaktivedanta Institute, Berkeley 

Gomatam, R.; et al. (1997) "Faith and Values in Science and Religion"
A discussion with Nobel Laureate Physicist Charles H. Townes
Bhaktivedanta Institute, Berkeley 

Gomatam, R. (1988) "Real and Artificial Intelligence-Can Machines 
think?" Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai 
   
BOOKS IN PRINT
 
(1986) "Interviews with Nobel Laureates and Other Eminent Scholars"
on the occasion of World congress for the Synthesis of Science and 
Religion at Bombay Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai 
   
DISSERTATIONS BY STUDENTS
 
For a list of dissertations done at the Institute by the graduate 
students, please follow the Graduate Studies link to the students 
page.
 
Our Students
 
RAJESH PARASURAMAN
(Year: 2000) M.Tech, Biomedical Engineering. I.I.T, Mumbai, India
M.B.B.S, Nagpur Medical College, India
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India  
Research Interests: Attention, Perception, Matter & Quantum Physics, 
Mind-Body Medicine, Indian philosophy.

M.S. Dissertation Title: "Attention - A Review"
Guide: P.V.Rayudu.

Personal statement - I live in Mumbai and work as a day scholar in 
Bhaktivedanta Institute. After a few years of professional life, I 
got enrolled for a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, at I.I.T, but an 
interest in Consciousness brought me here. Consciousness Studies is 
the emerging new discipline. I am interested in all major 
consciousness related subjects like Neuroscience, Mind-body medicine 
and Quantum Physics. Consciousness Studies has expanded the horizons 
of science and in the process has 'redefined' science and I consider 
myself fortunate to be a part of this major scientific revolution. 
The Bhaktivedanta Institute provided me with a unique opportunity to 
study diverse subjects like Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, 
Physics, Western and Indian Philosophy, Mind-Body Medicine, 
Psychology, all under one roof. 

My thesis area is a defined aspect of Consciousness, namely, 
Attention - and its analysis from the perspective of Psychology, 
Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering and Quantum Physics. The 
Institute library has a very good collection of books and the best 
experience here has been the intellectually stimulating formal and 
informal discussions with people from varied areas of research 
interest. 
 
   

VINOD KUMAR.U
(Year: 2000) M.A - Psychology. Calicut University, India
M.Phil, Psychology. Calicut University, India
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India 

Research Interests: Vision, Illusions, Psychoanalysis, Clinical 
Psychology, Neuro-scientific aspects of Consciousness (Neural 
Correlates).

M.S. Dissertation title: "Visual Illusions - The Significance of 
Context".
Guide: Dr. R.V.Gomatam

Personal statement - My home is in Kerala, South India. (Kerala is a 
beautiful state - visit www.kerala.com) The Consciousness Studies 
program has much to offer for all fields and that involves my subject 
of interest too, i.e. Psychology. My primary area of interest in 
consciousness is its psychological and neuroscientific aspects and 
its analysis from a cultural and historical perspective. That way, we 
might get an interesting picture on how the 'concept of 
consciousness' evolved and how it relates to the present methodology 
of research. My M.S thesis is on 'Visual Illusions, with special 
emphasis on the Role of Context in Illusions' and its importance in 
the study of consciousness. The Institute provides the perfect 
foundation for a person of my kind of interest.  
   
 
  
SABERI ROY
(Year: 2000)
M.Sc. Psychology, University of Calcutta, India.
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India  
Research Interests: Philosophy of mind, philosophy of science (matter 
and causation) consciousness and quantum mechanics, psychoanalysis, 
Eastern philosophy.

M.S. Dissertation title: "Causality in Consciousness Studies"
Guide: Dr.Ravi.Gomatam

Personal statement - I have spent a major part of my life in 
Calcutta, West Bengal. Bengal is known for its 'cultural affluence 
and artistic excellence'. You can visit West Bengal's official 
website (www.westbengal.com) I have been involved in social work for 
the uplift of the poor for the last ten years and have also helped in 
organizing peace conferences. I was enrolled for an M.Phil program in 
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi before coming here. The 
source of inspiration for joining this program has been the 
conference organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute in Calcutta, on 
The Synthesis of Science and Religion where I came to know about the 
M.S/Ph.D program in Consciousness Studies. The program immediately 
attracted my attention because its basic issue of inquiry is one of 
the most fascinating aspects of existence, i.e. Consciousness and 
also the basic approach of inquiry is interdisciplinary and not 
restricted to any particular field of study.  

My research interests include the philosophy of mind, philosophy of 
science and the relation between the notion of matter and the problem 
of consciousness, considering the frameworks provided by physics, 
philosophy and psychology. My M.S dissertation is on the 'Problem of 
Cause within Consciousness Studies' and where causality stands in the 
natural sciences. My other interests include creative writing, art, 
existentialism and psychoanalysis. The institute's growing library is 
my favorite haunt and has an excellent collection of books related to 
all fields of consciousness studies. The Institute's unique effort in 
bringing the 'holy grail of knowledge', the phenomenon of 
Consciousness, that has perplexed humanity for the past thousands of 
years, within the realm of science, is worthy of great appreciation 
and will definitely meet with success. 
 
   
 

BALARAJU BATTU
(year: 2000) M. Sc - Physics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India 

Research Interests: Quantum Mechanics (EPR Paradox and Bell's 
theorem), Statistical Mechanics, Consciousness & Physics.

M.S. Dissertation title: "The EPR Paradox".
Guide: Dr.P.K.Joshi.

Personal statement - Before coming here, I was in Hyderabad, Andhra 
Pradesh (visit-www.fullhyderabad.com and www.hyderabad.com). I am a 
lover of theoretical physics, poetry, and art films. I have a Master 
of Science (M.Sc) degree in Physics from Osmania University, 
Hyderabad. I was enrolled for the M.Sc.Tech program in 'Computational 
Techniques for Physicists' in the University of Hyderabad, when I 
learnt about the Consciousness Studies program conducted by 
Bhaktivedanta Institute in collaboration with BITS, Pilani. I joined 
the program not only because of its impressive curriculum and course 
contents, but also because of its emphasis on the 'foundational 
problems' of modern science. As a student of physics, I am interested 
in the notions of 'matter' and 'space-time', theories which form the 
basic issues of inquiry in quantum mechanics and relativity. It is my 
opinion that though consciousness is a 'philosophical' problem, only 
by appealing to the foundational issues of theoretical physics, we 
might be able to solve it. My research interest is the famous 'EPR 
Paradox', the problem of non-locality and how this relates to 
consciousness studies. The Bhaktivedanta institute has given me the 
opportunity to do this unique research on two very important aspects 
of scientific inquiry: EPR paradox and Consciousness. With its 
completely 'different' research approach, the institute is bound to 
emerge as one of the premier institutes within the frontiers of 
science, in the near future.  
   
 

ANANT BHASKAR GARG
(Year: 2000) B.E Computer Science, Motilal Nehru Regional 
Engineering College, University of Allahabad
Advanced Diploma in Software Technology - Center for Electronics 
Design and Technology of India, Mohali
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India  
Research Interests: Human-Computer Interaction, Learning and Human 
Behavior, Bioinformatics, Cognitive systems, Indian Philosophy. 

M.S. Dissertation title: "A Critical Examination of the Concept of 
Information" 
Guide: P.V.Rayudu.

Personal Statement - I have spent the main part of my academic life 
in Allahabad. I have 'sweated it out' in different companies, in the 
departments of administration, software designing and development. I 
was searching for some cognitive science programs and luck had me 
stumble on the BI (Bhaktivedanta Institute) website. I stuck on, 
joined the course mainly because of its focus on the 'human cognition-
human behavior' approach. The interdisciplinary nature of the program 
also fascinated me as it was the first of its kind! The Bhaktivedanta 
Institute, as you know, is the first institute to organize a 
conference on the Scientific Study of Consciousness in 1990, which I 
think is a major step forward in the intellectual history of the last 
decade. As my interest lies in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive 
Sciences, my dissertation here deals with the review and analysis of 
the concept of information. The notion of information is not only 
central and primary to consciousness studies; it also encompasses an 
entire gamut of conceptual issues and involves a critical examination 
of some major areas of study including the human-information 
capabilities, communication of information, physics of information, 
data communication & storage and also bioinformatics. This approach 
to study and research, which the Bhaktivedanta Institute offers, 
would certainly be a major leap for my future career. 
 
   
 

Dr. Chakravarthi Ramakrishna
(Year: 1999) M.B.B.S., Kasthurba Medical College, Manipal Academy of 
Higher Education, Karnataka
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India

M.S. Dissertation Title: "On the Timing of Conscious Experience- A 
Critical Review of Libet's Work"
Guide: Dr. S. Nagarkatti

Personal statement - To begin with, it must be said that 
Bhaktivedanta Institute is a unique institute. I first noticed the 
poster advertising this course while I was studying medicine in 
Manipal. I was immediately attracted towards it as it offered all the 
subjects I really liked - physics (to which I had no access in 
medicine), neuroscience, evolution, artificial intelligence, 
philosophy and so forth. I joined the course in spite of advice 
against it (since I would be leaving a very noble and lucrative 
profession once I take up research). 

Once here, the scope and breadth of this multidisciplinary field 
fascinated me. Consciousness has often touted as the final frontier 
in human understanding. Almost anything in the universe is 
potentially explainable within the scientific framework, whereas the 
questions about how we feel, sense, perceive, and other 
such 'subjective' qualities do not have even the beginnings of an 
answer. It is deeply related to the concept we have about ourselves. 
The relevance of consciousness studies in this fact and also the 
immense benefits that can accrue by unraveling and understanding the 
workings of the human mind. For example, advances in artificial 
intelligence and the cognitive sciences can result in technology that 
might revolutionize the way we live; or a change in the way we 
understand the concepts of matter, causality, time, etc., can, once 
again, change, in Copernican proportions, the way we look at the 
world.  
   
 


Matthew R. Ellis
(Year: 1999)
B.A. in Philosophy, California State University, Sacramento, CA, USA
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India  

M.S. Dissertation Title: "The Act of Conceptualization - An 
Exploration of Concepts and Cognition" 
Guide: Dr. R.A. Sinari  
   
Dr. Meenakshi Parab
(Year: 1999) B.H.M.S., University of Poona, Maharashtra
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India 

M.S. Dissertation Title: "Dream Phenomenology and Physical Health 
Status: A Case study" 
Guide: Dr. S. Nagarkatti  
   
 

SHAJI THOMAS
(Year: 1999)
M.Sc. (Physics), University of Calicut, Kerala
M.S. Consciousness Studies, Bhaktivedanta Institute, Mumbai & BITS, 
Pilani, India 
Project Report: "Language Functions of Brain and Aphasia" (1997)
Guide: Dr. James Newman

M.S. Dissertation Title: "The Role of Ergodicity in Foundations of 
Statistical Mechanics - A Critical Review" 
Guide: Dr. L. Behera, L. and Dr. P. K. Joshi

Research interests: Foundations of statistical mechanics, heat and 
thermodynamics, black body radiation, foundations of quantum 
mechanics and philosophy of science

Personal statement - I hail from a farmer's family at Kerala and 
worked as a Post Graduate Teacher in Govt. of Sikkim. In 1997, I came 
to know about the MS program at the 2nd World Congress in Calcutta, 
organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute. The conference proceedings 
were an eye opener for me in the matters related with cutting edge 
scientific research. I was fascinated to know that an 
interdisciplinary field, 'consciousness studies', is very much into 
the mainstream research. Out of inner conviction I entered into this 
entirely new arena. During my stay at the Institute, I was exposed to 
the Institute's in-house research that was nurtured many years. 
Central to this research is the 'relational viewpoint' that is being 
developed by the director of the Institute. This approach would be a 
broader view of the notion of matter to be conceived somewhat 
different from the atomic and molecular worldview. I am proud to be a 
part of this team who always uphold the vision to contribute 
something substantial for the next generation.

It is also quite remarkable to acknowledge that the assistantship 
offered by the Institute made me enter into the hardcore 
administration of the Institute. The unique library collection, 
system setup and excellent hostel facilities helped me to take up 
various projects of the Institute without worrying about my basic 
necessities. The assistantship helped me to learn many organizational 
and academic skills to be adopted by any organization. After going 
through this graduate program, the student not only is eligible for 
an internationally valid university degree, but is also well equipped 
to face challenges in his/her life. A positive approach to this 
program is a lifetime investment for the professional as well as 
one's personal life.