In an essay One Hundred Years of Crisis [1] published on e-flux by philosopher of technology Yuk Hui the author asks: “Can we take the coming months, when most universities in the world will use online teaching, as a chance to create serious digital institutions at an unprecedented scale?”
Through the following words, I would like to express that yes, we can and by describing an example of such, just emerging, digital institution chalks out how we can take inspiration from the ongoing crisis to get out of the vicious competition of mono technological culture.
On the website www.varnasramacollege.com [2] the aim of a digital institution that I am going to write about is described as follows: “…laying the foundation for bringing about a gradual global social transformation through online training and education based on the ancient scientific principles and concepts of Sanatana Dharma, also known as Varnasrama Dharma — divine culture.”
The words Varnasrama Dharma come from the ancient Sanskrit language, and the basic explanation of the term is that varna means social order and asrama means spiritual order of life in which one should be situated to achieve self-realization. I came in contact with these ancient teachings thanks to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) [3] spreading Vedic knowledge through books written by its Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. [4]
The principles and concepts of Varnasrama Dharma can be summarized into the following short saying: “simple living and high thinking” often repeated by Srila Prabhupada. I perceive the above mentioned cultural aspects of Sanatana Dharma as a universal remedy for various social discrepancies.
The College consists of five main faculties, namely: 1) Faculty of Philosophy, 2) Faculty of Education, 3) Faculty of Politics (Governance), 4) Faculty of Economics and 5) Faculty of Traditional Technologies.
I am going to register for the course Vaishnava Vedic Sociology created by HH Bhakti Raghava Swami. The course should help students easily grasp fundamental concepts and principles of social organization as understood from the Vedic perspective. The core presentation focuses on the Vedic concept of ‘Catur Vidya’ or four sciences that give the framework for a complete social system known in the sastras as Varnasrama Dharma. The presentation is based on the following Vedic literatures: Bhagavad-Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Kautilya’s Arthashastra, all being standard Vedic texts. [5] We will compare the modern-day definition of sociology with the Vedic definition of sociology to understand the major differences in approach. Those who take the course will gain a clear understanding as to why our modern-day educational, social, political and economic systems are flawed and how these can be reformed.
The duration of most courses is from 6 to 8 hours; some, like Bhakti Sastri, span over a one year period. The official inauguration of the College was on May 15 and the event was broadcasted live on social media from Sridham Mayapur in West Bengal, India, the world Headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. [6]
Written by
Kryštof Talanda
Czech Republic
[1] https://www.e-flux.com/journal/108/326411/one-hundred-years-of-crisis/
[2] https://varnasramacollege.com
[3] https://www.iskcon.org
[4] https://www.prabhupada.net
[5] http://www.bbt.org/books
[6] https://www.mayapur.com