Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 08:50:39 EDT
Subject: The Bhagwad Geeta & The Art of Daily Living at Middlebury Library on 7/3rd
To: Namaskaar2000-AT-aol.com


THE MIDDLEBURY LIBRARY
presents

The Bhagwad Geeta & The Art of Daily Living.
Religious philosophy and the practicality of daily life.
                                       By
                                Dr. Ravin Thatte,
Hon.Prof. & Chief, Dept. of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery,
L.T.M.General Hospital, Mumbai, India.

Who is in trouble, we or the philosophers?

Is this world a creation or an accident?

Is religion an "opiate of the poor" or an escapism of the weak?

Do we need a personal God ?
                               

7pm, Aug.3rd, 2001.  MIDDLEBURY LIBRARY, MIDDLEBURY.

                        PLEASE CALL 203-758-2333 FOR DIRECTIONS.


THE BHAGWAD GEETA .
    The Bhagwad Geeta, to Hindus is what the Bible is to Christians and the
Koran to Muslims. Often called the song celestial, it recounts in
Sanskrit advice given to Arjun by Krishna at the time of the battle of
Kurukshetra. Arjun facing his teachers, cousins and friends at the
battlefront begins to have second thoughts on going to war. This
magnificent verse in Sanskrit encompasses in 18 chapters a summation of
human behavior, the philosophical clashes of good and evil, right and
wrong, and how every human should reason his way out of the ethical
quandaries that we face each day.
    At the age of 16, Dnyaneshwar, a 13-century maharashtrian ascetic, now
revered as a saint and scholar in India, translated the Sanskrit Geeta
into 9000 verses of Marathi, the language of the land he lived in. Thus
was born the Geeta of the common man - The Dnyaneshwari - and today after
centuries it has resurged as a guiding light of 21st century human
behavior. 
    Dr. Ravin Thatte, a retired plastic and reconstructive surgeon by
profession and a student of the Dnyaneshwari by avocation, has assumed
the responsibility of bringing the archaic text to today's Marathi, a
language spoken by more than 200 million residents of western India. As
the very successful author of two books in Marathi on this subject, he
has now written a book in English on the Dnyaneshwari. Tackling topics
such as the creation of the universe, the human being, intelligence,
conscience, religion, the elusive entity called soul and the need for
God, he uses the Dnyaneshwari to explain and discuss these core issues,
so vital not only to our existence, but to our living. Peppered with
anecdotes drawn from everyday life and often extremely candid personal
experiences, he raises issues that in one way or another affect us all.
Painfully honest, often controversial, but always informative, Dr. Thatte
will challenge us all to look at life in a different light, a perspective
that is not hidebound in religion but uses the universality of religious
thought to foster love towards all humankind, and thereby achieve a sense
of inner peace.
    Practicing what he preaches, he has signed over all the proceeds of his
lectures and books to his two favorite social causes - the elevation of
public hospitals to equal the standards of the private hospitals in
Mumbai, and the completely free Cleft lip and Palate clinic he runs about
200 miles from Mumbai for babies whose parents cannot afford to travel to
the city.
    Following the one-hour talk, he will be available to answer questions
and discuss in depth any issues that might be raised. 
    Book signing will take place after the lecture.

Forwarded to you by Namaskaar Foundation, Stamford, CT 

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