Online Study Group - What Book to Start With? -

Well, I got some response on the poll as to who wants to be part of a study group, so let's start to talk about what book we would like to begin with.

I'd like to start the group in about 2 weeks, giving everyone a chance to order & get the books, etc. I know some members that have expressed an interest are particularly busy during the next few weeks (I am as well).

So, I'd like to start with either Sri Guru Tattva Vijnana or Sri Bhakta Tattva Vijnana. Satya Narayana's Nama Tattva might be an option as well. Basically, I'd like the first book to be short, and all books should be easily available through loibazaar.

Anyone else have suggestions? Can we get a consensus on what book to start with?

Susggestion: What about Srila Ananta Das Babaji’s Sri Siksastakam?

Q: How will the assignments and testes be available?

Hmm.. I wonder if it would be a good book to start with? I was thinking of it maybe for the second or third book.. but it will go into the idea bin. When it gets closer to start this up (~ 2 weeks), I'll post a poll for which book to start with, and winner takes all

As for the setup, I'm thinking of a subforum off of SA, then with a specific forum per book inside of that, and then everything could be posted in threads. But this really would be a moderator decision. That's just how I initially thought of it.

I don't picture tests really maybe just weekly reading assignments?

Weekly reading assignments sounds good.

What about a Quiz like this one:
VEDA Quiz

Baba's Tattva-vijnana series would do good study material. That would actually give me the excuse to work through the rest of them, there are a total of ten of them or so.

I wouldn't mind making the translations available for the study group, it would actually provide an excellent opportunity to get the work reviewed by our good audience as well. Trying to get lots of things done at once.

The titles are as follows:


Does that sound like an interesting project, going over all of that? All the texts in the series follow the same basic format of GBTV that most of you probably already have, references from varieties of original sources bound together by insightful comments.

AWESOME !

Drool... is that appropriate? Well, its my initial reaction

Madhava
This is a great offer & I'm more than excited... I suggest the group start with GBVT, give poor Madhava a chance to catch his breath & then move on to these other texts. Any objections?

Sounds very good tomeee.

Ok, I would like to start this up in the next week or so. Now, some outstanding points:


1. Are we agreed that we will start with GBVT?
2. Does everyone that wants to participate have a copy of GBVT? If not, go here.
3. Anyone have other points they want discussed?

I'm going to go over my copy of GBVT tonight & tomorrow & post what I think would be the first reading 'assignment'... just so participants can get a feel for how I see it going. I also want to stress that I consider this a group activity, and while I may be writing all the posts getting this thing moving, please do not be afraid to make suggestions. Group participation is the only thing that will keep this moving forward!

Just a comment.. I personally would be completely unable to write up a quiz on the material. I'm far too unqualified. Perhaps others can come up with questions for the sections we read?

1. Are we agreed that we will start with GBVT?
Yes!
2. Does everyone that wants to participate have a copy of GBVT? If not, go here.
I got it at Loibazar.
3. Anyone have other points they want discussed?
How Many people are in the list?

FYI, the link above goes to Loibazaar

Ok, a total of 6 people responded to the poll, 3 saying they would be in, 3 saying 'Yes, if they could find the time'. I'm hoping all 6 can start out participating. I'll keep the readings short in the beginning so people can get into the grove...

Everyone who wants to participate should post in this thread and say a clear "yes".

DharmaChakra, what kinds of reading assignments are you thinking of? One section (from one subheading to the next) at a time, two if they are short? Some of the sections are short, yet contain an awful lot of information to assimilate.

And, what kind of pace are we looking at? One reading assingment per week, or what? I suggest we don't make it too much, we don't want it to become a strain.

I don't mind drawing together quiz:es and putting them online.

I am inclined to say "YES",but I need to check my time schedule a bit more...

Any specific date to start?



FYI, that is where I got the book from, yesterday.

Yes, yes and yes

One to two sections a week, and def slower at the start... I don't want people to drop out because of too much reading

I'll try & post a mock 'assignment' (like I'm the teacher or something!) tonight.. just hope the kids go to bed early. I'm thinking of posting the readings on Friday afternoons. That way we have the weekend to get started...

Why don't we draft together a timetable of reading assignments while we're at it.

Sure.. I'll do this tonight. Let's hope the kids are nice and relaxed I'll flip through GBVT tonight and draft something up.

Just want to add in that my wife will be in Amsterdam next week.. so lots of quiet time :-) Um.. she doesn't have access to SA, right

Oh... Once the reading assignments are complete, what are we going to do about it? I mean, in what format will the discussions take place?

Radhe Radhe!

Yes and yes again! I'm definitely up for this, we've just started on school holidays here so I've got about 2 weeks of lovely peace and quiet to study!

YS
Sudevi dasi

I am in.

Dharmachakra, how long do we envision this taking? Forever?

Literally

Actually, it depends on how much discussion people want to have. I broke GTV up last night into 4 chunks, and a week per chunk thats a month... seems like a lot considering I read the entire thing in one night the day I got it

Sooo.... for example, the first reading I was going to post as 'up to page 11', which is:

Who is a guru
Why you need a guru
& Qualities of a sad-guru

All in under 11 pages Is there a week of discussion/learning there? Is that to slow a pace? Should we be covering this (GVT) book in two weeks? Maybe its two readings per week?

Comments?

No, I don't think it's too slow a pace at all. There is definitely enough there in one of those chunks to cover a week's worth of discussions, assuming we all have lives off the keyboard.

With this study-group, I am hoping we'll do a thorough job. Drilling deep into each concept, ensuring everyone understood it well. Often when we read things, we don't really stop and think all that deep on what things mean, what are the consequences of the conclusions presented, and so forth.

Reading Schedule for SGTV

I've tried to organize the readings thematically, versus quantity of pages. As always, open to comments.

Madhava:
Can we start making the neccessary forums? As discussed in PMs?

I'd like to have the 'Week' start on a Friday, so everyone will have time to read the section several times. I'm planning on posting my summaries and questions on the following Monday.

Propose an exact structure for the study forums?

Friday / Monday sounds good to me.

Regarding the schedule: The assignment for week two is a bit short, however glancing over the material it seems there's still plenty there to chew on. I believe on that week's assingment, many lively discussions will take place. Let's aim at exploring those topics, too.

i know.. I didn't want to break up the initiation block, and didn't want to make week one too long, so it leaves a little lull. I suppose this is the problem with a 'little' book. Hopefully everyone will have lots to discuss that week

Proposed Forum Structure:
Existing SA Forum
|
|______ (New) Study Group Forum
|
|_________(New) Book Title Forum

Then one thread per assignment? Sound good?

EDIT: Oops.. the HTML doesnt preserve the spaces I put in.. Each forum is nested under the other...

Sure, I'll do that. Suggestions for the study group's name? I called it "Nimai's Garden" for now.

One thread per assignment - I don't think that'll be enough. Let's have one thread per subheading, I think that's more realistic. Otherwise it's going to be awfully cluttered. I'm confident there's something everyone can say about each section.