Hi
I would also suggest it to be a platform for sharing resources. I find
content in accessible form difficult for Sanathana studies. Sometimes
even when the content is accessible, the TTS is unable to handle it
correctly. To give an example, I was looking for Ramcharita Maans in
Hindi. I did get a soft copy, although it was in Unicode I guess the
character set would have been in audi and it was impossible to follow
it. Some are image PDF's etc. As it is a closed group of blind persons,
it should be ok to share.
ISKCON too is also a major source of original works. I wonder how many
of them are accessible.
I would suggest Sadak which loosely means seeker in English as the
title. I for one would like not to use qualification of disability in
the title which I consider to be incidental and not primary in the path
of a seeker.
I do not follow ISKCON way of life. Frankly, I do not understand it. Nor
I have any aversion or any opinion at all. I occasionally visit some of
the centers. Do folks like me, fall into the scheme of things in this
group? I for one would keep it open to any faiths or beliefs although
the focus can be on sanathana studies primarily.
Harish
On 6/5/2024 6:38 PM, Yamuna Jivana Dasa wrote:
Living with Blindness as a Hare Krishna Devotee
Dear community,
On Wednesday 29 May 2024, a very pleasant and courageous Vaishnava
visited me at my home for the first time. Isvara Puri Prabhu, like me,
is totally blind, but I was surprised to learn that he has been living
as an aspiring travelling devotee for some time. What started as a
social visit for SadhuSanga turned out to be a discovery of many
incredible shared interests upon which we wish to explore jointly.
One of these areas regards the establishment of a community of blind
bodied/visually impaired devotees world-wide. Presently he is hosting
a reading session group for Telugu speakers, and now we wish to extend
into the English speaking audience.
The following is a tentative program structure:
1. We have discussed Whatsapp as the most likely meeting client since
most people already use it, and since it is also reasonably accessible
on the various computer and phone platforms used by the blind community.
2. We will systematically read Bhagavad-gita from beginning to end,
followed by Srimad Bhagavatam, Caitanya Caritamrta, Nectar of Devotion
and Nectar of Instruction. Devotees who are able to read in Braille,
from computer or phone text-to-speech may like to take turns to read
to the group. Reading of the Sanskrit can be illiminated if the reader
cannot read from their given reading platform. This segment will last
for 1 hour.
3. We can dedicate time to any other topics related to living as
visually challenged devotees, in which experiences can be shared and
possible solutions explored together. These may be requested by group
members for consideration in future meetings. This segment may last 30
minutes.
Examples of such topics may include things like living with visual
challenge in a non-devotee family setting, navigating to temples,
taking help at temples, staying overnight, preference for on-line
sanga due to mobility challenges, the future for those of us living
without sight, practicing devotional service as our world changes, how
the Vedic civilization may be either supportive or disadvantageous to
living as blind devotees, navigating in a Varnasrama community being
blind, and the level of acceptance and assistance from sighted
devotees in the various settings in which we find ourselves seeking
sadhu sanga.
4. The frequency of these gatherings are still tentative, but I
propose here once weekly during a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or
evening to accomodate most people outside of work and other commitments.
5. The conditions for participation shall be as follows:
5.1. The participant should be living with blindness, or have a very
strong affinity for, or experience in dealing with blind people.
Taking turns to read will be given preference to totally blind
participants.
5.2. The participant should specifically have an affinity towards
spiritual life, but more particularly towards the Krishna Conscious
way of life.
6. I'm still thinking of a short name for the group that will ring
well in English.
Anyone interested may contact me privately for further discussion.
Should you know any persons or groups fitting the target audience of
this invitation, please share with them.
With kind regards,
Yamuna Jivana dasa
Whatsapp No: +27 82 2916081
India Phone number: +91 70372 95962
E-mail: [email protected]
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