Introduction - New member

From the Bhakti List Archives

• December 13, 1995


Dear Bhaghavata-Utthamas:

I think I am fortunate to have joined the bhakti satsang.  My full name is 
Vijayaraghavan Srinivasan.  My ancestry hails from the North Arcot district 
(Poigai-pakkam).  My great grandfather Srinivasa Raghavachar was a great 
devotee of Lord Rama.  The Lord instructed him (through a dream) to construct a 
temple of Rama and he did so at Nandigama located not far from the banks of 
river Krishna.  It is a beautiful temple, and I generally take an opportunity 
to visit that temple.

I am not so much well versed in our literature as to be of an effective 
contributor to our discussions.  All I can claim is that I have learned the 
nitya-karmanushtanam (from the gopala desika annikam) at the feet of 
Navalpakkam Devanathacharya Swami.  I try to abide by that as much as 
possible.  The Late Madhuranthakam Veeraraghavachar Swami did the Samasreyanam 
for me and his key upadesha to me was to be regular in Sandhya vandhanam and 
not to partake of any food that is not offered to the Lord.

As for the "Upadhanam", I work at the Praxair Technology Center.  I am a heat 
tranfer researcher working on enhanced heat transfer surfaces.  Praxair is 
located in the snowy and cold town of Buffalo that helps me enjoy my heat 
transfer experiments!  Before joining Praxair I was at the Ohio State 
University where I did my Ph.D.  Prior to that I was working at BHEL in India.

As a comment on the way our philosophy, in general, is drifting  I am surprised 
to see how much advaita has a hold on our thinking (thanks to the Ramakrishna 
and Chinmaya missions) and also the difficulty in the present world to have a 
mono-theistic outlook.  I hope to enlighten myself through the satsangh that I 
am sure would go a long way in strengthening my convictions in the way of life 
established by our acharyas.

I can be reached on the phone: Res. (716) 626 1904; Work (716) 879 7321.  My 
e-mail address is: Vijay_Srinivasan@praxair.com@internet

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Sincerely,


Vijay