Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue in Chennai

December 16-18, 2019

Vaishnava-Christian Dialogue in Chennai, India

I was fortunate to be again (for the third time) present at the annual Vaishnava-Christian dialogue in South India, organized by Anuttama Das, ISKCON’s minister of communication. The topic this year was “Loving Surrender and Social Engagement”. My own participation this time was quite minimal, as I was not the presenter for Gaudiya Vaishnavism (plus, I was dealing with a cold and laryngitis). What is always interesting in these dialogues is to see the richness of thought and the ways our tendencies to stereotype other traditions are challenged. And what is always rewarding is the relationships that develop through both the more formal exchanges in the discussions and the informal conversations between session. I was especially happy that my proposal for the topic of next year’s dialogue was accepted: “Inner and Outer Climate Change”. After some further discussion, a subtitle was added: “God, Nature, and Human Transformation.” We are exploring who might be the presenter for this topic for the Gaudiya Vaishnavas.