Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami

Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami (; 9 December 1937 – 2 October 2006), also known as Dr. Thoudam Damodara Singh chemist, writer about religion and science, and poet. In 1971 he received spiritual initiation from A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A few years later he became one of the religious leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (also known as the Hare Krishna Movement). which promotes the study of the relationship between religion and science (Vedanta). Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami Maharaja was a pioneer in "advancing the dialogue on synthesis of science and spirituality throughout the world". He was a co-founder and regional director of United Religions Initiative, a member of Metanexus Institute, founding rector of University of Bhagavata Culture in the State of Manipur (India) and founding member of the World Vaisnava Association. He authored and edited several books and organised a number of significant conferences and world congresses around the world,

Biography

Early life

Thoudam Damodar was born in Toubul, part of the Bishnupur district, Manipur, India, on 9 December 1937 to Sri Thoudam Yogendra Singh and Srimati Kanyahanbi Devi. Since then he has been involved in dialogues with prominent scientists and religious leaders such as the Dalai Lama in the quest for a scientific understanding of the world through the vedantic paradigm.

Spiritual service to ISKCON Thoudam Damodar Singh, then as a student at the University of California, Irvine He studied the philosophy and practice of Vaishnavism for the following 8 years under the guidance of his spiritual master. In September 1979 he took sannyasa from Kirtanananda Swami at New Vrindaban during the dedication of Prabhupada's Palace of Gold. In 1982 he became an initiating spiritual master and began to accept disciples. under the guidance of Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. (Serving Director, Bhakti Vedanta Institute, Princeton, NJ, USA).

Science and Vedanta Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami has contributed many papers in the Journal of the American Chemical Society and the Journal of Organic Chemistry in the field of fast proton transfer kinetics in model biological systems using stopped-flow technique and NMR spectroscopy. Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Goswami Maharaja was a pioneer in "advancing the dialogue on synthesis of science and spirituality throughout the world".

From 1992 to 2006 he served as the president of Vedanta and Science Educational Research Foundation and worked to interface Science and Vedanta, the essence of Hindu Religious traditions. He felt that the universal principles contained in the Vedanta can make a significant contribution in Science and Spirituality. He launched The Journal of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, "Savijnanam", aimed at "Scientific Exploration for a Spiritual Paradigm" and was its Editor-in-Chief.

In 2000, Srila Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Goswami Maharaja's interest in science and spirituality has led him to set up the University of Bhagavata Culture in Imphal, Manipur). Ranganiketan (literally "House of Colorful Arts") is a group of more than twenty dancers, musicians, singers, martial artists, choreographers and craft artisans. Some of them are gurus in their own respective fields of art. Their performances both at home and abroad, received acclaim and awards. While at home in Manipur, they often perform at various religious and cultural functions. They are not paid a salary, but live from donations that are offered to them for their artistic contributions.

Works