The Legacy of the

Bhaktivedanta Institute:
Toward Fulfilling Srila
Prabhupada’s Vision

JULY 30-31, 2022

Hosted at the BIHS Headquarters in Gainesville, Florida

with international participation via Zoom
 DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

The establishment of a Vaishnava research institute: Bhaktivedanta Institute

In 1974, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada expressed his desire to “establish
a Vaishnava Research Institute” to present the science of Krishna Consciousness for an intellectual
audience. The following year, Prabhupada requested his disciple, Dr. Thoudam D. Singh (Bhaktisvarupa
Damodara Maharaja), to establish this institute in the United States. On December 10, 1976 in Washington,
D.C., Srila Prabhupada and the founding board members including Singh as director, Richard L.
Thompson (Sadaputa Dasa), Michael Marchetti (Madhava Dasa), William H. Deadwyler (Ravindra Svarupa
Dasa), and Robert Corens (Rupanuga Dasa) signed incorporation papers that legally established the
Bhaktivedanta Institute. Dr. Singh recalled that at that time, “Prabhupada specifically instructed us
to build a model of the universe that could later be built full size at the future Mayapur Temple and
Planetarium complex.”

Materials produced for the 1977 “First International Scientific Conference on Life Comes From Life,” held
in Vrindavan, India, included this mission statement:

Bhaktivedanta Institute is a center for advanced study and

research into the Vedic scientific knowledge concerning the
nature of consciousness and the self. The Institute is the
academic division of the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness. It consists of a body of scientists and scholars
who have recognized the unique value of the teachings of
Krishna Consciousness brought to the West by His Divine Grace
A. C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada. The main purpose
of the Institute is to explore the implications of the Vedic On the cover:
knowledge as it bears on all features of human culture, and to Front row from left: Svarupa
present its findings in courses, lectures, monographs, books, Damodara Dasa (Thoudam D.
and a quarterly journal, Sa-vijnanam. Singh), Sadaputa Dasa (Richard
L. Thompson), Aniruddha
During the following years, several chapters of the Bhaktivedanta Dasa, His Divine Grace A.
Institute were established around the world, all dedicated to the C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada, Rupanuga Dasa
mission Prabhupada established. These groups aim to work in a
(Robert Corens), and Madhava
collaborative spirit while independently engaging in research and
Dasa (Michael Marchetti). Photo
outreach initiatives. taken in Washington, D. C., July
1976, at the ISKCON center.
The “Legacy of the Bhaktivedanta Institute” seminar will include
presentations on the early history of the Institute, reports of recent
activities from current BI chapters, and discussions on the value
of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for the devotional community. The
objective is to help develop future goals for exploring new territory
while remaining grounded in Prabhupada’s vision.

Brahmatirtha das
Director, Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies www.bihstudies.org
2
 SCHEDULE

DAY 1 — Saturday, July 30

History of the tradition and realizations
of founding participants

SESSION 1. 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM EST 10:20 AM Ramesvara (Robert Grant)

Theme Overview of early history 10:40 AM Garuda (Graham Schweig)

Welcome by Brahmatirtha 11:00 AM Hari Sauri (Denis Harrison)

7:00 AM
(Bob Cohen)
11:20 AM Lunch (50 minutes)
Introduction to the seminar and
7:10 AM introducing the participants – 12:10 PM Kardama Muni (Carl Mink)
Lila (L. Ocampo)
12:30 PM Puskara (Matthew Goldman)
Establishing the BI: The 1977
Bhaktivedanta Nemi Maharaja
Vrindavan “Life Comes From Life” 12:50 PM
7:20 AM (David Webb – Jnana)
Conference - Sthita-dhi-muni
(S. E. Kreitzer) 1:10 PM Break (10 minutes)

7:45 AM
Ravindra Svarupa SESSION 3. 1:20 PM – 4:10 PM EST
(William H. Deadwyler)
Theme Memories from the 1980s and 1990s
Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja
8:10 AM
(Michael Marchetti – Madhava) 1:20 PM Yogesvara (Joshua Greene)

8:35 AM Advaita Prabhu Das (Edwin Bryant) 1:40 PM Drutakarma (Michael Cremo)

9:00 AM Break (10 minutes) 2:00 PM Krishna Kripa (Christopher G. Beetle)

SESSION 2. 9:10 AM – 1:20 PM EST 2:20 PM Hari (Robert Campagnola)

Recollections of charter members 2:40 PM Break (10 minutes)

Theme
and others active in the 1970s
2:50 PM Indupati (Edmund Johnston)
Introduction to Sessions 2 and 3 –
9:10 AM 3:10 PM Romapada Swami (Brian Rumbaugh)
Lila (L. Ocampo)
3:30 PM Shaunaka Rishi
9:20 AM Brahmatirtha (Bob Cohen)
3:50 PM Ranjit (Robert Burnside)
Hridayananda Das Goswami
9:40AM
(Howard Resnick) 4:10 PM End of Day 1 Sessions
10:00 AM Jayadvaita Swami (Jay Israel)
3
 SCHEDULE

DAY 2 — Sunday, July 31

The significance of the Bhaktivedanta Institute
for the devotional community

SESSION 4. 7:00 AM – 10:10 AM EST Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher

9:50 AM
Studies – Brahmatirtha (Bob Cohen)
Reports from current chapters
Theme
and initiatives 10:00 AM Break (10 minutes)

Summary of Day 1 and introduction SESSION 5. 10:10 AM – 3:30 PM EST

7:00 AM
to Session 4 – Lila (L. Ocampo)
Developing future goals faithful
Theme
Bhaktivedanta Institute: Where to Prabhupada’s vision
Science and Spirituality meet
7:20 AM Introduction to Session 5 –
(Kolkata) – Bhaktisvarupa Vrajapati 10:10 AM
Lila (L. Ocampo)
Swami (Vasudeva Rao)
Krishna Kshetra Swami
Bhakti Vedanta Institute of 10:20 AM
(Kenneth Valpey)
Spiritual Culture and Science
7:40 AM
(Princeton) – Bhakti Madhava Puri Badrinarayan Swami
Maharaja (Michael Marchetti) 10:45 AM
(Robert Morrill)
Institute of Consciousness (BI 11:10 AM Lunch (60 minutes)
8:00 AM
Russia) – Nari (Natalya Antonova)
Hridayananda Das Goswami
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami (Vadim 12:10 PM
8:20 AM (Howard Resnick)
Touneyev)
12:35 PM Tamraparni (Tomas Chapa)
8:40 AM Break (10 minutes)
1:00 PM Arka (Oliver Zambon)
Chowpatty-BIHS Initiative –
8:50 AM Prem Gauranga (Punit Bhalla) and 1:25 PM Brahmatirtha (Bob Cohen)
Shyamananda (Subhash Marathe)
1:50 PM Break (10 minutes)
Kiev Spiritual Academy of Krishna
9:10 AM Consciousness – Dvija Govinda 2:00 PM Round table discussion
(Vasyl Semenov) 3:00 PM Concluding words
Science and Philosophy Initiative – 3:30 PM
9:30 AM End of seminar
Akhandadhi (Martin Fleming)

4
Brochure for the 1977 Vrindavan “Life Comes from Life” conference sponsored by
the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Scientists gathered from around the world to discuss
fundamental questions on the nature and origin of life.
5
 Members of the Monograph Series
editorial board reviewing the project.
From left: Svarupa Damodara Dasa
(Thoudam D. Singh), Ravindra Svarupa
Dasa (William Deadwyler), Sadaputa Dasa
(Richard L. Thompson), and Rupanuga
Dasa (Robert Corens).

Copy of the Bhaktivedanta

Institute charter
document approved by
Srila Prabhupada, with
signatures from the charter
members as its founding
Board of Trustees.

6
Cover images of the three
monographs produced for the
Bhaktivedanta Institute’s October
14–16, 1977 “Life Comes from Life”
conference hosted at ISKCON’s
Krishna Balaram Mandir, in
Vrindavan, India.

7
298 The Bhaktivedanta Institute Monograph Series

List of speakers, professional backgrounds (partial) at time of conference:

Bhatt, S. R., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy at Delhi University. Author of Studies
in Ramanuja Vedanta (1975) and The Philosophy of Pancharatra: Advaitic Approach
(1968). Studied for a time at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vrindavan, India, 1960s.

Cohen, Robert, M.S. in Geology, Rutgers University (1975). B.S. in Chemistry, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (1971). Exploration Geologist with Conoco Oil Company,
Houston, TX. Co-author of technical papers in Chemical Geology, v. 15, 16.

Kirpal, Prem Nath, Ph.D. Chairman of the Executive Board of UNESCO (1970–72). Secretary,
Government of India Ministry of Education (1960–68). Professor of History and Political
Science, University of Lahore.

Malviya, A. N., Ph.D. Professor Department of Biochemistry, S. N. Medical College, Agra, U.P.,
India.

Marchetti, Michael, Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry, Georgetown University (1970). Worked at

the National Bureau of Standards on a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Author
of technical papers in the Journal of Chemical Physics, v. 48, 55.

Mishra, R. K., Ph.D. Professor & Head, Department of Biophysics, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, Delhi.

Ramaiah, A., Ph.D. Professor of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

Singh, Thoudam Damodara, Ph.D. in Physical Organic Chemistry, University of California,

Irvine (1974). Director of Bhaktivedanta Institute. Research Fellow at Emory University
(1974–77). Author of technical papers in Journal of the American Chemical Society,
v. 97, 98.

Soni, B. K., Ph.D. Deputy Director General of Animal Science Division, Indian Council of
Agricultural Research.

Thompson, Richard, Ph.D. in Probability Theory and Statistical Mechanics, Cornell University
(1974). M.A. in Mathematics, Syracuse University. Worked at Computer Science Corp.,
Silver Springs, MD, as a mathematician and computer programmer. Author of the mono-
graph, Equilibrium States on Thin Energy Shells, Memoirs of the American Mathemati-
cal Society, No. 150.

Webb, David, J., M.A. in Chemistry, Wadham College, University of Oxford. Postgraduate
Certificate of Education, University of London.

List of speakers from the

First International Scientific Conference on Life Comes From Life
October 14–16, 1977, Vrindavan, India

8
300 The Bhaktivedanta Institute Monograph Series

This ne spaper article about the conference is ta en from

a recording of the report being read during a follo up meeting

“The Nonphysical View on the Origin of Species”

The Statesman (Calcutta) – October 22, 1977

Materialists and men of faith continue to disagree over the origins of life. According to the first group,
life is derived from atoms and molecules. The Russian scientist Dr. A. I. Oparin has been propagating
this view since 1957, but his challengers demand really solid examples of life arising from matter. At a
three-day international conference on “Life Comes from Life” at Vrindavan last week at the Bhaktive-
danta Institute, it was stressed that life was independent of matter and dependent on higher principles
lying beyond the present limitations of physics and chemistry.
The assumption that life itself was nonphysical was the keynote. The conference was opened by
Dr. Prem Kirpal, former president of the executive board of UNESCO. Three lectures were delivered by
Dr. Thoudam D. Singh, director of the Institute Mr. Robert Cohen, a geologist from the USA and Dr.
Michael Marchetti, a theoretical chemist and student of the philosophy of science, on the fundamental
nature of life and matter, new findings in paleontology and their effect on the theory of evolution, and
the social consequences of a materialistic view of life. The philosophical foundations of life was the
theme of a discourse by Dr. S. R. Bhatt, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Delhi University. Dr.
Richard Thompson, a mathematician from Cornell University, and Mr. David Webb from England dealt
with the application of information theory to the theory of evolution, thermodynamics and the origin
of life. The limitations of science were discussed by Dr. A. Ramaiah, Professor of Biochemistry at the
All India Institute of Medical Science.
Dr. Singh opposed the theory that life could be understood solely in terms of chemical combina-
tions. There were intricate features of life, ranging from the structure of molecules in living cells to the
subtle ones of human personality. The simple push-pull laws of chemistry and physics cannot account
for these phenomena, and life and matter are understood as two distinct kinds of energy.
Mr. Cohen said that proof of the Darwinian theory of evolution must depend in the end on the fossil
record. Darwin’s theory required that all the different species of life were gradually transformed, one
into another, through many small changes (mutations). Yet prominent paleontologists such as Eldridge
and Gould are now maintaining that the fossil record only supports the view that species remain static
in form and that changes between them, if they do really occur at all, can only occur by abrupt leaps.
An examination of possible causes for such leaps shows that they could only be accounted for by the
action of a higher intelligence, he said.
Dr. Thompson dealt with the mathematical analysis of the laws of nature studied in modern chemistry
and physics. In the light of the modern theory of information, these laws can be shown to be unable to
account for the highly complex and unique structures of living organisms. It can also be shown that the
quantum mechanical laws suffer from serious shortcomings, because they cannot account for the nature
of any conscious observer. Both of these lines of evidence supported the view that the living being is a
nonphysical entity and that the behavior of matter when in the presence of life proves that there must
be further higher-order laws and principles as yet unknown to modern science.
All of these conclusions were in agreement with the observed phenomena of life, and they also
corroborate the systematic description of the nature of life given in hagavad g t . There was a general
agreement among the participants of the conference that this approach to understanding the nature of
life provided a viable alternative to the materialistic view of modern science.

“The Nonphysical View on the Origin of Species”

Published in The Statesman (Calcutta)
October 22, 1977

9
 THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING

Speakers at the 1977 “Life Comes from Life” Conference: (foreground)

Dr. Thoudam Damodar Singh and Dr. Michael Marchetti; (rear) D. J.
Webb, Robert S. Cohen, and Dr. Richard L. Thompson.

The Legacy of the Bhaktivedanta Institute:

Toward Fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s Vision
July 30-31, 2022

www.bihstudies.org
10
The Legacy of the Bhaktivedanta Institute:
Toward Fulfilling Srila Prabhupada’s Vision
JULY 30–31, 2022 • 7AM – 4 PM EST

Time Zone Table

Refer to the following table to find the day and session start time for your location.

EDT BST EEST IST AEST PDT

GAINESVILLE LONDON UKRAINE INDIA AUSTRALIA CALIFORNIA

Session 1 7:00 AM 12:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:30 PM 9:00 PM 4:00 AM

DAY 1
Session 2 9:10 AM 2:10 PM 4:10 PM 6:40 PM 11:10 PM 6:10 AM
JUL. 30
July 31
Session 3 1:20 PM 6:20 PM 8:20 PM 10:50 PM 10:20 AM
3:20 AM

Session 4 7:00 AM 12:00 PM 2:00 PM 4:30 PM 9:00 AM 4:00 AM

DAY 2
JUL. 31 Aug 1
Session 5 10:10 AM 3:10 PM 5:10 PM 7:40 PM 7:10 AM
12:10 AM

www.bihstudies.org