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Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami (1937-2006) original name Dr. Thoudam Damodar Singh --scientist, spiritualist, and teacher -- was a disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is well known for his pioneering efforts for more than thirty years to interface between science and religion for a deeper understanding of life and the universe. He was the International director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute which promotes the study of the relationship between science and vedanta. He is also founding member and regional director of United Religion Initiatives and founding rector of University of Bhagavata Culture. He also authored and edited several books.
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Thoudam Damodar was Born in Toubul, part of the Bishnupur district, Manipur, India,on 9th December 1937 to Sri Yogendra Singh and Srimati Kanyahanbi Devi. During World War II on May 10th, 1942, the Japanese began bombing Imphal, the Capital of Manipur. Yogendra Singh took his family to shelter in a barrack on the banks of the Yangoi river. In 1944, Yogendra passed away of typhoid. The war eventually came to end, his uncle poor Thoudam Ibomcha Singh (83 years now) struggled through tough times to support him and shortly thereafter Thoudam Damodar was separated from his mother and younger sister. His elder sister Srimati Ahanbi Devi began to look after him. As a young boy, he learned how to till the land left by his father to help maintain himself and his sister. In 1949, his sister got married and he was left alone. Not wanting to burden anyone, he used to cultivate paddy for his livelihood. Living through hardships, Thoudam Damodar planned to give up schooling. Seeing his adversity, Sri Thokchom Yadav Singh, his primary school teacher, approached his colleague Sri Thoudam Kerani Singh and requested to help Thoudam Damodar. Sri Kerani agreed, and Thoudam Damodar moved into Sri Kerani's home.
Education
He received his B.S. with honors from Gauhati University in 1961, his Master of Technology degree with honors from Calcutta University in 1964, his M.S. in chemistry from Canisius College in Buffalo in 1969, and in 1974 completed his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry at the University of California at Irvine. Since then he has been involved in dialogues with scientists and religious leaders such as the Dalai Lama in the quest for a scientific understanding of the world through the vedantic paradigm.
ISKCON
Thoudam Damador after meeting ISKCON devotees, became an initiated disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple, Los Angeles, on 30 June 1971.
On the 2nd of October 2006, Bhaktisvarupa Damodar Swami died from cardiac arrest in Kolkata, India. He was sixty-nine years old.[1]
Dr. T.D. Singh organised the first ever World Conference for Synthesis of Science and Religion, where thousands of religious leaders and scientists gathered. His interest in science and spirituality has led to the setting up of a university in Manipur based on the scientific relevance of Bhagavad Gita and Vedanta in the welfare of humanity in the modern world.
- What is Matter and What is Life? (1977)
- Theobiology (1979)
- Synthesis of Science and Religion: Critical Essays and Dialogues (1987)
- Thoughts on Synthesis of Science and Religion (2001)
- God is a Person (2006)
- Bhaktivedanta Institute
- Bringing peace to Manipur - article by RK Lakhi Kant