Ranchor Prime
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Ranchor Prime is a British author,
Ranchor Prime is an advisor on religion and conservation to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation,[9] and he is co-founder and director of Friends of Vrindavan,[9] an environmental charity active in Britain and India.[9] He is also a member of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education and Culture (ICOREC).[10][11]
Biography
Early years
Ranchor was born as Richard Prime in the 1950s in
While studying at
In the 1970s he joined
I just knew this is where I belonged. I was ready to just drop everything, but out of consideration for other people, I went to have a long discussion with the principal of the art college, who told me it was a very bad idea. And I respectfully listened to him and said, "Well, I'm sorry but I must do this." And then my father suggested that I talk this over with the Benedictine monks. So I went on his request and stayed for a week in a Benedictine monastery not far from London [...] I had a wonderful time staying with the Benedictines, this is the Abbey in
Jesus Christ was teaching us was to love God - by loving God you can love one another, and that's exactly the same that Krishna teaches. There's no need to be any conflict whatsoever, in my mind.[6]
He was initiated by
Environmental work in India
In 1975 Ranchor Prime came to
Over the years, he came to Vrindavan from time to time until fifteen years later he became deeply involved in environmental work there.
Once he started getting involved in that, he began to think more deeply about the Krishna tradition's relationship with nature.[6] As a result, he embarked on writing a book on Hinduism and ecology, and that brought him to Vrindavan "with a completely fresh pair of eyes".[6] "Instead of just thinking, well, this must be the way it is and there's nothing I can do, I began thinking, well, why has it become dilapidated, why is it not being looked after, and what could possibly change things? And I looked for people to talk to, people who lived here, had lived here all their lives, who perhaps may have also been thinking in that way".[6]
Ranchor Prime approached the World Wide Fund for Nature in Geneva and proposed to them a three-year project based in Vrindavan that would try to draw out the lessons which Hinduism had to teach about ecology, and try to apply them, in a way to have "a positive effect on all the millions of pilgrims who come to Vrindavan so they could take away some positive lessons with them - and also then provide a model project that could be applied elsewhere".[6]
It was not easy to make World Wildlife Fund agree to finance the project.[6] Since it is an environmental organization, it does not support religious projects.[6] World Wildlife Fund had to be persuaded that "this was not essentially a religious project, but this was a project about caring for nature".[6] Finally the WWF agreed to fund the project.[6] In funding Ranchor's project, WWF "saw the opportunity to highlight the ecological values of the cultures and religious traditions where the projects are funded".[13] Funding was granted for three years, to run from 1991 through 1994, some $40,000 per year.[13]
Being familiar with the environmental situation in Vrindavan, Ranchor Prime took part in "a major effort" to
The forest of Vrindavan is the sacred playground of
Yamuna river, and spoilt its dust with our rubbish and sewage. I pledge that from now on I will do all within my power to protect Vrindavan from further destruction and to restore it to its original beauty.[13]
The first stage of the project was to encourage community involvement so that the planted trees would be protected and would survive.[13] Some two thousand trees and shrubs were planted along a two kilometer segment of the parikrama path.[13] Stage two included further planting along the entire pathway, and continued outreach efforts to involve local population.[13] Several environmental problem have been dealt with along the way.[13]
After the funding came to an end, Ranchor started his own charity to continue the work, which is called Friends of Vrindavan.[6] Presently, it is engaged in raising money in the West to continue supporting work in India.[6] Ranchor Prime:
I didn't think it was going to be simple, and it's going to take perhaps a generation, two generations really to turn the tide I think, but I do believe it will be turned. It's not just us, there are many people now taking up this work, and as the burden, the stress which is largely because of increasing population - in the last 50 years the population of India has tripled, probably the population of Vrindavan has multiplied by more than that - so that creates huge pressures, and it's going to take a long time to change those, but as the pressure increases so does the urgency to find a solution.[6]
Selected bibliography
- Books
- Prime, Ranchor; O'Brien, Joanne; ISBN 0-947613-85-4
- Prime, Ranchor (1997), Ramayana: A Journey, Welcome Rain, ISBN 1-55670-801-7
- Prime, Ranchor; Mbitu, Ngangar (1997), Essential African Mythology: Stories That Change the World, ISBN 1-932771-02-6
- Prime, Ranchor (2002), Vedic Ecology: Practical Wisdom for Surviving the 21st Century (illustrated ed.), ISBN 1-886069-65-4
- Prime, Ranchor (2002), Prince of Dharma: The Illustrated Life of Buddha (illustrated by B. G. Sharma ed.), Mandala Publishing, ISBN 1-886069-81-6
- Prime, Ranchor (2003), The Illustrated Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation With Commentary, ISBN 0-7641-2223-1
- Prime, Ranchor (2003), Hinduism (illustrated ed.), ISBN 1-59389-126-1
- Prime, Ranchor (2003), Hinduism and Ecology: Seeds of Truth, ISBN 81-208-1249-2
- Prime, Ranchor (2004), Ramayana: A Tale of Gods and Demons (illustrated by B. G. Sharma ed.), ISBN 1-932771-02-6
- Prime, Ranchor (2006), Mahavira: Prince of Peace (illustrated by B. G. Sharma ed.), Mandala Publishing, ISBN 1-932771-27-1
- Prime, Ranchor (2009), When the Sun Shines, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISBN 978-1-84599-070-1
- Prime, Ranchor (2009), Cows and the Earth, Fitzrovia Press, ISBN 978-0-9561846-9-6
- Prime, Ranchor (2010), Bhagavad Gita: Talks Between the Soul and God, Fitzrovia Press, ISBN 978-0-9561846-4-1
- Prime, Ranchor (2012), Birth of Kirtan, Mandala Publishing, ISBN 978-1-60887-107-0
- Prime, Ranchor (2017), The Eight Elements, Fitzrovia Press, ISBN 978-0-9570722-1-3
- Articles
- Ranchor Dasa (1994), "A League of Devotees: My Search for Universal Religion", ISKCON Communications Journal, 1 (2), archived from the original on 18 March 2006, retrieved 30 November 2005
Footnotes
- ^ Fieser & Lillegard 2005, pp. 205–206
- ^ a b c Polunin 1998, p. 218
- ^ a b Nugteren 2005, pp. 389–390
- ^ a b c Chapple 1998, p. 21
- ^ Press Trust of India 2009
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Chadwick & Prime 2005
- ^ Ranchor Dasa 1994
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Partridge 2005, p. 100
- ^ a b c Rosen 2004, p. 58
- ^ a b Harrison & Evemy 1990, p. 113
- ^ Edwards & Palmer 1997, p. 78
- ^ Srila Prabhupada Disciple Database[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sullivan 1998, p. 255
- ^ a b c Sullivan 1998, p. 254
References
- Catalfo, Phil (2002), "Ramayana: A Tale of Gods and Demons Review", ISSN 0191-0965
- Chadwick, Alex (31 October 2005), "The Streets of a Holy Hindu City", National Public Radio
- Chadwick, Alex (1 November 2005), "Pilgrims on the Path of Krishna", National Public Radio
- Chadwick, Alex; Prime, Ranchor (7 December 2005), "Transcript: Ranchor Prime", National Public Radio
- Chapple, Christopher Key (1998), "Toward an Indigenous Indian Environmentalism", in Lance E. Nelson (ed.), Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India, Albany, NY: ISBN 0-7914-3923-2
- Edwards, Jo; ISBN 1-899044-12-4
- Fieser, James; Lillegard, Norman (2005), Philosophical Questions: Readings and Interactive Guides, New York: ISBN 0-19-513983-6
- Gosling, David L. (2005), "Review of Vedic Ecology: Practical Wisdom for Surviving the Twenty-First Century", International Journal of Hindu Studies, 9 (1–3): 184–185, S2CID 195307438
- Haberman, David L. (2006), River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River of Northern India, Berkeley, CA: ISBN 0-520-24790-6
- Hallman, David G. (2000), Spiritual Values for Earth Community, Geneva: WCC Publications, ISBN 2-8254-1326-7
- Harrison, Shirley; Evemy, Sally (1990), Cults: The Battle for God, London: ISBN 0-7470-1414-0
- Hinds, Diana (9 December 1992), "Fears grow over temple attacks", The Independent
- Lemon, Mark; Mayhew, Henry (1977), "Jonathan Sale seeks refuge with the Hare Krsna brigade", Punch, 273
- Metro (27 October 2009), "Chrissie Hynde backs dairy project", Metro, archived from the original on 7 October 2012, retrieved 22 April 2011
- Nugteren, Albertina (2005), Belief, Bounty, and Beauty: Rituals Around Sacred Trees in India, Boston: ISBN 90-04-14601-6
- Partridge, Christopher H. (2005), The Re-Enchantment of the West: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture, London: ISBN 0-567-08269-5
- Polunin, Nicholas (1998), Population and Global Security, Cambridge: ISBN 0-521-63539-X
- Press Trust of India (19 July 2009), "UK Hindus plan to work for climate protection", The Times of India
- Ranchor Dasa (1994), "A League of Devotees: My Search for Universal Religion", ISKCON Communications Journal, 1 (2), ISSN 1358-3867, archived from the originalon 29 June 2013
- ISBN 1-59056-066-3
- Sullivan, Bruce M. (1998), "Theology and Ecology at the Birthplace of Kṛṣṇa", in Lance E. Nelson (ed.), Purifying the Earthly Body of God: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India, Albany, NY: ISBN 0-7914-3923-2
- Whitworth, Damian (7 November 2009), "Holy cow, what's Chrissie's beef?", The Times