I would rather reside in Vrinda?vana, even as an insect, than reside in any other place as a liberated soul with a blissful spiritual body. I would rather reside here in Vrinda?vana, even as a poverty-stricken beggar, than reside in any other place as a person possessing wonderful, endless wealth. I would rather reside here in Vrinda?vana, even as a person completely devoid of the slightest trace of devotion to Lord Hari, than reside in any other place as a person overwhelmed with the desire to attain the happiness of serving the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, the lover of the gopies.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, Sataka 2, Text 1, Translation.]

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Continuing on the theme of returning to my roots of door to door ministery and knowing that for some any thought outside of a percieved norm is seen as anti-iskcon I’m going to add fuel to their fire.
Listening in and also noteing questions during classes on book distribution their is a running theme follow up, so many books but when it comes to what happens after that it’s more hit or miss.
During one of my discussions about my time as a Jehovah’s Witness on the door to door ministery I make one notation emphasis, for iskcon it’s book scores and laxmi points all well and good. As a JW I had to put in my book score but also one other piece of information how many home bible studies an follow up calls, laxmi points never is asked.
Indeed a whole evening class is dedicated to developing and studying for the door to door ministery, covering public speaking and how to present the books. The main emphasis always remained follow up and gaining and holding a home bible study.
A philisophical shift which can be achieved from door to door ministery service making follow up easier as you know were the person lives, something that is more difficult to do when in book distribution on streets.
I’m encouraged that some are moving to this more personal form of book distribution but in the back of my mind alarm bells ring, mindset is still book score laxmi focused and so a great opportunity for me is lost, so my mind is focused on this: door to door ministery with the sole aim to gain a home Gita study.
But then what?
phase two
Krishna West, yep I’ve just said them impersonal non-iskcon words krishna west
I’m again basing it on over 20 years house to house ministery work as a JW and here is the rational.
Home bible study develops the person makes steady progress but not committed enough to go to the Kingdom Hall but their is a need to increase the persons exposure and association with others within the movement.
Bible study groups for an hour one evening a week same format as the home bible study so it’s a slow progress with a long term aim, getting the individual more involved whilst keeping a distance, as friendship and trust grows eventually the person makes the leap to the kingdom hall and eventually onto book distribution.
My aim is simple from a home bible study to a small sanga group with the aim of full integration to a temple enviroment.
In this results driven society in general I’m sure many will want a fully fledged congregation by the end of the year and for me tha would be awesome but realistically it will take lots of time and hours.
After all at one stage I held 15 home bible studies of which only 2 became baptised so is that succesful or not?
But for me I want to see a change of emphasis from books and laxmi points to follow up.
But as always I end with this queston, what’s your thoughts?

Festival of Colors, traditionally known in India as Holi, is a spring festival inspired by Lord Krishna’s pastimes 5,000 years ago, when He and the cowherd girls and boys of Vrindavana playfully celebrated with colored dyes. While the festival has not historically been a part of ISKCON’s large repertoire of spiritual festivals, it has gradually become more and more of a staple especially in North America

Many people think of surrender as passive acceptance. However, surrender involves not just acceptance but also action.

A 25-year-old Italian nun wowed the judges of Italy’s version of “The Voice” with an Alicia Keys song. According to HuffPo: “If I had found you at Mass I would always be in church,” said J-Ax, an Italian rapper who is one of the judges. “You and me are like the devil and holy water.”

Pucón is a city in the south of Chile nestled in the middle of majestic landscapes of volcanoes, lakes and forests. Its population of 22 thousand people icreases to 60 thousand in the summer due to its strong tourism, which fills the streets with foreigners and locals captivated by the native environment. This year, for the third consecutive year, was held the Festival of India Ratha Yatra through the main streets of the city.

Voted the best president in the world, President of Uruguay, Jose “Pepe” Mujica agreed to allow Food for Life Global director, Paul Rodney Turner (Priyavrata das) to cook him a vegan lunch (prasadam) and then discuss setting up a Food for Life project in Montevideo.

Devotees overseeing the restoration of the Delhi temple where Srila Prabhupada stayed in the early 1960s before leaving for the US have discovered a treasure of his personal belongings. Breaking open the locks on a door that had not been opened for 25 years, they were amazed to find the items still in his room at the Chippiwada Sri Sri Radha-Vallabha Mandir in Delhi’s busiest market, Chandni Chowk, after so long.

Holi is being celebrated not only in India but all over the world.

Anuttama Dasa, the communications director at ISKCON, went on the ABC7 TV show to talk about Holi DC, happening on Saturday, April 5th.

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A beautiful video of this year's Maha Abhisheka. Produced by Tripada Das and the ToVP Team. Music by Grammy-winning Havi Das (Ilan Chester).