242. Guest speakers

Just a random thought – do you think we can invite famous authors and scientists like MICHAEL T KLARE to our temples/centres and give a talk on topics as those covered in his books?

It will be an event meant for devotees and the general public. I am thinking such a program would attract a huge crowd and we must market it extensively in public and canvas them to attend.

Once the guest speaker talks about world issues (environment pollution, animal cruelty, corrupt economics etc), we can finish of the seminar with our knowledge and the importance of Simple Living & High Thinking. The whole event would be branded as an initiative of the Hare Krishnas and will be promoted that way. And many other firms can be contacted for sponsorships. It will work.

What do you think? Perhaps, we must have a department within our temples called “Simple Living, High Thinking” which focuses on holding such events and educating public on matters related to environment, animal protection and farming. Another channel to reach out to people perhaps.

241. A hoarding out there

As I was waiting for my tram, I saw this advertisement at a bus shelter :

Now, why can’t we advertise ourselves this way? We can have ads related to festivals, vegetarian restaurants and other events put up for all to see.

In our list of possible donations areas, perhaps we can have a category for “Street Advertising & Promotions”. People can choose to have a billboard sponsored or donate for a bus shelter signage or even donate to print thousands of posters & flyers.

The temple congregation can come together and brainstorm for the best events and program’s that need advertising that year, get a well-bargained cost for these advertising spaces and then start letting guests, well-wishers and congregation know that they can donate for these ads.

You never know what might come out of such initiatives. Even if no one attends your event, at least they know what we are up to. The extra brand mileage we get won’t do any harm.

What do you think?

240. Ideas we can consider

As I wander gazing at the material world, I cannot help but think how many of the products & services out there can be used in Krishna’s service, especially for preaching. There are so many innovative things, ideas and concepts out there which we could consider too.

So, as a new impetus to writing and keep the blog going, I am going to put these ideas down that I see in my day to day life which i think we can use. I am getting inspired and that’s a good thing. Please don’t hesitate to jump in and pass your comments once its up.

239. Australia day morning lecture

Australia Day today. An important historical date for the Australians. Also, happens to be an important day for the Indians. The day outside is already warm and the weather bureau is expecting a very hot day. Sitting at the temple hall listening to a wonderful lecture by HH Devamrita Swami, covering the verse SB 1.6.20:

The followers of Lord Chaitanya is at the pinnacle of experiencing love of Godhead. Transcendental ecstasy is experienced more during separation from Lord than meeting Him. This pain, which materialists see as agony, is the most ecstatic feeling that one can experience.

Mundane historians acknowledge the presence of Lord Chaitanya as a well known teacher and social reformer. They could not understand his mood that he exhibited for 12 years at Jagannath Puri. They thought he had lost his mind.

The residents of Vrindhavan felt extreme pain from the separation of Lord Krishna. They had no idea how to live without Him. Their love could not face any sorts of competition from others.

Devotees use the temporary to achieve the eternal. For devotees, the world is vacant without Krishna. But for the materialists the world is full of possibilities for the satisfaction of their desires. These demoniac qualities of passion and ignorance are considered of high value these days. They call it drive, motivation and team building.

You are able to approach Lord Krishna because of Lord Chaitanya. Everyone of us have had some little experience of our dealing with spiritual reality. This could be through our chanting, deities, reading or prasadam. These little experiences must not be disregarded.

It’s natural that we want more happy experiences from Krishna since we are Krishna’s children. But we must not force Krishna to do things the way we want Him to do. We must let Him do what He wants with us. This is true humility.

There is a probationary period in devotional life. In this stage, where we are regaining out lost connection with Krishna, sometimes the Lord lets you see or experience Him for a short while. So that this serves as an ongoing motivation to get love of Krishna. In the higher stages of love, this situation can again happen but it is to take your Prema to higher and higher levels. This is what happened to Narada Muni. Devotees eagerness and Krishna’s mercy is required. The ignition is provided by the spiritual master.

You must have great determination to serve the spiritual master and Lord Krishna. This is the way one achieves the Lord and becomes great. We must make sure that in all our spiritual duties, we create a channel for materialists to secure association with devotees. We must teach people that glorifying Krishna is fun, getting knocked out after prasad is fun, dancing wild in this transcendental night club is fun ! This is it. Give all this to them.

238. Follow & Lead

Saturday Melbourne morning. Glad to have reached this weekend after long struggling days at work. Listening to Bhagavatam class from Bhakta Prabhu 1.6.5 :

1. When a person is impregnated with spiritual knowledge, there is a change in that person. We are living a life of animals but with spiritual knowledge, we begin our lives as humans.

2. What is a guru? Guru is someone who is following the shastras, regulative principles and 100% engaged in serving God. Association with such people brings about a change. Infact, association with devotees is of utmost importance. We get the desire to be like them. We wish to develop their mannerism, their knowledge etc.

3. In one essence, all of us are teachers. We must lead an ideal life and emulate the actions of our great teachers. The king, teachers and parents are natural leaders of our society and such people must know spiritual goals, rules and regulations.

4. Initiation means being saved. And no matter what difficulties and disturbances we may go through, we must continue our dedication to Prabhupad and Lord Krishna. We must learn to be resilient, determined and sincere.

5. We must continue our reading. This is very important. This knowledge is what will save us. We must read at least for 1 hour. We must not ignore this activity. Prabhupad wrote this for us. The stories in these books are not fantasies. These are real people and incidents. Their pastimes infuse us with strong spiritual energy.

6. We must show outsiders the thrill of being devotees. We must invite them to our festivals and events. We must give them a chance to see the Lord somehow or another. We need to help them give up their animalistic life.

In conclusion, our minds cannot be diverted away from Krsna. We must take great pleasure in our services, preaching and our attempts to gain pure love of God. Anyone who comes in contact with Prabhupad books have come in contact with a pure devotee of Krishna. Impregnating people with spiritual experiences is what we are about. We have work to do, we have to do them now and it’s done by each and everyone of us. We have no time to waste.