Maintaining the Routine Work
January 29, 2011 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Filed under Letters, Temples
This routine work, such as chanting, speaking, rising early, cleaning, cooking and offering prasadam, arati, reading books–these activities are the backbone of our Society, and if we practice them nicely in a regulative manner, then our whole program will be successful. If we become slack or neglect these things, then everything else we may try will fail.
Delhi, 8 December, 1971
My Dear Patita Uddharana,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of November 24, 1971, and I have noted the contents. I am pleased to see that routine work is going on nicely in Columbus center under your supervision. This routine work, such as chanting, speaking, rising early, cleaning, cooking and offering prasadam, arati, reading books–these activities are the backbone of our Society, and if we practice them nicely in a regulative manner, then our whole program will be successful. If we become slack or neglect these things, then everything else we may try will fail. So it is very important that you keep your standards very high in these activities, then your preaching will be strong. Preaching is our real business, preaching and distributing books. If your preaching work is strong, then your management of temple affairs will also become automatically very strong. Just like if the head wills it, the hand will move. Preaching is like the head of our KC Society–if the head is removed, the whole body dies. Managing is the hands, which work nicely if the head is healthy. If the hands are removed, the body will not die, but it will be crippled. So preaching is more important than management, but both must be there if the whole body is to operate nicely.
I am encouraged that you are improving your temple quarters by decorating them nicely. This will help to attract guests and interested people. I want that a high standard should be maintained, but unnecessarily changing and redecorating is also not good. So once you have established a very nice standard, avoid too much changing it again and again. That is wasting Krishna’s money unnecessarily.
Regarding your questions, it is not very good to put “statues” of Radha and Krishna on a shelf. If they are not worshipped as deities what is the use of such display? Visitors will get the wrong idea that they are merely decorative figures or idols, that we do not take them very seriously. Why you do not worship them on the altar?
Your idea to publish a booklet of arguments against impersonalists is very good proposal. Do it nicely by mutual consultation with your learned elder godbrothers and godsisters, and if you like I can provide answers for any such questions that impersonalists frequently ask.
It is not advisable to repair and use the rejected Jagannatha deities of Boston. Better to make a new set and install them.
I hope this will meet you in good health and lively mood,
Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS.sda
How does one come to live in a Buddhist community? I am a devoted Hare Krishna, I believe with all my heart that this is the true religion. I have study for over a year all aspects of this religion and know I want to be part of a community. What must I do?
Sincerely,
James Theo
Hare Krishna James Theo.
It’s impossible to say one can be a devoted Hare Krishna (vaishnava) but believes Buddhism to be a true religion.
Krishna Consciousness teaches about an eternal blissful Supreme Personality Krishna full of knowledge – His name, form, pastimes, and methods to re-establish our (living entities) lost/forgotten eternal relationship with Him. Lord Buddha denied eternal existence of both living entities and Supreme Personality by rejecting Vedic knowledge all together.
Though we accept Lord Buddha to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna (on the authority of Srimad Bhagavatam and other vedic literature), still great acharyas advise us to reject His atheistic philosophy, which was needed for that time, place and circumstances to re-establish the dharmic principles (ahimsa in particular) in that wicked society. But Krishna consciousness goes above the Dharma by re-awakening our eternal love for the all blissful Supreme Personality of Godhead – Sri Krishna.
So there lies the problem.