Letters to the editor

Hare Krisna, dear Gurudeva. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

First I hope you're fine after your travel to India.

              HpS - ASA - Jaya! AGTSP  paoho.... We recovered after about a week. We were exhausted!

By Kisna's Mercy we are fine, very positive and with a lot energy.

From the administration changes in Madrid's Temple on last 26th Jan we had some problems, but by Kirsna's Mercy we are overcoming with all Congregation's devotees. We are beginning to be a great family. Before we seemed distant cousins, now We are beginning to seem brothers in arms.

I explain you what are we doing now and which are our plans for next months or year.

¿What are we doing now?

1. Putting in order the administration, saving money to Srila Prabhupada, etc.
2. We are elevating Deities' standard.
3. We are pushing the academic training helped by Bhaktivedanta Institute: Bhakti-Yoga Introduction course, Bhakti-Sastri First and Second modules and Bhakti-Vaibhava first Chapter of Srmad Bhagavatam.
4. We are starting a development congregation program and devotee care. How?. We invited to Akrura Das for coming to Madrid to teach us about Gita Coach, Devotee Care, Develop Leaders and training coachers program. We are having different seminars  about that. He is in Madrid from 2 weeks ago and he'll be here until he wants.
5. We are implementing a communication preaching program via Facebook, website, Google+, email, posters in the temple, face to face, etc.
6. We arranged with New Vrajamandala to develop our relationship, and that be closer.
7. We arranged in the last Communication meeting to be joined to rest of Spain Yatra.
8. We have Harinamas all weeks and we are starting to have Harinamas every day at 17:00.
9. We are pushing Nama Hathas.
10. We are inviting to Elder devotees and leaders of projects for coming to Madrid during the weekend or days to do preaching programs with them.
11. Now, all days are distributed  many Srila Prabhupada's books on the Madrid's Streets. Now we have 4 sankirtaners: Jaramara Hari Das, Yasodanandana Das, Bhakta Alejandro and Bhakta Quique.
12. We built a boutique in the temple, with Srila Prabhupada's books, and other things as mala bags, essences, incenses, malas, cds, Deities, etc ...

HpS --- Aaah! Very active!!

What are our plans for next months or year?

• To develop facilities for Matajis. We would like to create a Mataji's ashrama with a  Matajis' Leader.
• We would like to buy or rent an apartment close to Temple, other side the ashram wall where Jaramara Hari Das lives now to develop de Matajis' ashram there.
• We would like to expand  the Temple's room. We want buy an other room together at  Temple's room and put them together, about  15 square meters more.
• To create a coachers team to devotee care and mentors.
• To keep the level of the academic training.
• To develop more and more Nama Hatha and start a Bhakti Vriksa program.
• To consolidate Srila Prabhupada's distribution books and Harinama daily, etc.

You  know I'm working outside the temple, but I'm going to the temple three times per week more or less and all administration team are in permanent communication.

All team are developing a great job and the devotees are more and more committed.

We hope that differences with some devotees of prior administration disappear soon. It depends on all.

We want you coming to Spain and Madrid soon and It's my duty to invite you for coming. We must work very hard still to obtain Krisna's Mercy and yours, but please don't leave us without you and your mercy  this year 2014.

Thank you for all, Gurudeva.

Please, let me keep at your Lotus Feet.

Your humble servant, Dandava Das.

              HpS - ASA - Jaya. AGTSP.  You can see in the DTCs and the Tweets and the Kapi Dhvaja reports what we are doing. I think we will be based in Tennessee until August. Then we will tour USA, San Francisco, Pacific Northwest. Then back to Tennessee and South America in March April 2015. Guess we would get to Europe in August of 2015.

Depends on our strength and Krsna's choice. Right now we are trying to recover our bodily energy and we will have to see how that goes.
Certainly best of wishes in the preaching in Madrid?

What about more centers in other parts of the city? Bhakta-vrksas get their own full-time centers eventually?

AGTSP
paoho.

Thanks again to Prahlada-nrsmha Das and his esteemed wife for so, so much for their help while we were in Mayapura. They are very great saints. We hope they get all success there.

We have recovered after a week back in USA. We were really, really exhausted.

Now we are starting to clear up the Blog mail, answer all the new letters and a few older ones daily, but when we go to the disciple reports we can't tell which ones we have already answered!

We are asking Prahlad how to distinguish that.

We are Tweeting.

It is 4.48 PM. We are in Radha-Natabara's ashrama and then at 5.30PM we and Tandavika and NGD will meet about meet about the Strategic Plan for NIOS.

We have really, really, really been making a lot of progress in our own Strategic Plan for our life, service. we feel that we are quite insincere: Lusty, greedy, selfish, but may have some sincerity and Srila Prabhupada, our Acharya, is keeping us engaged.

Looking at our many, many projects, responsibities, we have been quite successful in getting our promises under control. We only have 275% more service that we can properly do.

(Haw! Haw! Hare~~)

After years of efforts at writing we have finally been successful to restrict ourselves to making 'TPP: Tava-pache-pach -- Afterwords to the NOI' our first priority.

Also after unlimited experiments we are using 9.75 x 7.5 inch Composition Notebooks. It is working well. We got a LOT of empetuous, as we always have, from Satsvarupa Maharaja's journal.

We started writing March 5th and now we have 57-descent pages done in 'Step One'. It is like our duty, whether it is good or bad, we have to work to make it good. We have to integrate our other writing, previous writing. It comes before this Blog, letters everything, but of course these other writing works should all follow behind with even more significance.

O.K. Time to give Brother Ass a break!

Thank you so much.

Pamhr. 

tlgaSP.

cantando 16 rondas

50% gayatris

leyendo srimad bhagavatam y krishna Book

organizando Bhakti Vriksa, 5 grupos 

trabajando para Krishna West. 

planificando educación. 

4 principios. 

S.s. madhumangala d.

                HpS - ASA -- Jaya! Si, es super tomar tiempo para "tri-sandhyas", gayatri etc. dawn, noon, dusk.   How is your son?

Haré krishna!!

por estos días estamos organizando los cursos que deberían tomar los líderes de bhakti Vriksa durante este año.

si todo resulta bien el currículum para este año sería:

bhakti-Sastri VTE

comunicaciones VTE

facilitacion I y II. VTE

liderazgo y administración VTE

curso de discípulos  VTE. 

Quedaria pendiente para el 2015  los siguientes cursos. 

Cauching, resolución de conflictos, mediación y asuntos matrimoniales y familiares. 

A mitad de febrero estaremos trabajando en establecer Visión y Misión para el proyecto de educación en Chile. 

Desde marzo incluir más personas para completar el equipo de trabajo 

segundo semestre de este año quizás partir con una escuelita de fin de semana. 

S.s. 

Madhumangala das.

                     HpS - Jaya!  TlgaSP.   pfanrh.  Descupla la demurra responder. Puede ver la problema, no? Fuerte, presion de viaje a India! Ya, despues de una semana en USA estamos de salud, energia normal. Sus cursos aparecen super.

Esperamos hablar con Rama-giri-dhari Das 12-19 Marzo acerca de Ministry of Education (MOE) y Sud America. Hay mucho interes de Lima tambien. Tambien Jayapataka Swami por Ekanatha Gaura Das tiene mucho interes en organizar cosas en terminos de MOE.

Mucho oportunidad!!

Esperamos mas noticias durante proxima dias.  Reunion 12-19th en Houston.

Hare Krishna Maharaja, please kindly accept my most humble obeisances; All glories to his divine grace, Srila Prabhupada; All glories to your tireless efforts in the service of Sri Sri Guru & Gauranga.

We gathered this evening for kirtan and prasadam in my home, as we do every Saturday afternoon/evening: Sri Hari, Sriman Chandra prabhu and myself.  After the kirtan we had some lively Krishna katha discussing some highlights from the Sriman Bhagavatam, and then I had inquired about next weekend, seeing as how it is Gaura Purnima Sunday.  Then his grace, Sri Hari prabhu gives me this outrageous request to present some sort of study guide on the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya, perhaps from the Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat in honor of the occasion.  

I have only 2 books of the Chaitanya Bhagavat, but what really bothers me is that I was NEVER any good in writing any sort of term paper.  In fact, it was always a painstaking, devastating task for me to compile such things, throughout all of my high school years and on into my one year of college.  I felt trapped and helpless at Sri Hari's suggestion because of his sincerity, and I didn't know how to offer some sort of refusal, so I accepted the service, but not without great anxiety due to my weakness.  

If I am going to really do this service in a nice way it will only be because of your blessings.  So, is it alright if I do this service, given my ignorance and weakness?  If you give your blessings, then I can attempt this task with the hope that all the devotees will be pleased.  I anxiously await your reply: Hare Krishna.

Your lowly servant,

Balabhadra dasa

                    ASA-Monkey --- AGTSP. Esteemed "lowly servant", thank you for your letter, it is so nice. Are you starting a Reading Group?  If it is just three people them you don't need much of Study Guides. What might work better is for everyone to read, take notes and then compare notes when you get together. Then one Secretary and  collect and type the Notes.

Of course, it can be even easier. Don't even read a fixed assignment in advance, just read when you get together and keep Notes.

O.K???  Whoop!  Whoop!

Hare Krishna Maharaj, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All glories to Lord Caytania and Lord Nytiananda!

All glories to you Maharaj Hanumatpresaka Swami!

Please accept my humble obeisances. I have been trying to write but I am not sure if I did it right. My name is Marco from Monterrey and I have very little in the Hare Krishna Movement (10 months). I am living in the Monterrey Temple and try to chant 16 rounds every day and to follow the 4 principles but Maya is always seducing me with lustful desires, anger and lack of enthusiasm to perform devotional service.

I had the fortune of doing Sankirtan marathon last december in Mexico City. I survived. After that, January was the best month. I was enthusiastic, getting up early, doing extra service, not complaining...I felt great but this eagerness has been diminising little by little. In the last couple weeks I've failed to get up early, finish rounds, etc.

I have to admit my attention is more focused in a mataji I met and I've been making all sorts of plans to be near her. (Move to DF, etc). Maha Sankarsan invited me to work with him at the farm and I asked him if I can do Sankirtan also. We are still adjusting details. 

Please tell me what you think. 

Please excuse my offenses.

Your humble aspirant,

Marco 

HpS - AGTSP paoho. I think it's nice to hear from you. In general, your devitional career is normal, but of course also very individual. We cannot give detailed advice from such a separation in distance etc, but in general we can suggest what Canakhya Pandit says:

Victory comes from good advice, and good advice comes from many counselors.

1. So, keep a collection of good advisors who know you, the local situation, your associates.

2. Chant Hare Krsna to get Krsna's advice.

3. Read, read, read Prabhupada's books for general and even detailed advice!

1, 2, 3 you will be successful.

In general, you will not be able to understand what marriage is until you are at the level of second initiation. That takes three years normally. Before that if you experiment before that you will generally all survive alive with no fatal burns if you are all strict with the four principles.

If you break the four principles you can create a situation that can ruin your entire life.

Keep your romance within the associacion of a broader family.