Bhaktin Belen S. from Buenos Aires, Argentina
Hare Krsna Maharaja!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Please accept my humble obeisances .
I do not think you remember me but I'm from Buenos Aires, so I met you here and also in Chile recently.
I was thinking to write you when I received your answer. haha! Thanks for your answer. It makes me think about you and the humility that I need to develop.
Well, when you left Chile, I stayed there distributing books to people (for the first time) and I liked it soooooo much. In fact I thought I could do traveling sankirtan all over Argentina and later go to Brasil and do Bhakti Sastri but also I thought about my job, my rental, the stuff that I need to do, etc. So I arrived to Buenos Aires, Argentina last friday and I have a lot of obstacles in my head... I don't know if you remember one of the question that I asked you when we were in Chile, but it was about my job. I work on the channel television news at night from 22 pm to 5 or 6 am, wednesday to sunday, they pay very well. I was studying Image and sound Design so my job is about editing news...So one of my question is about my position in the sankirtan movement. I have not yet very clear what is the best thing for my spiritual life and what I want to do, but I feel I have a desire to preach even the minimum knowledge that I have ( in my job I can not do it, because the kind of people, you know... closed mind) and secondly I would like to study, taking more classes, wake up early like a normal people.. - well not normal, like devotees more exactly - chant my rounds early. Also I thought about making movies like "La Luz del Bhagavata", and merge my profession with preaching. But anyway I would need money to live... At the moment, I continue working but I think that I need a change. I don´t know if its about sense gratification or what but I feel that my job only gives me economic stability but add nothing to my spiritual life. In fact, the news are poison to people, you know, and It's not the kind of preaching I join, but it's very difficul for me to take a desicion because I feel alone, it costs me feel Krishna is with me, I feel that the decision that I'm going to take is purely my responsibility and I'm afraid.
On the other hand, I had asked you about the difference between repression and carry out regulatives rules. That was not very clear for me. I keep regulatives rules but my mind makes me think that is repression so it disturbs me. And what about the vaisnava etiquette? Sometimes I find very impersonal relations between devotees in the temple maybe just for trying to carry out the vaisnava etiquette.. so I don't like impersonalism. How can I understand this point?
Sorry for my bad english again..
I continue your instruction chanting hare krishna but anyway I hope to serve you even more in this life.
Your servant,
Belen.
ASA - AGTSP. This came when we were traveling in India so we are just getting to it now.
We have been on Japa Joe, no?
Let me see if there are later letters from your good self. So many good questions. We could give answers but the basic premis is that I haven't got time to do that and do the writing that I am supposed to do.
Basically, yes, your progam is pretty crazy. You should try to get a job where you can use the time from 4AM to 10AM for strong hearing and chanting, even if it means getting less money. It is the right thing and Krsna will always give you lots of help doing the right thing!!!
Don't be fanatic but start moving in the right direction.
Even at work you can find ways to chant softly, read snippets on your screen, talk about Krsna as the taste in water, fragrance of the earth.
Etc. Squeeze in some Krsna katha during the Brahma muhurta and get a regular rhythm for getting all your rounds done.