Dear Guru Maharaj,
Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Sorry for taking so long to reply, the last month or so has been quite a roller coaster... I think Krishna was throwing us some big tests to prepare us for big responsibility.
ASA - Image attached: Top-gun Roller Coaster!
The first couple weeks we started our new business venture we were moving very fast, but during that early phase everyone had to use ACH payments, which are archaic and cumbersome for the banks to handle. Then they installed the new merchant account into the website (for debit/credit transactions) and cancelled all the ACH checks that hadn't gone through yet. They gave everyone that signed up already free membership, but everyone had to reorder... and while everyone was reordering the website was constantly under construction.
ASA - And then Goldilocks ante the porridge that was JUST right!
Website upgrades went on for over a week, disrupting our momentum... meanwhile Nikunja Bihari flew all the way from Denver to help us out and all 3 of us were sleeping in my van struggling to keep "the grand shimmy" together.
A few people got frustrated and bailed out, but somehow or other we were able to keep most of our teams intact even though we took a big loss from all the hang ups. People were putting pressure on us to pay back what we borrowed to get started and our checks were delayed and then lost in the mail for a while, but at last all the pieces finally started coming together.
The lady who enrolled us was considering giving up when we came on board, but Arya taught her the strategy we developed based on ethical team building and she ended up outpacing us, making 10,000$ the first month and now she's all about helping us out!
ASA - And then the Poppa Bear said, "Who has been eating MY porridge!
It looks like the dust has finally settled, so I've been able to have a more balanced routine lately. Somehow or other I've managed to maintain 16/4 through all this, though until fairly recently not much else.
ASA - May we humble subtend our dear Watson, that unless you had done 16/4 we probably would be piciking up your body bag (and and several more) at the mortuary rather that receiving this letter now! AGTSP!!!!!!
At least I've been around devotees constantly working together to do something great for Krishna! It's been one of the most challenging times of my life but I feel like we've all grown considerably.
ASA - The Bigger Kinder Goldilocks!
Incidentally I also became a member of the LAAA, a highly selective nonprofit that has been dedicated to helping emerging artists establish relationships with some of the most significant galleries, museums, and endowments in the world for the past 90 years.
ASA - LAAA = Los Angeles Alcoholics Anonymous?
I pray that I will be able to fully utilize all these opportunities in Krishna's service for your satisfaction, and yet remain aloof from them.
PS I also just painted a set of deities for the first time: Gaur Nitai Gaur Nitai!
ys,
Ekāśma Dās
ASA - HooooF! I hope they burn out the eyes of whoever looks at Them and They have to be concealed in a six-foot thick box of gold until Lord Nitya-andanda decends into this universe a second time for the innauguration of the manifest age of golden avatara!
Thanks for the inspiration.
What is the drug that you are selling?
How can devotees who have Parkinson's Disease get it? (Or was it Alzheimer's disease?) ???