2005 || Congregational Preaching Awards #JayapatakaSwamiArchives

Anymore they're like, so you do get that situation. A lot of villagers, they can't understand bhakti distribution Mongols. It's mainly a urban program for people who are educated, although in some places we found that even outside educated people do like it. It's just, you know, for me, it's a bit of a mystery that why some people like it so much in one way or the other. So I decided as a policy, we'll promote all the three according to whichever work that people let them do that. But I personally, you know, consider the Vakavisha group definitely has more benefits if it works for the people. It doesn't work in every circumstance. So we're not a fanatic about it. We hope, if it's working for you, we're very glad to hear that. And I'd be very happy to give whatever support we can. We can have come over here and give a seminar or something if you like it. He's more of a fanatic. For Barti rickshaw, I had to be a little neutral as the minister, but we're going to publish. Either we'll publish or we're going to get the counselor group of people to publish their book. We have a bhakti rickshaw group and we're going to make an overview about Damhat in general so that people can try to get what we just was having a strategic planning discussion. I have also a program about strategic planning for your congregation. But it takes about an hour to hour and a half maybe to go through the whole thing. But if you'd like, sometime I could show that to you. If you want to make a strategic plan that's using the modern kind of business terms of vision, mission statement, objectives, smart goals and how to apply them, and showing some of the strategic plans that different yatras have made. They have the key result areas where you make plans, how to take care, build up your community, take care of your constituents in a better way. So we're trying to do things in a more organized way. But I guess it sounds like these.

Programs sound like really exciting, very progressive programs. And I'm wondering, it sounds like you mentioned briefly some participation by initiated devotees, is that right?

Usually the group leaders are initiated devotees, but if they're available, we usually say that to be a group facilitator, you should be at least Krishna Shraddha, Krishna Sadhaka, and preferably Prabhupada ashtray or guru ashtray or initiated, better still. So this depends if it's yet a new growing congregation. Maybe don't have enough initiated devotees at that point. So. But if they're chanting for 14 to 16 rounds in the four regular princes, we give them a preference. If they're otherwise, at least the eight rounds and the regular principles. Basic principles. Sometimes you get such a lot of people live in a hostel and in the hostel they don't. They have vegetarian and they give onions and garlic. So they don't feel ready to take initiation yet. But otherwise it's not like volunteering. They. They follow everything. There's certain kind of situations that people are in. But all that is considered when you're a makeup facilitator. Most of the sector leaders in opera are surely initiated devotees. And the group leader, probably the whole director of the program is probably a Brahmana or something.

The counseling is primarily in relationship to how to develop devotional practices to get into helping people with their marital problems and other levels of counseling.

Also in the counselor system, I'm not sure. I think what they have in Chowpeti is they have different committees that help. They have marriage placement, they have job placement. They have that kind of support in the community. If someone needs a job, they give a preference to devotees. I don't know if they do that because I have actually sat in. I had it explained to me a couple of times by people who are part of counselor groups. So I got a general idea. But they probably have to ask someone like Radhakrishna Das.

It seems like with these type of progressive programs, the number of devotees who leave Sri Granthras will really shrink down because is there emotional.

Even if in a group there's not that direct support like marriage placement, but it would be in the overall program. You would want to have things like that, like helping people to find a KA conscious mate. That would be a part of the. But that may not be in the group itself. That may be something that has a separate committee of senior devotees of responsible people that help in those areas. Like in Chopari, they have so many doctors. It's a huge congregation, about 2,3000. So a number of them, they have their hospital, they have their doctors. So they offer to give medical care to other devotees either at some free or at some discount rate. So they have that kind of social support of the community as a part of the oral system. But that's not. I don't think that's directly within the counselor group itself. Maybe the counselor would refer them to that committee.

So it's a different type of counselor.

Or a different program within the community. Like I have a disciple there who's part of who's got a counselor. But she wants to get married. And so she's registered in the Marriage Place Committee. And there's somebody that helps her. And they're communicating now because they found somebody. That's why I know it's like a fresh thing. I don't think it's her counselor that does that. I think it's another committee that deals with that issue. Because in a counselor group, you may have so many people that everybody has the same problem. So beside.

So how many?

Even in our Namhat groups, we also. In our congregation, we have. We have that kind of support also. That's a separate community, social support.

So as you can around the rest of the world, say, outside of India.

Well, you've got.

You have personally a lot of these programs other parts of the world also, Right? Is it mostly just in your zones or other.

Delhi's not my zone. There's a visitor here. No, it's going on all over the place. We have a congregational preaching newsletter, and that gives you the scores for the whole world. And like Chowpati, they have. They have. It's not my zone. It's Raharana swami zone. And they have also in Juhu, Noble, supporting a lot in Russia. It's very widespread. There's a lot in Russia. It's on my zone either. And there must be. I think they told me at least 250 Bhakhi rickshaw groups in Russia and in Siberia. I went to a festival in the Akai region, which is the mountainous region of Siberia near to the Kazakhstan border. And we had. There's a devotee there who had a resort who offered it to the devotees. And they had cabins, maybe 50 cabins. So they had about 500 devotees who came to the program. And they were all wearing sarees and dohis and tilak and ecstatic kirtans. So I was there as one of the three sannyasis, and students were always giving classes. So I asked in one class, how many of you devotees live in a temple? And nobody raised their hand. I said, I thought maybe the translator didn't understand how many of you live in a temple? And actually, the third time I asked them, I said, maharash, we only have one temple in Siberia, and that's in. And there's five devotees that live in the Novosibirsk temple. And none of them came. And so then I found out that they had, like, different cities. Like Barnaul has maybe 250 devotees and 20 Bhakti Vriksha groups. And Tomsk, which has maybe 200 devotees and 10, 15 Bhakti Vriksha groups. And Novosibirsk also has maybe 10 or 12 Bhakti Rickshaw groups. And there's some other, some other. I can't remember the other names, but Omsk and one other Siddhi starts with an m. Has about 115 devotees, 10 Bhakti Viksha groups. So they had, you know, they must have. Just in the Siberia region, they have maybe 50 or more bhakti Bhiksha groups. And these are fired up devotees. And Prabhu Maharaj goes there and Bhakti Chaitanya Maharaj and Bhakti Vaibhava Swami. Some of the people that preach there. I went because I heard it was a congregational area mainly the congregation was developing. So I went there three years running. This year they didn't have a program.

So most of these people then in these programs are not initiated then, is that it?

No, a lot of them initiated.

It seems like sometimes initiated devotees, although they may have got far enough along in the philosophy to, you know, to take initiation, take vows, accept the guru, etc, but at the same time, it seems like sometimes they also might regress some or something. It seems like there's a great need.

For this to like explain. Yeah, well, this gives him. This gives everybody a chance to do some service. Like in a temple situation, you have a temple president, they'll be there for 20 years, and the vice president, everybody. So new people don't really get so much opportunity to take too much responsibility. Where you find in the Bhakti Viksha groups. And we have ladies who are group leaders in some places. Ladies are also not only sector circle leaders. So when you have devotees who move up, they are Maha chakrapati. That means they will receive three chakras. And each chakra is 12 groups. So it's like 25 to 36 groups. That means they're overseeing 400 devotees. So they're like taking a lot of responsibility for a lot of people's spiritual life and helping them. So I think they're getting, you know, as far as if I were to read it, I think that someone who's a Maha Charaka Senapati, you know, should be the same as maybe large temple in terms of the responsibility that they're taking. The thing that they're managing, they're just purely preaching. Usually they're grihasas. They have jobs, they have other things they have to do to maintain their family. So this is an opportunity for people that normally wouldn't get so much opportunity to take a responsibility, to be more responsible even while they're studying or while they're doing their jobs. And I find that I went to one house in the Middle East, I had a DVD to show about Bhakti Rickshaw. And I asked, you know, would they like to see it? And they said, well, you know, Maharaj, we have our TV here, but we've been so busy because now we've been promoted to become whatever it is, the chakra leader. Maha Chakra leader. And we're so busy going out and visiting all the navhats and doing their programs, doing the Bhakti Rickshaws that we're so engaged we don't really have time to watch TV anymore. So we know, we don't know where the cables are and where we got wide standing movies and these. You could see the TV itself. Everything was spick and span. The TV was a little dusty. They hadn't been watching it. I think that better pressed me. Okay. Most people are addicted to the tv, right? They go walk in the room and you know, there were people that were so much ecstatic with their preaching that the TV no longer had that attraction for them. Even didn't watch the news. Even though you always think, oh yeah, we see the news. Some occasional something special. So that's, that's the kind of ecstasy that they get. Yes.

Prabhu Maharaj, sometimes when the Bhakti rich is just about starting, there are most of the people are newcomers. Like some are chanting four rounds, eight rounds. So obviously philosophically they, they would not be very strong.

It's good to have a little bit of a mix. When you multiply the groups you want to don't put all the new in one and all the old in the other. You want a mix of new, middle and young. Because that way when you have a discussion, then the new people learn from the older people's discussion. If it's all new people, then you know the kind of level of the discussion is going to be also not so developed where if you have a little, if it's all old people, then also they don't get so inspired. Because when you're new people, you're also inspired to share and help a new person come along and give some engagement. There's also a program in Bhakti Bhiksha that each one teach one. You can assign a new person to a little bit older person, a little bit older person to someone even older than they are or more senior in terms of their practices to give a little guidance and help so instead of like just one counselor, you have a series of counseling that when you have to teach. Like there was one devotee he saw he was chanting. If you're supposed to be a counseling for someone that was four round chanter. He said, well, I only chanted four rounds. I'm older, I've been in a movement for a little long time. He's got a chant four, I got a chance to eat them, otherwise he won't have more respect to me. So I kind of pushed him up to take that. But he could guide on basic things. Not that he's the guru or just a mentor, just a kind of a helper to guide the things that he just went through six months ago, a year ago that he can give some advice. Well, I went through that. Some people like this, some people whatever was the practical advice. Give a little training, okay, how you chant japa, how you do the things. So that way by having a person helping another person, then they learn better. Because if you teach someone on a chant jap, you gotta know how to do it yourself. So they've been checked. Someone seemed, they know how to do it, okay, now you can teach someone else how to do it. When they teach it, it gets really reinforced. And so that way each one teach one helps to make people more responsible in their own spiritual life.

So.

That'S another feature of the. But if you have all new people, then who's going to do that? Right? So that's the problem. And that's your question, I guess when you're just starting out, what can you do then once you, some of those people will move up gradually and start chanting more and then you'll get them more of a deputy. Usually we want to have people who can go out and preach on their own. They're considered like senior preachers and somebody who can go and visit people who are already favorable. They can talk to people who are interested and explain about ka consciousness. They're considered like, you know, general standard preacher or junior preacher maybe, as you like. And then you have people who are just kind of more new. They're not able to explain it so well yet. They're just learning themselves. So we try to bring the senior people and the group leader or take people with him sometimes when they are doing some kind of preaching program so they get some experience how they can explain Krishna Kanda. This is another possible program, like say that you have a big festival and people leave their names here, that they like to have a home visit. They'd like someone to come and Explain to them about Ka consciousness. So two people always really remember one. So you always had two people go, and then one senior and one trainee, you know, one that could be even a junior preacher. But one training person, one standard preacher and one training women. Unless they're single because they already asked. They'd like someone to visit them and they can go visit and explain. Tell them about the temple program, tell them about your Bhakti rickshaw program. Tell them about, answer their basic question. So that way you cultivate this, a way of bringing in new people into your group. And then once a person has gone on a few visits like that, then the person who's taking, okay, now you do half the talking, see how he talks and eventually he lets him do the talking and watch how he does it. When he is able to convince someone to come to the group, then he gets certified as a standard preacher and he can go and lead a group after that. That's what, that's one of the programs. Not everyone does all these things, but there's a lot of programs within Bhakti Rickshaw that can do. But if you have all new people, then you gotta build up, build up for a while or borrow. If one group has too many older people, get another. At least you have two, three older people in the group. It'll be good middle people, some people a little more experienced and they can share. Some of the discussions will have a little deeper, more depth than you. What's your name?

Gopishwar Das.

Okay, Gopishwar Das. Another question related to the same question.

When we have mostly newcomers in the group, there are obviously some issues which come up which need a tough stance from the servant, from the coordinator, the facilitator. So is that okay, how to take care of such a spirit? Because everybody else is a newcomer. And let's say, let's say dedication, let's say commitment to Prabhupada. Let's say commitment to iskcon. There could be so many small issues like this, but since everybody else is a newcomer, they are not able to appreciate very much. But it needs a tough explanation to them.

Well, I know my personal preference would be that be firm, be assertive, but don't be like heavy or rude or anything that learn how to facilitate a meaning that somebody starts going off the track or if they start introducing because anyway it's a discussion so you can just. You're the person that recognizes who's going to speak next. Well, that's an interesting point about. That's kind of off the point that we're discussing. That's interesting, but let's discuss that some other time. Or that's an issue that generally we always consider that the guru is sacrificing. Let's discuss about Prabhupada next week. But right now, since we're discussing about Varaha Dev this week, let's stick to the topic and then just change and ask someone else to speak and then kind of use more of tact. Okay? You not said junior talking about my guru. And I'm going something you can pull out some of the. Lest you see them out the door, Maybe sometime you want to call listen, that's an interesting one. Let's discuss this in private. You have a personal doubt or something or if it's an issue, maybe you want to discuss that. But as you say, you want to maintain that you don't want it to get derailed, you want to stay focused on the topic. Since we have a system, we have a discussion, we have a discovery and understanding, then we have our application. So if you keep to that, usually if people start to want to go off, you can bring them back. Sometimes you get troublemakers want to do all the talking. They don't want other people to talk and they may need a private discussion after first, you probably give them a discussion after that. This is a team effort when everybody participates. You're very intelligent, you're a good communicator. But you know, please, we need your help. We cooperate. Let everybody else get a chance to speak. If still they don't want to. They want to always talk and butt in and not follow the cooperative spirit, then maybe I refer them to the sector leader, talk to them. If you're not strong enough to deal with that person, maybe there's a little personality conflict or something. Then maybe you get the person shifted to another group with another leader. Maybe the chemistry works better. It's more like you kind of try to do things more in a soft way, be firm, but not heavy so much. I mean, unless someone says something really ridiculous and maybe you can't help it. But I'm just saying as a principal, we try to do things like that. I revealed all the secrets to everybody. So usually these are for the leaders meetings, right? But there's more techniques that they can tell just the leaders. But since I think you're all pretty much training leaders, so you need your cooperation, especially in the beginning. Once it takes a couple of years really to get the rhythm going. Once you do this for a couple years and everybody gets habituated and you got all your developed groups and the different programs in state. It becomes like a second nature. Then you can't think how anybody can do anything else. This is like so natural. But initially it takes some time to gather this established. And just like in the beginning of iskcon nobody knew how to wear T lock or put on dotis or do anything. Now everybody's trained up. So we found like that the bhakti rickshaw groups are get established after some years where then everybody is very familiar, you know. And then the people who are the Mahatraka pattis, they're so. Or Sena pattis, whatever you like. The Senas or the bhaktas, they're so well versed in the whole thing, they've been through all these different kind of problems that they're quite wise in giving good advice. And so there's a lot of mutual respect amongst the principal thing is to be in a service attitude. The leaders as the servant leaders, they're leading in service. When people appreciate that they have this service attitude, they're not trying to be the guru or trying to be the controller, they're just trying to be the servant. Actually guru is the servant of everyone too. We don't really know what a guru is, but that's what gurus do is they serve their disciples like parents serve their children, guide them in Krishna's devotion. There was something in the back that it hand up two people there. Then we'll make these two questions. The ladies have a question.

Actually ask two questions.

Give the permission. I don't know. Does he have permission? I don't know how long we can go. I don't know if you have a time. Depends, you got 10, 15 minutes.

First question is that we are talking.

A lot about the counseling system.

So there is a concept in bhar about the personal guide. So can that be the same as the counselor?

Can he act as a counselor, a personal guide? To a certain extent the counseling system. The counselor is a very senior devotee. So he takes. He's practically. You don't see the guru so much. And he's mainly the counselor that gives you the guidance. So the personal guide is not so senior necessarily so up to his capacity. He's guide. Then if it goes over his capacity, he refers you up to a more senior devotee. And the council system, I think there's anything referred to. There's maybe a chief counselor and then the guru says that's so many more levels. So you're going already pretty high up. Well, here we have many levels you can go up, up, up, up until you get to the. Keep going up one level up the hierarchy to the group leader, to the sector leader, circle leader to the greater circle leader, to the director of the program above that you go to the temple president to the, to the gbc. So you go a lot of levels. There's a lot of all kinds of levels we try to reduce. Otherwise everybody a lot of pressure comes on one person. So we try to spread it out a little bit. So someone has to know what his own capacity, her capacity as a counselor, as a guide. But yeah, to a large degree he's doing the basic guidance. Sure. That was great.

Actually it's supposedly group leader starts with only 11 members.

That's quite okay.

And he need to expand it. Maximum length is up to 15s and all the members are expected to bring one with them. I mean a new person into the group. And in that stage, if he already fills the 15, the rest are left there in the queue. So could at that time the training.

Leader, he can take. You can also we say that like 15, you can think about division. Usually groups start at 8 and they go up to 15. But then if you're starting at 10, you may even go up to 20. You find it gets a bit crowded and it really depends on the chemistry. If everybody's happy, even if it's a little bit bigger, then it's not a big problem. So usually 15 minutes, you're kind of optimum. But some cases the group just grew real fast and the training leader is not ready, not trained up enough. So the group may grow. Sometimes what you do is you have your discussions. If you have a big group like that of 20 people, you may have two discussions. They have queue time together, have two discussions, maybe have the do some things in two groups. And that way the training leader also gets fast tracked for how to lead a group and how to facilitate a group. Some things like that. I mean it's not like okay, 15 something that they have to be sensitive to. Whether you don't want to start a new group until the other person is ready to lead the group, otherwise the group will flop. He had to make sure that that person is capable of being that group servant leader. He's got enough, he's sure of himself enough, he's done it enough times with the existing group and then that. So you're Fairly sure that 90% should work. Some groups don't fly in spite of your best effort, but then you have to redistribute the people in other Groups and start all over or bring up another assistant leader or something. Those are like higher level how to do, you know, the group leader, the total program leader has to oversee how things are going. Some groups are growing better and some groups are growing slower. Why is that? Study it. Discuss these things. When they have meetings with the group leaders. Some group leaders don't talk enough. They don't facilitate. Well, some talk too much. All kind of factors are there, you know, so some people, they motivate everybody. Some places, maybe it's exam period and that particular all come from one student. They all got big exams and so they don't have time to preach. So many factors. So they study them. See, I heard in one place they divided boom, boom, boom three times in six months. Usually you figure in six months you should multiply one six months to year.

Is there some kind of check and balance system so that as these group leaders work their way up. Yeah, with more and more responsibility. I mean, you mentioned that some might have 400 people that they're in charge of, which is more than most temples around the world actually. So I mean, what system of kind of keeping that person from getting a little intoxicated by that much authority or jurisdiction or whatever?

Well, they're up that level because they've already shown that on the lower levels they've been very sensitive to those things. Whoever is above them must always visit their program. They're not directly, they're overseeing that many people. But they have under them a whole hierarchy also of people that are thinking. So it's divided. It's kind of a whole team effort. We oversee that many people. But it's not like a temple president over his Brahmacharis. They're all congregation of Vihastras and historians. And they're not. You can't just like tell them to do something weird and everyone's going to follow. That wouldn't fly very well. So they find out. They're usually quite, they said, very mature people. I'm very impressed when I that they. Once they're moved up because say there's three circle leaders and the one that's moved up to be the mah Circle was the one that's seems to be the most receptive, the most humble, the most servicial, the most having the better quality. You say move him up first. So the competition how to be more of a Vaishnava. It's not the kind of qualities that get rewarded. There's always the temple president or there's a group leader, a group program Coordinator or director who's over these senapatis in the back There was one more person way in the back. Yeah.

As a part of a council.

What should the main responsibilities of.

How cause.

We should act on it. Participate in the meetings regularly. Do your daily devotional activities. Give your reports. If you're given some kind of preaching assignment to do that that's the basic. That's adding to the Bhakti rickshaw group where counseling groups don't have preaching. They don't usually give assignments for preaching. They just check on their son. Where Bhakti Bhiksha is more oriented at outreach and bringing new people in. So if you're asked to try to find one new person to come for the next week's meeting that's your assignment for the week. If you're asked to distribute 10 books then that's your assignment. Maybe you do both. When you're a part of the meeting then you take try to be a team player. That's so complicated. Really. There was any. Any ladies have a question? They all ran off. Sometimes newcomers, those who can something they chant 16 rounds, sometimes eight rounds.

And they are very careless and sometimes lazy minded.

Also if they. If you call the class also I'm coming and sleeping now. I'll come tomorrow. This is for them how to take care of system. Well, you got a lot of experienced people here. What's some of the suggestions of the other preachers? If somebody's a little bit lazy in their spiritual life? If there was. Come let's meet. You know Sachin's going to be here for the weekend. They got a special meeting with him. Okay, let's go. You know, fired up. There's going to be a movie start. Okay, let's go. But let's come to the meeting. How do you inspire them? What's your secret? Go to his place, have the meeting in his house. That's one solution.

That's the secret of Bhakti Bhiksh. If somebody is involved in his service then possibly he's lazing because he's possibly trying to dissociate himself from listening. But if he's doing practical service then he'll not be lazy. So if it's a Bhakti Ricksh group.

Working then your Prabhupada said try to find out what he wrote this letter to Sukhadev Das. Maybe you know that letter. He says that for the educated people don't try to give them too many rules and regulations. Rather just try to encourage them to do the things they like to do they like to write? Let them write for Krishna. They like to do computing for Krishna. Let them for those days there wasn't computing somewhere. But let them do the things that they like to do. So try and encourage them on what they like to do. If they're doing eight rounds, you don't really get good day. They did 16 someday. Very good. That's your Korapati. Sixteen rounds a day is one Korga names of Krishna in a year. If you chant every day, 16 hours and kon, banau, gi, korupati, you become. You become a prabhupada. So you're doing eight rounds. You only have 50 likes. Okay, you're halfway there. I try to encourage the people and try to what inspires? You know, sometimes someone go look, you know, go personally and preach to them how, you know, human life is so important this that I don't know what it takes. Get some of the spouse prashants. They come over from Prashant. But that's where the personal touch comes in the group leader. If the sama doesn't come, they phone him up. Hey, you didn't come this week. What happened? You sick? Anything? This is the important thing. Because sometimes people complain I was sick. Nobody called me, nobody cares. I could live or die, nobody cares. The Christian priests come and they come and preach to me. But the devotees, they don't care. Sometimes they get in these kind of mentalities. So the fact that the leader or his personal guide and what happened, he didn't come. But before they call up. So you're going to come, right? We're depending on you. We need you to come. Come on, you're part of the team. No, I don't feel it. Come on, you're part of the team. We need you. You know, there's only eight of us. If you don't come, it's like we're cutting off our left foot, our right arm or something, you know.

Here.

You got to come too. Come on, we need you. And if they don't come. Hey, come. How come you didn't come? We really missed you. So then you know, okay, when they present a touch and do something, if someone doesn't want to come, what can you do? Everyone's got free will. But if you do everything you can to get them to come. The prabhupada said that to make somebody ka conscious you have to spill 200 kilos of spiritual blood. So that effort of enthusiasing people getting sometimes preaching. Look at don't you what's happening? You Were such a good devotee. Now you're not coming anymore. Now everybody's got mobile phones. Hey, meetings. Want to start? You're not here. Get over here quick. But they also make the meetings. Sometimes you find the people having. Maybe in the meeting there's someone criticizing or some personal things. All different things, you know, sentimental things. Sometimes finding out, going the person talking to the person, what's wrong, what's happening. Maybe there's some other problem. There's a lot to do not to keep you busy. A lot for the some things the servant leader may ask the intern, the training leader to check it out. Go and see what's happening. You do. So this is highly interactive. That's what helps to keep people involved. Yeah, it varies in different places. I said, you know, I think usually, at least. Usually a year would be the outer limit. But they say in England it takes two years. It's slower in England. But in England they don't even do bhakti rickshaw. They do mainly in Amahatas. I don't know. In some places I say that they do it in six months. So generally in Indian communities you find six months to a year would be the time. But it may vary. Sometimes people even do it quicker. Some people take a little longer. But usually within a year it'll be the outer limit for most places. So thank you very much. How many so far? How many of you have been attending bhakti rickshaw group meetings? Only a few. How many of you that haven't attended are feeling interest to attend groups? Any new people, you should sign up, be part of it. It's a lot of fun. I personally because I've done a lot of training seminars and all the group discussions when they have the training seminars, I found it was very exciting. Even so many people actually even young people had a lot like little kids have some very interesting ideas sometimes from the ladies want to speak of intelligent youth like you all. If you're not a member of one of the groups, you should sign up, join up, become a member. It's a good program. Thank you very much. This is oil from the Shinga Dave Abhishek in Mayapur takes away obstacles good for all kinds of obstacles in your life.

I'm prizes.

I just come from.

From my seminar and then get a award. This is very, very, very nice. Thank you very much, Maharaj. This was a very nice. I would like to address you all very briefly. Who of you does congregational preaching or is related in some ways? May I just have a quick show of hands? Very good and good. I think we have heard already from since many years how important this congregational preaching is. I do remember that Jaipataka Maharaj came often to Switzerland and Germany and gave long presentations. And one thing which has still stuck in my mind is when Maharashtra was traveling with Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada had showed him a church and said that our movement will in one sense be similar. See, in churches not so many people live. Maybe a priest does this service for the congregation, but many, many people come to take the services of a church. So in the same way, Prabhupada prophesies that the temples will not have so many inhabitants, but there will be tremendous amount of congregations.

And.

I have heard Maharaj saying this, and I have heard Prabhupada saying this, but I could not really believe it very much until the recent developments in the own place in which we preach, that is Germany. We have beautiful temples there. But these temples are totally full and totally used only during the festival times when the congregation comes. Now, just a little while ago in America and in Germany, there was a questionnaire put to the people who live in America and independently to the people in Germany. The question said like this. What do people expect from a religion and what do they not want from a religion? And this is the answers are very interesting and telling. And I request you to note this with great attention. What people want is they want to have an experience. Not only some words, some philosophy, but an experience which nourishes them. And what they do not want from a religion or even a spirit of group is some dogma, that is some lifeless rules and regulations do this and don't do this that people do not like to hear any longer. Maybe 20 years ago they were not so antipath, so careful about this, also difficult about it. But nowadays people want an experience and not a prescription. So I believe really that here is the strength of congregational preaching. When the congregational preaching is nicely engaged, is nicely set up at such a time people can really chant together with devotees and make that experience which transforms them. Because here some Ktan is now coming. People like to see, here's something happening. And if the ktan group has happy faces showing that they enjoy it, then people say, let me also chant, let me also make this experience. I think you also look now at the ketan group and want to think, is it better for me to be in the kirtan group or sitting in the tent? Because what you also want is you want an experience so that our Congregation preachers have to be very aware of. They have to give people a spiritual experience. And we do this through the chanting, through the friendships which develop with the nice Ka conscious discussions and also last not least through the nicely offered prasharam. As congregational preachers we also have to be careful about what people don't want. So many don'ts and do's and so on are not required for congregational preaching. Remember, you don't preach to make people Pujaris. You want them to experience Ka consciousness in a very practical way, in a non dogmatic way. So I can only say that Prabhupada's foretelling that in the future Ka consciousness would mean temples with large congregations is coming true in all of us can think about how we can become part in realizing Srila Prabhupada's foretelling for the future of iskcon. I wish all of you that you can find your own place in the congregational preaching. Please don't think congregational preaching is only a specialized, almost sectarian department of the ISKCON movement. Movement.

No.

Congregation preaching is a manifestation of showing compassion to the fallen souls. And this Jiva Daya, showing compassion for others is really one of the foundational principles of Caitanyamanga Prabhu's transcendental Sanatan Dharma movement. Please all of you in some ways or another become congregational preachers. We need many. Hare Krishna.

Thank you for your inspiring speech and your acceptance of the Bhakti Vinod Thakur award for 2020.

I will definitely find a golden frame because it is so nice and blue and gold makes a nice contrast.

We wish we could provide the frames. From being a Grihasta, couples steadily dedicated the preaching and cultivation of congregation. I know Maharaj, you have Hari Nam Yagya so you can stay or if you have to leave, we will understand that your heart is with us. But your duty calls you. Yeah, yeah.

There is a Naam Yagya in the temple and have we'll be going there.

After this is over.

Thank you very very much. I wish you a very nice evening. Please continue staying here and appreciating and encouraging the devotees who get the award. And next year please all get an award for yourself.

I think there's no Russian translation. Where is whom who for as long as I can remember have made a difference in people's lives and have been preaching and that is Srimad Parade Prabhu and Shrima D Chaitanya Dasi Chania Dasi is accepting on behalf of both. You want to say A few words.

Thank you very much and thank you.

Everyone.

In California Sacramento I live there and we have a We brought house and we have one side complete house and other side we built hall temple hall and we have a beautiful installed beauties beautiful temple. And we have also whole thing is for temple like restroom and everything. And we preach regular. Actually we preach all six seven days three days.

We have.

We have a school program to public school, charter school and private school. We go around and Buddha Bhagavad Gita class and different drama. I also teach dances so I have many students through them. I do different teaching program and then one day we have a youth group children classes and then Saturday every Saturday we have a house program. We go from Sacramento to San Jose to Dahlia to Berkeley to San Francisco to LA all the way to I go preach different house program on the house with my husband. And then Sunday we have a house program. There are Sunday feast shab and many people come and we do the Sunday pomgra. There's a preaching that from child we are. I know my husband is Sri disciple always take care of people and doing preaching. But for me I'm born in Bengal and from little girl I'm preaching and preaching and preaching. Preaching is my life. Preaching is my everything. And I should be first to all the Vihastra to at least find some little time when you can preach at least little bit. You can make one month, maybe two devotees or something like that in our congregation has every month actually developing the devotees and chanting eight rounds for round 16 rounds taking Australian session. Thank you very much.

This year is being given for developing Bhakti Vriksha modules which are an ongoing work for helping Bhakti Riksha. Group leaders like Chandra Molimar has mentioned some of them not so trained. So this module has helped them to take their group through one year of or even more than a year of training programs and group programs. Very systematically they worked very hard. This goes to and Shima Prema Padmin. I know how hard they've been working on these modules. She's preaching in Middle east code name of tour of this. She's also the author of the book. She's also the author of a book. You are called C to preach. If you want to get a copy of the book table like to say anything.

Thank you very much for this award. The Bhakti Rupsha modules has taken into account the fact that just like the principle behind how people can become preachers, I mean it is based on the Bhakti Riksha manual. But the concept that everybody can become a preacher. Because Lord Chaitanya Maprabhu would visit villages and then empower. I mean preach to a few people, empower them. And whoever they went to and preached to, they would also become surcharged with spiritual energy to keep on expanding in that way. And also Srila Prabhupada he said that like normally we have undergo some training in school or college before you get a post. For example, if you have to be a lawyer, then you have to go through law school. But in Krishna consciousness, you empower them and give them the role to play service. And then they grow with that service and develop the skills. Similarly, Bhakti rickshaw program because of the spiritual concept of empowering peoples, it is possible that by very good I mean systematically guiding them how to approach people. Because mainly first people get a taste of higher taste materially before getting the spiritual higher taste. So this cultivation and friendly relationships is a higher taste. The material higher taste that people experience. Because.

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