Asking for Advice

[cos...@gmail.com]

by Amrta Gopal dasi

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that a preacher must be
willing to shed gallons of blood to save even one soul. In the
following letter sent by two very sincere devotees who are trying to
spread Bhakti-vriksha in East London, the truth of that statement is
striking.

This letter is posted by permission of the writer, Yamunesvari devi
dasi (a disciple of HH Jayapataka Maharaja), with hopes that devotees
will advise her how to proceed. We at the Congregational Development
Ministry hope this incites a wonderful sharing and dialogue among
preachers working as pioneers in the field.

Dear Amrta Gopal Mataji:

As per your request, I am giving details on where we are and what
problems we are going through in Bhakti-vriksha in East London.

We are in the fifteenth week of the Bhakti-vriksha material. In our
group are eight, including Aravinda Krishna Prabhu (my fiancee) and
Shyamananda Prabhu, who was trained in Mathuradesh. All the remaining
devotees joined from our Nama-hatta group.

We are following the style of picking committed devotees from Nama-
hatta, training them in Bhakti-vriksha, and making them leaders. Once
they become strong in their sadhana and get convinced of this format,
they can start their own groups.

In the group, devotees are reading a certain set of books we suggested
and they are regularly monitored and encouraged to improve sadhana,
chanting, and reading.

We got some feedback earlier from the devotees in our group--that they
see a big improvement in their sadhana, i.e., they have improved their
chanting and reading due to close interaction and discussion through
Bhakti-vriksha. But we (Aravinda Prabhu and myself) personally see the
problem: no one is strong or committed enough to preach, or at least
bring new people to the group.

Devotees are coming and going like in any other program, but there is
no fire to preach or expand this group. Even though we are not great
preachers, at least we try our best to go for book distribution and
bring new people, but no one else seems to have that fire to preach.
The group has already become stagnant and there doesn't seem to be any
energy except the nice, fun, and lively discussions we have during
every gathering.

What we are doing to preach: both of us go out with books almost every
or alternate Saturday. Aravinda Prabhu is visiting two bachelor homes
once every week or ten days. (One of them is already a devotee, but
not active now, and the other is a friend of one of our devotees who
comes to our Bhakti-vriksha group.) After our marriage we are planning
to visit couples' homes once per week. (These couples are new people
who are interested in KC, but have not taken it up seriously yet.)

Due to our lack of experience and knowledge on how to handle new
people when visiting homes, Aravinda Prabhu is already facing
difficulties with these bachelors, who don't show as much interest
following KC as during his initial visits, due to their new
familiarity with Krishna consciousness.

Overall, we are confused about what to do. There are many souls
interested in KC but we don't know how to give them this process and
inspire them to preach. Generally this is the pattern we see: people
are enthused and inspired to attend the Bhakti-vriksha group or take
to the process of chanting straightaway--initially. But slowly they
loose their enthusiasm and inspiration to attend or increase their
rounds and reading, even though we speak with them and help them in
their KC constantly.

We strongly feel the problem is with us rather than with them. We are
trying our best to do our sadhana nicely everyday, contact and
speaking with these devotees once in a week, inspiring them to be
focused. But still they don't seem to respond to our efforts, and
slowly they lose their energy and enthusiasm. They just speak with us
and come to the group meeting, just for the sake of it, rather than to
preach or expand the group.

Good leadership is missing. We need leaders who can inspire them
continuously and know how to engage them in KC for preaching purposes.
The devotees--new or old ones--are very busy in their work, and due to
that, they don't have time to preach. They don't have that energy and
interest to preach either. They just want us to pamper them always,
rather than to preach to others. Its been more than a year that we've
been conducting Nama-hatta programs, but still there are devotees who
don't attend the group unless we invite them or sometimes force them
to attend.

Sometimes we feel vexed about it, since it's been more than a year.
Still they are on the same platform, even though we give all types of
advice and counseling. They simply don't want to improve, or give that
effort to improve. We tell them to do something and they do it for a
week. Then they turn back to their normal lifestyle again. There are
many devotees who follow the same pattern. Is it worth investing more
time in them?

These are some of the main things. We have so many people with us, but
no one is solid enough, except one or two, to take to this process
very seriously in regard to preaching and trying to improve their
sadhana. I think we are missing proper leaders who can guide and
inspire us in KC.

What should we do to handle a situation like this? Do we spend more
time on these devotees, or try to recruit new people? My question is,
If we cannot handle these interested souls, how can we help new
people? Or do you think the problem is with us? If so, please let us
know how we can improve ourselves to help others and make this Bhakti-
vriksha strong.

Please pray for us and bless us so that we can be of some use in
trying to fulfill our guru-maharaja's desire. We want that by his next
visit (for London Ratha-yatra in July) at least two Bhakti-vriksha
groups are started and running nicely. Please get blessings from Guru
Maharaja for our marriage and preaching activities.

Your servants,
Yamunesvari devi dasi & Aravinda Krishna das