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Dear devotees and matajís, and embrace from my heart to everyone.
The theme of the chat today is "VRINDA PATRIOTISM ". The little participation on the chat today, shows exactly the problem of which I want to talk. It is a pity that our people are so sleepy. There are so few here, even though it is Sunday today. I had to cancel many things in order to be here today. But at the same time - many thanks to the faithful souls that are present here; thanks for coming and for waiting.
It is also sure that Krishna had given us a lot of service and that we should do it better each day. I feel grateful to the sannyasis who travel from place to place to assure that the devotees maintain faithful servants of Srila Prabhupada. It is a sacred duty that each devotee is well attentive to the books of our mission, the music of our own musicians and the preaching manifested within our family of Vrinda. The devotees from a temple that do not have all the books of Gurudeva Atulananda and the SEVA publications in their library, or never touch them to read them, do not really appreciate our hard work.
It is not necessary to read many books that come from outside of our mission, if I do not indicate it and they are of great importance. Just reading the books of Srila Prabhupada, of Srila Sridhar Maharaj and others books from SEVA, can be good enough to the end of your lives. And to promote these things, means also to support economically the vertebral column of the mission, where it is produced the didactic material for the preaching. The beads and the incense do not give Krishna consciousness to anybody; neither do the pills from the health shops. But the classes and the Harinams, the distributed books, the collection of Vedic wisdom, the sincere and affectionate reception, the spiritual retreats in our farms, this give Krishna consciousness, and also the courses at the Vaishnava Academy given by the responsible devotees with vision, even if they of course are not given by persons who only want to make money with this. Therefore I do not like that the Vaishnava Academy has teachers that are not devotees, even if they seem to be so good. What is the problem? All the educated devotees of our family can learn to give introducing conferences on the 33 aspects of the Vaishnava Academy. Not from one day to the other, of course, but to start with one, two or three themes. And like that they study the books belongs to it and later more. A devotee should know the philosophy from all angles.
The Vaishnava Academy is an introduction to the world of the confidence of the message of Srila Prabhupada. For example: Any architect would maybe never enter a temple until she or he sees the advertisement "Vaishnava Academy, course in Vastu Sastra, Indian architecture". Like that, she/he can get interested in listening and later meet a person like Haday prabhu from Colombia, who did not study architecture but studied some books of Vastu Sastra and has a good capacity to present these things well. And by the time the interested begins to like a devotee and is invited to visit the applied Vastu Sastra in our ecological farms, like Varsana and Vrindavanita. The rest you can imagine. It can lead to another captured architect like our B.V. Sridhar Maharaj, who makes plans for our Krishna Lila Park in Vrindavan, instead of mooring aluminium at the agriculture bank of Colombia. Another example: a person might come with the interest for astral journeys, and sees the ad from the Vaishnava Academy that says: " Travel easily to other planets", a course by prabhu Gopinath. In the end, he might want to travel to Goloka Vrindavana, saved from the clutches of the mental journeys.
So the Vaishnava Academy has infinite fields of possibilities to attract very cleaver people to Krishna consciousness. Of course, sometimes they are more demanding also than the sellers of Marlboro at the plaza Nieves or the heroes from La Cachina.
On the other side, the academy is an expansion of the same conferences as always. I continuously have requested that the temples should have at least two classes in the evening; one introduction class and another for more advanced, daily and simultaneously, but be calm, people - I will go on to insist this as long as my voice permits. I can already see myself with a little stick of an old man, asking you: "Prabhu, prabhu, are you giving classes for the advanced? Or are you waiting for the devotees of 50 years old to keep up their courage with the news about reincarnation and karma?"
Srila B.P. Puri Maharaj asked me with difficulty in the last three intimate and personal interviews, that I had with my Gurudeva. His Divine Grace said: "Baba, make sure that the devotees educate well in Krishna consciousness, promote the education of them, so they become very cultivated and that they understand that everyone who chants Hare Krishna has the same opportunity to receive mercy. We are all equal and the Maha Mantra can save us." These were the teachings and orders to me, and therefore I have a lot of happiness for the SEVA publications of the new Caitanya Caritamrita by Gurudeva Atulananda. What I cannot understand is how such a few people come to the chat. Could it be that their temples are situated at some mountain and they expect me to send the messages with smoke signals from Vrindavan? Well, it is the same if you read the chat message afterwards, you can share it the same. But if you only look in the newspaper, talk about football and not follow your time of transmissions of the actualised service, then I do not know what will wait for you in the future and where you will get the energy to control your senses.
Question: Guru Maharaj, I hope you understand me. I have realised lately the greatness of your mission, your projects, and I feel that I am a mosquito that does nothing. I have wanted to organize myself, but I do not know where to start, as it is a lot of material, a lot of books to translate, etc. I would like to put myself in the position of one who comes to VRINDA today. What would you say that I should do? (considering that we live in Brazil)
Reply: Well, first of all I would make a party, because there are so many nice devotees in our family, who are fighting sincerely for Lord Krishna. When I think of the preachers from South America, I can almost begin to cry. Well, this doesn't mean that you don't have to improve a lot, it is not to be sentimental. It is because all the devotees have a great variety of services, and the entire world can find a nice corner of a personal challenge to grow spiritually. I am happy that the great majority of our leaders are not elite and even less cruel. Cruel leaders who have no compassion with the weaknesses of the souls but al lot of tolerance towards their own weaknesses, we can send to start their mission at Greenland, to cool down a little. But there is no mission yet in Greenland, because the devotees are so good... what a pity for Greenland!
For me in Brazil, I would do what you are doing. Preach at the front, some very concentrated in the small mission. Taking good care of the people and let them get attached to the spiritual master and have classes as frequently as possible. We are in kali yuga, and only a firm sadhu can take us out of the illusion. And of course some publication is also necessary, and a web page is a very good idea, a page to take care of daily with some attention. This, if one has the capacity to have it. The Brazilian page is nice, but I don't know how it is with the notices and the contacts with the visitors of the page. But since we have so much nectar in our family, one could simply point with the finger on the nectar, and soon your page is a tremendous page. Besides that we have a big but very personal family. As personal as everyone would like it to be. Even more intensive it is, with those who share our service and our preoccupations, and they are special devotees. Well, the majority of the people are only preoccupied with their purse and their giant false ego in a coloured dress of mundane prestige.
It has been a pleasure to be on the chat, and I would like to talk much more with you, but I have to go.
A warm embrace from my heart.
Always your well-wisher,
Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti
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