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The distribution of articles in SEVA is the life and soul of the preaching of a temple. Preaching is life. Without preaching, a temple is practically of no use. Without a serious distribution of books and dvd:s, a temple does not have the mercy of distribution, and if you do not distribute mercy, how can you expect mercy upon you?
Srila Prabhupada promised us to go and stay in the temple of the biggest distribution of books. This created a revolution in the book distribution; each temple wanted to host Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada published so many books with an intensive distribution system, a system which made it possible to pay for the publications.
There are many ways to make service, like for instance:
- Distribution on the streets, approaching the people and try to make them buy one book or more, or dvd:s etc.
- Distribution in massive public transports, preaching to a group of passengers.
- Go visiting from door to door.
- Harinam with book tables.
- Approach people who come and go from parking places.
- Personal conversations in malls, stores and offices.
- Airports, public transports and vehicle terminals.
- Registration program for new life time members. Give them books.
- Sell Yoga Courses with the goal to make members who read the books systematically.
- Astral cards to deliver to the people together with the Vedic literature.
- Big tables in public places where the total of the publication is exhibited.
- Distribution of prasadam beside tables of SEVA material in order to attract the attention for the literature and the dvd:s.
- Distribution of the major books and dvd:s to book stores and other prestigious stores.
- Distribution of the Vedic literature to book stores and universities to present it as material for studies.
Actually, all these systems work if someone with much personal enthusiasm represent his or her Spiritual Master.
The elder devotees should carefully enthuse the devotees to compete in the book distribution, but they must warn them not to become proud and also not conscient of the amount instead of being preachers full of compassion.
REGISTER THE SUCCESS OF THE PREACHING
The temple should publish the achievements of the sankirtan on the notice-board of the temple and on the sankirtan webpage. There would be the names of the ecstatic distritutors of the SEVA, as well as other outstanding servants; they should also be mentioned and honored at the reunions. In the times of Srila Prabhupada we had a circle of sankirtan devotees who registered the competition of book distribution in a world wide scale. This gave the devotees the opportunity to know each other, and also to publish the experiences from the preaching.
So, I ask the SEVAS and the leaders please to report the distribution of their sankirtan people, but again – we may forget the risk of becoming proud, and this is the worst that can happen to anyone of us. We already have this nature of haughtiness, and if we do not become humble and meek from heart, we will surely fail on this path of pure devotion.
PRACTICAL INSTUCTIONS
The temple president should make regular sankirtan reunions with all the devotees of the community (internal and external). At least once a week each devotee of the temple shall do sankirtan. The sankirtan reunion should be done at minimum once a week. In these reunions, the best distributors have the opportunity to share their enthusiasm and experiences with others. With the major of the temple we can make such reunions every day before going. The major must enthuse the sankirtan devotees. The president establishes that all the material is ready for distribution and he is alert for if there is any change of price or if some article is missing. The leader shall find new forms of enthusiasm to overcome the devotees' mental obstacles that arise when they have to adept to a new situation. This requires a special injection from the temple president in the group, to create an atmosphere of success.
EVERYBODY SHOULD PARTICIPATE
Each devotee of the community should participate and help in the marathon. The cooks and the pujaris are also helping the preachers, but they should also feel the same. We are helping the preaching in our specific way, and if they have the opportunity to distribute a book they must not lose this chance.
PRESENTATION OF THE PREACHER
The devotees should dress well when they go out to preach. Dress like a vaisnava gentleman or jacket and tie. To present yourselves like hippies was not exactly what Srila Prabhupada aspired for. If you are well dressed, you are in advance acceptedas a respectable person by people in general. If we provoke rejection due to our way to dress, we are not serving the purpose of the preaching.
TABLES OF SEVA AT ALL ENTRANCES
Make sure that each entrance of the temples is beautifully exhibited with all the publications of the mission, with one person available who can present it and introduce any book or dvd to the people. At the entrance of the temple or preaching centre, there must be given a complete information about the purpose, literature and the projects of this respective vaisnava centre. Otherwise there will be eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel. If you don't exhibit, nobody will know the nectar that we have. Even the devotees forget what nectar of preaching we have available, if they do not see it at every moment.
CONFERENCES OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER
Each devotee should always carry with him at least some books and dvd:s with conferences or cd:S with mp3:s of their Spiritual Master. There is no excuse. This is the best way to glorify Krishna and Guru – giving away some of their writings or spoken words in the hands of whom this benefit would please.
WE DO NOT KEEP BACK AT ANY MOMENT
There is another problem; the devotees are often careless. They carry books in their bags together with shoes or food, and in this way they ruin the presentation of the article. It takes responsibility and knowledge of an excellent seller to go out well prepared and achiev his object. Any salesman can give you a first class presentation of his product, so why could not a vaisnava organize himself to present his nectar to the world? This should be a topic for discussion in the reunions and istagostis to improve the situation. But we must never stop, never keep back at any moment. This is the sankirtan-yajña, and we have nothing else to do, than to preach responsibly. This is all.
BLESSINGS FOR THE MARATHON
One who can find a new way to increase the distribution of transcendental nectar, will do a great service to the preaching, and we want to learn from him.
Sankirtan yajña ki jaya! Our Gurudevas were all distributors and editors of books. This is a tradition of preachers. I beg you to keep this spirit alive in our mission.
I wish you a happy marathon and I am anxious to see your results reported soon on the sankirtan page
Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti,
Vrindavana, India, 2007
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