Gita in Motel

One homeless woman really wanted to read the Bhagavad Gita, but could only give a dime. She refused to take a soft BG and promised she would get one later when she had the money. (I insisted that she at least take a ROP) She said she was aware of the BG because they were in motel rooms!

Adam Bernstein

Bhaktivinod Thakur MSF invitation video

a Dog welcomes Sankirtan devotees

Practically in every house, there were pets (one cat and mostly dogs -- although a few dogs seemed like human beings because of their height and weight). As soon as we knock on the doors they would bark. When one gentleman opened the door, his dog some how sneaked outside and started running towards us. Immediately Bharath prabhu ran outside of the compound door and locked the door [imagine the scene :-) ]. I was left stranded :-( and the dog started jumping up on me and trying to smell and did everything possible (except biting, thankfully). Strangely, that resident was just watching the fun :-)) Finally, he came and caught the dog and took him inside. Then Bharath prabhu came inside :-))) It later turned out that the resident was jobless (and may be he was frustrated and allowed the dog to freak out -- my speculation). Anyway, it was little funny, scary and weird incident. He took books, by the way. That's what mattered, in the end….

. Bhakta K

Alcoholic Searching Spirituality

: At first we were hanging book packets on doors where there was no one home. But, because the people who were home were so receptive and were buying the books, we held them back and ended up selling them all. One man was immediately interested and said, "Oh, great! I'm an alcoholic and I've been searching for spirituality." He bought a Krsna Book for $20 and took a whole packet of other books. Two Peruvian woman bought book packets and also gave us some freshly baked bread, hot from their oven. (We didn't eat it because we weren't sure of the ingredients.)

ys, Vaisesika Dasa

A Gift Forever

………. - The above distribution included a Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita as a marriage gift to one of my close and longtime friends, Balaji, in Dallas. Though not involved in ISKCON, he is a sort of a pious person (atleast he used to be..;) ) and knew about Srimad Bhagavatam. He said he was extremely happy to receive them, specifically the Srimad Bhagavatam. He told me that he felt like he has received a lifetime worth of wonderful reading material and that he will start visiting ISKCON temple in Dallas. Knowing him, I am sure that he will take upto serious Krishna consciousness very soon and probably will be drowning his wife as well in the transcedental devotional service to Lord Krishna. Infact, he told me that he is very pleased that I am seriously participating in ISKCON spiritual activities...:-)……… Vijay

Let's leave everyone with a good impression.

On Dec. 26 i met a nice Indian gentleman at our SF Harinama. He said that he was a devotee of Krishna his whole life and now he was facing some hard times. He had lost his job and had no where to sleep. He said that he was losing his faith. We were standing at the book table when he asked, "What can you tell me? I don't know what to do." He asked if he could stay at our Temple, but i explained that it is very small and there may not be any room. I really did not know what to do, but somehow i could not let him leave without some words of encouragement. I gave him 2 small books, an ISO and a Civ + Trans, and i told him that if you have Krishna then you have everything. I could tell that he had a renewed sense of hope when he took the books. I gave him my personal phone number and told him that if you get into trouble please call me and i will come and get you and bring you to my apartment. A few days later he called and said he was staying at a friends house for a few days. He told me that he had graduated with a Hotel and Restaurant Managament degree from India and was desperate to send money back to his family. I sent an email to my friend Michelle who is the owner of an award winning restaurant here in the city. Now he has a job interview on Monday. I could tell by the timbre of his voice that his faith in God is renewed by his experience with the devotees. We really made a difference in his life. He was so happy to see the devotees on Harinama. Every time we go on book distribution, we eradicate ignorance and bring auspiciousness to everyone we connect with. My whole life all i wanted to do is help people. This Sankirtan movement is the best way to really help....in fact it is the only way to help people. As Vaisesika Prabhu has said," Let's leave everyone with a good impression. Everyone we meet should feel that they have met a spiritual person." Let us not be afraid to go the extra distance to make our preaching more personal. Sometimes just giving someone your phone number can really encourage them to get reconnected to Krsna Consciousness. We should approach everyone with an open heart, ready to do what is necessary to help. Those who are receptive will appreciate your effort. Everyone is looking for Krishna everywhere. All Glories to the Sankirtan Devotees!!!

Ys, ……Bhakta Jorge

Door to Door -- house preaching

: we went to door-door for a while, met very interested people, and spent very good time for preaching.

we have met one indian family, they were very happy to see us, invited us to their home, we started preaching about Krishna for 1 hr at their home, and they were very impressed about Krishna Consciousness, and there is a good singer in their family, he has sung one good devotional song too :), then later his friends arrived, and his friends have invited us to their home, we went to his friend's family too, there is a one more good singer too :) , also she sang very melodious song of Krishna.

Both families took Bhagavad Gita, and it was wonderful experience , preaching at their door-step, and they became very close friends in a short frame.

they were impressed with dynamic preaching of Vijaya Mataji.

Ys

Bharath

A Hippies (or Happies) Realization

Stephen was an interesting guy who had no money and seemed to be an aging hippie. He was wearing a comical headband studded with three-inch horns, as if to declare his eccentricity. He wanted to talk a lot and obviously was not going to take a book, so I was a little uneasy at the prospect of him taking up my time, but I was surprised at his realizations. He said it was obvious that bhakti was the way to know Krishna, because when Krishna had displayed a fraction of His majesty to Arjuna by showing the Universal Form, Arjuna became unsteady and frightened, but became peaceful again by seeing Krishna in his original beautiful form. "We are not meant to know Krishna's unlimited power and majesty", he said, "but we can approach Him through pure love and know His beauty." Stephen told me that he was on the Hawaian Island of Kauai and was a follower of a yogi named "Sai" before "Sai" surrendered to Srila Prabhupada and became "Siddhasvarup Ananda." He told me that it was an incredible experience to be in the presence of such a fully illuminated being as Siddhaswarup. By speaking to Stephen I developed an urge to meet Siddhaswarup, whom I have never seen.................

Akruranath Das

Doing the way HG Vaisesika Pr does ! ;)

Doing the way HG Vaisesika Pr does ! ;)

To qualify a person .....

Two young school boys were nearing the harinam & i read on one of the boys shirt

saying " I am the President of America"

So i went to him & shook hands with him saying " Hello Mr Barack Obama"

Pointing to his shirt he started laughing . Then i showed him Chant & be happy

explaining him the spiritually potent name(Krishna & Rama) from ancient indian wisdom

which delivers our mind & reduces stress.He took the book but he said he could not

donate as all his money has gone in the stimulus package :)

The other boy donated & i gave him a book too.

But HG Vaisesika Pr does this type of qualifying people every time.

It took for me more than a year to TRY. ………….. Ys Vrajendra kumar das

If u r not ur body then where are YOU ??

A young teen indian boy stood by the table suddenly & i asked him what is ur name.

He replied " Caitanya" I became instantly happy & showed him Caitanya MahaPrabhu Photo.

Then i explained him about bhagavad gita & the concept of soul.I asked him holding his hand

" what is this "

He replied " This is my hand "

Then i pointed at his nose & he said " This is my nose"

then i pointed to his eyes & he said " this is my eyes"

& Then i asked the billion dollar question " THEN where are YOU ??"

He started laughing & then i showed him the soul transmigration picture & explained him " we not this body but the soul within

the body" I was so happy explaining him because he was simply grasping every concept with good understanding like a Sponge

Later he told me that he is reading Harry Potter So i told him i have here every book on philosophy & only one story book

ie: Krishna Book & showing him i tried to convince him to take it but he said his mother won't buy

seeing his eagerness i said " then cry to her to buy it as you do for a chocolate" .

He then went to his mother & they seemed to have a discussion

Later as they were getting into the car his eyes met mine & it said that he wanted the book but mother is not listening.

So i took the Krishna Book & went to her & said " Your child like this book " & i explained it containing Krishna pastimes showing the pictures in it .

She said " Oh we have Bhagavad gita " i said this is bhagavatam the stories of Dhruva, prahalad & narshima comes from these

Then she immediately bought the book & i put the book in his hand & he smiled & wisked into the car saying

" I am going to read it right away"

I suddenly felt jealous about him because he accepted the Absolute Truth so easily & at such a young age.

But i am happy to be an instrument in connecting Caitanya With Lord Caitanya.

Ys

Vrajendra Kumar das

AAHOA Annual Motel Convention

Team MotelGita woul like to present the summary about the AAHOA Annual Convention held at Chicago.

Trade Show Date : 17 and 18 June 2010.

Devotees Attended : H G Akruranath prabhu, H G Ghadi Prabhu (Prabhupada Disciple from Florida), Rohininandan Prabhu, Dilip patel prabhu, Jitendra Prabhu, Milan

Total orders Recd : 10,000 Books (Approx)

Inquiries (Need follow up to convert leads into orders) : 6000 Books.(approx)

1. Due to great contacts and efforts from DilipBhai, the AAHOA booth, that has a retail price tag of $4500 was made available to us completely free. Last year we paid $2500 for the same thing. The Chairman of AAHOA , Mr Tarun Patel, personally came down to talk to us and thanked us for the good work we were doing. On behalf of AAHOA he assured us all support possible.The treasurer already confirmed our free booth for the year 2011 as well!

2. H G Ghadi prabhu came for the convention from Florida.He was not aware of our participation and booth at the convention. We too had no clue that anyone from Florida wanted to distribute books to Motel. Nityananda Pran prabhu told me about him on phone a couple of days prior to the trip. He than joined the bandwagon and became a part of 'Team MotelGita'.

3. The number of visitors at the convention this time was a little dissapointment. Maybe the weak economy, coupled with low real estate prices has now shown it's affect on the hospitality industry. Not sure. But neverthless, this was a great platform to make new contacts, espescially as this our first ever convention in the Mid West. This was also a good platform to strengthen our relationship with AAHOA.

4. As expected many moteliers have placed orders.Many moteliers with multiple proerties have palced order for only few motels (rather than all motels) as they still want to 'try it out a little' before going 'full scale'. Thus, if we execute the orders well and in a timely manner, we can get many more orders from the same people for their other motels.

5. Many AAHOA Directors came forward and helped us in our efforts to create contacts with other Moteleirs and directors. Rohininandan Prabhu was able to meet many directors of the East coast region. He actively persued the long term vision plan for Team MotelGita.

6. I met a person named Kantibhai Patel.I explained the program to him. He listened to it very attentively and then told me he has NO motels. But he very charged up by this idea. He was actually a Loan broker in the Motel industry and he started calling few of his motelier friends around. He literally 'Ordered' them (sweetly) to place orders. Within fifteen minutees, Jitendra Pr and myself got orders for around 10 motels (approx 500 books) due to Kantibhai. He is a local to Chicago and the plans are to introduce him to Nityananda Pran Prabhu (Temple President Chicago ISKCON) to see if he can take it up further. Kantibhai was so charged up that he committed to help place books in 100 motels in Chicago!

7. Many people from Press and publications were interested in interviewing us and getting more detils about the project. Sahara TV interviewed Ghadi Prabhu and the small clip will aired on Sahara TV. They will mail me the dates. Gujarat Garvi( A Gujarati Newspaper Magazine) has tied up with Akruranatha Pr for an article which they will publish once it is made available to them. Another request for an interview was recd by from ... and that will be held live at San Jose temple sometimes soon.

7. I would take this opportunity to thank ISKCON Chicago for their wonderful help! It would NOT have been easy without the huge stamping exercise conducted by H G Jitendriya Prabhu and his team of Devotees from Chicago.The accomodation was arranged at the temple and the love and concern shown by the temple president was very touching! He even arranged to deliver stumptous LUNCH Prasadam all the way at the convention on both days.The Mangal Aratis and the morning program added to our already wonderful 'Chicago Yatra'.

7. There are many more GNABs and I would request all attendees to send an email. H G Akrurantha Pr has very kindly agreed to send a detailed report to press , publications and of course to all of us.

More details on the orders to follows.

Thanks and regards,

Ys,

Milan

A Preacher pleases Krishna

One person asked me : Some hindus complain that our hindu religion is not a preaching religion. But still why these ISKCON people engage in evangelistic activities.
What is your explanation? I explained him that in Bhagavad-Gita 18th chapter, Krishna says that who preach His glories are more dear to me than any one else. Also Lord Caitanya has asked every Indian to preach the message of Krishna to every one and every where. But the so called hindus just use the name of Bhagavad-Gita to suit their propaganda but they do not want or follow what Krishna says. He was satisfied.………

Bhakta K

A gift for many lifetimes

1. I have a friend named Nagaraj who lives in NC, i have already sent him Bhagavatam some time ago. I was thinking how could i give one more set to him. I knew that he got a sister and she lives in MN. I have asked him " Have you ever given gifts to your sister ?" , he replied that " i have gifted many electronic items, clothes..etc ". then i said that these gifts might have been brought some kind of happiness for limitted time, but that happiness does not last for long. Later i have asked him that "Have you ever given gift which makes your sister life perfect and makes happy forever in this life , and next life, and many life times too ....?", he got confused , and he said " does the gift really exists ?".
Later i have told him about Srimad Bhagavatam, and gave a brief description about Narada's previous birth, and Ajamila. He was astonished..how powerful devotinal service is and lot activities , and how it elevates our consciousness from mode of ignorance to vasudeva platform.
If you gift Srimad Bhagavatam to your sister, you get purified a lot by giving, and also your sister life too..if you read daily..Janma karma ca medivya evam...tyaktva deham punarjanma.. as Krishna promised..no more life for both of you...
he said that "she has ever expected such kind of a gift from me" ...he is very happy to gift Srimad Bhagavatam to his sister……
Bharath

Simply try distributing Books

1) I saw young teen boys & girls walking away & I was thinking that they won't buy the book
but then i felt "Lets Try Anyway" & they bought the book
But when i was trying hard to distribute books to some person thinking that they shall buy it .
They just refused.
A lesson learnt --- Donot think who would take the book or who won't !
Simply try to Distribute to everyone whoever comes ur way
2) When i was distributing books in LA nagar sankirtan at Venice beach (Prabhupad festival)
I looked at HG Parthsarathi Pr who is a strong spiritual warrior , a great book distributor
& i told him " This place is so tough to distribute books. People here are so materialistic & uninterested for spiritual life"
He replied strongly "You are not distributing .You are not stopping people.How will the books go ?"
Then i started stopping people whoever came my way , trying hard & harder.
Prabhupada said " Ours is a Thankless JOB."
When shall i give up desire for prestige & respect ??
When shall i understand Prabhupadas above statement?
Ys
Vrajendra kumar das

Humility is the first sign of wisdom

At one door I took great pains to get a man to buy a book. He gave back the Gita, so I gave him a smaller book. When I asked for a donation, he said he had no money. I asked for a penny and explained that it would give him sukriti. Finally, he came back with a handful of change. However, he also tried to hand back the Chant and Be Happy, saying, "Why don't you give it to someone else?"

I said, "I would except that our aim is to give them to the most intelligent people."

He said, "That rules me out."

I said, "This book teaches that humility is the first sign of wisdom. Since you are showing humility, this proves that you are intelligent." Finally, with a smile, he relented and took the book….

Vaisesika Dasa

Door to Door -- An Amazing Experience

Narendra is my colleague, and he is new to book distribution, i have requested him to join me for Door-Door. He was bit scared as it was his first time and initially he was bit worried how poeple react when we knock their door. Somehow i have convinced him that its great service and pleasing to Krishna. For the first few mins, he used to hide himself and stand few meters away from me while i was knocking , After We have met many americans , most of them were very receptive and they chanted the maha mantra. Narendra was stunned. After seeing that he has started knocking the door on his own and started speaking to them freely.

At the end he said that this was amazing experience for him and he was very happy that many people chanted maha mantra and gave donations. Now he is very much eager to do Door-Door.

ys

Bharath

Fortunate Souls

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

Please accept my humble obeisances

Dear Devotees,

I just wanted to share this nice experience with you. As most of you know the landlord next door decided to close off his property to our cars due to liability. He hired a worker to put up a barrier and signs that said "no Temple cars". This worker's name is Randy Durbin, and he was so impressed by our philosophy that he asked me for some help. He has been recovering from some health problems and has been searching for the truth. He asked me for some books and opened his wallet and gave every thing he had. I did not even ask him for a donation. He left with a hard bound Bhagavad Gita, a hard bound Science of Self Realization and a new determination to inquire about the absolute truth. He was so happy to receive these books and says that he will come to the Temple.

Ys, Bhakta Jorge

Bhagavad gita in every Motel

After Gideons, 1Million Hindu Holy Books to Don Hotels Across North America

Christian Post John Beita 2009 Inspired by the Gideons, who are known for distributing and placing the holy Bible in hotels and motels around the world, a Hindu group has followed the suit, believing that "whoever reads one verse, one line, or even touches will have perfection in life." Now along with Gideon's Bible are Hindu holy books `Bhagavad Gita' placed side by side in many hotels and motels across North America.

`Motel Bhagavad-Gita Project' taken up to distribute one million Hindu holy book `Bhagavad Gita' all over the hotels and motels in the United States and Canada has "yielded tremendous success," said the volunteers who are carrying out the work. The volunteers were members of Pancajanya Project, a branch of `Hare Krishna' movement, also known as International Society of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) dedicated to placing at least 1 million Bhagavad-Gitas in guest rooms across the U.S. and Canada.

"Whoever reads one verse, one line, or even touches one of these books will have an opportunity to achieve perfection in life and meet Lord Krishna face to face," said Vaisesika Dasa, president of ISKCON"s Silicon Valley temple in San Jose, California, and visionary of the Pancajanya Project.

Encouraged by the Indian community who owns a large number of lodgings in the States, Rohini Nandana a volunteer in Boston area said, "Something like 60% of the economy lodgings in the United States are now owned by Indian Americans, primarily Gujarati Patels. This gives the owners a unique opportunity to spread the wisdom and glorious message of Krishna throughout the country."

"We are finding that many of the owners we contact have been waiting for an organized effort such as this one and are showering their blessings on this Project," she added. The voluntary group said, the project got a big boost after

"it had taken a booth at a convention held by members of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) who met for their annual national convention and trade show" held near Washington D.C in April this year. It was where the group requested the AAHOA members, with a plea saying,

"Please let us provide copies of Bhagavad-Gita to place in your rooms alongside the Gideons Bibles." The volunteers said that with orders for nearly 30,000 books and counting, the goal of placing 1 million Bhagavad-Gitas seems quite realistic. ………… distributebooks

Hare krishna Six months ago HG Vaiseshika Prabhu asked us to do this and we have finally done it.

We have added MotelGita to facebook - Within a week we have about 35 members !! It is under CAUSES section with the title of "Bhagavad Gita at Motels".

Radhav

Book distribution in Trains

Thanks to H.G Vaisesika Prabhu for inspiring to do books distribution while commute to work. As part steady improvements I tried this and distribute couple of books to passengers

in the caltrain and my colleagues at work.

yhs,

Sreekanth

Smart Box---- Smart Ways

- In one of the grocery stores in Fremont, the lady owner knowing very well the importance of prasadam immediately started making small pieces of the doughnut like sweet and distributed it much to the delight of the customers there. Infact, this store owner took less than 10 secs to agree when I requested permission for putting our smart box there.

It is definitely pleasing and moreover encouraging to find such store owners who are readily willing to help us in our mission of distributing Srila Prabhupad's books.
Hopefully, we can find all such storeowners in the Bay area and establish our smart boxes in every one of them....:)

Hare Krishna !

On behalf of ISV Smartbox Sankirtan team
ys
Vijay.

Too shy to chant ....

One lady opened the door and listened to our presentation about the Gita. Her daughter, Alicia, (12 yrs old), sitting in the living room watching TV, half listened too. After mom bought the Gita, we taught her the maha mantra. By that time her daughter had gone into another room. But, I told the mom that Alicia should come back out to learn the mantra too. So, mom called out, "Alicia, come in her and learn this mantra!" Alicia came in but was too shy to repeat after me. So, mom said, "I will teach her."

Then mom proceeded to teach her daughter the mantra, making her repeat it after her, the same way that I had just taught her. The daughter laughed while saying the mantra, but she chanted the whole mantra. "One who chants the holy name of the Lord is immediately freed from the reactions of unlimited sins, even if he chants indirectly [to indicate something else], jokingly, for musical entertainment, or even neglectfully. This is accepted by all the learned scholars of the scriptures." SB 6.2.14

All glories to the MSF of twenty-thousand!

YS,

Vaisesika Dasa

Fortunate Souls

* It was another lesson for me not to judge people based on their appearance. While we were doing book distribution inside the apartment complex, I found one old american lady going past us with her pet dog. Usually from my experience, such kind of persons never replied in affirmation when approached with books. So I told Sreekanth prabhu to be careful in approaching her because some of them can get upset when we solicit and can complain to apartment leasing office and get us thrown out. But still, being magnanimous by nature, Sreekanth prabhu still went ahead and knocked her door. At first, a black middle-aged person opened the door and did not respond positively. But behind him, that old lady came after listening to our words. She looked very depressed, stressed out and sad. She listened to what Sreekanth prabhu has to say and she responded very positively, politely and enthusiastically. It seemed she has a little background knowledge about mantras, spirituality etc.. She liked our effort and very much welcomed what we had to say. (This came out as a big lesson to me in terms of not judging people by their external appearance or based on our past experience with some one else). After talking some time to her, we understood that she is some one who is very much down and out in her struggle with material world. She has a plethora of health problems, mental problems and various other complexities going on in her life. She actually cried a bit in front of us trying to explain how frustrated she is with her life and the world around her. She said that inspite of all the problems she is happy (Reminds me what Prabhupada says about a sick man. When you ask a sick man how he is doing, he will say "I am fine", even though he is bed ridden with all the health problems.. such is the conditioning of maya that we live in). But we should appreciate her openness to accept our books, accept what we had to say, and she also repeated the maha-mantra which was taught by Sreekanth prabhu. She didn't know how much sukruti she has gathered by chanting the maha mantra and by being favorable to devotees. Now that the books have gone to her, her path back to home has just started, either in this life or next.

* We met one person who is a worshipper of Lord Shiva. He instantaneously told that he is a 'shaivite'. He worships only Lord Shiva but said that he is not against Vaisnavas. I asked him to bring his children to ISV Sunday school where they can learn Bhagavad-Gita etc. He was reluctant and said his children already chant some siva mantras and are happy about it. But he was very open and took Bhagavad-Gita and other small books and donated $20. He was very cordial and invited us to come inside their house. He appreciated our efforts in spreading this knowledge. Again, I was touched by his open-mindedness. If some 'Shaivite' comes to my residence and solicits for their books, I am not sure if I will take them. Although I am sure I will respect them…

Kishore

Following in the footsteps of ISV sankirtan model in Laguna Beach

By mercy of Srila Prabhupad and Sri Panchatatva and guidance from HG Vaisesika Prabu along with HG Tukaram Prabu and HG Rupanuga Prabu, we have expanded book distribution at Laguna Beach temple.

We were able to get Walmart spot during holiday season and the devotees have been going out with great enthusiasm for last few weeks.

Laguna Beach Sankirtana team wanted to contribute for MSF of 20K and the party went to Walmart@Laguna Niguel last Sunday.

Thanks to Raxit Prabhu for sending books from BBT for this Yagya and Praveena mataji for detailed step by step instructions for getting permission.

Deepak

Wife Saying YES & Husband Saying NO

One of the doors I knocked, an Indian lady answered and said that they were running late for a dinner party. I said it will be quick and gave her a book pack and asked for a donation. She went inside and I heard someone yelling that why are we obligated to give any donation and so on. It was her husband and then he slammed the door on me. They both were arguing inside and I was not sure if I should have stayed or not. Wife was arguing that they should get the book and the husband was saying no. Finally the wife came back really upset and her eyes were red. She very politely asked if she can the books back. I did not put any pressure on her and I left. I was remembering the Wives of the Brahmana's from Krsna book where the wives were so eager to help. Just the argument that the lady put for Krsna may have elevated her to higher position.

Another door I knocked, a teen age spanish boy answered the door. He was wearing a cross around his neck. He was talking through a small slit so that the dog would not come out of the door. I told him that these are the books on yoga and meditation. He was saying that back to their parents in the house, " This is a book on yoga and meditation. Do you want it? " . The parents were saying no. Then I told him that it helps us to get free from stress and anxiety. He was saying the same thing back to them. He was trying to sell the book to his parents. I was so happy that he was preaching this message unknowingly. They did not take the book but I was very happy that he preached.

.. Malini devi dasi.

I shall donate from my piggy bank

One fourth grader girl was happy to take a Bhakti book inspite of her father's reluctance

and gave 35 cents from her piggy bank as Balaram asked for some donation.

Yas,

Ananda Vrndavan dd

Never too late to be a Sankirtan devotee

: These two new guests yesterday were very nice, highly qualified visitors whom we expect to see more of. The husband is C.J. Arunkumar, and the wife is Vasanthi Arunkumar. They are both electronics engineers, and they moved to the U.S. a little over 20 years ago. They have been living in Union City all this time, but never came to an ISKCON temple in this area until yesterday.

They originally hail from Kanchi and Cholapuram in Tamil Nadu, but after getting engineering degrees in India they worked in Finland before coming to the U.S. They have a son and daughter, and the daughter has one son, theiur only grandchild. Their son, 28, lives in San Francisco.

In about 1980, they met an ISKCON swami from India (possibly Gopal Krishna Maharaja?) on a plane, and he advised them to visit the ISKCON temple in Seattle. They visited New Vrndavana in about 1991 and loved it. They have been meaning to get in touch with ISKCON in the Bay Area for many years.

Earlier this year, Vasanthi was laid off, and she is using her extra free time to pursue spiritual interests. Recently she fulfilled a long-term ambition by making a pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash, in Tibet. C.J. came with her and they completed the 56 km parikram in 3 days by foot, staying in tents and braving high altitudes.

They were happy to meet all the friendly devotees are they very eager to read Prabhupada's books. They would like us to have a program at their home to welcome the Bhagavatam set into their home. They also got a BBT art calendar and bead bags with beads from the temple gift store, and they are going to try chanting japa.

They expressed a willingness to go out on a door-to-door book distribution party, but then we spent a long time at the temple showing them the books and bead bags, etc. (it was a late program because of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's Disappearance Day), and they decided to save that for another day. I think they should come on Harinama on Friday for sure. Please let me know where and when it will be and I will make sure to invite them.

Y.s., Akruranatha dasa

A bunch of pennies

It was very cold that evening, still the children went door to door very enthusiastically and distributed lots of books. All the time they kept chanting Mahamantra while walking around that must have attracted Lord's mercy towards them.

Many people mentioned being out of job and have no money, then children would very sweetly say even a penny is fine, and some of them donated bunch of pennies collected in the home. In fact most of the donation was a collection of pennies and other coins.

Anuradha Mataji approached one person and showed the books and explained very nicely and she said we are accepting donation if you with to give something. That person immediately replied, 'oh I am also accepting some donation if you wish to donate something!', and Mataji gave book bag to him and said this is what we are giving out today :)

Pooja had a dance performance that evening where she distributed many books with her parents. That score is included in this report.

Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!

YS

Kamesvari devi dasi

Following in the footsteps of ISV sankirtan model

Dear Vaisesika Prabhuji

pamho

AgtSP

Following the many months of association with Glorious Sankirtan Generals AT isv like you I had learned something about book distribution. When I came here to Bangalore I saw that the book distribution program is very much lackluster compared to ISV. I thought I should try to implement a few things that I had learned from you. Emulating the Walmart Model, I decided to target the big malls in Bangalore where there is a lot of foot fall. So I started with one mall named Big Bazaar near my residence. I made friends with the Store Manager, took prasadam for him regularly and befriended him. Somehow by Krishna's mercy he liked my company. He allowed me to distribute books on his store premises. I asked him if he could put in a word to all his other friends. In a span of two weeks we have got permission to distribute books from about 7 different malls across the city with another 3 to added to the list starting this week.

I then started targeting Railway Stations in Bangalore that are packed with people always. We found out about devotees who work in the Secretariat and are working with the Deputy Regional Manager for the Railways to secure permission to setup spots at the Railway Stations and also have volunteers walking across the different platforms to distribute books. We hope to receive the green signal this week. While chanting my rounds last week I kept hearing "Hospitals" in my head. I sometimes feel I day dream or dont chant with proper attention, I thought it to be a passing phase. However I realised that I was being prompted to target hospitals for book distribution. I've found out about devotees in the congregation who work in hospitals and they are helping arranging a meeting for me with the Management. I am planning on meeting a few big hospital groups to have a copy of 'Beyond Birth & Death" and also "Bhagavad-Gita" in every room. Please keep us in your prayers so we can become successful in these two projects.

For the Marathon, the Bangalore ISKCON Temple in Seshadripuram has started advertising in the Radio on a local channel called RED FM, which is heard by over 2-3 million people daily, for anyone to purchase a copy of the Gita for just Rs 99 simply by sending an SMS to 56066 with the word GITA for a FREE home delivery. We're also advertising radio ads called 'jingles' on RED FM that run for about 30 seconds about the offer to get a Gita for half the regular price (Rs99) along with a spiritual message. There is a program from 6am-7am every Sunday like a radio talk show where people can call in and ask questions on the Gita or simply describe how the Gita has helped them in their lives. This has also been a good venue for the Gitas to be distributed as many people who did not have the Gita, ordered for one after hearing the program. Maybe ISV could try that on NPR or some local channel.

I'm trying to become friends with the MLA(political leader) in the area where I live, so we can get additional traction and help in Government offices. I've made friends with the friend of his PA. Long way to go but let's hope something works out. There are a lot of Government entities here in Bangalore like BHEL, BEL, HAL, BEML, etc (similar to NASA, Pentagon,etc). We know of one devotee who just got transferred to BEL Bangalore. We're taking his help to see if we can work out to get bulk orders from these corporates. Could you send me the contact information of the devotee in Mumbai who does corporate Sankirtan?

As promised it would be really helpful and encouraging if you could give a 15-20 min video presentation on Book Distribution for the devotees in Bangalore to help encourage them so they feel inspired to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books. I have talked to the TP and he said he can give me a 20 minute window immediately after the Sunday Feast Lecture so I can show your video.

Working out all the logistics and all the background services is also no easy task keeping in mind Bangalore's widely distributed congregation with the city's traffic, etc. I realize how much work Praveena and Malini have done for all MSF's at ISV.

Finally the numbers ... about 2000 Gitas in 2 weeks just from the malls. All books should be around 3-4k in two weeks. The goal is to distribute 30000 Gitas. But I highly doubt if even 10000 books is possible. We need help, inspiration and blessings.

YS

Narahari dev das

Bhaktivinod Thakur MSF Harinam

You are selling religion !!!

I was preaching to the students and another person (may be a professor or SJ Spirit leader - Bible teacher), He was commenting "on the name of Yoga, you are selling religion" I can imagine why it is so.. he was referring the picture of Lord Visnu in the POY book. I am impressed that he can recognise Lord Visnu.. Great..

But as you know he was not happy.. after few minutes , 2 Police cab came near to my spot, But I was continuing my program,, later I realised that they are observing me ..

It may be my speculations... But I stopped distributing books rather staying there for 10 mins with personal chanting only.. Somehow I relaised that not to pick up a risk unnecessarily, I left the spot... But the police presence may be something different... anyway I thought them to be Jay & Vijay manifesting Ravana * Kumbhakarna...

Balaram was very compassionate to his teacher being non vegetarian, he thought of presenting a Higher taste book and Gita so that at least he will be attracted to the vegetarian food...He presented to his teacher this Christmas gift and his teacher liked it very much,

Jaya Srila Prabhupada.

Yas,

Balimrdana das

Military man afraid of Door - to - Door Battle

H.G Vaisesika Prabhu told us his encounter with a very old man

He was retired military man he invited us to his home.

" He told us that you are very brave people to knock everyones door .

I can fight with gun but I am very scared to knock the door of people :) " .

we again went to his home with Vaisesika Prabhu he greeted us and took BG and pack of books and donated some lakshmi.

The MSF of 'twenty thousand' ki.. Jai !

yhs,

sreekanth

OUT of the Box thinking

A little out-of-the-box thinking was employed to inch closer towards our goal of deploying 150 devotees. The method today was to encourage the people who were receiving books to pass it out to their friends in the spirit of holidays. I went to the motel laundry and gave some books to the lady who passed them out to her friends.

In the same way, the motel manager Sanjeshini got some books and was planning to give it to her mom who is devout lady and she visits the Fremont/Livermore temple. That motel can be a prospective target for our Motel Gita program. Carlos volunteered to talk to the manager.

In the farmer's market, I spoke to Robert and gave him a book to give it to his boss which he did.

Thus those who received books were giving it out to others.

MSF of 20k ki jaya !

YS

Srivasa Pandita Das

Please donate a penny

Finally one gentlemen opened the door for us and he was interested to know more about the various activites we do at the temple. In the end, he said he will come to the temple to donate laxmi. Since the temple has come all the way to his house,

I have requested him to donate atleast a penny.

He said let me look for a quarter/penny. We could hear from inside that his wife doesn't want to give a penny especially when we took on a weekend to distrbute books.

We were amazed that they gave a laxmi of 51 dollars :-)

…. Sushma, Rahul & Kumar

A Bhagavad gita to unite a family

My Grandmother from South America has been visiting me for the last couple weeks and I gave her a Bhagavad Gita in Spanish. She has visited India several times to visit sites where Jesus has gone. She wanted to learn about my religious practice and had many questions, so I have her a Bhagavad Gita and told her a little about the philosophy. Then the most amazing thing happened. My uncle Juan came by the house. I never see my uncle due to some due to an old family fued. My family never listens to me and so I usually don't preach to them with words. On the other hand, my uncle is a very successful man and everybody listens to what he says. He saw the Bhagavad Gita and exclaimed,"Oh that's a great book! I've been reading this book since I was in colledge. You are supposed to read it at every stage of life. You should read this book at least 7 times." My family could not believe it. Now they all wanted to read the Gita. Krsna is so wonder full. The Bhagavad Gita helped to unite my family.

Transcendental Book Distribution Ki Jai!

Ys,

Jorge