Lord Caitanyas party in Cupertino California

On Saturday Dec 11, the weather was mild and people were in good mood. It was a large sankirtan party that went distributing books in the 'Villages Apartments' in Cupertino, the city well known for its excellent schools and brilliant students. Well, there is one more thing to add. It is a city of intelligent donors! There was hardly a door where our philosophy was not received well.

At one home a mataji applauded Manjulakshi Mtj and I for what we were doing, adding that if Christians can do it then we should too. At the same time, far away in another corner of the sprawling apartment complex, a Christian donated $20 to our cause. Jaya!

The team had success with Chinese donors as well. And, I had my first success with the Chinese community, a very sweet lady who has recently come from China took a book pack and parted with some Lakshmi - very difficult thing to do when you’re a fresh immigrant.

It was my good fortune to see Srinivas Dindu prabhu in action. I have only one thing to say: " All that I have heard about him is true." He stands there at the doors with his sincere charming smile, and people just open their hearts and of course their purse strings! There was a door where Sunny prabhu and I had gone knocking, but the owner asked us to come back later since they were having lunch. To be honest, I just told about it to Srinivas prabhu and completely forgot about it. But not him. Srinivas Pr returned to the household later, and came back with a check for $108! Lesson learned: even if someone shows the slightest interest it is worthwhile making the trip back.

Cannot emphasize the importance of dum-dum pops in endearing the kids and thus their parents ;). Sunny Prabhu was gracious enough to drive quickly to the store, and we got some more when we realized in the middle that we had none left in his van. He sure is driving his way back to Godhead.

It is amazing the many things one learns when out on book distribution. We met Kala Mtj and came to know that she has moved there recently. Needless to say, she offered us a place to rest our feet, and brought up our blood sugar level, to the tune of Sri Ramacandra Krpalu Bhaja Man rendered beautifully by little Vaidehi. I also saw Sukeshvari mataji's place from where the CHAD vibrations emanate every morning. I had not realized that she lived there. There were quite a few parents who liked the idea of Sunday School for the kids, and it helped us tell them that one of the teachers lives amongst them!

Krsna Dharma prabhu in addition to distributing books also carried out the very important task of bringing over our MSF lunch-prasadam, lovingly prepared by Hanspriya Mtj. Thank You! I had always seen him in the middle unit where all the book packing action goes on. It was great to see him out on the field, convincing the householders about the importance of Krsna consciousness.

If you have a short time, and you want to cover a lot of apartments then my experience of yesterday says: pair up with Manjulakshi Mtj. Full of energy, running up the stairs and talking fast, she will have the goods delivered in no time. When we paired up yesterday, we came to the last apartment where the name tag seemed to be like that of a Parsi - Narsi and we debated whether we should knock or not. Then we thought maybe it is short for Narasimhan. When we knocked, they opened the door and the couple began talking. They said they were not interested since they belonged to the Shakti cult. When we asked, "Oh Siva and Shakti?” we got a yes. We still asked them to donate for the cause and the man of the house said that he would not mind giving a donation but would not take the books since they were against his philosophy, like for example he told us that we use, "Hari Bol" as a greeting. When Manjulakshi Mtj asked him what did he say when he greeted people, to our surprise he answered, " Jai Sri Krsna". A Shiva/ Shakti follower using "Jai Sri Krsn" as a greeting? I am still trying to figure this one out. All I can say is Narsi's leader certainly has read the Srimad-Bhagavatam right.

I did not get a chance to spend time with all members of the team, I hope to some day, but I am sure they had a great time too, and have many better stories to tell.

We were very reluctant to stop in the evening fearing it would break the spell :). Overall it was an enjoyable day.

When we started in the morning Mohanvel Pr briefed us on Srila Prabhupada’s lectures that he had been listening to the day before. What else could have been a more auspicious way to start the book distribution?

On our way back to the temple, Monahavel Pr who had been tirelessly distributing books throughout the day, had a simple but very powerful thing to report: Krsna is all good and all merciful.......... Small wonder then that when I counted the lakshmi today, the collections totaled $1324.61. In any case, I should have known better. Nothing less than a thousand is to be expected when the team that I went out with had expert Krsna devotees like: Vaisesika Prabhu, Madhav-anand Pr, Srinivas Dindu Pr, Govinda-dutta Pr, HariGuru Pr, Krsna-Dharma Pr, Sunny Pr, Mohanavel Pr, Padarvinda Pr, Siri Babu Pr, Hansapriya Mtj, Malini Mtj and Manjulakshi Mtj! Here are the numbers:

Book Points

Small Book Pack: 130x3= 390

Bhagavad-gita : 91

Krsna Book : 25

Chinese Books : 8x10= 80

Total : 586

Lakshmi

$1324.61

MSF of 25000 ki Jaya!

Hari Bol! Or are we allowed to say Jai Sri Krsna :J)

Ys

Shraddha-devi Dasi

Kid Sankirtan trend setters

Due to the cause less mercy and help of our dear Mayapurbihari prabhu the Sunday school kids got an order of sending books to the Hindu students association of the US.

Mayapur Bihari Prabhu ki jay With out his help Our kids could not have been so far ahead in acheiving their goal .He is also the one who gave us the idea of having a stall at the Sunnyvale hindu Temple.Thanks so much Prabhuji.

We have had many other parents who have helped us stamp,arrange,pack and ship these orders I would like convey my heartfelt dandavats to all of the parents who made this possible.

Devotees who participated:All the Sunday school kids,Urmi mataji,Vanamali Krsna Prabhu,Sridhar Prabhu,Shilpa mataji,Anuradha mataji and Damodar vamsidhari prabhu.Please excuse if I missed any other names.

Total number of books sent:750

Kids also went on books distribution to a near by apartment for trick or treat .

Total number of Books distributed:164 books

Our Sunnyvale Hindu Temple Total scores were: 1002

Total till date: 1916 Books.

Saket and Srivatsa have taken a few books to distribute at texas and India respectively.

I will soon send in the updated scores.

Thanks so much

yAs

Sukhesvari dasi

=========================================

Dear Sukesvari dd,

Congratulations on organizing and inspiring this trend-setting program.

All glories to the kids! (And their intrepid teachers and parents.)

In amazement and with deep gratitude,

Vaisesika Dasa

An Adventure to the last minute.

Hare Krishna Dear Devotees,

The Bay Area Travelling Sankirtan party that usually comprises of Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu, Sunny Prabhu, Mohanavel Prabhu and Shraddha Mtj, was augmented this Last Saturday, by the grace of Lord Krsna, with the likes of HH Devamrita Swami Maharaj, HG Vaisesika Prabhu, Hansapriya Mtj and her Dad, Malini Mtj, Bhakta George and Stacey Mataji, when we went distributing books in Cupertino.

Interesting Moments:

We met one Kantha Mtj and she agreed to join the CHAD morning sessions soon (she has been sent the invite) and plans to come to the temple. She is visiting her daughter in Cupertino and wants to volunteer for a couple of hrs every-now-and -then.

It is a joy to watch Mohanavel prabhu patienly explain in his soft voice, the benefits of putting kids into KC Classes at a young age. From Sunny Prabhu I learned this week, the art of putting some life when knocking at doors :). His enthusiam of explaining the importance of the literature we distribute is catching.

It was interesting to note how Lord Krsna takes care of His Devotees and how His devotees never forget Him. We usually travel in Sunny Prabhu's car but that day since Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu was leaving for India, we took his car as well. Since my driving skills are by now known to all, you would all guess that I am always in the passenger seat. For no apparent reason, that day I decided to carry my purse with driver's license etc me. It was 3 pm and we were all enjoying book distribution in the company of exalted devotees, when it struck to us that Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu had a flight to catch to India, and the plane left in 3 hrs! But, he was busy choosing the next spot, and packing books. In the end there was a rush to push him out, and in that hustle and bustle, he locked the keys in the trunk of his car! We had to call his sister to come fetch him so he could go pack. And luckily the purse that I had brought with me, just on that day, came in handy since it had my AAA card, which we used to get help to retrieve the keys, which of course were found inside a bag of books!! Jay Sri Krsna!! For those of you who did not hear Vaisesika Prabhu at last Sunday's program narrate the escapdes of Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu, here is the rest of it: When Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu finally reached the airport he was stopped by security because of the tilak he was wearing, and was made to wait in a designated area awaiting further scrutiny. There he met another mataji who was also waiting to be checked, and he sold her a Bhagavad-gita!! We are awaiting further reports on what happened on the plane. Jaya!

Later in the day, we also covered a few of the apartments in same the complex where Sri-Krsn Purushottam Prabhu lives, and we heard a lot of neighbors tell us about the good work his sister Laxmi Mtj is doing to spread Krsna consciousness! We also met a lady from Finland and had an interesting long conversation explaining the messages from Prabhupada to her. Some residents remembered Vaisesika Prabhu and Sunny Prabhu from their visits last year and needless to say, they gave good donations. Jaya!

Book count:

Small = 110*4=440

Krishna = 19

BG = 35

Total = 494

Laxmi collected: $626.06

Hari Bol

Ys

Shraddha-devi Dasi

The Marathon That Everybody Wins :-)

http://news.iskcon.com/node/3306/2010-12-04/the_marathon_that_everybody_wins

The Marathon That Everybody Wins

By Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on 3 Dec 2010

December is the month of goodwill to all, of cosying up around the fire as the snow falls outside, of thinking of others and exchanging gifts with our loved ones.

ISKCON devotees around the world are also putting an extra focus on giving the most wonderful gift they know of to others, only they're doing it outside, on the streets, with their trusty book-bags slung over their shoulders.

December is the month of the Prabhupada Marathon, in which devotees make an increased effort to introduce others to the enlightening spiritual literature—introduced to the Western World by ISKCON's founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada—that changed their lives.

Of course, North American Book Distribution Strategist Vaisesika Dasa, a veteran of 35 years, prefers to think of the Marathon as a spontaneous event that is not restricted to a particular timeframe.

“The very first Marathon, in 1972, was completely unplanned,” he says. “Many devotees just happened to feel inspired at a certain time, and all went out to distribute books independently from each other. It was only later that they found out everyone had gone out at the same time, and the Marathon was born. Therefore many devotees continue to perform this service around the end of the year. But some prefer to start earlier, due to the bad weather in December, or the fact that many people are out of town.”

At ISKCON Silicon Valley (ISV), where Vaisesika is based, for instance, devotees began their Marathon in October, and have already reached their Marathon goal of 25,000 books.

“Now, we'll keep going throughout December, and smash our goal,” he says, with his trademark combination of enthusiasm and wry humor.

ISV, which, if you ask Vaisesika, also stands for Individual, Spontaneous, and Voluntary, is the proving ground for the innovative book distribution strategies that he and his team develop.

“We try them out here first, and then if they work, expand them to other ISKCON temples throughout North America,” he says. “The devotees in Toronto, Canada, for example, have greatly increased their book distribution using many of the techniques that we've tried and tested at ISV.”

One way of distributing books that devotees will be using this Christmas will be to include them amongst other gifts to family, friends and co-workers during office parties and family get-togethers over the holiday season. “It's a very personable and genuine way to distribute books, and of course it's a very acceptable thing to do at this time of year, because people are giving and receiving gifts in the dadhati pratigrinati spirit of loving exchanges, as decribed in the Nectar of Instruction,” says Vaisesika.

Door-to-door book distribution is also very popular. “Going door-to-door for political campaigns, to spread a religious message, or to sell things is an age-worn tradition here in America,” Vaisesika says. “So you don't even have to travel anywhere—just go door-to-door in your own neighborhood with some books, some prasadam (sanctified food), and some good cheer. Especially over the holidays, people appreciate that very much.”

Another method of book distribution cooked up in the ISV labs and taking off in Toronto, Boston, Houston, and other cities is the Smart Box. Installed in local shops, restaurants and other businesses, it's an ingenious honor system that allows devotees to distribute books even while they're sleeping—people simply take a book from the display and put their donation in a box.

“Here at ISV, three people became devotees in the last year and a half directly through the Smart Box,” Vaisesika says. “It's an easy, yet extremely effective program.”

Then there's the Motel Gita, a program which sees devotees placing copies of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is in hotel and motel rooms, along with the Gideons' Bible.

“Devotees across the country are getting involved on a local and national level, and are placing tens of thousands of books,” Vaisesika says. “We've had television coverage, attended major hotel conventions, and are establishing relationships with the biggest motel owners in North America. Our ultimate goal is to place 1 million Bhagavad-gitas in motel rooms within the next five years.”

Following a meeting in Vrindavana, India earlier this year with trustees of ISKCON's publishing arm the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Vaisesika says that plans are afoot for creating a unique edition of the Bhagavad-gita for motel rooms.

“The special edition will have a sturdy cover, so that it will withstand wear and tear through the many many people who will read it over and over again,” he explains. “It will also have an index at the front that people can refer to for answers to specific questions such as how to find peace in this life, how to overcome stress, and why we have to die. In this way, people will be able to see at a glance what's in the book for them.”

Despite all these innovations, Vaisesika is far more concerned with people than with tactics or numbers of books sold. And at the top of the list is giving plenty of attention to the book distributors' personal spirituality.

“Our first and foremost concern is that the devotees are conducting their service in such a way that they become attached to the subject matter of the books,” he says. “Our motto is 'save one person at a time, beginning with myself.' We want to create a sustainable environment for book distribution, which means one wherein devotees are safe from material motivation.”

Another very important thing is to, as Vaisesika puts it, 'encourage the heck out of everybody.'

“One of the secrets to a successful Marathon is to encourage everyone to do a little bit,” he says. “To encourage even the tiniest, most humble effort, and fan the spark, just as Lord Rama did when the small spider tried to help him build his bridge to Lanka by throwing grains of sand into the Indian Ocean.”

With this approach, even though there are very few full-time students at the ISV temple, the Marathon sees up to 400 devotees going out to distribute books—almost all professionals with full-time outside jobs and families, who spread Krishna consciousness in their spare time.

Vaisesika adds, however, that the 1970s model of celibate monks known as brahmacharis piling into a van, traversing the country, and distributing books full-time is still alive and well too.

“Teams such as the Rupanuga Vedic College traveling party, headed by Paramesvara Prabhu, are still doing the lion's share of book distribution in America,” he says. “They're visiting colleges, following concert tours, and distributing tens of thousands of books every year.”

Once the Marathon has been completed, Vaisesika suggests that the mood of encouragement and support of one another continues.

“At ISV, we end the Marathon with something we recommend that other temples across North America also introduce—Devotee Appreciation Day,” he says. “All the devotees get together for a big party, singing bhajans and enjoying delicious prasadam. Then we pass around a microphone, and everyone gets to glorify the service of their fellow devotees. It's so enlivening, and has become a regular event throughout the year.”

Devotees at ISV also meet on January 1st of the following year, after Devotee Appreciation Day, to discuss how they did in book distribution in the past year, and how to improve in the coming year. They set goals, and pre-plan group book distribution days in their calendar, so that their book distribution efforts won't clash with other temple events.

After the intense focus of the Marathon, of course, it's possible that devotees and temple management may put less effort into distributing books and focus elsewhere. Vaisesika offers some tips to keep the energy going:

“We've established some primary book distribution programs, and can help devotees around the country to institute them,” he says. “Monthly Sankirtana Festivals, which we've held here at ISV for years, are an excellent way to organize the community so that everyone can go out at least once a month. A lot of people each doing a little bit makes a big difference. There's also the Motel Gita and the Smart Box, both of which have been successfully established in cities around North America, and which we encourage devotees everywhere to get involved in.”

Vaisesika, for one, is convinced of the power of Srila Prabhupada's books, and their potential to help the lives of all—and it is this which drives him and his team to keep looking for new ways to get them into people's hands.

“These books help us develop gratitude, and inner happiness—remember, we don't see the world the way it is, we see the world the way we are,” he says. “ And, of course, they help us become free from stress, something that most people nowadays are suffering a lot from.”

He quotes the Sri Isopanishad, which says, 'One who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being. One who sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?'

Vaisesika spreads his hands, insinuating that the quote makes his point for him.

“With gems like this on every page, who wouldn't want to read these books?” he says.

Read more: http://news.iskcon.com/node/3306/2010-12-04/the_marathon_that_everybody_wins#ixzz17C6BnpF1