“I am the only gardener. How many places can I go? How many fruits can I pick and distribute? It would certainly be a very laborious task to pick the fruits and distribute them alone, and still I suspect that some would receive them and others would not. Therefore I order every man within this universe to accept this Krishna consciousness movement and distribute it everywhere.” – Lord Caitanya (C.C, Adi. 9.34-36).
It was the expressed desire of Lord Caitanya to distribute the fruits of the tree of devotional service to everyone without exception.This mission was propagated by Lord Nityananda Prabhu in the form of Nama-hatta, or the market of the Holy Names. Later, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who established several hundred of Nama-hatta groups in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, carried the mood and mission forward.His son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, firmly instituted the mission in India and desired it was transplanted abroad. Srila Prabhupada took the message of Lord Caitanya to “every town and village” while travelling the globe eleven times. He took the Krishna consciousness movement to every continent and every major city of the world.
ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry (CDM) understands and appreciates the role of the congregations in helping the mission of spreading Krsna consciousness on an unprecedented scale worldwide, whilst simultaneously empowering its members through training and education.
Find out more about what the CDM does and more importantly, what your role is in making the vision of Caitanya Mahaprabhu a reality.
Your servants at ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry.
On behalf of ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry (CDM), we would like to express our deepest gratitude to you for helping us to serve in Srila Prabhupada’s preaching mission. Your support is essential in our efforts to produce and circulate books, communicate with leaders and preachers, present seminars, have coaches traveling around the world, and much more.
As a humble reciprocation from us for your generous contribution, we are regularly offering monthly worship (Puja) to Lord Nrsimhadeva on behalf of you and your family.
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In ISKCON, the month of December is primarily dedicated to glorify and distribute Lord Krsna’s transcendental discourse to Arjuna, the Bhagavad Gita.
The CDM focused on sharing the resources of our program the Gita For Everyone through social media to encourage devotees to appreciate more and more the glories of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada. In Mayapur, we participated in the celebrations of the Gita Jayanti (Appearance Day) and the Gita Mela, which attract a large number of visitors to the holy place of Sridham Mayapur.
“Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any selfish interest…” (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.12)
Caring for Krishna’s devotees means caring for Krishna Himself. Krishna’s devotees have sacrificed everything and surrendered to Him. Srila Prabhupada instructed us that we should always situate ourselves as the servants of the devotees and see to their physical, health, emotional and spiritual needs. A happy devotee who feels cared for is likely to dedicate himself with full enthusiasm to serving the Society. Therefore, by caring for devotees we simultaneously please Krishna, serve the devotees, facilitate the smooth functioning of ISKCON and properly situate ourselves as servants of the servant. It is certainly a win-win situation.
In practical terms counseling and care, means to show empathy when dealing with other Vaisnavas and the people in general. For this purpose, the CDM offers a comprehensive training on Vaisnava Life Counseling, which covers areas such as communication, conflict resolution, goal setting, community building, and others, as exemplified by Srila Prabhupada and our previous Acaryas. For our society to be able to support those in need to lead a more fulfilling life, we need to implement the foundational tenet of our Vaisnava line, para-upakara, helping others.
Let us all make a resolution to change an undesired trait or behavior by increasing our seriousness in practicing Krishna consciousness. Let us endeavor to care for and support our fellow friends, family and devotees. Let us pray to Krishna to accomplish the ultimate personal goal of pure devotion to Him.
