By Diksha Devi Dasi
Hare krishna dear devotees
Please accept my humble obeisances
all glories to Srila Prabhupada
During this particular month, thanks to the Book Marathon, most of us would be engaged in bringing new souls to Krishna Consciousness everyday. It is hard, agreed! But it is truly worth it. With each temple congregation battling to make it to the top of the highest distributors list, we Damodardesh (Dubai) vasis are bereft physiologically of the opportunity to distribute books. As per law, we are not allowed to distribute any books on streets or anywhere publically. All we can do is, contact people when we can, take their details down and send them books to their homes back in India.
Despite all the hassle put forward, we devotees manage to find out unique ways to preach. Krishna has plans for everyone and certainly when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Since public preaching wasn’t possible, we devotees out here host regular Bhakti Vriksha classes weekly in our homes. As such, every home becomes a temple, a place of pilgrimage. What better could we ask for? And this wasn’t it. As we realised the importance of reaching out to many people since the world is full of misery, without having to physically travel, we decided to start Skype Classes. Yes! Certain Matajis, both initiated and aspiring devotees, have started to give classes on Skype and that too not once in a week but everyday.
Isn’t that incredible? So this is how the system works. We contact people through facebook, personal meetings or word of mouth and then we connect them into a group on Skype which we call the ‘Bhagwtam group’. We, then schedule a particular time that is convenient to most people. For others, they can hear as much as they can and complete their regular duties on other times. But the spirit is to engage ourselves as much as possible in hearing Krishna Katha. The Skype class which I am a part of, started Bhagwatam classes in August 2014 and we have successfully completed the Nectar of Instruction and we are now reading Teachings of Queen Kunti. Our group devotees include matajis and prabhujis from Dubai, Delhi, Ajmer, Vrindavan, Pakistan and New Zealand. As such, we are able to preach to a lot of women particularly who cannot afford travelling due to their respective circumstances. In addition, Skype classes work very well for working women as they manage to take their lunch break during the class timings and engage themselves in hearing the glories of the Holy Name.
Also to maintain connectivity with our fellow devotees other times of the day and to coordinate special programs like exams, shloka tests etc, we have created a Whatsapp group called Skype Srimad Bhagwatam group. Through it, we are able to assist the members of our group with their queries 24/7. So if someone wants to cook prasadam but needs a fresh idea, she can post of the group and there you have other devotees pouring in oceans of ideas and different advices on cooking it well. Not only is coordination easy through Whatsapp, but daily Prabhupada quotes, stories, devotional videos, lecture transcripts and messages are circulated to everyone in one go. Hence, preaching is not reastricted to an hour’s slot but continues throughout the day reminding you of Krishna whenever your mind tries to make its way out.
We would like to promote this idea to other devotees as well. Let’s together spread the mission of Lord Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and use everything we have in the service of Krishna and engage others in similar service too.
Wishing everyone all the very best with their respective preaching practices.
Your ervant
Diksha
Dubai – UAE.
Read also: Skype Preaching: The Next Frontier