By Krishna.com IT Desk
Krishna.com is the website project of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. For some time, the site has been offering a service called “Live Help” at the top left of each page, where visitors can log in and ask questions about Krishna via instant text messaging.
Today, a frequent visitor to the live help chat wrote Krishna.com to inform the devotees that he got so inspired on live help that he has joined his nearest temple. He says: “I owe so much to live help and Krishna.com for inspiring me to take to Krishna consciousness. I am very happy that I decided to join the temple and have gone out every day of the marathon and distributed hundreds of Srila Prabhupadas books.”
Jaya! As you can imagine, the Krishna.com team are in bliss. Over 4,000 people visit Krishna.com each day, from all corners of the world. The visitor map shows traffic from Iceland, South Pacific Islands, Siberia, and other distant places where the BBT does not currently have book distributors. Along with heavy traffic from all the more populated areas of the world. The site never sleeps. It sees a steady flow of visitors 24 hours a day. (See the map at the bottom of the Krishna.com home page.)
“This is the most amazing service one can offer to the world. For people like us who have restricted mobility living without car, not able to do much in the local community, this service is simply a benediction.”
– Mahaprakasha Dasa (Canada)
“I do like interacting with people who come on live help looking for a direction or just want to talk on spiritual topics. .. Also, its a great means to put someone in touch with our temples around the world.”
– Ramacandra Dasa (New Jersey)
Live Help is an ideal service for anyone with a computer and Internet connection. Answer people’s questions about Krishna from anywhere in the world, at any time of day or night, whenever you feel inspired. If you have basic experience in Krishna consciousness and would like to share it with others on live help, contact Krishna.com via the form at:
http://www.krishna.com/main.php?id=421
This is great news, and I congratulate the Krishna.com team for their innovative and dyanamic use of Live Help to help transform their visitors’ spiritual lives.
I was, however, disappointed to read the headline “Live Help Makes Devotees.” The term “making devotees” has become a part of the ISKCON lexicon, but perhaps it is time to re-examine it.
For one, the term doesn’t accurately reflect our theology. Srila Prabhupada makes it clear, in the Nectar of Devotion for instance, that Krishna consciousness is dormant in the hearts of all and needs only to be re-awakened.
Secondly, operating under a “making devotees” model may allow a subtle depersonalization to take place. Instead of building real relationships, Vaisnava preachers might look at others as mere objects for conversion. If people “join up” we think our preaching was successful; if they fall short of that, we may view our preaching efforts as failure. Rather than helping others advance in their spiritual jouurneys, we end up seeing them as trophies. Not surprisingly, under such a model we often engender false ego and an inflated sense of importance (e.g. “Oh, I made so-and-so a devotee,” or “I made thirteen devotees in six months!”) that can wreck our own devotional practice.
Finally, the term just doesn’t mirror the social reality of ISKCON. It tends to support the misunderstanding that someone “becomes a devotee” only upon moving into the temple or otherwise going “full time.” As we know, ISKCON today is a congregational movement. While some may choose to live in ashrams or temples, we know that most of our devotees (initiated or uninitiated) serve while living and working within the general society. They maintain their Krishna consciousness, share their spirituality with others, and engage in the sankirtana mission in a healthy and honest way. Rather than see this as a decline in our movement’s growth (“Why aren’t they joining the temples anymore?”) we might instead view it as a healthy sign of growth and integration.
Again, congratulations to the Krishna.com team for their wonderful service and creativity in reaching out to others. I know these devotees and am constantly amazed by their work and the broad-minded, thinking that underlies it. I hope that they won’t take my concern about the use of the term “make devotees” in the headline as a criticism of their heart-felt service.
your servant,
Vyenkata Bhatta dasa
ISKCON Director of Communications for North America
Dear Krishna.com IT Desk (I wish it were more personal than that),
This service is inspiring; I’m going to fill out your form, and ask to be engaged. I also stongly agree with Vyenkata Bhatta that we should be aware of immature ISKCON-isms in our language.
Another point for practical consideration, regarding the international reach of krishna.com, I wish you would do something about non-English books. I’ve started a small international library of Prabhupada’s books in New York, but have only been able to acquire Gitas in 20 out of 45 languages. I’ve given up for now, because it is too time consuming, complicated, and costly due to wire transfers.
My final critique is that the krishna.com technical maintenance could be better. Your directory was down for weeks, occasionally one or two links don’t work, and at this moment (01082007:0630 EST) none of the links work on the “Links” page.
Your servant,
Dayananda
www.sankirtana-yajna.com
Our perpetual lexicon…
Srila Prabhupada: So the guru has got two business. He has to “make devotees” and teach them the principles of Bhagavad-gita. Therefore he’s so dear. (Room Conversation — July 31, 1976, New Mayapur, France)
We are not after so many centers, but we want to “make devotees,” pure devotees of Krishna, that is all. Better one temple with sufficient strong men than many temples with few strong men.
(Letter from Srila Prabhupada to Upendra — Bombay 13 December, 1972)
I share your confidence that if done rightly, we can attract many persons, to visit the Manor and take prasadam and chant Hare Krsna. That will be a great victory, and if they can take our books and hear the philosophy then we can “make devotees” out of them. This great responsibility is in your charge. I have given you all the guidance and hints and it is described in all my books. Now it is up to you. Please keep our principles firmly and everything will come out successful. (Letter from Srila Prabhupada to: Mukunda — Hong Kong 1 February, 1974)
Regarding sending men to Bangkok, let us see who is a spare man or is having visa problems. But our policy as you know is not to import devotees, but to “make devotees” out of the local men there. That is better. (Letter from Srila Prabhupada to: Pancadravida — Bombay 4 January, 1975)
The most important aspect of our preaching is Kirtana. Induce the people to chant, that is the only thing. Then everything else will follow. The goal is to “make devotees” and books; both are required. Distributing the books will make devotees. To make a devotee means to make someone purified. Reading the books will purify the intelligence. A purified heart and mind means Krishna Consciousness. (Letter from Srila Prabhupada to Kirtiraja — Bombay 11 January, 1976)
Excellent quotes Maharaj, my obeisances to you.
Still, I’m supportive of Vyenkata’s basic premise. I do not exactly agree with his philosophical point–“the term doesn’t accurately reflect our theology.” I prefer to separate philosophy and strategy. It may sometimes be difficult to do so, and often debatable as to what is philosophy and what is strategy. However, I feel Vyenkata makes a good strategic point.
Like Vyenkata, I’m concerned with the distortion of terms. My favorite is the word sankirtana, and I’ll not go into detail here; however, you can do a search on many of the discussions on dandavats.com and find that sankirtana seems to be disappearing from our lexicon, not to mention that ISKCON devotees have their own distorted and ill-defined ideas about sankirtana.
Still, Maharaj, you’re point is well taken. Perhaps I’m wrong to do so, but I read between the lines of your quotes. Because I know you, I take the liberty of feeling that you are concerned with the watering down of some of ISKCON’s basics. If so, on this point, I resonate with you. In this regard, for two decades in ISKCON I welcomed the burgeoning householder community, greater professionalism, less cultism, and spreading grass roots—insuring against being uprooted. Now I’m dissatisfied with the lack of practical training (not academic) and commitment among initiated householders, watered down basics, and broad lack of accountability toward traditional goals like BBT remittances.
In other words, for two decades, I’ve been hoping to see young householder devotees like Vyenkata, but from my perception, he has become trained, is not watered down, and is committed and accountable—yet all in spite of weak ISKCON systems, particularly in North America. I make these points, because I hope we can continue our progress toward professionalism, balance, and maturity, yet stop abandoning our focus on core ISKCON practices and our boldness.