By Taraka das
Recently I have travelled to a number of ISKCON centres. The place that stood out for me as welcoming and warm was New Vrindavan. Every devotee that I encountered said, “Haribol. How are you?” or similar or just smiled. This really warmed my heart as I have often been to a new place and devotees did not acknowledge my presence At all. I know I am not alone in this experience, and may even be guilty of ignoring guests myself from time To time.
The question to ask ourselves is – what impression do we give our guests? Devotees in our ranks are surrendering to distribute books on the street and are inviting people back to the temple for a festival or weekend program. Some Of the people they contact, actually take up the invitation. Some people read a book or go to one of our restaurants, or yoga classes, meet a devotee or read Something on the internet to find out about our temples. There are many ways people contact the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. So when they pluck up enough courage to visit a temple, and then they spend some money and time getting there and walk in the door, if they are ignored it may result in them never coming again. If they are met by a new devotee and told they should give up everything and move into the temple (I heard a new devotee tell an elderly couple this at his first meeting of them as the couple were putting on their shoes, oh so slowly. I knew they were regular attendees and home worshipers) this could also result in guests never coming again, or finding another place to go. Of course there are other experiences in between these two extremes.
It comes down to understanding the needs, interests and concerns of those whom we are “ministering” to. Some people need a lot of space when they come for the first time and don’t want to be bombarded with philosophy or interrogation, some people need to feel included and some require information and association.
In doing some quick research I found a PowerPoint presentation from a church website outlining various methods for church services that could be adopted by those wishing to share the “gospel”, which is what we are trying to do as a movement. It suggests a consistent approach for church services, with a trained team, with a strategy.
Thinking about having trained devotees, a strategy and consistency is important as the reason I was pushed to write this article was due to consistent behaviour, not so conducive to our mission. A senior devotee from Bhaktivedanta Manor told me when she visited two temples in Australasia,
(one temple she visited every day for a week), not one devotee approached her, although she was wearing Vaisvana dress and attending the program. This made my heart sink, and I Wondered if she was wearing saffron with a danda, would it have made a lot of difference? Had she been featured in BTG or any other publication, would it have made a difference? Are we really so busy or unhappy that we don’t have the time to smile or greet newcomers to our temples? It appears that it is not only the guests from the public that we can ignore, but our own devotees – our extended family members.
What are the obstacles we face as an organisation to this problem?
Some of the problems I see are that most devotees have a major duty to do within the organisation, perhaps pujari, cook, Manager, book distributor, teacher etc. When the devotees are doing their services, there may not be time to spend on a new guest, whether devotee or not. The other difficulty is that unlike Churches, our temples are open from 4:30 am to 9:00pm and this means guests can come at any time during this period. We have a variety of guests, from various backgrounds with a multitude of needs. Another challenge is that many devotees live on the property or in the building, so that means they live, worship, do seva (work), and socialise all in the same place. This causes the boundaries to be quite blurred and sometimes to “be on duty” twenty-four hours a day can be overwhelming, especially in times of stress, or Ill-health. And suffice to say, other factors.
What are some of the solutions? Having a point of entrance where all the people come into a building does help this situation because someone may be situated at a reception or information desk. Then the responsibility of greeting guests is predominantly the devotee’s responsibility who is at the desk. Make a strategy for greeting guests when there are a lot expected, like at Sunday Feasts or Festivals. Have a team of trained devotees who like greeting guests. This is not natural for every person, so best to engage those who like new people.
Train devotees to greet guests, and to learn how best to meet their needs. And finally, we are supposed to be happy Hare Krishna, that means, we can at least give a smile to new people, even if we don’t have time to greet them, and treat them like bhagavan.
Hare Krishna,
I accept what prabhuji is saying…. I think like we have bhakti shastri and other courses, same way we should have “Guest Greeting Course” for a team of regullar devotees so that they can go and welcome every new face to the temple.
Thanks & Hare Krishna
Keep the bathrooms clean – my pet peeve about temples. Why are the bathrooms at the local gas station sometimes cleaner than some temples? If someone can go into a bathroom at a local hotel and it is first class, why would they come to our temple, where everything else is of the highest standard, and have to use one that has a sticky floor, no soap, trash on the floor, no toilet paper, holes in the walls and ceiling (month-after-month), bad smell, etc.
Offer a place to put shoes and personal belongings. Most churches offer a coat room. I came out of the temple on Sunday night and found my shoes were all covered with sticky stuff. When I went in they were fine, but by the end of the program they were next to the trash cans, and had been covered in spills. I have had my shoes stolen before, and I am not alone in this. Why would I, or anyone else attend a place that doesn’t repect or value personal belongings.
Offer some chairs and comfortable seating for older people. I went to Janmastami night at the local temple this week. I am in my mid-fifties. I do hatha-yoga almost daily. If I can’t sit crosslegged on a hard marble floor or wooden bench for 3 hours, without pain, and I am a devotee, how will ordinary folks be able to tolerate it, or come away from our temples with good feelings and spirit?
I have been asking for these type of changes for decades, but no one seems to listen or think it is important. If you want higher class people to take devotees seriously and attend our services, these type of facilities need to be offered.
These are all very good points. I hope that someone will start giving seminars on these most important issues. Hotel and restaurant managers have to go to school to learn these things. McDonald’s has a special school for managers. we should have that also.
Remember when the devotees secured Watseka Ave in LA? Srila Prabhupada told them to leave the pews in the old church building and let people come and sit comfortably and listen to the speaker. He told them to put the temple room in another place for devotees. Instead they ripped out the chairs and made a marble temple room floor.
The day is coming when we will fulfill the desire of Srila Prabhupada, and we’ll make facilities tuned to the local population, expressly for the purpose of outreach.
We don’t have to change anything, we just do like Srila Prabhupada said and have two facilities – one for Indian people and devotees (the marble temple) and one for the locals (the hall with seating).
To be fair to the beautiful L.A. Temple, you can sit upstairs in the balcony area, where the seating is fairly comfortable, or sit down below on the marble.
the best is that it becomes the way it was when Srila Prabhupada was with us & hari nam parties went out daily.. That is missing…6 days per week. devotee’s work & marry ..a good thing to incorpoerate could be that young people take vow to preach for 2/3 years before marriage . this means take part in daily hari nam, with book & prasadam distribution 6 days per week. This can be performed in many ways in many places .. parks,schools, streets,etc..the fire of daily hari nam was the heart beat . once devotee’s/people marry the focus is gaining stuff & readying for children. then again the bhakta leader would be needed .. this daily fire of hari nam sankirtan must be there to complete the scene at the hare krsna temples ..It is not complete without Lord Chaitanya’s Sankirtan party going out publically at least 6 days per week all year..festivals holidays excepted.. In other words nothing new just what Srila Prabhupada had us doing. He did not invent the candle & paintings sales , we did..purity is the force .. When Srila Prabhupada was with us temples were given freely..purity is the force , books are the basis, utility is the principle,———-there is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way…hari nam sankirtan ki jai. tear up the marble floors to distribute books …there very cold in winter any way..
The same activities when Srila Prabhupada was with us & the movement was expanding daily.. people came back to see where all the excitment came from..they wanted to take part naturally. like we did. loud speaker, no loud speaker, robes , no robes, hari nam , books & prasadam ….bas …hari nam sankirtan outside the temple ..daily ..
Yes, New Dvaraka as it stands is very beautiful. I don’t have anything against the LA temple. I’m just pointing out that Prabhupada had a strategic vision of creating two separate classes of facilities – one tuned to the local inhabitants, one for devotees / Indian community.
Taraka das mentioned a Powerpoint presentation by a church on receiving guests. Many modern Christian churches are expert in creating teams of paid and volunteer staff who man their facilities in the weekends. Not to be too provocative, but remember how Srila Prabhupada said: “Your church is empty – give it to us” – some of these churches today could say: “Your temple is empty – give it to us”.
My point is not to be polemic for the sake of it, but merely to point out that we can learn some things from others, and things do change over time.
Last night my wife and I attended the “Farm Sanctuary Gala” at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was star-studded, with many of the top names in Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and corporate America. The key ingredient in the event was compassion for the welfare of animals.
Everything provided at the event was first class. Farm Sanctuary’s mission is the PROTECT THE COWS and other farm animals from abuse, provide them love, and shelter. The event was sponsored and paid for by many top entertainers and corporate sponsors. Everything was donated.
There was an excellent 3 course Vegan feast served. Huge donations were offered by the wealthy elite of our society at the event.
My main point in mentioning this is – many ISKCON temples are in desperate need of funds. At the same time, the facility offered to attract the public to our services and festivals, unfortunately seems to attract only hippies, poor people, very tolerant Indians, and other individuals, who are able to turn a blind and forgiving eye to the seemingly never-improving disorganization.
I felt a sense of sadness too, to see an organization such as Farm Sanctuary, so successful in following at least a part of the mission of Vedic Culture, and reaping the benefits of financial support, praise, and adoration by the most influential members of society.
I really don’t wish to be a categorized as a constant fault-finder of ISKCON. Although the facility at my local temple is very simple, and there seems to be many unresolved problems, there are also many sincere and kind devotees and congregational members who go there, and that attracts a hard-hearted person like me.
I have found what really works for me lately is to leave my ego at the door when I go to the temple. If I approach the temple with humility, I find I can get in the door. Otherwise I find it impossible to go. I have found ways to cope with the inconveniences I have previously mentioned.
I recently viewed “the Pursuit of Happyness”. This story helped to change my attitude towards life, and especially my relationship with ISKCON. What I liked about the character in the story – Chris Gardner, was no matter how many curve balls life threw at him, and life throws constant curve balls at all of us, he never gave up or developed a bad attitude anything. He never saw any failure as failure, but as the game he needed to play to win.
That’s what I try do now when I go to the temple. Whatever happens, and whatever I see that I don’t like, I try to find new ways to cope with it, change my attitude, change my vision about things I am incapable of changing, and not get upset, or give up on Krishna Consciousness. It is difficult for me to go to ISKCON temples, because whenever I do old issues of the past come back up, to haunt and torture me anew.
I like what Mahatma Prabhu said in an article last year, some devotees are simply incapable of practicing Krishna Consciousness within our temples, and might do best practicing on the outside.
I completely agree with the comments on keeping the basic and low-cost things in order like the restrooms, shoeracks, paint and a little bit of landscaping. Some cushioned seats/benches may also be provided as a lower priority but the kirtan should not be impeded by such an arrangement.
But there is no need to lament for the lack of big crowds at the temples. At least here in California, temples seem to have a lot of visitors o the weekend and the level of the discourse/discussion is just mind-blowing. When I compare this high level of discussion with what is seen on even PBS (what to speak of church channels), I am left amazed. I am an Indian person living in America for more than a decade and I am constantly surprised that western devotees expect this toughest of religions to be exactly practiced by vast numbers of people. Even among Vaishnavas, the ‘Hare-Krishnas’ is one of the toughest techniques to practice with 2 hours of chanting, strict eating habits etc. The person who follows such a spritual life is exceptional among the general population and devotees at the temple should welcome and encourage people of all levels of devotion rather than scare them away with their towering expectations and aggressive, disparaging attitude. This was exactly my situation 11 years ago when I met devotees for the first time in India.
Also, money and fully dedicated devotees will come increasingly (as I know they are in my neighborhood) now that the sannyasis and leaders like Ravindra Swarup prabhu are old and much respected, rather than the boys and middle-aged people they were a decade or two ago. Another critically important positive is the strength of the society in India. The reason Prabhupada asked his American disciples to preach in India was to create a strong base which could then be built upon everywhere. Today ISKCON is truly a huge society (if you kindly count lay people like myself in) and cannot be percieived as an American fad.
Hari Bol
PAMHO. AGTSP.
With due respect Suresh Prabhu-ji, i was surprised to read that a senior devotee like you watch hollywood movies. i am neophyte devotee compared to you(3.5 years of KC), but in that period i might have watched 2 hollywood movies and i was attracted to hollywood and bollywood movies before KC. once devotees told me no movies – i have been trying very hard to follow that.
Hare KrushNa
your servant