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By Mukhya Devi Dasi<\/strong><\/p>\n The annual Temple President meetings were just held in Dallas temple, Sri Radha Kalachandji dhama, the week of January 22, 2015. There were about 65 ISKCON leaders in attendance, as well as all of the North American GBCs. The devotees in Dallas did a marvelous hosting job and were everywhere at the service of their guests. The prasadam, three amazing meals a day, was outstanding. They gave us all a good lesson on serving the Vaisnavas. The conference was three and a half days, filled with inspiration. I hope this little summary will inspire you too.<\/p>\n The invocation was given by His Holiness Romapada Swami, and was a little insight into the Brahma Samhita.<\/p>\n \u201cA bhakta is one who does not find fault with others but rather looks within and sees the fault in their own heart.\u201d Srila Batktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura.<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada said : Brahma Samhita contains the essence, the highest of all spiritual knowledge is Srimad Bhagavatm and the highest of all knowledge is described in the Brahma Samhita perfectly.<\/p>\n Since all conclusions are briefly presented in the Brahma Samhita it is essential among all the Vaishnava scriptures. ( CC Madhya Lila ch 9)<\/p>\n Mantra upasana \u2013described in Brahma Samhita (remembering mantras from previous life, remembered within the heart). Srila Prabhupada says all devotees should practice chanting some mantra, so that they can recall and remember it in the time of need. So we practice the Hare Krsna mantra of course and cintamiani prakara sadmasu <\/i> <\/p>\n This Brahma Samhita will help us improve our consciousness even though we are not yet in pure consciousness<\/p>\n Anadir adir govindah<\/i> \u201cthe original who has no origin\u201d <\/p>\n The text established the spiritual foundation that is given within Chaitanya\u2019s teaching. It established Krishna as Goinvda which is Krishna in Vrndavan.<\/p>\n Yantras, which are mystical diagrams, mean to depict in the dimensional form of the abode of Krishna and are described in Brahma Samhita. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n ISKCON 50th<\/sup> ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION<\/p>\n The joy of devotion<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Planning now for next year 2016 celebrations<\/p>\n Mission: engage the public to better understand, appreciate, and receive the many benefits and values of Krishna Consciousness, to give the public the joy of devotion. It will bring the community together to honor our Founder-Acharya. <\/p>\n It is a big milestone, many big companies have not made it thru 50 years.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Iskcon is accepted as a bona fide representation of Vedic values and spiritualties<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Outreach skp and book distribution is increasing<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Iskcon is stable and growing around the world<\/p>\n<\/li>\n This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate this big milestone<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Good prospects to bring in more devotees<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Opportunity to focus on positive and help avoid mistakes of past<\/p>\n<\/li>\n May be a chance to bring in devotees of Srila Prabhupada who are outside of the movement now<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Promote legacy of Srila Prabhupada<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Show our gratitude to Srila Prabhupada<\/p>\n<\/li>\n We are here to stay and looking forward to next fifty years.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n \n<\/p>\n We can present our lifestyle, culture, philosophy, spirituality <\/b> <\/p>\n Show that ISKCON is relevant in our modern world<\/p>\n Can have some opportunity for youth to lead the initiatives<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n THE JOY OF DEVOTION new tagline for all promotions<\/p>\n Why it is good to celebrate this event: Communicate to the outer world<\/p>\n Will bring gratitude to SP and to the world gives an opportunity to come together to take Srila Prabhupada\u2019s message to the world in a strong way!<\/p>\n Opportunity to assess where we\u2019ve been and where we are going To actually show Srila Prabhupada\u2019s legacy, what he went through, how he studied, what it took to come here, what he was able to do and how he changed people\u2019s lives<\/p>\n Potential for huge publicity for every city<\/p>\n In the public eye the Hare Krishnas have been quiet in the last years, and now we can let people know we are alive and kicking and well<\/p>\n Well, we won\u2019t be here for the 100th<\/sup><\/p>\n HIGHLIGHTS from Global Team<\/b><\/p>\n Anniversary magazine something like the old Who Are They magazine<\/p>\n Regional coordinators around the world coordinating local events<\/p>\n Special conference in Europe in May to finalize banners, messages, events<\/p>\n Website being completed, take advantage of this branding opportunity<\/p>\n IN North America<\/b><\/p>\n Using the lotus and its petals, there are six different petals or areas of concentration.<\/p>\n Internet: bring Iskcon into digital age; come up with branding items, promotional videos, timeline of key successes, questionnaires to see what devotees would like to see happen; we will be receiving information on all of this by summer<\/p>\n Systemize the training: Special events: Conferences in colleges, etc. Interfaith, academic<\/p>\n 50<\/b>th<\/b><\/sup>-ize everything<\/b>: Create merchandise, all marketing materials should include the logo, make regular announcements to educate everyone, harinam, book distribution, <\/p>\n Membership drive: create a census<\/p>\n And then get ready for the influx!<\/p>\n Take the time to get more organized for more people coming; learn about greeting programs that have been successful in other groups (research other groups), (little things: organize shoe collections, clean bathrooms, presenting a nice face)<\/p>\n Finally: This anniversary celebration will be inaugurated in Houston in Sep 2015<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Srila Prabhupada Boat Festival at Boston Pier 9\/19\/15<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bhakti Marga Swami will walk from Boston to Butler and then to NY, different people will walk with him, meeting the press in the evenings<\/p>\n<\/li>\n There needs to be a team in each temple to work on how we will celebrate this<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Appoint a local team and coordinator (send an email with info)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Promote Houston and Boston event by March<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Create and submit local temple plan to Iskcon 50 team in April<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Update website and printed matters by August<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Facebook.com\/iskcon50<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Academic conference: 50 Years of Iskcon<\/p>\n<\/li>\n There will be suggested taglines to use for t-shirts, caps, anything<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Suggestion: Have a multi-thousand man kirtan march on Washington <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n (Press releases are coming from int\u2019l, by mid-summer) the video will be ready by summer<\/p>\n An int\u2019l film is being worked on now<\/p>\n Ask Modi to honor the personality who made BG the most famous in the world. Delhi is planning a huge VIP event, as is Mumbai and London Now looking at USA<\/p>\n These are 400-people galas with dinner, entertainment and dignitaries<\/p>\n Take some time to make contacts now for our event<\/p>\n Use this as a time to repair how irrelevant we may have become around the US to groups outside of the Indian community<\/p>\n A timeline of Srila Prabhupada travels where he was during all the 11 years of his time here.<\/p>\n Need someone to guide temples for putting on the big events, temples want to do this but don\u2019t know how?<\/p>\n There are some devotees who have been working on this for their PhD already (timeline) create a compilation of SP\u2019s pastimes in various places<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada position community is making a timeline of his pastimes day to day<\/p>\n BBT will do souvenir publication for temples to pass out during the year<\/p>\n Right now only Nanda Suta das is on the NA committee, if anyone wants to join him please see me<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n DEVOTEE CARE <\/b>Highlights in Canada<\/b>:<\/p>\n They had a regional meeting and put papers around the room with titles (i.e.: Brahmacaris, book distribution, prasadam distribution, education, etc.) This led to a vision for the country<\/p>\n A lot of the ideas written under the various papers was about devotee care.<\/p>\n So an initiative was rolled out for devotee care.<\/p>\n Why: waters the plant of devotion, gives devote the feeling they belong to a family<\/p>\n Appoint a devotee care coordinator<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Survey your temple for their needs<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Create devotee care team in your temple<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Create a spreadsheet of your top needs, some of them are: membership, funeral, after death, counseling, samskaras, care for ill and elderly, living situations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Developed some premises, don\u2019t reinvent the wheel, there are already successful programs, share the wealth, connect the devotees, duplicate successful programs<\/p>\n Team work: this is very enlivening service.<\/p>\n Google group, telephone conference calls, establish experts and go to devotees in each area.<\/p>\n Pick one devotee care program to institute this year.<\/p>\n (This is a nice 50th<\/sup> anniversary initiative, especially as Srila Prabhupada provided so much care to us) and this makes more and happier devotees<\/p>\n Spiritual care (soil for the plant of devotion)<\/p>\n We need to perform our service with other devotees.<\/p>\n Mentoring and outreach provided by: bhakti lounge, individual mentors, kirtan leaders, community integration, Grhasta Vision Team, sponsor a youth for the bus tour, children\u2019s activities (Sunday school) teen programs, kids camp, devotee day school, teen mentoring<\/p>\n PHYSICAL Care Vaisnava care project (Toronto), devotees available for various services: palliative care training, coordinated hospital visits<\/p>\n Facebook page for devotee care, announce here when there are needs.<\/p>\n Have ambulance training, cpr training, install automatic defibrillators, have power of attorney and living wills made available and put in a safe place<\/p>\n 3 things to do to start: make a team to help ill, elderly sick devotees and do simple things like Reading, bringing Prasad<\/p>\n Create children\u2019s programs that are Krishna Conscious and safe, help the children to feel part of the family<\/p>\n Spiritual mentorship for new devotees, pair them up with senior devotees of the same gender<\/p>\n Training mentors using material from Bhaktivedanta Manor which is already available. This pertains to the initiation committee. They selected appropriate mentors, went over all BM materials, it\u2019s well developed and contains the procedure\/process\/rules. Going from conceptualizing initiation to being initiated. This info is on the ISKCON Toronto blog. <\/p>\n They spend time with new devotees following the GBC guidelines concentrating on SP and then taking the disciple course, listening to a variety of guru tapes, etc.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n CHARTING AN OVERVIEW OF ISKCON IN NA<\/b><\/p>\n Developing systems, sharing resources, sharing expertise, can address what is both going well and not going well<\/p>\n We would do better to share expertise, we need a system in place to help solve the problems.<\/p>\n How to fundraise, getting enough funds, many temples have this problem<\/p>\n Doing this exercise can be a source for next year\u2019s meeting\u2019s topics<\/p>\n Internal communication can solve some problems<\/p>\n We need systematic training of pujaris in NA like in India<\/p>\n Because the desire to increase and do more is always prevalent so all temples need more money<\/p>\n Some of the western specific programs are very successful<\/p>\n Lack of brahmacari ashram, a lot of temples trying to create that now<\/p>\n There are a lot of issues due to growth including space and infrastructure that is aging out<\/p>\n Identify some key areas and form a team from the temples that are strong in the area to talk to that area<\/p>\n Nice to have a HOW TO guide to do a variety of things that temples need, giving general guidelines<\/p>\n Engage people according to their expertise<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n COMPLIANCE, BUDGET<\/b><\/p>\n Jiva Goswami was the first Vaisnava in India to use his will to protect the temples of Vrndavan. He was also concerned for the protection of the temples. Just as Srila Prabhupada did. His last will focuses on protecting the temples, the property trustee system.<\/p>\n Jiva Goswami\u2019s will is available at the Vrindavan Research Institute . His will established precedent to protect the Goswami temples, he also would work out treaties with the Mogul tribes. Srila Prabhupada established the property trustee system to see that ISKCON properties are protected, using the managing authority of the GBC<\/p>\n In 1976 he said: \u201cAt least for ten thousand years it will go on\u201d<\/p>\n Each temple has three trustees, they have requirements and roles, and follow local legal rules<\/p>\n www.Iskconlaw.org<\/p>\n We are making a team of professionals to call in and consult with the property trustees when necessary<\/p>\n Corporate matching gifts. Some corporations have this and if any of our donors work with them their company will match the donation <\/p>\n United Way, register with them, and they will send check to us, if our program is registered with them (such as NFFFL, Eco Farm in Alachua) contact Nanda Suta about how to do it<\/p>\n Allstate, insurance agencies, ask your donors what companies they work for and then research if they are one of the matching donors<\/p>\n Also there are volunteer incentive programs like doing volunteer hours are sometimes compensated by their companies<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n TOVP<\/b><\/p>\n Refer to Ravindra Svarupa\u2019s paper on the importance of the temple of the Vedic planetarium<\/p>\n Radha Jivan das talk: <\/p>\n Of the five critical steps or stages by which ISKCON took form under Srila Prabhupada\u2019s supervision, only number five is incomplete: >acquiring land for world headquarters temple in Mayapur, the TOVP<\/p>\n There are so many famous quotes of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s about Mayapur. Mayapur was specifically to teach how to worship Krishna through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In order to do this, for thousands of years to come, he wanted this temple built. The institution will remain. <\/p>\n Lord Nityananda said there will be an astounding temple manifested there which will permeate the entire world with Gauranga seva.<\/p>\n Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur predicted that devotees from all over the world would come and glorify Lord Caitanya.<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada established Mayapur temple soon after establishing ISKCON in the west.<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada was very appreciative to everyone who helped him build the temple in Mayapur and he said it would be his personal offering to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. <\/p>\n This year 6 million people came to Sridhama Mayapur. 50% take prasadam. They line up to go to mangal arati. The glories of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s preaching is to bring the jiva in this age to the holy dhama.<\/p>\n He wanted this temple built just so people can come to this holy place in our age and time, so that their karmic life can be finished.<\/p>\n Big temples establish the movement. The head of the Swami Narayana group got their idea to build their many temples from New Vrindavan. The inspiration came from Srila Prabhupada!<\/p>\n This TOVP will do the full work of the whole society<\/p>\n All the donations received thus far have come from devotees, rarely from the rich families of India.<\/p>\n The deal was that Ambarish would give half and the society would match it. Now the price to build has gone up and we have $50M to come up with still to complete<\/p>\n Mayapur is a fully international city.<\/p>\n So many temples now are doing their own expansions. <\/p>\n Normally 80% of the money comes from 20% of the people. In this project the funds will come from 80% of the devotees. We can give in installments<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n KIRTAN PARTY.COM<\/b><\/p>\n Chant Hare Krishna and teach it to others, we need more harinama sankirtan at every street corner<\/p>\n Increase quality and quantity<\/p>\n What gets measured gets improved<\/p>\n Report and measure on the new Website and newsletter <\/p>\n First dress, then address (look nice when you go out)<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n TAMOHARA <\/b> <\/p>\n How to work with difficult people in our communities<\/b><\/p>\n It is hard to know how to deal with a difficult person; we tend to avoid conflict because it\u2019s an unpleasant experience<\/p>\n Do everything possible to solve the problem<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Use appropriate listening, coaching and problem solving skills.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Make sure you\u2019ve heard all side of the issues. Don\u2019t act on second hand info<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Give devotees an opportunity for rectification<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Set up objective performance standards, plan for follow up.<\/p>\n Give devotees opportunities for coaching, training and behavioral change<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n COMMON ERRORS: <\/p>\n Discipline as punishment<\/p>\n Discipline as an I-You confrontation<\/p>\n A non-progressive approach, delaying disciplinary actions<\/p>\n Missing root causes (think what is the issue, what is the essence of the problem)<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Use consequences, a warning system, discussion, find out the personal problems. If someone has to move out, have a coming-back-in process. <\/p>\n Have clear standards, objectives and expectations<\/p>\n Use a move-in contract\/service agreement that is signed and discussed before move in. Find out what the person really wants to do and where they really want to be<\/p>\n Termination of service, when there does need to be a change <\/b> <\/p>\n Don\u2019t delay<\/p>\n Do not make the decision on your own, get concurrence with your mgmt. team<\/p>\n Speak with the devotee and if needed have another person or manager with you during the conversation. Keep a written record of what is said and what you do.<\/p>\n Could be good to have a mediator with you<\/p>\n State your decision directly.<\/p>\n Focus on needs of the service, the temple, the project, the community, rather than the faults of the devotees.<\/p>\n Address specific behaviors rather than personal attributes<\/p>\n Acknowledge that they were probably trying but were unable to do the things that needed to be done.<\/p>\n Try to preserve personal dignity and provide encouragement (we are dealing with Vaisnavas and that respect should be maintained)<\/p>\n Try to present some positive aspect<\/p>\n Don\u2019t burn bridges, think about the devotee\u2019s spiritual life\u2014what happens after this point.<\/p>\n Leave room for future interaction\/don\u2019t burn bridges<\/p>\n Use \u2018I\u201d messages, listing what you need and what isn\u2019t being met\u2026<\/p>\n How to inform the general devotee community what happened: \n<\/p>\n BHAKTI LOUNGES AROUND NA<\/b><\/p>\n Krishna Cove in Tucson Now some are aspiring initiation, some are chanting daily<\/p>\n They use postcard handouts for inviting people<\/p>\n Krishna Lounge in San Diego They use a website, don\u2019t really advertise, it\u2019s popular just by word of mouth<\/p>\n Keep it simple, they just chant the maha mantra; have good quality kirtan with good musicians.<\/p>\n Use a gradual speed bringing someone into KC<\/p>\n Use this program for one function, to make friends with devotees<\/p>\n\n
\ncreate solidarity throughout ISKCON world<\/p>\n
\nMake Srila Prabhupada proud to announce this world wide<\/p>\n
\nThis will take someone step by step thru our process from first coming and then becoming a devotee. Vaiseisika will take this petal on, (see the section below on Bhakti roots, Bhakti Habitat) materials will be developed for the 50th<\/sup> in this regard<\/p>\n
\nOne of a kind events possible: special retreats, invite dignitaries, cultural exhibitions <\/p>\n
\nAnything we put out, and all festivals we do, should talk about the anniversary<\/p>\n\n
\nIt\u2019s launching in India this year, because SP left India 50 years ago<\/p>\n<\/li>\n\n
\nSunlight for the plant of devotion<\/p>\n\n
\nthis can be difficult so try to preserve the dignity of the person<\/p>\n
\nOne day a week they took their library and turned it into their Krishna Cove program for youth. They get to know each other, they organize events and go camping, swimming, to LA Rathyatra.<\/p>\n
\nBringing local people close to devotees<\/p>\n
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By Mukhya Devi Dasi<\/strong><\/p>\n