{"id":3815,"date":"2007-07-01T02:43:37","date_gmt":"2007-07-01T01:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=3815"},"modified":"2007-07-16T16:12:44","modified_gmt":"2007-07-16T15:12:44","slug":"newsletter-july-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=3815","title":{"rendered":"Friends of the BBT Newsletter – July 07"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter please visit http:\/\/friendsofthebbt.org\/newsletter\/Jul07.html<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In loving service to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
\nFounder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust <\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"masthead\"<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NEWSLETTER | JULY 2007 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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In this issue…<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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\"June<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Download <\/a>PDF version here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Spotlight<\/a><\/strong>
\nThe Next Generation <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
People Profile<\/a><\/strong>
\nDravida Dasa <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
News in Brief<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Annual BBT Trustee Meeting <\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

New Chinese Bhagavad-gita<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Vanipedia<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Krishna-Lila-Stava <\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Swasti Cafe <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Friends of the BBT at Prabhupada Festival<\/em> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Distribution Story<\/a><\/strong>
\nAnger is the Foremost Enemy <\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Spotlight <\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\"Waiting<\/strong><\/span>
\nKrishna Consciousness:
\n<\/span><\/strong>The Next Generation<\/span> <\/h3>\n

by Madhava Smullen <\/span><\/p>\n

Krishna consciousness is entering a new era. Times change, and with them, methods of spreading spiritual knowledge also change.<\/p>\n

Krishna.com is one of those new methods. Arriving on the scene in 1996, when the Internet was still in its larva stage, the website invited young blood for a young project, and ISKCON\u2019s first and second generations worked together to create a truly impressive achievement.<\/p>\n

Radha, a second generation devotee and Krishna.com\u2019s store manager, isn\u2019t afraid to let anyone know, either. When I asked her how long she\u2019s worked there, she replies with her usual good-humored swagger, \u201cIn years? Who can tell? But in unique web visitors? Then probably 43 million. Satisfied customers? Then we\u2019re looking at 14,000, give or take a few. I\u2019ve worked at Krishna.com for 29,000 books sold\u2014that\u2019s over a quarter of a million dollars worth\u2014and for 1.8 million people reading BTG.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nagaraja Dasa, editor of Back to Godhead<\/em> magazine, has also championed inviting youth to be part of the team. \u201cI think the second generation wants to do something substantial to spread Krishna consciousness, and Krishna.com is a great tool for them, because they\u2019re naturally at home in the digital world. I like working with the youth,\u201d he adds, \u201cThey bring energy and a fresh perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second generation return the feeling. \u201cThere\u2019s lots of laughter here, which is the most important measure of a workplace,\u201d says Radha. \u201cAnd I love that I\u2019m constantly challenged to try new things, or old things in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Challenges are indeed coming thick and fast at Krishna.com these days, with a re-imagined version of the site set to launch by Janmastami 2007. Improving on all the usual favorite elements, the new site will be more dynamic and multimedia-driven. Two new sections will also be added: Connect, a community section, and Experience, providing the path to experiencing Krishna consciousness beyond Krishna.com.<\/p>\n

Read rest of story here >><\/p>\n

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News in Brief <\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\nAnnual BBT Trustees Meeting <\/h3>\n

The current BBT trustees and directors met in L.A. from May 23 through May 25 this year, along with a number of other BBT staff. Directors and staff were treated to a leadership and communications seminar by ISKCON communications minister Anuttama Dasa to further hone their skills. Friends of the BBT was also featured with an update on the development of the Friends of the BBT website, newsletter and membership programs. The meetings themselves dealt with many management, administration, and financial issues, as well as unveiling several exciting new projects.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brand New Chinese Bhagavad-gita<\/em>:<\/strong> The Chinese BBT has printed 5,000 copies of their new fourth edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is<\/em>, for the Taiwan and Hong Kong markets. Translated and laid out by husband and wife team Jahnava Dasi and Ekachakra Dasa, the book also includes a CD with MP3 files of the verses narrated in Chinese.<\/p>\n

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\n\"VanipediaVanipedia – A New Approach to finding Srila Prabhupada Online<\/strong> Few Internet users will not be familiar with Wikipedia, the vast online encyclopedia compiled by volunteering users. Well, soon you may be able to look up any aspect of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s instructions and teachings in the same way! Using the same software as Wikipedia, The Prabhupada Vani Research Academy, based in Radhadesh, Belgium, is developing a comprehensive encyclopedia of Prabhupada\u2019s teachings. These will be predominantly available via www.vanipedia.org<\/a>, and may later appear as a series of books printed by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, who are collaborators on the project. The site is designed as a lotus flower, with six \u201cpetals\u201d including Vanibooks, Vaniquotes, Vaniversity, Vanimedia, Vanisource, and Vanictionary.<\/p>\n

Krishna-Lila-Stava<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong> A mock-up of the new BBT book Krishna-Lila-Stava<\/em>, featuring prayers by Sanatana Goswami, was unveiled at the trustees meetings. With pre-production now complete, the book is on its way to the printer, and should find its way into your hands by mid-August.<\/p>\n

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\"SanskritSwasti Cafe <\/span><\/h3>\n

Friends of the BBT and Bhaktivedanta Gurukula & International School have combined efforts to open Swasti, a new caf\u00e9 that will donate half its profits to the BBT\u2019s Sanskrit School at Govardhana and the other half to the Gurukula.<\/p>\n

A clean, bright and friendly eatery, the caf\u00e9 opened in Vrindavana in March 2007 and is already enjoying considerable success.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwasti means wellbeing,\u201d explains Vrindavana Gurukula principal Ananda-Vrindavana Dasi. \u201cAnd here you\u2019ll get double the wellbeing\u2014clean, healthy food, and a good feeling, because you know you\u2019re supporting education by eating here.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cThis is an essential project, as education is one of ISKCON\u2019s most important links to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The future does look bright for the <\/p>\n

Sanskrit School, which will also get a share of the profits from the caf\u00e9\u2019s adjoining Blue Cow gift store.<\/p>\n

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\"FOBFriends of the BBT at L.A. Prabhupada Festival <\/h3>\n

Friends of the BBT made its first public appearance at the sixteenth annual Prabhupada Festival in L.A. on May 26 and 27, following the BBT trustees meetings. Our visual presentation on the BBT was shown to the assembled devotees and was very well-received. Following this, director Pancharatna Dasa could be seen beaming out from behind our very own stall, where he gave out beautiful framed pictures of Prabhupada as gifts to all devotees who came and subscribed to our newsletter. Delighted, many immediately became contributing members to Friends of the BBT on the spot.<\/p>\n

We would like to thank our esteemed chair, Gopal Bhatta Dasa, for sponsoring these gifts and enabling Friends of the BBT to celebrate the Prabhupada festival in our own special way.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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People Profile <\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\n\"DravidaDravida Dasa<\/h3>\n

Involved in the anti-war and civil rights movements right from the beginning, Dravida was a true child of the 60s. \u201cI was convinced the revolution was coming,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And he was right. It just wasn\u2019t quite the kind he was expecting.<\/p>\n

It all started when he fell ill with hepatitis in 1972. To get his health back, he joined an impersonalist yoga society, which told him that he could choose whatever path to enlightment he wanted, and any meditation mantra he wanted. When he found a booklet explaining the Hare Krishna mantra, he loved it, and chose it to meditate with. And, being a good student, he also chose the path he wanted: Krishna consciousness. <\/p>\n

With enough natural talent to make up for his lack of editorial education, Dravida didn\u2019t waste time getting to his life\u2019s work. As soon as he joined the Brooklyn temple, where the BBT was based at the time, he began proofreading. \u201cI read the Krishna<\/em> book, and pointed out a huge list of mistakes to the production manager,\u201d he recalls. \u201cHe just handed me a red pen, and I started marking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, Dravida has worked on most BBT projects, including:
\nBack to Godhead<\/em> magazine, Caitanya-Caritamrita<\/em>, all the Vyasa Puja books to date, and Cantos 3, 4, and 5 of Srimad-Bhaga vatam<\/em>, as well as completing the series with Hridayananda Goswami. Most recently, he\u2019s proofread the Brihad-Bhavatamrita<\/em> and Krishna-Lila Stava<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always loved my service,\u201d he says. \u201cAs well as being the perfect use for my analytical brain, it\u2019s a great way for someone who could never quite get into street book distribution to be part of the sankirtana mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

For someone with an analytical brain, Dravida is extremely creative, with several audio recordings of poetry to his name. \u201cI love Sanskrit, so I decided to put some of it into English verse, so that other devotees could relish it too.\u201d This desire yielded poems derived from the Siksastaka<\/em>, Kesavastaka<\/em> from Rupa Goswami\u2019s Stava Mala<\/em>, and Kevalastaka<\/em>, eight verses about the holy name. \u201cDevotees love them and always ask me where the book is. So the next plan is to leave a legacy of the written word.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dravida, of course, also holds the BBT\u2019s legacy as top priority. With three study guides, for the Isopanisad<\/em>, Nectar of Devotion<\/em>, and Bhagavad-gita<\/em> already completed and awaiting production, he\u2019s moving on to other new projects. His expert help is invaluable for the translators currently working on the new Russian edition of Caitanya-caritamrita<\/em> for the North European BBT. And he\u2019s editing Nature\u2019s IQ<\/em>, a brand new book by devotee scientists in Hungary that presents the Krishna conscious take on \u201cIntelligent Design.\u201d <\/p>\n

He calls on ISKCON\u2019s second generation to continue this work. \u201cSoon, it\u2019ll be up to the youth to maintain Prabhupada\u2019s books and to create new books and new ways of presenting the philosophy.\u201d He beams his trademark grin. \u201cI\u2019m passing on the holy grail to the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Distribution Story of the Month<\/a> <\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\nAnger is the Foremost Enemy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

by Yogindra Dasa <\/span><\/p>\n

While I was distributing Srimad-Bhagavatams<\/em> in a small town in Sweden, a woman with a mentally-disabled daughter passed by without taking a book. But the little girl grabbed one and adamantly refused to return it to me, despite her mother\u2019s objections. Finally, the mother had little choice but to purchase it from me. A little later, I spotted a gentleman marching towards me, holding the book. I immediately expected trouble, and sure enough, he was enraged, loudly claiming I had cheated his wife and demanding that I return their money. \u201cThis book is not even in Swedish,\u201d he yelled, although, excluding the Sanskrit, it was.<\/p>\n

I calmly reassured the man that I would return the donation. \u201cBut please just look at any page in the book and see if it is in Swedish or not,\u201d I requested. He agreed, and opened the third Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam<\/em> completely at random, to chapter eleven. He read verse 31 aloud to me: \u201cMy dear King, just consider what I have said to you, which will act as medicinal treatment upon disease. Control your anger, for anger is the foremost enemy on the path of spiritual realization. I wish all good fortune unto you. Please follow my instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man closed the book, put it under his arm and walked away\u2014taking with him the instructions of Svayambhuva Manu to Dhruva Maharaja.<\/p>\n

Visit our website for more stories like this >><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

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SRILA PRABHUPADA SPEAKS ABOUT BBT<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\n\u201cThey Are Sure to Become Krishna Conscious \u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone reading our Krishna<\/em> book, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya<\/em>, Nectar of Devotion<\/em>, and Bhagavad-gita As It Is<\/em>,<\/p>\n

is sure to become a Krishna conscious person. Therefore somehow or other we must push on this
\nliterature distribution program, either through schools, colleges, libraries, life membership or ordinary sales.\u201d
\n
\n<\/span>Letter to Jananivasa
\nMarch 5, 1971 <\/span><\/p>\n

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Welcome <\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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We are happy to welcome the following new members in June:<\/p>\n

Sponsor Members
\n<\/strong>Raj K. Chadha <\/p>\n

Advocate Members<\/strong>
\nRamkumar Manoharan Kanti Dasi <\/p>\n

Contributor Members<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Manmohini Dasi Dhirasanta Dasa<\/p>\n

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BECOME A MEMBER <\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Experience the sweetness of supporting Srila Prabhupada’s book mission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Join us today and you will receive your free color poster of Srila Prabhupada.<\/em><\/p>\n

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TELL A FRIEND <\/font><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Know others who are concerned about the BBT? Help us get the word out.<\/p>\n

Tell a Friend >><\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Visit us on the web at www.friendsofthebbt.org<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright 2007 Friends of the BBT <\/p>\n


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\"HareBy Friends of the BBT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyone reading our Krishna book, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Nectar of Devotion, and Bhagavad-gita As It Is, is sure to become a Krishna conscious person. Therefore somehow or other we must push on this literature distribution program, either through schools, colleges, libraries, life membership or ordinary sales<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}