{"id":4898,"date":"2007-12-08T09:50:16","date_gmt":"2007-12-08T08:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=4898"},"modified":"2007-12-08T09:51:14","modified_gmt":"2007-12-08T08:51:14","slug":"friends-of-the-bbt-newsletter-december-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=4898","title":{"rendered":"Friends of the BBT Newsletter – December 07"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter please visit http:\/\/friendsofthebbt.org\/newsletter\/Dec07.html<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In loving service to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
\n Founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust <\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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NEWSLETTER | DECEMBER 2007 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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In This Issue… <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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

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The Book Distribution Initiative<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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

Book distribution has changed since the \u201cglory days\u201d of the 1960s and 70s. Most  devotees are now householders with jobs rather than fulltime missionaries. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Perhaps we can use change in our favor, take advantage of newfound experience, maturity, and wisdom, and create new, innovative methods that will usher in the most successful era of book distribution yet. <\/p>\n

Vaisesika Dasa thinks so. Drawing on his years of experience as a book distributor, he\u2019s collected the best practices from around the world and packaged them into \u201cThe Book
\n Distribution Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conceived in coordination with Gopal Bhatta Dasa\u2019s Spiritual Strategic Planning Team, the program aims to bring the focus back to book distribution, which Vaisesika believes is foundational. It\u2019s an old concept, but his approach is new and fresh. \u201cMany
\n devotees feel that we need new models,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to create a culture that gives those who are not fulltime book distributors the support and facility they need to be inspired and contribute in whatever way they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Vaisesika himself, The Book Distribution Initiative is simple, to the point, and bubbling with enthusiasm. Its six practical steps can be implemented in any temple or community. <\/p>\n

First up is the Monthly Sankirtana Festival, celebrated over a long weekend. Using Vaisesika\u2019s philosophy of \u201ca lot of people doing a little bit, rather than a few people doing all of the work,\u201d it gives congregational members the chance to have a comfortable, well-organized sankirtana experience. With Full Set Distribution, the second step, devotees install full Srimad Bhagavatam<\/em> sets in their customers\u2019 homes. <\/p>\n

Third is the Smart Table, a self-serve book table placed in temple lobbies; some sell $20,000 worth of books ever year. Step four, its sister project, is The Smart Box, a smaller self-serve book display placed in  public restaurants, boutiques, and gifts shops. Its birth city, San Jose, now has fifty Smart Boxes making a combined $500 per month. Fifteen have also been installed in Boston, with a goal of twenty-five by the end of 2007. \u201c<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve even made their way to Iraq,\u201d Vaisesika says. \u201cUS soldier Partha Sarathi Dasa has installed several Smart Boxes at his military base, and each of them is selling twenty to thirty books a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the rest of the article here >><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

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

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Prabhupada Marathon Arrives<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

December is here, bringing with it cold and crisp weather, and for most people, Christmas trees and presents.<\/p>\n

But devotees are bundling up warm, shouldering their book bags, and heading out on the streets to deliver presents that do what no X-Box or shiny new bike can for its owners, deliver them from disease, old age and death.<\/p>\n

International Sankirtana Minister Vijaya Dasa encourages everyone to do whatever he can this Prabhupada Marathon. \u201cIf 4,000 devotees could distribute thirty books during the month of December that would be 120,000 books distributed for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. That\u2019s only one book a day to make a difference and change people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

We suggest you give special attention to World Enlightenment day, on December 15th. And if street book distribution is not your thing, why not give books away to people you know, or donate them to a sankirtana devotee to give to others? <\/p>\n

Whatever you do this December, we at Friends of the BBT wish you all a very happy Prabhupada Marathon.<\/p>\n

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Radhanatha Prabhu Passes Away <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Radhanatha Dasa, known as \u201cNo
\n Excuse Radhanatha\u201d to many because
\n of his determination to distribute
\n Prabhupada\u2019s books despite extreme physical difficulties, passed away on October 24, at 8:22 p.m. <\/p>\n

He was surrounded by his loving friends and admirers who were chanting the Holy Names with great love and affection. On October 26, amidst more kirtan and prayers, puja was per- formed at the crematorium and then his broken body was placed in the fire never to cause him suffering again.<\/p>\n

We will miss this dedicated devotee with all his warmth, humor and devotion, and are glad we got the chance to speak with him. Read our article on his life from our June 2007 issue at:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/friendsofthebbt.org\/newsletters\/Jun07.html <\/p>\n

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

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Vijaya Dasa<\/h3>\n

Now the International Minister of Book Distribution, Vijaya Dasa\u2019s discovery of his life\u2019s calling didn\u2019t come quickly. In search of a spiritual paradise where he could meditate with like-minded people, he took classes on Transcendental Meditation in New York City, wandered beaches in the Bahamas, and finally, pickpocketed and penniless, settled in Miami to read as many spiritual books as he could.<\/p>\n

When one of them suggested the Bhagavad-gita<\/em> in its reading list, he chanced upon Prabhupada\u2019s edition, and immediately knew it was what he\u2019d been searching for. Weeks later, he was chanting Hare Krishna at the Miami temple, a beautiful property that sat on eight lush acres full of tropical plants, flowers, and wildlife. He\u2019d found his spiritual paradise.<\/p>\n

Vijaya recalls: \u201cAfter two months of washing pots, the temple president, Narahari Dasa, asked me if I was bold. I said I could be. And so my book distribution career began.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it was another seven years before he became a sankirtana leader, and seventeen uninterrupted years after that when the GBC finally recognized his steadfast service and requested him to become the International Sankirtana Minister.<\/p>\n

Now he travels the world giving seminars and coaching devotees, collecting donations for poor third-world book distributors to buy vehicles, and compiling a mass distribution book from Prabhupada\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n

But behind all this is his goal of fulfilling our founder\u2019s dream that every home on the planet have at least one of his books.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrabhupada always said, \u2018I have one disease: I only think big,\u2019\u201d Vijaya quotes. He adds, \u201cI want that disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Book distribution has suffered in recent years, he says, only because for a whole decade in the eighties we lost Prabhu- pada\u2019s vision. Books faded. Out came paintings, records, stickers, candles, and any other quick money-maker the imagination could conceive of. <\/p>\n

Read the rest of the article here >>
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Distribution Story of the Month<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


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Cell Phone Magic<\/strong> <\/h3>\n

by Achala Dasa<\/p>\n

Every book distributor dreads a cell-phone call to the person he\u2019s stopped on the street. We\u2019ve all experienced it: Ninety-nine per cent of the time, any chance of them taking a book is over.
\n But there\u2019s always that one per cent.<\/p>\n

Once I was trying to give a man one of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books when his cell phone rang. He answered it and spoke for a minute. Finally I asked him to introduce me to the person who had just called him.<\/p>\n

\u201cO.K.,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d\u201cAchala,\u201d I told him.<\/p>\n

He handed me his phone, and I told the caller that I\u2019d just met his friend and was showing him books from India on higher consciousness, yoga, and meditation.\u201cI\u2019ve been to India twice, and I\u2019m really into Indian philosophy,\u201d the caller replied. \u201cGive the phone back to my friend for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they hung up, the person I\u2019d been trying to sell a book to said, \u201cMy friend wants me to buy two books, one for each of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gave a donation far higher than what I\u2019d been asking for and walked off, leaving me smiling in wonder.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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\u201cBook Distribution
\n   is also Chanting<\/strong> \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRegarding Sankirtana and book distribution, book distribution is also chanting. Anyone who reads the books that is also chanting and hearing.<\/p>\n

Why distinguish between chanting and book distribution? These books I have recorded and chanted, and they are tran- scribed. It is spoken kirtanas. So book distribution is also chanting. <\/p>\n

These are not ordinary books. It is recorded chanting. Anyone who reads, he is hearing. Book distribution must not be neglected.<\/p>\n

    Letter to Rupanuga Dasa<\/em>,<\/span> October 19, 1974<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Book Distribution Totals for October <\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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During the month of October 2007,
\n 92 temples reported distributing the
\n following number of books:<\/em><\/p>\n

Books and magazines: <\/strong>253,091<\/p>\n

2007 year to date:<\/strong>2,971,154 <\/p>\n

459,222,362 literatures<\/strong> distributed worldwide since 1965.<\/p>\n

All glories to
\n Srila Prabhupada!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\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 receive a free poster of Srila Prabhupada<\/em>\n <\/p>\n

\"poster\"<\/font><\/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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Copyright 2007 Friends of the BBT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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

Book distribution has changed since the \u201cglory days\u201d of the 1960s and 70s. Most devotees are now householders with jobs rather than fulltime missionaries. But is this necessarily a bad thing?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-distribution","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898","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=4898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}