{"id":5417,"date":"2008-03-02T14:00:50","date_gmt":"2008-03-02T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5417"},"modified":"2008-03-02T14:05:55","modified_gmt":"2008-03-02T13:05:55","slug":"friends-of-the-bbt-newsletter-march-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5417","title":{"rendered":"Friends of the BBT Newsletter – March 08"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter please visit http:\/\/friendsofthebbt.org\/newsletter\/Mar08.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
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\"masthead\"<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NEWSLETTER | MARCH 2008 <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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In This Issue…
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Spotlight <\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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<\/p>\n

The Making of Srila Prabhupada<\/em><\/h3>\n

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

After the visual tour-de-force of deity meditation that was Darsana<\/em>, it made sense to the Mediterranean BBT that their next \"\"book should be about the person who gave us darsana: Srila Prabhupada<\/em>.  <\/p>\n

When the BBT trustees responded, “Why do we need another book of Prabhupada pictures?” photographer Nitya-tripta Dasi set out to show them by searching through every photo of Prabhupada available. This book had to be like nothing that had been done before. It would be a deep, personal meditation, boasting a unique selection that would keep the viewer feeling fresh on every page. <\/p>\n

“I had to select 193 photos out of about 90,000,” says Nitya-tripta matter-of-factly. “To make matters worse, they had been scanned directly from a bunch of haphazardly arranged binders stored at the Bhaktivedanta Archives since 1978. Film rolls were mismatched, photos had been misfiled over the years. It was a mess.” <\/p>\n

Nitya-tripta set to keywording every image, then giving each one a starred rating, and finally creating virtual folders to store them in, until she could view 90 related pictures instead of 90,000. The gruelling task took 6 months for black and white photos alone. But many of these pictures were Nitya-tripta’s old friends from the traditional darkroom, and she was inpired by the thought that now she could use the digital darkroom to enhance them and accentuate devotees’ meditation on Srila Prabhupada.<\/p>\n

“We photographers were nervous around Prabhupada, so we made mistakes often,” says Nitya-tripta, \".\"who appears photographing her guru in the last photo of Srila Prabhupada. “In that photo, I was keeping my camera in front of my face out of nervousness and didn’t realize how close I was until I finally removed it and saw that I was just 3 feet away from Prabhupada! I tried to get out of there quickly, a dangerous mission as there was a vibrant kirtana all around him, and I had to time my escape through a wall of swinging mrdangas.”<\/p>\n

Digital technology helped get around photographer mistakes and bring pictures closer to the mood of the moment. For instance, a strangely bluish photo showed Prabhupada emerging from ISKCON press—the photographer had been using indoor film inside and forgot to switch to outdoor film. With Photoshop, the photo’s exposure was easily corrected.<\/p>\n

You’ll never guess that some of the photographs in Srila Prabhupada are actually a clever composite of several. One shows Prabhupada on a moving walkway at LA airport, devotees chanting and dancing beside him. “In one picture in the series, the way the devotees moved and looked at Prabhupada was perfect,” says Nitya-tripta. “In another, Prabhupada’s expression was the best. So I just combined the two. Sometimes in photography, it’s just a matter of getting the right moment.” She grins. “Digitally, I can combine two right moments.”<\/p>\n

Srila Prabhupada’s life, of course, was a collection of right moments. And it’s obvious from the book’s many delightful casual shots that its makers were intent on showing that. “Prabhupada’s life wasn’t just on the vyasasana,” Nitya-tripta says. “He was a true guru, one who taught us something with everything he did and said.”<\/p>\n

 These casual pictures were a treat for graphic designer Haladhara dasa, who had always seen Prabhupada as an official figure, having joined ISKCON  in the late ’90s. He especially loved one of Prabhupada standing in line with several suited businessmen at the airport, waiting to check-in—so much that he had to have a poster of it on his wall. “Each member of our team had their own favorite photos that had to be in the book,” says Nitya-tripta. “It was a strong team effort, full of constant fresh input.”<\/p>\n

The Mediterranean BBT didn’t want to create a static chronological or historical document. They wanted their book to tell a dynamic, subtle story, one that spoke to the individual reader. For this to work, they had to choose the book’s text carefully, selecting a minimal yet poignant mixture of quotes from Prabhupada himself, his books, and his disciples. In a unique move, they even left out the sources—a deep meditation was the priority.<\/p>\n

“This book is all about meditation, and it was the most amazing meditation for me,” Nitya-tripta says. “While I was working on it, I lived in a small studio room, and as I selected pictures for the book, I’d print them out to size and tape them to my wall. Soon, my little room was wallpapered from floor to ceiling with pictures of Prabhupada.”<\/p>\n

She found herself constantly remembering Srila Prabhupada. “I was overflowing with thoughts, feelings and emotions. I realized how fortunate we all are to be connected to Srila Prabhupada, and how we need to always go back to the basics of what he was trying to achieve with his movement. Sometimes we forget.”<\/p>\n

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Perhaps Srila Prabhupada will help us all to remember, as devotees across the world establish or re-establish a personal connection with this great saint through its mesmerizing pages.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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

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\n Friends of the BBT Facebook Challenge <\/h3>\n

During the month of January, responding to a special challenge grant opportunity from the Case Foundation, nearly 100 Facebook members joined the Friends of the BBT Facebook Cause. Of these 41 donors contributed $1,261. <\/p>\n

Although this was not quite enough to win the challenge grant, it was still very encouraging to see the response. This opportunity has launched a whole new channel for connecting with the BBT through Facebook, and we look forward to expanding this service.<\/p>\n

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North American Book Distribution Initiative<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Book Distribution Initiative is an attempt to bring ISKCON’s focus back to book distribution. Drawing on his years of experience as a book distributor, coordinator Vaisesika Dasa collected the best practices from around the world and combined them into one handy package.<\/p>\n

At a recent meeting of temple presidents from across North America, Vaisesika made a presentation on the project, which includes Monthly Sankirtana Festivals, full-set distribution, Smart Tables, Smart Boxes, Sastra-Dana, and Weekend Warriors.<\/p>\n

Temple presidents from Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Washington DC, Seattle and Toronto then proceeded to present their progress on the Initiative.<\/p>\n

Results were encouraging: Detroit has established book distribution in their local airport, and a Sastra Dana program that has so far placed books in three major stores; Dallas has installed a Smart Table in their temple lobby and invited Vaisesika Dasa for training seminars; and Toronto has placed twenty Smart Boxes in local stores and launched a Smart Box program at their Sunday Feast.<\/p>\n

This is just the beginning. More temples across North America and the world are taking notice, and more importantly, taking initiative. The snowball has begun to roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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People Profile<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n\"\"Nitya-tripta Dasi<\/h3>\n

Nitya-tripta Dasi grew up in a photography-obsessed family. Her father presented her with a Kodak Brownie at the age of 7, her grandfather would welcome them on Christmas mornings with a camera and a huge bank of blinding lights, and her uncle made Christmas cards with trick photography—composite images of him and his wife driving a toy car, or skiing down a mountain of sugar. <\/p>\n

So it wasn’t a surprise that as soon as she could, she got a job in a photographic studio. But she was missing the fulfillment she’d hoped for. “I felt frustrated that I had access to such a powerful medium, but nothing to communicate with it,” she says.<\/p>\n

The answer remained elusive when she first met devotees in 1974. Uninspired by the services available at the temple, she moved back to her photo lab job and “fringie” status, despite the fact that she followed the four regulative principles, chanted 16 rounds, and wore a sari and tilaka to work. But when the BBT moved their offices from New York to LA and called her up to say, “This is just what you’ve been waiting for,” Nitya-tripta knew it was.<\/p>\n

“The BBT was its own small, supportive family,” she says. “There were none of the men\/women issues prevalent in ISKCON at the time, and it was a busy yet meditative atmosphere.”<\/p>\n

Nitya-tripta spent those early years photographing BBT artwork and models for the artists. “They were always on such a tight deadline that they didn’t have time to make people up,” she recalls. “So I’d pick a devotee, give them a costume, stick props in their hands, tell them how to pose and photograph them.”<\/p>\n

When the BBT artists all migrated to Italy to take advantage of the better facilities, Nitya-tripta followed them and met her husband, the musician Krishna Prema Das, thus marking the beginning of a dynamic artistic team. Krishna Vision, a multimedia show that used nine slide projectors to create its innovative effects, was their first project. It went on to become a popular staple at Hare Krishna Festivals around the world. After creating several interactive CD-ROMs for the North European BBT, they went on to work as creative consultants at the Radha-Partha Sarathi temple in New Delhi, designing much of the famous multimedia exhibition there. They are currently working on the legendary Temple of the Vedic Planeterium exhibition in Mayapur.<\/p>\n

But Nitya-tripta’s most well-loved achievement may be Darsana<\/em>, a stunning large format deity meditation book, with over 800 photos of deities around the world. “Photographing deities has been my passport to the spiritual world,” she says about the experience. “For me, Krishna is a real person. When you photograph a person, you talk to them and try to take a flattering picture. So I do the same with Krishna, and that makes it a very personal, spiritual experience.”<\/p>\n

Nitya-tripta says that the computer program Photoshop impacted the making of Darsana<\/em> in a big way. “When you photograph deities with a high resolution camera, you can see all the unwanted details—faded paint, pins, blue tack—and that makes the pujaris nervous. But digitally, you can remove all of those things until there’s nothing in the way of the meditation.” <\/p>\n

The equally absorbing book Srila
\nPrabhupada followed soon after, and Nitya-tripta says that she and her husband are currently working on a brand new idea. “But we’re not telling what it is right now,” she says mysteriously.<\/p>\n

Nitya-tripta hopes to have a visual impact on devotees’ lives, and create things that will inspire them for years to come. “That’s why these books have been such a blessing,” she says. “I’ve been able to affect the lives of so many people I don’t even know.”\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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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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Soul Singer <\/strong><\/h3>\n

by Bhaktivinode Dasa<\/em><\/p>\n

A very touching incident happened in downtown Atlanta. I presented the Bhagavad-gita<\/em> to a fellow with a guitar, and he liked it very much. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money, since he’d just spent whatever he had for lunch. He was living on the money he would collect by singing. He said, “Give me some time. I will make money and get that book.”<\/p>\n

He picked up his guitar and started singing. After a while he asked me to sing, and so I sang the Hare Krishna mantra. My singing was horrible compared to his wonderful guitar playing, but he didn’t seem to mind. I said, “Why don’t you sing about the Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, and what I just explained to you?” <\/p>\n

He placed a box on the ground for people to drop money into and started singing and playing his guitar. Little by little, he collected more money and eventually gave me a donation for the book. <\/p>\n

I was moved by his sincerity. I felt ashamed, since I am posing as a devotee but have no sincerity; yet this fellow had sincerely worked hard for two hours and made enough money to buy one of Srila Prabhupada’s books<\/p>\n

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

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Download the PDF version here.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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SRILA PRABHUPADA
\nSPEAKS ABOUT BBT<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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“Whoever Gets a Book Is Benefitted<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

“Go on spreading the sankirtana movement more and more. I am only one person, but because all of you have kindly cooperated with me, this movement has now become a success all over the world.<\/p>\n

Be assured that there is no more direct way to preach than to distribute Krishna conscious books. Whoever gets a book is benefitted.<\/p>\n

If he reads the book he is benefitted still more, or if he gives the book to someone else for reading, both he and the other person is benefitted. <\/p>\n

Even if one does not read the book but simply holds if and sees it, he is benefitted. <\/p>\n

If he simply gives small donation towards the work of Krishna consciousness he is benefitted. <\/p>\n

And anyone who distributes these transcendental literatures, he is also benefitted. Therefore sankirtana is the prime benediction for the age."                    <\/p>\n

   Letter to German disciples, May 6, 1977<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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

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During the month of December 2007, 170 temples reported distributing the
\n following number of books:<\/em><\/p>\n

Books and magazines: <\/strong>1,863,510<\/strong><\/p>\n

2007 year to date:5,387,283 <\/p>\n

<\/strong>461,638,491<\/strong>   literatures<\/strong> distributed worldwide since 1965.<\/p>\n

All glories to<\/p>\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><\/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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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS <\/font><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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\nVisionary Members:
\n<\/strong>Robert Grant<\/p>\n

Sponsor Members:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nartaka Chandrika
\nAnjani Kumar
\nAnuttama Dasa
\nDaniel Neighbors
\nIndrapramada Dasa
\nStitha-dhi-muni
\nYogesvara Dasa<\/p>\n

Advocate Members:<\/strong>
\nLalit Krishna Das<\/p>\n

Kathyrn Boundy
\nRita Kapoor
\nSrimalla&Kunjari Dasi
\nManmohini Dasi
\nPrabha Srikumar
\nKanu Patel
\nSubhash Gharmalkar
\nMeera Sharma <\/p>\n

Contributor Members:<\/strong>
\nNisha Chopada
\nSteven and Lavon Hardison
\nMichael Flor
\nDharini Dasi<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Copyright 2008 Friends of the BBT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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

A very touching incident happened in downtown Atlanta. I presented the Bhagavad-gita to a fellow with a guitar, and he liked it very much. Unfortunately, he didn\u2019t have any money, since he\u2019d just spent whatever he had for lunch.<\/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-5417","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\/5417","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=5417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}