{"id":5598,"date":"2008-04-05T09:13:26","date_gmt":"2008-04-05T08:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5598"},"modified":"2008-04-05T09:13:26","modified_gmt":"2008-04-05T08:13:26","slug":"friends-of-the-bbt-newsletter-april-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=5598","title":{"rendered":"Friends of the BBT Newsletter – April 08"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter please visit http:\/\/friendsofthebbt.org\/newsletter\/April08.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
\n
\"masthead\"<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NEWSLETTER | APRIL 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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Prabhupada\u2019s Books\u2014
\nThe Ultimate Prison Escape Plan<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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

\".\"ISKCON\u2019s Prison Ministry traces its roots all the way back to 1962, when Srila Prabhupada visited Tihar Prison in New Delhi. \u201cIf you give me the chance to speak to all the members of the Jail,\u201d he wrote to superintendent Sri Puri, \u201cIt is quite possible for me to turn them into ideal characters.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yet it wasn\u2019t until 1988 that
\n Candrasekhara Dasa established the official ISKCON Prison Ministry in the USA, as an outlet for householders to preach without having to leave their homes; all they had to do was write letters.<\/p>\n

Shyama Priya Dasi, now an IPM volunteer for 17 years, was gripped by the idea of such a personal service the moment she was first introduced to it in 1990. \u201cChandrasekhara showed me a photo album of all the inmates he was writing to,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was like they were family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\".\"But it was a family of outcasts\u2014rejected by society and abandoned by their friends and relatives. \u201cWhen inmates read Prabhupada\u2019s books, they realize that although the material world is not what it\u2019s cranked up to be, they\u2019re not alone,\u201d Shyama Priya says. \u201cKrishna still loves them. And that makes them want to change their lives for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

IPM initially sent only a few books to prisons. But when Shyama Priya noticed how often inmates requested them, she began eyeing the full case under her desk. Maybe I could send out the whole thing, she thought, afraid she was being over-zealous. It was an empty fear. Before she knew it, she had sent out thirty cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrabhupada\u2019s books are the basis of the Prison Ministry,\u201d says Shyama Priya. \u201cWe send out 300 Bhagavad-gitas<\/em>, 200 Science of Self-Realizations<\/em>, 8,000 small books, and 4,800 Back to Godhead<\/em> magazines every year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Now approved vendors in some states such as Texas and Oregon, IPM also sends Bhagavad-gita<\/em> and Nectar
\n of Instruction<\/em> correspondence courses
\n to inmates who want to learn more.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no shortage of students. Although IPM does very little advertising beyond its monthly newsletter Freedom<\/em>, run by ex-inmate Bhakta Jerry, Shyama Priya receives letters every week from inmates whose lives have been transformed through Prabhupada\u2019s books.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne woman found an old Bhagavatam<\/em> in a Louisiana prison,\u201d she says. \u201cShe\u2019d never heard of Krishna consciousness before, but she began chanting Hare Krishna and writing to us, and finally got initiated.<\/p>\n

When her guru visited her in prison, he told her, \u2018You don\u2019t belong here.\u2019 She replied, \u2018I tried to get pardoned by the governer, but it\u2019s impossible.\u2019 <\/p>\n

The very next day, she received a letter of pardon from the governor, and was released from prison that summer. She had a 90-year sentence and would have spent the rest of her life in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even inmates who don\u2019t have lifelong sentences end up ebbing away their existence in a cell. \u201cPrisons don\u2019t reform,\u201d Shyama Priya explains. \u201cThey simply house people until they\u2019re released,
\n commit the same crimes again, and are re-incarcerated. That\u2019s a fact even officials will admit.\u201d <\/p>\n

Billing itself as a spiritual reform program, IPM believes its aiming at the root of the problem. \u201cLord Chaitanya didn\u2019t neglect the most fallen people in society, such as Jagai and Madai\u2014he came to liberate them,\u201d Shyama Priya says. \u201cIf inmates get just one Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, it can change their lives.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to argue with the evidence. One inmate wrote IPM explaining that he used to be a heavy gambler, drinker and smoker, and that he loved playing poker. Every night he would try to get into the prison poker game, but nobody liked him, and every night he was shunned.<\/p>\n

Finally, frustrated, he went to the library to get a book instead. He picked out a Western, opened it, and saw to his surprise that it was the Bhagavad-gita<\/em>\u2014someone had switched the covers. Furious, he began to read anyway, and before long he was gripped. By the time he\u2019d finished the book, he had quit all his bad habits and had started chanting.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not only inmates who show appreciation for Prabhupada\u2019s books. In 2003, Marty Mendenhall, director of Utah\u2019s largest secure care facility for juvenile delinquents, sent a letter to the BBT that stunned everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe currently have 82 young people incarcerated,\u201d he wrote, \u201cAnd I would like each of them to have a copy of the Bhagavad-gita<\/em>. I understand this is a significant number of books to call for; however these young people suffer tremendously and are in dire need of the Lord Krishna\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n

If you are unable to send that many copies of the Gita<\/em>, could you please send any of the writings of His Divine Grace Swami Prabhupada.\u201d <\/p>\n

\".\"Working solely on volunteer power and donations, IPM hopes to continue its spiritual reform movement. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for more qualified devotees to write letters to inmates,\u201d Shyama Priya says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, you can donate books through Maha-Tattva\u2019s Sastra Dana program. If we had enough books, we could put full Srimad-Bhagavatam<\/em> sets in every prison library in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day, Shyama Priya and Chandrasekhara hope, there will be a prison ministry in every state and devotees visiting prisons across the country.<\/p>\n

But for now, they\u2019re content with shining a light of hope through cell bars and giving inmates the ultimate chance to break free from the prison of material life\u2014Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books.<\/p>\n

The Prison Ministry contact info: 419-508-2291 or via email.<\/a><\/p>\n

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

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  <\/h3>\n

Farsi and Arabic BBT Titles Available Online<\/h3>\n

Farsi spiritual seekers worldwide will be pleased to find that the West Pacific BBT has  recently uploaded PDF versions of the Farsi Bhagavad-gita As It Is <\/em>and Sri Isopanisad<\/em> to their website.<\/p>\n

These can be found by visiting
\n BBT.info and clicking on \u201cWestern Pacific, South East Asia, Middle East\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Arabic Bhagavad-gita<\/em> is also available, in both PDF and audio versions<\/p>\n

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BBT Report 28% Increase in International Sales<\/h3>\n

BBT Trustees at this year\u2019s meeting of ISKCON\u2019s Governing Body Comission were pleased to report that the BBT\u2019s international sales for 2007 had increased by 28% over the previous year. <\/p>\n

North European BBT Trustee Brahma Muhurta Dasa gave a one-hour report highlighting the year\u2019s significant achievements. <\/p>\n

Most notable was India\u2019s contribution\u2014the country was responsible for more than 50% of all BBT sales in 2007, and reported printing more than 1.6 million Bhagavad-gitas<\/em> last year.<\/p>\n

Other highlights included first ever printings of BBT books in Mongolian, Kazakh, and Arabic, a 40% increase in Spanish books sold in South America, and an amazing 1.3 million visitors to the BBT\u2019s website, Krishna.com, in 2007.<\/p>\n

Brahma Muhurta\u2019s report was followed by a two-hour discussion on the opportunities and challenges for increasing book distribution in 2008 and beyond. <\/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\"\"Bhrgupati Dasa<\/h3>\n

Bhrigupati Dasa has spent thirty of his thirty-four years in ISKCON selling Srila Pra-bhupada\u2019s works. He\u2019s distributed 200,000 books, collected over $500,000, and has been the top distributor in North America four times.<\/p>\n

At the 2005 Gaura Purnima Festival in Mayapur, he was awarded the Global Excellence Award for book distribution.<\/p>\n

So what set Bhrigupati Dasa on his long and illustrious spiritual career? It began in 1973, the way most Krishna conscious journeys do\u2014with one of Prabhupada\u2019s books. On his way back home to the Bronx one evening, Bhrigupati was intercepted in the subway station by a devotee brandishing Teachings of Lord Caitanya<\/em>. <\/p>\n

From the moment he opened it, he felt so inspired that he read the book without pause\u2014throughout his train ride, while walking to his house, while sitting propped up in bed\u2014until he finally finished it at 2 a.m. the next morning.<\/p>\n

The next day, determined to lay his hands on one of those \u201cSrimad-Bhagavatams<\/em>\u201d mentioned in the book, Bhrigupati gathered his life savings of thirty-three dollars and returned to the subway station. Sure enough, another devotee approached him, handed him a rose and asked for a donation.<\/p>\n

In one swift motion, Bhrigupati took the rose, handed over the thirty-three bucks, and asked, \u201cHow many Srimad-Bhagavatams<\/em> could you give me for this?\u201d When the devotee had finished staring in shock, he handed Bhrigupati three books and invited him to the Sunday Feast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off in a chanting party, occasionally handing out Back to Godhead<\/em> magazines and small books to bystanders,\u201d Bhrigupati says. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long before I had realized that I was distributing more than chanting, and moved on to full-time book distribution.\u201d <\/p>\n

Through the years of service that followed and the challenges that came with them\u2014such as tackling different cultures and worldviews in Australia and England\u2014Bhrigupati simply stuck with it, feeling Krishna working with him and helping him along the way.<\/p>\n

He advises new book distributors to do the same. \u201cI meditate on the Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, as if I\u2019m Arjuna and Krishna is talking to me,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a personal reciprocation with Krishna, and it constantly yields miracles, without fail.\u201d <\/p>\n

One difficult day, for example, Bhrigupati approached a young woman who said that she wanted a book but didn\u2019t have any money on her, so he\u2019d have to wait until her boyfriend arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was skeptical,\u201d he says. \u201cI thought the boyfriend might never turn up, and if he did, he\u2019d probably just refuse the book.\u201d But minutes later, a brand new Rolls Royce pulled up, and out stepped a smartly dressed Indian gentleman. Taking a Bhagavad-gita<\/em> immediately, he asked Bhrigupati if he\u2019d been to India. <\/p>\n

When he replied, \u201cI\u2019ve been to all the holy places,\u201d the man said, \u201cSo you\u2019re a member of ISKCON then?\u201d and pressed a crumpled piece of paper into Brighupati\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019d gone, I didn\u2019t dare open my hand yet. Instead, I kept trying to distribute books, and despite how badly the day had gone before, managed to sell two more Bhagavad-gitas<\/em> to two other couples for twenty dollars each,\u201d Bhrigupati says. \u201cThen I finally opened my hand. There was a one-hundred-dollar bill in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bhrigupati sees book distribution as a blessing and doubts he\u2019ll ever stop. Today, he and his wife Chandravali travel across the US in a motorhome distributing books at schools and music festivals\u2014some, such as Banaroo, south of Nashville, Tennessee, are attended by over 100,000 young people every year. <\/p>\n

Bhrigupati is a firm supporter of traditional book distribution but also of new innovative methods like Vaisesika Prabhu\u2019s Smart Table program. He hopes they will help more devotees realize how simple and blissful distributing books really is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have another dozen or two full-time distributors in America, and we wouldn\u2019t be stepping on each other\u2019s toes,\u201d he says. \u201c The opportunity is unlimited.\u201d<\/p>\n

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


\n<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The Sankirtana Mirror <\/strong><\/h3>\n

by Karuna Dharini Dasi<\/em><\/p>\n

When I first tried to distribute books I was horrible at it. I did not know what to say, and I did not even believe the sound of my own words! I was a new devotee. I was only trying because I had some push from the temple authorities. I certainly liked Bhagavad-gita<\/em>, but I could not preach.  <\/p>\n

After so many bad days I finally cracked and just sat down on a seat in the airport and cried my eyes out. There was a service man nearby and he stopped and said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Ma’m, can I help?\u201d<\/p>\n

I mumbled to him that I was supposed to be selling these books, but no one would buy  them. \u201cWell, I might buy one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I still felt like crying, but I squeaked, \u201cBut…you don\u2019t know what it is about! There is Krishna, and this is Arjuna, and they are talking on a battlefield and this is a classic literature…\u201d <\/p>\n

I was so stuck on saying lines, not really trying to relate them to whomever I was talking to.
\n It was clear he felt sorry for me. He gave twenty dollars and took the Bhagavad-gita<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was startled by his kindness toward me. That was one of my very first sales, and I still remember it so well because it embarrassed me so much.<\/p>\n

After that I had to seriously consider how impersonal and proud I am and how it prevents me from really caring for people. Krishna had arranged to show me this through a non-devotee. <\/p>\n

Sankirtana is the mirror.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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\"\"<\/h4>\n

\u201cIntroduce Our Books in Colleges<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease also try to introduce our books in the colleges and schools as well as local libraries.<\/p>\n

I have received word from other centers that our literatures are very well received and often they are being used as course textbooks in the schools and colleges.<\/p>\n

You are already preaching on the university campuses, so you add this book distribution to your program and make it complete with preach ing, chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra, distribution of prasa- dam and literatures.<\/p>\n

I know how well this program is received by the students because they are very intelligent.<\/p>\n

You are also very intelligent boy and devotee of Krishna and Krishna will give you even more intelligence in proportion to your endeavor to serve Him faithfully”                    <\/p>\n

   Letter to Nayanabhirama Dasa , 26 October 1970 <\/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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\".\"<\/p>\n

During the month of January 2007, 120 temples reported distributing the
\n following number of books:<\/em><\/p>\n

Books and magazines: <\/strong>225,159<\/strong><\/p>\n

2008 year to date:225,159 <\/p>\n

461,970,109<\/strong>   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><\/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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\n
\nSponsor Members:<\/strong>
\nAnjani Kumar\n<\/p>\n

Advocate Members:<\/strong>
\n Ladubec, Kenneth
\n Sharma, Meera
\n Boundy, Kathryn
\n Indarani Dasi\n<\/p>\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

Bhrigupati Dasa has spent thirty of his thirty-four years in ISKCON selling Srila Prabhupada’s works. He’s distributed 200,000 books, collected over $500,000, and has been the top distributor in North America four times.<\/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-5598","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\/5598","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=5598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}