![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-19fwu-s55j8\/Vuaa0r8HvBI\/AAAAAAAAais\/Yy28H_MCIKI\/s0\/2016-03-14_12-04-46.jpg\")
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By Kesava Krsna Dasa<\/strong><\/p>\n Many devotees, who were previously active in preaching when living full time in the temples, feel that now – living outside and earning a living \u2013 those \u201cgood old days\u201d remain just distant topics of nostalgia. Will those days ever return, they wonder? How many new generation devotees understand these things?<\/p>\n There is a general tendency for senior devotees who feel somewhat inactive to hark back to those days of jovial communal efforts, volunteered austerities, shared risks, exciting ventures, brotherly and sisterly camaraderie, and that famous \u201ctaste\u201d derived from being dependent on Krishna. This is usually the case for Srila Prabhupada disciples, and those who joined in the late 1970\u2019s and early 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n One could argue that much of Iskcon\u2019s frontline preaching is done by younger devotees and the relatively few active full time Srila Prabhupada disciples, whereas the majority \u2013 both senior and junior \u2013 attend temple functions to hear and associate. Of these, the experienced devotees will have noticed the differences today compared with \u201colden\u201d day methods of presenting Krishna conscious culture. <\/p>\n \u201cOh there used to be so many exotic Iskcon preps at Sunday feasts\u2026we don\u2019t see them any more. We used to have those rip roaring kirtans\u2026ah those life shaking ice cold bucket baths\u2026Krishna Book and hot milk before going to bed\u2026those were the days my friend\u2026I think the present generation has it easy for them nowadays.\u201d Are all these observations valid in light of the dramatic changes in Iskcon\u2019s social dynamics, then and now?<\/p>\n Then the questions will arise; what is to stop us from depending on Krishna now? What is preventing us from reliving that \u201ctaste\u201d that lingers in the annals of the mind?<\/p>\n During Srila Prabhupada\u2019s time his disciples would marvel at his treasure trove of vaisnava qualities and his cultural demeanour. His trickling drinking water into his mouth without touching lips to the cup was a sensation for some. His ability to make someone feel special, and his every word and deed had a profound effect on many followers, yet they were all different aspects of preaching. These incidents were taken as God-given signs or messages of providence by the sincere. He meant something for everyone. He is a preacher after all.<\/p>\n While thinking back on times gone by, a feeling of being inactive in preaching, and bemoaning the lack of opportunities thereof may persist. \u201cI think I have some experience to pass on to the largely younger devotee community, but they are now managing affairs in the temple\u2026many of them are qualified as professionals in corporate dealings\u2026I might be seen as a backward old-fashioned revivalist to these spiritual technocrats.\u201d<\/p>\n If there are senior devotees like this around \u2013 and who are non combative and in tune to Iskcon\u2019s needs \u2013 they should be invited to participate as mentors and advisors. It should make an interesting blend of young and \u201cold.\u201d Care should be taken that the seniors having gone through the \u201cgood old days\u201d not be highly opinionated, whereas the younger devotees should not write off the older devotees as \u201cold school.\u201d But the \u201cgood old days\u201d could be reinvented as it were. The problem is what the youngsters experience today will be the \u201cgood old days\u201d of tomorrow. <\/p>\n The fact is, just as every action and word of Srila Prabhupada meant something in a preaching sense to his disciples, the actions and deeds of our senior devotees are similarly scrutinized by younger devotees who seek worthy role models for their Krishna conscious careers. Simply put, a negative action or use of words by a senior devotee equals bad preaching. If Iskcon is a preaching mission then every feature of Iskcon life is in preaching mode.<\/p>\n Many senior devotees are perhaps unaware how they are observed in the presence of younger devotees. Just as Arjuna asks Krishna how an elevated soul walks, sits and so on, the external behaviour of senior devotees do affect sometimes impressionable devotees and sincere younger devotees alike. Along with experience comes the burden of responsibility of assuring our nephews, cousins and nieces that we have been trained properly.<\/p>\n Preaching does not only mean giving classes, lectures, seminars, or speaking to someone holding a book on sankirtana. Everything from our personal conduct to how we cook, serve the deities, serve the devotees, serve the guests and newcomers, setting an example to our children, caring, nurturing and the rest, are all various levels of preaching. And there are two ways of doing so, negative or positive.<\/p>\n Yet at present there are many experienced devotees who are inactive. There is one good reason why those \u201cdays of old\u201d seem not to feature nowadays. During those days when everyone lived in the temple, and the general mood was \u2013 to use the colloquial term \u201cFired Up\u201d \u2013 almost everyone at some stage or other voluntarily shifted out of their normal comfort zones to, well, depend on Krishna. This sense of detachment had a way of inducing the experience of \u201ctaste\u201d and pleasure from this dependence.<\/p>\n Within the shelter or comfort zones of our homes and workplaces our dependence may not be as intense. So when apathy develops so does the desire not to preach. \u201cOne whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic\u2026\u201d (BG 5.24) Our outer actions will reflect our inner thoughts. Of course, there are many exemplary devotees living at home who set internal challenges for themselves; they are seriously preaching to themselves to progress in Krishna consciousness.<\/p>\n Even if due to circumstances we cannot preach, we still have our bodies, mind and words\/thoughts. A sincere devotee will use the intelligence to tell the mind \u2013 manah siksha \u2013 of the need to always improve oneself continually. By good conduct and politeness one can indirectly endear people and indirectly give them pious sukrti to advance in Krishna consciousness. There are many ways to preach.<\/p>\n We often read or hear the word \u2013 lobha \u2013 or greed used. Someone really sincere will never be able to rest comfortably in any comfort zone, always feeling inadequate and incomplete without reaching the towering level of Bhava and beyond, or at least having cognizance to this degree: \u201cFor one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.\u201d (BG 6.30) On this level every situation imaginable is a preaching message from the Lord to be serious.<\/p>\n This whole material world is a preaching tool to remind us constantly about the miseries and sufferings it causes, therefore the demigods in charge of universal affairs are preaching there part too. There is an absolute preaching quality in Lord Krishna\u2019s description of birth, death, disease and old age, and His Time factor preaches that all good things must come to an end, including our comfort zones.<\/p>\n By becoming mentors or advisors, or organisers, or any background service within Iskcon, it is all preaching nonetheless. To think again about our recommitment and voluntarily coming forward to assist, will, in the higher sense mean that we will be helping to reunite all lost souls back into the divine company of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.<\/p>\n Your servant Kesava Krsna Dasa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many devotees, who were previously active in preaching when living full time in the temples, feel that now – living outside and earning a living \u2013 those \u201cgood old days\u201d remain just distant topics of nostalgia. Will those days ever return, they wonder? This whole material world is a preaching tool to remind us constantly about the miseries and sufferings it causes, therefore the demigods in charge of universal affairs are preaching there part too. There is an absolute preaching quality in Lord Krishna\u2019s description of birth, death, disease and old age, and His Time factor preaches that all good things must come to an end, including our comfort zones. By becoming mentors or advisors, or organisers, or any background service within Iskcon, it is all preaching nonetheless. To think again about our recommitment and voluntarily coming forward to assist, will, in the higher sense mean that we will be helping to reunite all lost souls back into the divine company of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385","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=7385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25399,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7385\/revisions\/25399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/-ocfXyoMIriI\/VuabFUqh89I\/AAAAAAAAaiw\/mo1PUp3lxxM\/s0\/firefox_2016-03-14_12-05-57.jpg\")
By Kesava Krsna Dasa<\/strong><\/p>\n