Hare Krishna! Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Envision a gathering of 1500 ecstatic devotees, present and future leaders of Lord Caitanya’s mission from all over the world. Imagine the sound of their joyful chanting of the Lord’s holy name, their association while honoring prasadam in the heart of Sridham Mayapur. They are coming together, formulating, and creating exciting and enlivening ideas and considering strategies to help ISKCON realize Srila Prabhupada’s desire for more devotees and happier devotees. This is the vision of the ISKCON Leadership Sanga, ILS 2022. In pursuit of that positive spiritual future, we are planning for our 6th ILS gathering and you should be part of it. For many the spread of COVID–19—the inconvenience and concomitant losses experienced during the pandemic--have led to a fresh appreciation for the privilege of live sadhu sanga. Devotees globally, with undeterred determination and innovation, have opened many new outreach fields via the Internet. Working together through this common threat has generated a worldwide unity which has sustained devotees and perhaps kindled a long-lasting enthusiasm to expand Srila Prabhupada’s broad vision of offering Krishna consciousness to the world. But although we are very grateful for our virtual lives, we are eager, as much as practical, to once again engage in the dynamic aspects of personal, loving, Vaishnava association. We understand that due to the ever-changing COVID situation, virtual alternatives might be required. And ILS 2022 will happen! Whether ILS 2022 is live, virtual or some hybrid of the two, it will be carefully planned to accommodate a safe and powerful event. To be clear, we will not announce whether ILS 2022 will be a live event until sometime in October or early November. One of our main themes for this ILS will be to explore Srila Prabhupada’s leadership and managerial mandates and offer opportunities for leadership training. We will bring together ISKCON’s visionaries, sharing our time and our hearts, in a dynamic effort to spread Krishna Consciousness to others and strengthen Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON. The dates have already been set. Please mark your calendar – February 21st - 27th, 2022. Plans are underway and therefore we want to keep in touch with you regularly during the following months. Look for the launching of our new website and pre-enroll as soon as the opportunity is available. Pre-enrollment will help us plan and will allow us to keep you informed as the situation evolves. Since creating the ILS live campus requires the work of many and takes time, it is essential that we make a final decision as to whether ILS will be live or virtual by Nov. of 2021. And again, if the final decision is that ILS 2022 will not be live, we will have a most wonderful virtual ILS. Keeping connected will facilitate open lines of communication which is essential in this uncertain environment. We are looking forward to ILS 2022 and hope to see you there. No matter what lies ahead we will work together to lead ISKCON into an energetic and productive future. Your servants, GBC Strategic Planning Team Note: a PDF of this letter is attached for printing and sharing with others. |
