Devotees chant, bring the rain during a draught and the Mayor of Cincinnati gave the key to the city, the highest award the city gives out!
Candramauli Swami: In the U.S.A. there has been a 25% increase in suicides over the last 25 years.
There was a statistic about 15 years back in the USA, 5% of people are happy, 5% of people are unhappy, and 90% of people are bored.
Preaching is better than ever before, and it will remain so as Kali-yuga progresses.
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says counseling one on one is more effective than lectures.
Srila Prabhupada said there should be prasadam distribution within fifteen miles of the temples.
When people ask if I am a Buddhist, I say, “No, I am a Hare Krishna, and we chant this mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
At the Brooklyn Sunday Feast there were many activities for people to get involved with. They would swing the deities, even though it was not the time for the Jhulan Yatra. They would have the Vaikuntha Players doing dramas. They would ask if people wanted to do meditation and teach them japa.
Srila Prabhupada said for the Indian community to make the deity worship so opulent they want to come back.
Preachings ideas suggested by the audience:
Book distribution
harinama
prasadam distribution
bhakti-vriksa
acar (etiquette, behavior)
festivals
bridge preaching (vegetarianism, yoga, astrology, cooking classes)
devotee appearance in public
videos
Sunday feasts
writing (books, articles, blogs, newsletter)
deity worships (doing and teaching)
kirtana
home programs
university clubs
door-to-door
padayatra
school programs
gurukulas
farm communities and cow protection
exhibition
solving material problems (droughts, plagues)
cultural education (music, dance, instrument, language)
VIP (people in positions of influence)
Gita Contests
Drama (street, theaters, our temples)
Story Telling
Puppet Shows
Food for Life
prison preaching
interfaith
Grihastha couples are more likely to be listened to than swamis at the colleges because the people can relate to that lifestyle.
Srila Prabhupada said we have two solid programs, book distribution and farm communities.
One devotee distributed 2,000 japa kits during a Ratha-yatra festival.
In 1993 on a radio show with disc jockey Bill Cunningham in Cincinnati heard in 38 states by 40 million people, the radio host asked an Iskcon Swami during a three-month drought, “Can you make it rain?”
He said, “Yes.” The host was amazed.
Maharaja explained, “We will chant Hare Krishna, and we will invite everyone in radio land to chant along.”
Cunningham encouraged the audience, and they chanted for two or three minutes. Around 11:30 a.m. someone called from Dayton reporting clouds. Then after the show, beginning at 2:30 p.m., it rained torrentially for three days. Bill Cunningham was so impressed he encouraged the mayor to give the devotees the key to the city, the highest award the city gives out, and the mayor did.
We have 1,600 to 2,000 people chanting Hare Krishna in prisons in the U.S.
At interfaith programs Jews and Muslim have difficulty with deities. The people did like our cooking, but when they found we offered the food to the deities they objected. We said we would not offer it to the deities, and we offered it to Srila Prabhupada instead.
What is Stopping Us from Preaching (Externally / Internally)
Indianization of ISKCON
Governments being inimical
Very low level of trust
Social climate has changed
No cultivation program
Lack of confidence
Mind and intelligence
Avadhuta-ness
Lack of determination / conviction
Weather
Unhappiness
Unhappiness
Job security
Job security
Thinking there’s only one way to preach
Inexperience in preaching
Lack of strong sadhana
Attachment to a certain result
When I took sannyasa they told me I should be able to speak on any topic at any time.
In a prison lecture, you have focus on how to get out of this place or how to be happy in this place. If it is too theoretical, they will not be able to relate to it.
—-
Excerpted from the latest entry of Krishna Kripa Prabhu’s Diary, Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk: https://goo.gl/6Mjmis