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Training of Lalita Kumar dasa (Letters, 1969 - 1971)

Expressions researched:
"Account" |"Activities" |"BBF" |"BBFD" |"BBT" |"BKF" |"BTG" |"Back to Godhead" |"Bhaktivedanta Book Trust" |"Book Fund" |"Book Trust" |"Book Trust," |"Book" |"Books" |"Branch" |"Branches" |"Business" |"Center" |"Centers" |"Check" |"Checks" |"Consult" |"Consulting" |"Cooperate" |"Cooperated" |"Cooperation" |"Cooperatively" |"Dai Nippon" |"Debt" |"Debts" |"Deities" |"Deity" |"Deposit" |"Distribute" |"Distributed" |"Distributing" |"Distribution" |"Duty" |"Festival" |"Finances" |"Financial" |"Funds" |"GBC members" |"GBC" |"Governing Board Commission" |"Governing Board Commissioners" |"Governing Body Commission" |"Governing Body Commissioners" |"ISKCON" |"Initiate" |"Initiated" |"Initiates" |"Initiating" |"Initiation" |"Initiations" |"Iskcon" |"Kirtana" |"Lalita Kumar" |"Language" |"Leader" |"Leaders" |"Leadership" |"Leading" |"Literature" |"Literatures" |"M-V trust" |"M-V" |"M.V trust" |"Macmillan" |"Magazine" |"Magazines" |"Manage" |"Managed" |"Management" |"Managers" |"Managing" |"Manuscript" |"Manuscripts" |"Mayapur-Vrndavana Trust" |"Mayapura-Vrndavana Trust" |"Meeting" |"Mission" |"Missionary" |"Money" |"Movement" |"Organize" |"Our society" |"Preach" |"Preacher" |"Preaching" |"Press" |"Print" |"Printing" |"Program" |"Programs" |"Publication" |"Publications" |"Publish" |"Publishing" |"Rathayatra" |"Report" |"Reports" |"Sankirtana" |"Temple" |"Temples" |"The society" |"Translate" |"Translated" |"Translating" |"Translation" |"Translations" |"Zonal" |"Zone"

Correspondence

1969 Correspondence

Letter to Subala -- Los Angeles 8 July, 1969:

Please accept my blessings hundreds upon hundreds of times for your successful attempt. I appreciate your service very much. Now organize the center in Philadelphia very nicely as you have got a good place, and it will be my pleasure to visit whenever there is an opportunity. Now you will have good assistance in the persons of Lalita Kumar and Gopinatha, and if you require more men, you can ask Tamala Krishna and he will help you. The LA center is now specially meant for training devotees and dispatching them in different centers wherever they are required. So open correspondence with Tamala Krishna, and I also will tell him to assist you as far as possible.

1970 Correspondence

Letter to Lalita Kumar -- Los Angeles 2 February, 1970:

I am in due receipt of your letter along with Subala's. I am very glad to know that you are going to be married with Srimati Jambavatidevi dasi, and I bless you—be happy with your good wife and jointly be advanced in Krishna Consciousness.

Yes, opening a center in Florida is our long contemplation, and I remember the letter when you and Sridhama wrote me about this. Where is Sridhama now? I am very much anxious to know about his health. If he is there, please ask him to write me. Now, if it is possible to open a center in Florida, then you can think of it because now you will have the support of your good wife. But I think for a few days more you should take training in Philadelphia before you think of opening another center. That will be nice.

My open advice is that if any one can remain a Brahmacari, it is very nice, but there is no need of artificial Brahmacaris. In Bhagavad-gita it is stated that one who exhibits outwardly as self restrained, but inwardly he thinks of sense gratification he is condemned as mithyacara which means false pretender. We do not want any false pretenders in numbers, but we want a single sincere soul. There is no harm in accepting a wife and living without any disturbance of the mind and thus sincerely advancing in Krishna Consciousness.

1971 Correspondence

Letter to Rupanuga -- Gorakhpur 19 February, 1971:

It is very encouraging to note that a new branch is being opened in Wilmington, Delaware by Lalita Kumar and his wife. Encourage them and offer my full blessings for their endeavor.

Letter to Lalita Kumar -- Delhi 15 November, 1971:

I am in due receipt of your letter (undated), and I am very encouraged by the progress you are making to lead the citizens of your community, Wilmington, on the transcendental path back to Home, back to Godhead. Because you are very sincere and enthusiastic boy, and very intelligent also, Krishna has give you this position of leadership in His army, to win the war with Maya and establish Krishna Consciousness as the perfect way of life for every living entity. If you simply push on this one activity of distributing my books, your all success will be there. I have hatched this "transcendental plot" for getting money by selling my books, and if we stick only to this plan, and use our brain for selling books, there will easily be sufficient money. I have recently informed the GBC to allow each temple to keep 25% of the money they collect from direct book and magazine sales for temple maintenance, 75% to be sent to Book Fund. Supposing you can sell 800 dollars a week worth of literature (retail price). Will not 200 dollars weekly be sufficient for food and rent? If not, increase book sales, or, until things are adjusted in this way, supplement in other ways, but try to avoid too much business as this distracts us from our real mission. If Krishna sees that we are very active to spread information about Him, He is Master of the Goddess of Fortune, He will give everything!

I note that you have got a nice van—why not have some travelling Sankirtana parties in the surrounding countryside, distributing our literature in new places?

Your approaching schools and colleges is very tactful because these students are the most eligible candidates for receiving this transcendental knowledge of Krishna philosophy. Simply by repeating what I have said—first you must yourself become fully convinced of this philosophy—your preaching will meet with all success. Our philosophy has the full potency to deliver anyone from the darkest realms of ignorance to the enlightened realm of complete cognizance. The potential is there, simply you have to master the words and deliver them purely, and this will please me very much. You will be happy to know that I am preparing a book on commentaries on your Western philosophers, so that all of my students may defeat these nonsense rascals who are simply speculating this and that and misleading the people. If we sincerely try to present our philosophy at every opportunity, eventually it will be heard and appreciated. So plan your school program in this way.

As for your questions, do the fallen souls leave the spiritual world all at once or gradually, we can answer, do all the prisoners in the prisonhouse free at once—no, some are coming, some are going. Our presentation of Krishna Consciousness must be always very bold-if we are king, we must act like king. The idea is if we speak the truth, those will hear who are intended to hear by being qualified or prepared. It is not that we should compromise to attract the mass—we are after the class. Still, it was my method to make Krishna Consciousness palatable to you Western boys and girls, how else could I attract you to give up your habits of sense gratification? Krishna philosophy can be approached from every angle because it is the Complete Whole, purnam. So if your scientific explanation, beginning from the point that sound vibration is the root cause of everything, and leading to the understanding that Krishna is the Cause of the sound vibration is having good effect, why not continue in this way. Only thing is to remain true to the authorities—Krishna, the great saints and acaryas—and everything you say will come out nicely. People are of different natures so we have to use our talents how to convince people in different circumstances, that's all.

I hope this mee'ts you and your good wife Jambavati in good health and cheerful mood.

Letter to Lalita Kumar, Jambavati -- Vrindaban 27 November, 1971:

I am in due receipt of your letter undated, and I have noted the contents carefully. You may name your daughter Mitra dasi, I have no objection. You may call your children as you like, but you should always inform my secretary to make sure the name is entered on our list to avoid repetition. Later, the children may be given another name upon initiation, as it is seen fit. You ask if children may be taken to ordinary medical doctors. Why not? Of course we do not always trust that these doctors maybe doing the right thing, but what can be done? The governing principle for our activity should be to do what is favorable for pleasing Krishna. So if your child requires medical attention to be fit for serving Krishna, then it is only practical she should get it. Same thing—if the government is giving you money, why not use it for Krishna? Only thing we must avoid cheating them or falsely claiming something to get money. Then we are risking our very high reputation as pious people. But if they are willing to give us money and food, then of course we should accept.

I am very pleased that your preaching work is going on nicely. That is the test, that you are making devotees. Especially I want this school and college program. If only the intelligent class of men understand our Krishna philosophy, then our mission is successful. So try to attract these students with profuse prasadam and nice philosophy and they will appreciate more and more. Slow but sure, that is our motto—and class, not mass. So never mind some other Christian movements are getting many followers. The competition is beneficial for us. Everything is beneficial for Krishna consciousness if it is utilized properly. That is the art. Anything without substance will not last, so just demonstrate sincerely that we have got solid ground beneath us, not that we have only some sentiment, that's all. Many fanatic spiritual movements have come and gone, but without the flawless philosophy of Krishna, they cannot stand. Therefore I want especially that my books and literature should be distributed profusely. This is our substance, real philosophical information, not some weak sentiments. So try for this, to give all men this Krishna philosophy, and many real devotees will come with us back to Home, back to Godhead.

I hope this finds you in good health and cheerful mood,

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Page Title:Training of Lalita Kumar dasa (Letters, 1969 - 1971)
Compiler:MadhuGopaldas
Created:09 of Jun, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=5
No. of Quotes:5