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22ND
MAY 2000
1.
Krishna Confirms ISKCON Re-Birth
2.
Manhattan Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
3.
Book Distribution Begins To Explode in New York
Last August,
the IRM held a conference in Manhattan, New York City, with the aim
of reviving the Krishna Consciousness movement throughout the world.
The flyers for the meeting stated: "ISKCON Rebirth Planned -
Where ISKCON Founded". This was in recognition of the fact
that for the ISKCON tree to be healthy, we must once again
re-invigorate the root - which is Manhattan, the birth-place of
ISKCON. With this in mind we launched a program to re-establish the
skyscraper temple which Srila Prabhupada had left us in Manhattan.
Madhu Pandit and Adridharan prabhus, the temple presidents for
Bangalore and Calcutta respectively, had agreed to act as the
sponsors for this project. Phase one of this project was to first
open a preaching center, which would serve both as an office for the
main project, as well as a base from which to start forming a team
that will work on establishing the sky-scraper temple. So following
the IRM meeting in August we set about working on opening a
preaching center. However the going was very tough. We had come to
Manhattan last August, with nothing more than a dream and a vision.
For 2 months our representatives in New York, Jayananda, Brahma
Bhuta and His wife Mother Vani, were searching for a loft in
Manhattan to open a new temple for Srila Prabhupada.
They contacted many real estate brokers and looked at several lofts
for rent in Manhattan. However since we were looking for BOTH a good
location AND a large size - in the 3000 square feet region - the
rents were astronomical - more than $6000 a month. The only places
we could afford were in the less appealing parts of Manhattan.
Even when we managed to find a place, and were willing to pay more,
the competition was so great, that they would be gone within a day.
This happened for over 2 months, and after contacting dozens of
brokers, we were getting nowhere. It was approaching November, and
the infamous extremely harsh New York winter was setting in. We had
almost given up hope. We started to speculate on all sorts of other
options - maybe we should try again in 6 months time when the real
estate market in Manhattan was not so 'hot' or maybe we should start
in Brooklyn, where cheap available properties are plentiful. However
we remembered that Dravanaksa Das, the first treasurer of the
Manhattan sky-scraper temple back in 1976, had told us that Srila
Prabhupada had told him that Brooklyn was a 'low-class
neighbourhood'.
So we did not know what to do. Did Krishna really want us to carry
on with this extremely ambitious plan, to try and facilitate the
re-birth of ISKCON?
We prayed for a sign one way or another.
One cold November morning Jayananda happened to be walking down St.
Mark's Place in the Lower East Side, and noticed a broker's office
and on the off-chance thought he would ask if there was any loft
space available. To his amazement the broker named Pete said "Sure -
right next door."
Immediately Jayananda was excited but at the same time he did not
hold out much hope since St Marks is the trendiest place in
Manhattan at the moment, and he knew that both competition and the
price would be tough. He was not wrong - the rent was in the $6000
region. However he preached to the broker how we were reviving
Krishna consciousness back to just what it was like in the old days,
with Srila Prabhupada as the Guru, and that we were going to use the
loft as a stepping stone to a building in Manhattan just like the
one on 55th St (this is where the old sky-scraper temple was)
with a 5 star restaurant, temple, school, and regular prasadam
distribution and Harinamas. Like many NY'ers Pete was familiar with
the grand 55th St. Temple, was impressed with our dedication and
said he would do his best to get us the place. He arranged an
appointment with the landlord, but suggested the devotees wear karmi
clothes and not mention the Hare Krishna Temple part and just say we
wanted to start a 'yoga' center, since 'Yoga centers' are
very trendy in NYC these days. So they did just that. Jayananda and
Brahma Bhuta went and met Nancy and Mellisa (the landlords). They
told the standard story about how they wanted to start a 'Yoga
Center', thinking that would satisfy them. To their surprise Nancy
immediately asked WHAT kind of Yoga they practised. The devotees
shuffled their feet nervously at this line of questioning - and said
'Bhakti-Yoga'. Surely THAT would be the end of the matter.
However as quick as a shot, Nancy said:
"Oh I know all about Bhakti Yoga. I knew Bhaktivedanta."
This was becoming stranger and stranger. The devotees didn't know
whether to be happy or worried. Jayananda asked - "Which
Bhaktivedanta". Again, as quick as a shot, she said:
"The Hare Krishna One!"
The devotees immediately screamed out -"That's US" - having
forgotten all about their 'coaching' from the real estate broker to
hide the fact that they were Hare Krishnas !
Nancy Continued, "When I was in College in California I helped
Allen Ginsberg get Bhaktivedanta a storefront in Haight Ashbury in
the 60's."
But that wasn't all. Mellissa the other landlord said she used to go
to 26th 2nd Avenue, the Matchless Gifts Temple in the 60's and she
met Srila Prabhupada. She also said her husband wrote the
article and took the picture for the East Village Other where
Srila Prabhupada is standing in front of the tree in
Tompkins Square Park. We explained how we wanted to get a new
building for Srila Prabhupada in New York City and revive Krishna
Consciousness because the old ISKCON had now become corrupt and was
failing.
Nancy said she
would pray that night to Srila Prabhupada and Allen Ginsberg and
then give us an answer. The next day she had gotten her answer, and
decided to rent us a 3000 sq ft. loft for 3 years at $3500 per month
even though there was already an offer from a photographer for $5500
on the table. She said she was thrilled to again get a chance to
help Srila Prabhupada to create a spiritual revolution. But this was
not all. The transcendental arrangement was completed when we found
out also that Pete the broker's wife had grown up in the ISKCON
Dallas gurukula! She's fried with today's ISKCON, but she still
loves Srila Prabhupada. And just when you thought it couldn't get
any better, Keith the first electrician we hired saw Srila
Prabhupada's picture on a window sill in the temple room and said
his mother has this picture hanging over her bed and has said for
years that he is her guru!
We asked for a sign - and my God did we get it. And it could not
have been more appropriate. For in trying to re-launch the Krishna
Consciousness movement and revive the spirit of Srila Prabhupada and
the 60's, we just happened to stumble upon someone who had directly
participated in the first revolution. And so here we were, just a
block away from Tompkins Square Park where Srila Prabhupada started
the first revolution, and in St. Marks, the trendy hotspot of
Manhattan. This was sign enough that Krishna had blessed the
re-birth - and it now became clear to us that the mission to restore
the sky-scraper building will be unstoppable, as Krishna himself had
set us on our way.
THE RE-BIRTH HAS BEGUN
We immediately
began working on renovating the place into a temple. Luckily
Jayananda is a trained builder, and he managed to rope in all his
work colleagues and many devotees to all pull together to start
knocking the place into shape. Also a large TV screen was acquired
to show Srila Prabhupada videos. Brand new Kitchen Equipment was
also put in, a South Indian altar installed and the floor completely
re-laid. We had devotees come from all over to help as soon as we
told them about the project. Even Sunday feast regulars at the
ISKCON temple in Brooklyn volunteered. Consequently we were able to
do a $100, 000 + renovation job for less than half that amount.
As well as a Temple Room, there is also a large prasadam room, a
TV/Preaching Room, Brahmacarya Quarters, a Kitchen, and shower room.
But do not take our word for it - please click the link below to see
the 'Before' and 'After' pictures of our temple room, and you will
be convinced that the IRM has come to New York determined to 'mean
business':
The place has only recently become fully operational, and in such a
short space of time already we are having :
Twice weekly programs with over 35 people, Weekly hari-namas,
Programs in life-members homes, Cooking classes and daily book
distribution (please see next section).
In fact we have already had many famous personalities from the world
of fashion and movies visiting our Sunday feasts, including a
Hollywood director, a top fashion model and TV actress, as well as a
member from the cast of 'Cider House Rules' - a recent Oscar winning
film. This is not surprising since the prasadam and hospitality is
becoming famous. One devotee visited from Australia and he said that
he could honestly say that in visiting ISKCON temples all over the
world for more than 20 years, this was the best in terms of
atmosphere and Prasadam. And that's not surprising since our bhoga
bill for the Sunday feast alone runs into many hundreds of dollars,
with no expense spared to ensure opulent prasadam, with everything
cooked in ghee. Many devotees have commented that the atmosphere is
just like it used to be in the 'old days', and this is what has been
missing in ISKCON for many years.
We also have our own regular TV show on Cable TV! The details
are:
"The Hare Krishna Show" on Manhattan cable channel 34 1:30pm
Every Sunday. The shows contains nectar from Srila Prabhupada, and
reaches over 2 million viewers. And this is the only Krishna
Conscious TV show going out in New York City.
But get this - WE HAVEN'T EVEN OPENED YET - and already the
place is on fire. The official opening takes place on:
Sunday, 11th June, from 3pm onwards This is the day after the
New York Ratha Yatra, so many devotees are coming over, since they
will be able to catch two events in one go. Their will be continuous
prasadam served from 3 PM onwards till late into the night, non-stop
kirtan and videos of Srila Prabhupada will be playing all day on
huge TV screen.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME - the address is:
93 St. Mark's Place, 2nd Floor, NYC, NY 10009-5141 This is between
1st Avenue & Ave. A PH: 212-979-0381 & 1063
212 780 0686 E-mail:
brahmabhuta@hotmail.com
Please call or e-mail for more information.
Remember this is just the beginning - only a small window into what
is yet to happen. Just an office to facilitate the main vision - to
return Srila Prabhupada's sky-scraper temple back to him.
The Best Is Yet To Come
From the
outset, the purpose of establishing our project was to re-establish
book distribution in New York. We had been told by the devotees from
the ISKCON temple in Brooklyn that it would not be possible to do
large-scale book distribution in Manhattan, that the future lay in
simply catering to the Indian life-members. However we knew that the
success of Srila Prabhupada's mission in the west would depend on
reviving book distribution back on the streets. Right from day 1,
even whilst the place was not fit for habitation, devotees were out
on the streets distributing books. The very first day that
Madhusudana Dasa, our sankirtan leader, went out to do books was on
a Sunday, and he was nervous having not done books in New York
before. So he just walked up and down the side-walk right outside
the temple, and did $90 in 4 hours . We were on our way. Every day
without fail, even during the harsh New York snow they went out. Led
by Madhusudana das, many devotees have come and been trained up in
how to do books on the New York streets, and congregational devotees
have also been doing books on a part-time basis.
Consequently since last November till the end of April, the
following is the total number books that have been distributed:
................
7381!
We will bring you the scores for May next month.
The books distributed include: Perfection Of Yoga, Beyond Birth &
Death, Nectar of Instructions, as well as books in Spanish, and a
number of hard-back titles such as Srimad Bhagavatam 1st Canto, and
Journey of Self-Discovery.
To give a comparison at what all this means, the following is the
score for month of March for the large ISKCON temple in Brooklyn:
Maha Big Books 92
Big Books 9
Medium Books 130
Small Books 765
Magazines 18
(Scores taken from North American Sankirtan Newsletter - Scores only
available up to March)
The corresponding score for our small motley crew in March was:
Softback books = 1177
Hardback books = 95
Making a total of
1272
books distributed
(We do not yet know the exact classifications used by the
Sankirtan Newsletter - maybe somebody can help?)
So already, even before we have really got going and opened, our
small operation is blazing a trail in book distribution in the USA.
And the scores, month on month are going up, as more devotees assist
in doing books on apart-time basis, and also because now we have
just received a shipment of case-loads of big hard-back books. And
from the collection in book sales and donations at the Sunday Feast,
we are already able to cover up to half the monthly rent bill.
Following the official opening, and more devotees joining up, we aim
to start covering most of our costs through book distribution.
Madhusudana has many far out stories to tell about doing books in
New York.
Dressed fully in dhoti with a shaved head, many people have
approached him, saying that he reminded them of the good old days
when devotees openly distributed books in Manhattan dressed AS
devotees. When the weather is too cold he goes and distributes books
in the subway. The devotees go out 7 days a week including Sundays.
Here are a few sankirtan stories:
Madhusudana gave the head of the World Trade Center, a very
important building in New York, a Higher Taste and the guy threw it
on his desk and said 'whatever' - showing no interest
whatsoever. Weeks later he saw Madhusudana distributing again in the
World Trade Centre and approached him. Madhusudana thought he was
going to ask the security guards to throw him out, but instead he
thanked him saying he had taken the book home to his wife and she
read it and had made practically all of the recipes. She made him
read the book also. He loved it.
Another time distributing in 'The World Trade Center', at
Christmas time, as the devotees stood overlooking an endless stream
of bodies, one white haired and bearded elderly gentleman approached
with intent curiosity, wishing to know what books Madhusudana had.
He was overjoyed when Madhusudan showed him many different titles
from Srila Prabhupada. As he took the Science of Self Realisation he
stated that he had read Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavada-gita As It Is
and approved of it. In return he gave a donation for the book and
said he would come for the opening of the temple, saying to contact
him with details. Madhusudana asked his name and particulars, and he
just said - "My name is Orest Bedrij, and I'm in 'Who's
Who' - just look me up!"
So the devotees did, and found out he was the top computer
scientist at IBM for a long time. He lead the team that built the
first modern generation of computers. Yet somewhere along the path
of material success, Orest became an aspiring transcendentalist.
Once in the subway, Madhusudana was sheltering away from the cold,
and trying to pass out books to the busy commuters. Then Hayley
Mills, the famous actress came up to him, and bought a book. She
said that she was performing a play at Broadway. She said she had
only noticed him because of his shaved head and robes. This again
shows the value of being fearless and doing books dressed as
devotees - Krishna is supplying the result!
WE LOOK FORWARD
TO SEEING YOU ALL AT THE OPENING: THE HARE KRISHNA EXPLOSION HAS
BEGUN AGAIN!
Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter, and please
keep your letters, and e-mail addresses of other devotees who should
be added to our list, flowing in.
A hard copy of our main position paper
'The Final Order' is available on request.
If you would like to receive any of the back issues of the
Newsletter please let me know.
No 1.
Invitation to Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja
No 2.
GBC Lose First Round of Court Case
No 3.
The Story VNN Refused to Publish
No 4.
Poison Theorists Accuse Adri of Complicity
No 5.
Iskcon Continues to Promote Child Abusers
No 6.
Invitation to Malaysia
No 7.
United World Body Formed
No 8.
Does Srila Prabhupada Support Poisoning Theory?
No 9.
PADA Attacks IRM Position
No 10.
PADA Continues to Present False Evidence
No 11.
GBC Funded Video says Ritvik Spiritual
No 12.
Child Rapist Selected by Gurus to Defend their Legitimacy
No 13.
GBC Facing Perjury Charge in Calcutta High Court
No 14.
Sahajiyaism Makes a Comeback in Iskcon.
No 15.
Govt. Minister Inaugurates Bangalore Rathayatra
No 16.
Iskcon Calcutta Triumphs Following Arson Attack
No 17.
Fighting Lies with Truth Not More Lies
No 18.
GBC Resolutions Continue to Provide Laughter
No 19.
Indian Leaders Endorse IRM Position That GBC Confused
No 20.
Convicted Child Abuser Officially 'Returns' To Parampara
No 21.
GBC Chairman Admits ISKCON 'Disintegrating' |