By Madhava Smullen
Traveling around the world, expert book distributor and Sankirtana strategist Vaisesika Das has guided many ISKCON temples to multiplying their book distribution several times over. The biggest Hare Krishna community in the Western World, New Raman Reti in Alachua, Florida is the latest to be set on the path of success in ISKCON’s “family business.”
Before giving his seminar Vaisesika met with New Raman Reti’s temple board, saying that Alachua had great potential and could become a “book distribution empire.” First, however, he emphasized the importance of setting goals, and had temple president Mukhya Dasi and the other members of the board sign a commitment to double their book distribution next year.
Following this, Vaisesika’s first ever Sankirtana Seminar in Alachua, held from December 1st to 3rd, drew nearly 150 devotees from eight years old to seventy-five, including congregation members and new devotees from Gainesville’s Krishna House.
Vaisesika began the seminar on Friday with a presentation entitled “Goodwill Ambassadors.” “Each one of you,” he told the audience, “Is a Goodwill Ambassador representing the Embassy of the Spiritual World to the community at large.”
Explaining why we distribute books, he said that books are like containers of idea seeds, which float out and take root when the books are opened, embedding themselves in the public consciousness.
Vaisesika also presented his Four Ironclad Laws of Book Distribution. The first is “Good Sadhana” – devotees must first have the conviction that the knowledge in Prabhupada’s books is essential, before they can distribute it to others. “Then, when we go out, we are distributing the overflow of our own devotional practice,” he said.
The second law is simply “Get Books” – you can’t sell books you don’t have. The third is the “The More You Show, the More You Sell.”And the fourth is “Get Organized.” Vaisesika urged devotees to become very organized and treat book distribution like, as Srila Prabhupada called it, “our family business.” Treating it like a hobby, he suggested, won’t get us very far.
The second day of the Sankirtana Seminar focused on practical techniques. Vaisesika emphasized that devotees should distribute Prabhupada’s books on their own merit.
The Bhagavad-gita, for instance, contains all the sales material we need. Devotees, Vaisesika said, could show people the testimonials from the great thinkers of our time – Emerson, Thoreau, Gandhi – on the back cover, the praise from distinguished academics on the inside, and the pictures of changing bodies and the sage with equal vision to explain the book’s message.
He also advised asking questions to engage people. “Become a master asker,” he said. “Ask questions, and you lead the conversation.”
Devotees should not “sell” the book, Vaisesika advised, but instead ask for a donation, saying, “We don’t need the money, but it’s an ancient tradition that when you receive some spiritual knowledge, you give something in exchange for it – then you become connected to the whole chain of teachers who are bringing this knowledge to us.” People often relate to this presentation.
Finally, if a person is clearly deeply attracted to the book, but doesn’t have the money, Vaisesika directed devotees to give it to them. “Don’t switch it out for a smaller, cheaper book either,” he said. “If they’re interested in the Bhagavad-gita, give them the Bhagavad-gita.”
Vaisesika also led a training session, with devotees taking turns role-playing as the book distributor and passerby to practice the techniques they had learned.
Eighty-five devotees, including the children and elderly members, then went out for Alachua’s first ever Monthly Sankirtan Festival to distribute books out in the real world for two hours. The MSF, a group community event which operates on the principle of “everybody each doing a little bit,” has had massive success in Vaisesika’s homebase of ISKCON Silicon Valley, California and other centres around the world.
Vaisesika pointed out that although this was Alachua’s first, it was also one of the biggest MSF of all time anywhere. He then cultivated a fun and no-pressure mood, telling everyone, “Remember, we are just going out to touch the pavement. Once we touch the pavement, we are done for the day – because the most difficult part of book distribution is getting out the door. Everything after that is a bonus.”
Eight teams of around nine devotees then headed out to distribute books door to door in various apartments near Santa Fe College, as well as store to store in the Thornebrook Village strip mall. They were guided by team leaders who were experienced book distributors, while Vaisesika also spent time with each team.
The encouraging atmosphere, expert techniques and lack of pressure yielded inspirational results. One devotee who felt too shy to distribute went along just to accompany his wife, but ended up distributing a hardback Bhagavad-gita for the first time ever.
A new bhakta from the Krishna House, who also had never gone on book distribution before, distributed three Bhagavad-gitas and felt so enlivened that he now wants to go out regularly.
New Raman Reti’s head pujari, who had never been able to distribute big books, was thrilled that she distributed four hardbound Gitas and can’t wait to do more.
After the Sankirtan Festival, while honoring first-class prasadam together – an essential part of every MSF – devotees shared realizations. “I’ve been very focused on my own devotional life,” said one new devotee. “But now I realize the importance of showing compassion to others.”
Another talked about the experience of gaining strength and reassurance from the association of the big group of devotees.
ISKCON Alachua already has a core group of around a dozen devotees committed to book distribution, as well as many financial supporters. But with the inspiration and skill gained from Vaisesika’s seminar, a clear goal to double book distribution, and an extremely supportive president in Mukhya Dasi, the sky’s the limit in 2018.
“Devotees are already buying books from me and keeping them in their cars to distribute,” says Sri Vrindavana Dasi, a committed book distributor and head of the newly formed Team ISKCON Alachua.
“We have set our next Monthly Sankirtan Festival for January 6th and will continue holding them on the first Saturday of every month. Many devotees have already said, “Count me in!” And on top of that, devotees in Jacksonville and Orlando who have been inspired by hearing the Seminar online, are offering their homes as bases so that we can hold MSFs in bigger cities too.”
Team ISKCON Alachua also plan to increase Srimad-Bhagavatam full set distribution and place more “Smart Boxes,” which passively sell books through the honor system.
Vaisesika Das is on hand as a consultant via email and phone, to keep Alachua devotees encouraged and focused on their new journey. “He has already invested his time in us, and he wants to see us succeed,” says Sri Vrindavana.
For her part, Sri Vrindavana is excited about the future. “Each one of us is connected to this movement because of Prabhupada’s books,” she says. “Either we got one personally, or our parent or grandparent did – and that’s why we’re here. Now it’s time to pay it forward. So let’s go out and share Krishna consciousness with others – and let’s make it fun!”
The Sankirtana Seminar was livestreamed on Vaisesika’s Facebook page, and is still available for viewing at fb.co/vaisesika.dasa
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