Just as the last of the monsoon clouds dispersed and the balmy October sun shined bright, hundreds of unsuspecting people in Pune were caught in a sudden tsunami last weekend. Yes, 130 supercharged devotees from ISKCON Pune spread out across 10 chosen spots in the city and distributed nearly 700 books of Srila Prabhupada within a matter of just 2 hours on Saturday, 8 October 2016. This was indeed an unprecedented spiritual deluge for the city!
What was the occasion? ISKCON Pune just held their first ever Monthly Sankirtana Festival (MSF) with the guidance and encouragement of His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu (ACBSP), who delivered a two-day seminar on the significance and implementation of regular and systematic book distribution. MSF is a strategy of book distribution where a large number of devotees go out together for book distribution on one weekend every month. It has been a great success in the US and Canada since many devotees doing a little bit adds up to big results and strong relationships in the devotee community. Adding to the spiritual weaponry at ISKCON Pune is “Our Family Business – The Great Art of Distributing Srila Prabhupada’s Books” – the first book written by His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu about the principles, practice, techniques, as well as the history of book distribution in ISKCON. More than 100 devotees in Pune received copies of Our Family Business signed by him, and more copies are available at both temples in Pune.
Under the excellent leadership of His Grace Radheshyam Prabhu, ISKCON Pune has taken up the MSF formula, gearing up to double their marathon scores and increase their overall scores this year. Every month from now, teams from the Pune congregation including kids and matajis will organize themselves, load up book bags, pack prasadam, and jump into vehicles one day a month to continue the barrage of books and drown the city in spiritual bliss. HG Nama Prabhu (Sankirtana Leader at ISKCON Pune) and Bhakta Anand Patil Prabhu (MSF Incharge) will work together and conduct regular MSF every month. Bhakta Anand Patil Prabhu is an enthusiastic book distributor and leader, who was inspired by His Grace Vaisesika Prabhu in Wellington, New Zealand. As a global inspiration, ISKCON Pune is all set to step up their book distribution to the next level, with their first MSF drawing amazing experiences for the participant devotees and the public:
One devotee implemented the law of “Always leave a good impression” by treating the people he met with openness, kindness, and compassion. By seeing his interactions with the people who did not even take books, one owner of a restaurant said he would keep a shelf in his shop filled with Srila Prabhupada’s books and let his customers take. So, an outlet for book distribution was created by sincerely applying the principles of good book distribution.
Another devotee who joined the MSF was initially not having much success on the field, and then, he desperately prayed to Srila Prabhupada. Within a few minutes, he met a young man who not only took a book but also said that he has previously read Bhagavad Gita As It Is and is eager to join ISKCON full-time! The devotee was positively surprised and invited him to the Sunday Feast. Well, Krishna has a wonderful plan for everyone, and devotees become active instruments in the plan by taking the trouble to go out and distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books.
The event was hosted by both ISKCON temples in Pune, Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra (NVCC) and Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari (Camp), and facilitated by a team of volunteers from the ISKCON Sankirtana Leaders Team – India. To host such training events or to get copies of Our Family Business, please write to brihatmridanga@gmail.com.
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