Next year marks the 50th
anniversary of Prabhupada’s arrival in
the West. This is the time for devotees
to develop projects as an offering for Srila Prabhupada in 2015. Think
about some project that you would like to offer to honor Srila Prabhupada for his
selfless and untiring efforts to help humankind. There should be hundreds and
even thousands of events and projects manifested in 2015.
IMHO, as ISKCON makes plans for 2016, equal attention
should be paid to 2015 commemorating
Prabhupada’s historic journey to the West. For 2015 I am planning to develop a power
point presentation to take to colleges,
churches and various events to share Prabhupada’s story so that people may know
of his remarkable contribution to humankind.
In the public eye, the story of
individual effort always trumps the story of an organization. People can
certainly make a more visceral connection with Srila Prabhupada since they
would be natural inspired by his
struggle against great odds. (Look at how the world responded to the
story of Nelson Mandela) And now especially as baby boomers head into their
senior years (myself included), Prabhupada’s accomplishments will seem even
greater.
We have to understand the potency
of STORY as way of winning the hearts of people. STORY is a
valuable tool. This has been my personal experience as a professional
storyteller and workshop leader for over 25 years.
And Prabhupada’s is a remarkable
story. He came with practically nothing save for the three volumes of
first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that he had prepared for the West. He
hitched a ride on a freighter, braved a month long voyage and struggled through
a New York winter to present an ancient and venerable teaching to the West. And
sociologically speaking, he came at a remarkable time when young people in the
West were dissatisfied with materialistic culture and rejected the
unprecedented wealth and education available to them.
For 2015, we can each make some
special offering. Imagine the impact of thousands, or tens of thousands of
devotees all over the world, sharing
Prabhupada’s story with the general public. 2015
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