720925 - Letter to Ksirodakasayee from Syamasundara

Los Angeles ISKCON

September 25, 1972

My dear Ksirodakasayee,

Please accept my humble obeisances. His Divine Grace has handed over to me for reply your letter of September 5, 1972, and He has given me direction how to reply you. First of all, His Divine Grace is always pleased upon you for making the great sacrifice that you have by completely ceasing your material life, giving up job, family, home, everything, to devote your life to Krsna, and He always thinks highly of you at all times. But the thing is, He has told me that you should not keep a branch of ISKCON in your home. He says that if a precedent is set in this case that anyone and everyone can go off and open branches in their homes or anyplace without being authorized to do so. Of course I can understand that you have some kind of authorization from an old letter which Srila Prabhupada wrote you, but in this respect His Divine Grace commented that "I have instructed him so many things, to be editor of Hindi literature, president of Vrndavana center, like that, so why he takes one small line from an old letter and bases the whole thing on that?" So the point is, that you cannot keep your house as a branch of ISKCON. It will not be an authorized move at this point. The point is not to discourage you, but to find some alternate engagement which will more positively lend to the joint effort we are making in England. Srila Prabhupada has told me to request you to engage your talents, experience, and contacts among your friends in London to head up a program of raising funds for our new place there. I understand from Dhananjaya and George that we shall be getting a place near that Runnymeade Park place that we saw before, and that it will cost us about £200,000. £200,000 is no joke, therefore I think it will require the effort and joint cooperation of all of us, including myself, to raise this money. Most probably we shall take a bank mortgage and make regular monthly payments against the mortgage for about ten years This will require a monthly deadline, and I think it will require at least £2000 to £3000 per month to make the deadline. So you can see how much work there is to do! I feel however that your cooperation is very much required at this time to help us meet this monthly sum. Without any doubt I feel that you can be a major contributor in this fund-raising drive, simply by canvassing the Indian population in London to help us. Practically by your efforts alone that one night in London we raised more than £300. Similarly, if you go from one big man to the next and show them photos and other information about that place, along with the proposal how we will utilize it to glorify Krsna in England, I don't think you will have much trouble getting pledges of £100 to £500 from any big man that you approach. So, if you will, I would like to give you the official designation as Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee for getting pledges of funds from the Hindu population of London and elsewhere. Let the other boys sell books and canvass their English countrymen for funds, and you can be the man in charge of organizing the Indian population and attracting them to cooperate with us in this major project.

Is that all right? It was nice to hear that you are enthusiastic about your project for opening your home as a branch of ISKCON, but I think that your good talents and experience may be wasted in this effort. Better if you can throw your support with the group at Bury Place and all of us conjointly raise the funds. Don't distract yourself in this way or divert your energy. An actual official branch of ISKCON requires so many arrangements that to meet all such requirements will be impossible in your tiny house above the laundramat. I am simply passing on what His Divine Grace instructed me in this respect. Your wife and family may continue on with the deity worship and your friends may join you for worshiping and classes, but to carry on as an official sub-branch of ISKCON will not be possible. I do not mean this in a negative way, rather I mean it as a positive step toward our larger goal of securing the best Radha-Krsna temple complex in the whole world! London is the most important city in the world, and we should have there the best ISKCON center in the whole world. So if you will kindly help me to realize this dream for His Divine Grace and play a major role in getting that place I can assure you that Srila Prabhupada will be very pleased with you for helping Him in this way. Kindly reply me at your earliest what you think.

Hoping this meets you and your good family in the best of health and happy mood.

Your servant at His lotus feet,

Syamasundara das Adhikari