740501 - Letter to Jayatirtha written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1974

Letter to Jai tirtha

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
Founder-Acharya:
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
CENTER:
             Hare Krishna Land,
             Gandhi Gram Road,
             Juhu, Bombay 54
DATE             May 1               1974

My dear Jai tirtha,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated April 16, 1974 and have noted the contents.
Concerning how to induce grhastas to take part in Krsna Consciousness activities rather than in activities of Maya it is very simple: they should attend the temple program rigidly. Morning arati, classes, sankirtan. We have given houses with the purpose to execute devotional service exactly like the Brahmacaries and sannyasis. Otherwise, why purchase houses near the temple? The whole idea is to live near the temple and take advantage of the temple program.
Regarding the apartments, how is the rent being collected and where is it being deposited?
Locan das may deposit his contributions with the Mayapur Vrindaban fund for going to the Krsna Balarama temple. Kindly advise the Union Bank to send the monthly interest to ISKCON Mayapur Vrindaban Trust Fund. I still don't know how many installments they have sent or how quickly they are getting the money to the Punjab National Bank in Vrindaban.
As for grhastha worshiping Gaura Nitai deities that is only for those who live far away from the temple and cannot attend. Otherwise such worship is redundant: there is already deity worship going on in the temple and they should attend the aratriks, not install their own deities. The householding community in Los Angeles or any of our temples is not meant to be independent from the temple program. The impression of Lord Caitanya's feet which you brought from India may be kept in a picture, not that it is worshiped as a deity. Keep it as a picture. I will look forward to your regular reports. I know you have multifarious and complicated affairs to manage in our Los Angeles Center, and I know you are doing your best there. Just pray to Krsna to give you intelligence how to manage it all. The most important thing is that we must be ideal Krsna Conscious persons, and then we can attract others. This means chanting, reading my books, going on sankirtana, following the regulative principles and worshiping the deity. Whoever take part in these things, no matter what he has done of sinful activities before, will automatically advance in spiritual realization. This is the simple process and if we follow it we will become ideal. Otherwise, they will become victims of women and wealth.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/sdg
ISKCON
3764 Watseka Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90034