Visiting the BV Mecca
I am in a country of the Middle East code-named "Mathuradesh." Revealing the
place might jeopardize the activities of the ISKCON devotees there. The
atmosphere is quite sattvik; this country doesn't strife, as others in the
region, to emulate the West through whimsical initiatives such as building
the tallest building in the world or hosting a Formula One race. Buildings
here are mandatorily kept to soft colors such as beige, pink and white, and
they are never boastfully tall. The country has been hardly even touched by
the "Arab Spring" disorders that affected other places in the region; and
that's one reason why the world rarely hears about this country: Nothing
dramatically upsetting ever happens here (besides, of course, the usual
tragedies of birth, death, old age and disease).
Grace Vijaya-venugopala Prabhu, supported and assisted by his dynamic wife,
Prema Padmini Mataji, took seriously the message and potentiality of the
cellular approach to congregational development. From a group of nearly
eighty devotees (which they had themselves made when they were the only two
ISKCON members in the country) they have built a community that has
generated some three thousand devotees - perhaps more - over the last
fifteen years, recruiting them among the Indian expatriates working here.
Despite that many - being temporary workers here - eventually have moved on
to other countries or back to India, there are still 125 groups, weekly
meeting and engaging in outreach and cultivation of potential devotees. At
present this is the largest number of BV groups in any city in the world,
although places such as Kolkata or Moscow are growing at ever faster rates
(due also to the fact that they deal with a stable local population, while
here people are relatively fluctuating). Despite being the Mecca of BV, the leadership has been wise and flexible
enough to adapt the method most appropriate to various circumstances. For
instance in large labor camps, where many people live together (and where
the cellular dynamics of small, multiplying groups won't be most effective),
they have established large Nama-hatta groups up to around two-hundred
members. I had not visited for the last eight years and it was a pleasure to
reconnect with old friends, to see them productively engaged in devotional
service and in propagation, and to witness a community with solid systems
and structure, where supervision appears alert and where internal
interpersonal tensions are at a minimum (if at all present). The devotees
are so obsequious, respectful and service-oriented that at times I wonder if
they mistook me for a more illustrious person, someone who truly deserves
their reverence. So far I have given a couple of evening Bhagavad-gita classes in two
different homes, a Srimad-Bhagavatam class at the hall where they have their
general weekend gathering (a sort of "Sunday Program" held on Friday, the
Muslim holiday), and four formal presentations, four seminars on various
community-building-related topics. The first was an historical overview of the vision for congregational
development of Lord Caitanya, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada, which included some
highlights also from the years after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance. The second seminar dealt with principles of community development and was
entitled "Strong Roots, Strong Results." After each aspect the devotees
rated how that aspect was being implemented in their community. We discussed
foundational virtues such as the four principles of dharma: Austerity,
cleanliness, mercy and truthfulness); then foundational practices such as
hearing and chanting about Krishna, then we went to foundational roots: Care
(service to the devotees), small groups, outreach, organization and
empowerment. I told them to rate each item from 1 (very poor), to 5
(excellent) - and I was glad to discover that no item was considered
particularly deficient, the lowest average being 3.17. That gave a sense of
a community that is confident of its own value and that trusts itself and
its leaders to be on the right track. The third seminar aimed at identifying, workable and implementable
definitions for 'love' and for 'trust.' Since Srila Prabhupada said that the
Movement is based on love and trust I thought it's important to have a grasp
of what these terms practically means and how should they shape our
attitudes. The fourth seminar was about environmental scanning, the effort to
understand our "time, place and circumstances" through studying the trends
inside and outside our communities. The aim is to make our programs and
activities more relevant and relatable; without changing the message or
watering down the purity, the packaging and delivering of new and existing
programs can help making more devotees and happier devotees. Before this seminar I had dialogues with some of the leading devotees here,
and they were already contemplating ideas for innovative projects and
initiatives, to both serve the needs of the devotees and to make it easier
for seekers to connect with Srila Prabhupada's movement. So ripe was the
mood that at the end of the presentation an Outreach Committee was formed to
systematically explore the possibilities for new activities.
