{"id":6906,"date":"2022-11-05T01:00:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-05T05:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/?p=6906"},"modified":"2022-11-05T01:44:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T05:44:09","slug":"formal-and-informal-preaching-style-with-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/formal-and-informal-preaching-style-with-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"Formal and informal preaching style – with comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Question<\/span><\/p>\n

PAMHO & AGTSP<\/span>
\nDear Manonatha Maharaja,<\/span>
\nAlthough I have no qualification to question how a discussion of Krishna katha is supposed to be carried out, I have experienced that there is usually a structure to lectures at our ISKCON Temples.<\/span>
\nMy question then becomes, is it wrong or incorrect to hanker for the reciting of a verse and the reading of one of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s purports during one of these sanga programs?<\/span>
\nAlthough this is a very personal sentiment I have addressed you here in hopes that this subject matter brings life to this post on the blog.<\/span>
\nI remain your servant,<\/span>
\nNarayan dasa<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Answer<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Bhakta Narayan,<\/span>
\nPlease receive my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s right to hanker for recitation of the verse etc. as it is a standard established by Srila Prabhupada himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

However it is not an obligatory standard to apply every time we speak. In fact when walking or meeting guests and devotees, Srila Prabhupada did not always begin reciting verses and all, but had different conversation styles.
\nI was personally with Srila Prabhupada in his room and I watched him speaking informally, while in other occasions he had a different mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

So while it is right to do it in one way, depending from the circumstances it is not wrong to do it in some other way.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I certainly love to give formal classes. If I could I would do that everyday.<\/span>
\nmac-citt\u0101 mad-gata-pr\u0101\u1e47\u0101<\/span>
\nbodhayanta\u1e25 parasparam<\/span>
\nkathayanta\u015b ca m\u0101\u1e41 nitya\u1e41<\/span>
\ntu\u1e63yanti ca ramanti ca<\/span>
\n“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Krishna Katha is so sweet.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The main objective of my discourses is to arouse curiosity in the mind of the listeners, to induce them to participate to the sacred Krishna Katha by asking questions. Who asks questions are those who will be (if they don\u2019t already are) the most qualified to become preachers. One can\u2019t be a preacher if he is not anxious to listen and know more.<\/span>
\nIn this way one can feel the pleasure Sri Krishna talks about in the Bhagavad-gita.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In some temples (luckily few) managers do not give sufficient importance to Krishna Katha, relegating it to some secondary liturgy. They give lecturers some 45 minutes or so. If you consider initial bhajan, mantra, preparing the right atmosphere and everything, you can barely begin formulating your thoughts, everything is quickly over\u00a0and there is no time for questions, which are the most important part of a class since this is the moment when you can establish a personal relationship with the attendees.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The real preaching is to establish a spiritual relationship with younger devotees so that you can continue in time to inspire them increase their attraction for Radha Krishna.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Because of time limits, classes are generally intended for reading Srila Prabhupada verses, a short explanation and few questions.<\/span>
\nHowever what I mainly want to do is to encourage people to enter into the spirit of Krishna Katha by having all the time of the world to ask questions.<\/span>
\nIt\u2019s a personal preaching choise.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But again, I hope we can have also formal Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam classes in video conference.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your well-wisher<\/span><\/p>\n