some suggestions please - harinam

[Guest guest]

Dear all -

 

I will be here in the us for a couple of months. In India, we can go from door to door and request people to chant hare krishna. In the us, I see some devout christians do that. But being a foreigner I feel hesitant to go from door to door. Can some one give me practical suggestions based on personal experience ? If you want to try out some weird idea, please note I am not a guinea pig -

[Streetstraw 0]

Where in USA are you? In every area there's usually one or two sincere, unmotivated karma-sunya bhaktas willing to do Harinam with you. Out of thousands of hardcore initiates, hardly one, it's true. They are certainly rare, but they do exist.

[Guest guest]

I am in California. In India what we used to do was go from door to door and ask peopl to chant. It takes about 5 minutes per family. And the success rate is 80%. Some people donate money enough to sponsor beads for people who dont want to pay for it. The problem in the US is cultural that we cannot go from door to door.

[sha 0]

We have been visited by door to door zealot preachers of 'Jehova's Witness' groups.

They seem to have much experience in that field and you may seek their guidance.

[theist 1]

ram, Be sure to find out which neighborhoods are safe.Go to the door in twos.Just be yourself, speak from the heart and leave the results to Krsna.

 

Hare Krsna

[Gauracandra 1]

I always wondered what would happen if instead of a nightly Sunday feast at the temple, we held a weekly picnic on Sunday. Essentially get the entire congregation out in the park, having fun, kirtan, and a regular Sunday feast, perhaps around 3 pm. I think this could be a good approach to sankirtan, as it gets the entire devotee community out and about, still has the feast, and makes us more visible. Of course, in some areas where it rains or snows alot, certain seasons would be off limits. But it could work.

[Audarya lila 0]

Dear Sha,

 

I see no reason to be so caustic with Ram. Maybe if you spent some time with the Jehovah's witnesses you wouldn't simply label them as religious zealots. They have something that they feel is worthy of sharing with others. I have had many good conversations with door to door preachers and have always found the exchange to be rewarding.

 

Lord Chaitanya has given the instruction to his followers that they should tell people about Krsna wherever they go and with whomever they find themselves. What kind of bhaktas would we be if we didn't follow this instruction and instead led miserly lifes?

 

Dear Ram,

 

I am sure that you will find residents here in the U.S. to be very kind and courteous (for the most part), but they lack the cultural background for the most part to appreciate mantra meditation. With so much in the news and in periodicals regarding health, nutrition and yoga you may find that some people will welcome your help. Don't be discouraged by what ever efforts you make. Even if one person takes the Holy Name without offense they will have received a gift beyond comprehension.

 

Your servant,

Audarya lila dasa

[Gauracandra 1]

I agree with Audarya Lila that I've found Jehova Witnesses to be good people. Certainly they are persistent, but I've never found them to be disruptive. We could learn a few things from them. For instance, I think their idea of distributing inexpensive, rice-paper thin booklets on their philosophy to be a good. If the goal is to distribute the philosophy far and wide, then small doses of free philosophy I think is a good approach.

[atma 0]

Todat I got in my hands the "Congregational Preaching journal" and there is an article by Angira Muni Dasa about what he learned from the Jehovah's Witnesses and how the congregational preaching works. Very interesting.

I'll post tomorrow about it.

[tsaneladi 0]

Where I live, ther are entire neighborhoods where it is posted no soliciting. This came about as a result of the JW's who were unrelenting at all hours of the day in the area.

 

Solicitors are picked up by the police or chased away. I guess you have to be quite selective where you preach.