My Formula For Āśramas (09/13/10)

My Formula For Āśramas (09/13/10)

Daṇḍavats _____,

YES, long hours of hari-kathā are the life and soul of the Vaiṣṇavas. If you get me going then I’m sometimes good for talks up to 14 plus hours a day for as many days as we have available. I am sure we will find many interesting topics to discuss.

In your emails you have not mentioned any contemporary Vaiṣṇavas or Vaiṣṇava groups other than iskcon and some devotees in iskcon. I would be interested to know what association or contact via books, etc you might have had with other Vaiṣṇava groups in recent years. Have you had any contact with either ______ Swami or _____ Maharaja? Just interested to know.

Several years ago I spent time in Switzerland trying to establish something but finally gave up. The 90 day visa issue, language problems, and the high cost of living finally got the best of me. I really liked Switzerland and felt very sad when we had to abort our endeavors there. Oh well, maybe next life!

I’m really into situating āśramas in and around incredible vistas of nature. The formula we have developed is like this – bring a person, or persons, to a place in nature that leaves them speechless, engage them in a physical activity or sport until their energy is totally spent and they are on the brink of starvation (very hungry), then feed them fantastic kṛṣṇa-prasādam, fill their ears with the Holy Name and show them by example that we live a lifestyle that is so attractive that it is good enough to die for! I have seen that all this becomes so intense that people become overwhelmed with the experience, they drop their defenses and become inquisitive about all aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When inquisitiveness awakes, they are on the path of becoming devotees. Anyway, that is how I am focused on developing āśramas and it seems to be working nicely. And the guests pay to stay and love it!

Gaura Haribol,

Swami