The main thing about Harinam is that it should be sweet and that people should become happy hearing and seeing it.

I share your concern for the presentation of the harinam. I have gone out every week since I got here, with only a few exceptions, and have built up a relationship with the regulars - the cafe staff, the doormen, the turkish kebab guy, the people in the food court, the people coming home from work. We need to be very careful to cultivate long term relationships with them all, such that they become enlivened seeing us and look forward to the harinam.

This amplification will not be too loud for people. It is just a little bit to make it easier for the kirtan party to hear, and for the singer to chant without blowing out their voice.

I think the main thing we need to be careful of are the cartals, they are often played too loudly, so much so that you can’t hear the chanting, and they are overpowering for the public.

We just need to be two things:

Sensible and Sensitive

Then there will be minimal problems. Amplification in itself is not a problem. As you mentioned, Braja has his little amp. Those Christian boys had their stereo system at King George square for a while. There is even a guy outside Borders singing with an entire P.A. lately!

The main thing is to keep the whole harinam party attractive to the public. As soon as the focus goes off making it attractive to the public and starts going onto some other consideration that the devotees might have - like making it fun for the devotees in a way that ignores the sensibilities of the public, then it’s no longer preaching, it’s sense gratification, and it will be a problem.

in service,
Sita-pati das