I read an interesting article the other day by Krishna-kirti das on the subject of polygamy. In this article he uses a growing debate about accepted norms of marriage in the Western world to examine the Vedic culture’s internal conception of marriage.

A while ago one reader left a comment on my blog and I followed it back to her blog. There is an article there with links to further articles on polygamy, including some expositions of interesting implications.

The Vedic Conception of marriage is an important cultural element.

Last night at the LCA 2006 conference dinner I explained the four regulative principles that Hare Krishnas follow to my friend Kirby from Sydney. They are no meat-eating, no intoxication, no gambling, and no illicit sex.

In explaining “no illicit sex” I put it like this:

What we are into is reintegrating the whole natural process and function of sex. Instead of trying to divorce the responsibility and consequences from the act of sex and the pleasure of it, we make it holistic. First of all there is the creation of a stable social and economic situation and environment for dealing with the natural products of sex life (children), in the form of a formal lifelong commitment (marriage). Then we have sex life and let nature take its course. Children are born, and they have a stable situation to grow up to be healthy and happy people.

Marriage is not about you - it’s about the children. When we keep that understanding, that marriage is a service to the children who will be produced, and a service to society, then things go on nicely. When we start thinking that marriage is about our individual pleasure, and focusing on me, me, me, then the problems start, and society unravels.

NASA have released data that shows that 2005 was the hottest year on record globally since temperatures started being recorded in 1880.

I dropped into a Christian bookshop yesterday down near the Octagon in Dunedin and browsed some material, before leaving with a copy of a magazine “Leadership” about church leadership.

It’s an interesting resource, and it will be good to see a similar thing for ISKCON.

There was also an interesting book there called “Preaching Re-imagined” that I scanned while in the shop, and finally I had them put aside a copy of the Interlinear Bible, which has the original text in Hebrew and Greek, word for word translation, and (I’m not sure which) English translation. That is for my brother Levi, who I will be seeing next week in Auckland after the retreat in Taupo.

I’m blogging about the LCA conference on my livejournal blog, and the rss feed has been added to the LCA 2006 Planet.

I checked out the web presence of Leadership, and found an article by Brian McLaren, a Christian pastor who is part of the “emergent movement”. He is speaking about a response to homosexuality in the contemporary cultural context, and I found a lot of his feeling and thinking resonating with me, and he articulates things well.

He says:

I hesitate in answering “the homosexual question” not because I’m a cowardly flip-flopper who wants to tickle ears, but because I am a pastor, and pastors have learned from Jesus that there is more to answering a question than being right or even honest: we must also be . . . pastoral. That means understanding the question beneath the question, the need or fear or hope or assumption that motivates the question.

We pastors want to frame our answer around that need; we want to fit in with the Holy Spirit’s work in that person’s life at that particular moment. To put it biblically, we want to be sure our answers are “seasoned with salt” and appropriate to “the need of the moment” (Col. 4; Eph. 4).
….
We see whatever we say get sucked into a vortex of politicized culture-wars rhetoric–and we’re pastors, evangelists, church-planters, and disciple-makers, not political culture warriors. Those who bring us honest questions are people we are trying to care for in Christ’s name, not cultural enemies we’re trying to vanquish.
….
That alienates us from both the liberals and conservatives who seem to know exactly what we should think. Even if we are convinced that all homosexual behavior is always sinful, we still want to treat gay and lesbian people with more dignity, gentleness, and respect than our colleagues do.

For me, as someone who thinks about how to present Krishna Consciousness in the current cultural context, and as a person who wants to care for other people, these are questions that I consider, and the approach of Brian McLaren resonates with me the most. It says what I want to say about how I feel on this issue.

I’ve written about this before, that devotees are neither liberal nor conservative, they are spiritually progressive - that means that they are interested in progressing spiritually, and helping others to progress spiritually.

Here is another article, entitled Family Matters, I believe written by His Grace Matsyavatara Prabhu, a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that I also consider demonstrates a sensitive, spiritually progressive perspective.

Geoff has a picture of his altar on his blog. Geoff - I definitely couldn’t find the place to create an account in order to login to leave a comment…..

That altar was in the Auckland Loft for a while, then came down to Wellington. There was another altar in Wellington in the ashram (which was at 102a Aro St) prior to that, that His Holiness Bhaktisiddhanta Swami had brought over from Asia. Sri Sri Nitai-Sacinandana lived in that altar until Municari and Sruticari started worshiping Gaura-Nitai in their ashram in Palmerston North, at which point that altar went up there (where is it now, I wonder?).

Then, the altar that you have now came down from Auckland, perhaps around the time that the Auckland Loft wound up. For a while the Auckland Loft team was divided into two, with half in Auckland headed by Krishna-loka dd and the other half migrated to Wellington with Param Satya dd. Then the Auckland Loft was wound down, and everything was moved to Wellington about 1999.

We moved from Aro St to the Roxburgh Fire station, aka the Roxburgh lounge, and brought it with us there.

So far as recruiting men is concerned, we have to create men. Preaching means to recruite more and more men. This process is called gosthananda which means pleasure by seeing increase of followers.

- Srila Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Si, General!

I’m on day two of the Linux Conf AU 2006 conference in Dunedin, NZ. You can read on my other blog some of the details of the conference so far, if you’re interested.

This morning I awoke at 7:50 am NZT (4:50 am Brisbane time). Last night I went to the Digital Arts Miniconference performance at the Arc cafe. I talked with a number of other conference attendees, including a few Kiwis and two guys from Google - one of whom offered me a job.

I got home at midnight and wrote up my report of the day, going to bed at 1 am.

This morning I toyed with the idea of chanting my rounds later in the day in order to catch the presentations this morning, but decided that my overall effectiveness would be higher if I stick to chanting all of them together first thing every day while I am here. There is no kirtan, no devotee association, no prasadam, so my service to the Holy Name is the only thing I have. Ultimately everything that I am doing here is being arranged by the Supersoul, so I might as well sit back and remain conscious that I am just along for the ride.

That will be the only late night for me, hopefully. There is a dinner at the Dunedin Town Hall on I think Friday night, so that might go a little late too. On Sunday starting at 6 am I take three flights to get to Lake Taupo for the retreat. I could have waited a little longer and taken a single direct flight, but I wanted to get there in time for lunch, because I am going to be starving!

No sleep for me tonight. Packing for two weeks away - one week in Dunedin with bedding provided and a whole lot of electronics for recording, one week in Lake Taupo with no bedding provided and a whole different set of clothing. It’s a bit of a challenge. I also have a box filled with Red Hat and Fedora t-shirts, and Fedora Core 4 DVDs to take with me.

Today His Holiness Prahladananda Swami came over for lunch and chatted with the guests. There were about twenty people in the house all told, between guests and inhabitants. We have a home group here on Saturdays, which is our pilot group. The group is thickening. Two of the members are coming with us to NZ.

Maharaja gave a very funny talk about evolution and the shortcomings of modern science. During lunch there was a lively discussion and many questions for him.

After lunch I had the opportunity to speak with Maharaja about a few different things. I got some advice from him on internal conceptual orientation in the face of the circumstances and external duties that I presently have - which is probably an overly verbose way of saying that I got some advice from him about my job - but also about how to approach things in general.

Our internal attitude is the real thing, and it is very difficult to know what someone else’s internal attitude is. Not that I am a Vaisnava, but it is said that the mind of a Vaisnava is mysterious. In the Bhagavad-gita Srila Prabhupada explains that externally a person in Krishna Consciousness and a person not in Krishna Consciousness appear very similar, but there is a vast difference in their consciousness. One works with the conception that they are the doer, the other knows that Krishna is the ultimate actor. One works with the motivation to please themselves, the other acts to please Krishna.

Someone may criticize Arjuna, the hero of the Bhagavad-gita (of course Krishna is the real hero, but He gives credit to His devotee), for being proud and violent, or they may consider him a mundane actor for responsibly utilizing the body he was given, rather than renouncing it, but I don’t think such a person has really grasped what is going on. Perhaps they haven’t read Bhagavad-gita to understand the internal motivation of Arjuna, which is exposed in this way just to let us see that being a spiritual person does not mean being inactive, or acting in a random manner just to prove that “you’re not the body”. Actually, when Arjuna wants to abandon acting according to the particular body that he has been given in this lifetime in the name of spirituality, Krishna spends a lot of time explaining to him the system that He has set up for giving material bodies to the living entities in accordance with the necessities of maintaining a functioning society that exists to provide protection and spiritual progress, and how Arjuna should follow and propagate that system, even if he himself doesn’t need that facility, to set an example for others, just as Krishna Himself does.

Arjuna is fully active and acting in terms of the material body he is inhabiting - a male, an executive leader (warrior), a member of a particular family. He is doing so in Krishna Consciousness, however, fully conscious internally that he is simply playing out a role as a dutiful servant of Krishna, and we are given some special insight into his consciousness through the window of Bhagavad-gita. Otherwise, speculating about a person’s internal state of consciousness and motivation based solely on their external actions is very dangerous. The only internal state of consciousness that we can know is our own, so that should be our primary concern.

That’s why saintly persons advise to refrain from commenting on the activities of others, except in a case where we are called upon to give a concrete example to illustrate a philosophical principle, always being careful to keep it on the level of principles (this is explained in Sri Bhaktyaloka, among other places). We should bear this in mind when preaching. Sukanthi Radha takes a lot of pictures, and we have to be careful when using these pictures that we don’t identify a particular person. If people sense that a particular person is being identified and condemned they reject the presentation, and that includes me. For that reason I prefer to avoid that type of presentation wherever possible (yes I know that there are one or two photos that fall into that category in the presentation that I gave the other day). Saintly persons have concluded that if one does break the injunction to not praise or criticize others, then they should do so on the side of praising them. Emphasize the positive, as the saying goes. The reason is that misguided praise is less damaging than misguided criticism.

Statements that a Vaisnava is beyond varnasrama refer to their internal consciousness, not to their body. The person is the consciousness, not the body. The Vaisnava, or Krishna Conscious person, is conscious that they are not the body. However, as the principles of Bhagavad-gita explain, they continue to act externally in terms of their body, although internally they are transcendental to it. Arjuna may be a devotee, he may even be or become a pure devotee, but his body is still a male body, of an executive leader, of a particular family. Now he performs his actions in Krishna Consciousness. Krishna explains that He Himself does this. Even though doing so many actions, the fully Krishna Conscious person (Vaisnava) is aware that they do nothing. This is a very elevated state of consciousness, which also includes a complete detachment from sexual desire, although the person may also engage in sex life as a duty, as Maharaja Priyavrata did.

It is actually a sign of ignorance to identify anyone as a sudra or otherwise. These are bodily designations. They refer to the body only. One who identifies the spirit soul with the body is in ignorance. It is not ignorance to identify a body as being a sudra or brahmana body, however.

It is incorrect to identify a Krishna conscious person with the bodily designation of sudra Vaisnava as much as it is to identify them with the bodily designation of male. Both are bodily designations. However, we do see that generally a Krishna Conscious person respects the designation of male and female. There are exceptions, such as Sukadeva Goswami, who made no distinctions, but Vyasadeva, his father, the author of the Vedanta-sutra and Srimad Bhagavatam, equally Krishna Consciousness, set the general example that is followed.

Everyone can understand that the Krishna Conscious person, even when liberated within the body, the state of jivan-mukta, is still within the body of male or female. They still pee standing up or sitting down. Similarly, they are still within a body suited to a particular form of work. They will not be affected by this at all when they are in a state where they are not affected by the sexual identity of the body. Even in this state they will generally act in such a way as to provide an example. They don’t have to, but generally they do. In fact, as Krishna explains, only such a person can provide a perfect example, for they have nothing to gain in trangressing any codes - they have no ulterior motives. Their only motive is to please Krishna, and the way to do that is to set a perfect example for others to follow in discharge of occupational duties. Such an example allows the other members of society to create a favorably situation for elevating their consciousness.

Therefore, the conclusion, based on the principles imparted to Arjuna by Krishna in Bhagavad-gita, and the personal example of Arjuna and other devotees, is that although Vaisnavas, or Krishna Conscious persons, are fully aware that the self is not subject to bodily designations, the body still exists, and should be utilized responsibly and appropriately.

Helping other people to connect with their internal state of consciousness is the function of a Krishna Conscious missionary preacher. The first step is to build a relationship. Preaching is a form of Leadership, as you can see from this description:

We wish to give guidance, for the benefit of the person, and we want them to receive benefit by taking that guidance.

That statement applies to preaching, which is a specific form of leadership, and to leadership in general. You can imagine that as applying to a King, a government, a father of a family, or a preacher. Leadership, and preaching, are a service. A preacher, and any other form of leader, is a service provider.

Remember that Leadership is about permission, not position. Similarly, preaching is about permission, not position. It’s about gaining people’s trust by cultivating a relationship, then giving them Krishna Consciousness assistance by helping to put them in touch with themselves, which ultimately means with Krishna, since we are all part of Krishna.

Anyway, now I’m just babbling, because I haven’t slept. We discussed some realizations arising from studying books on management principles and Bhagavad-gita. Maharaja made the point that whatever tallies with the Vedic conclusion is valid knowledge, which is explained by Srila Prabhupada in a purport to a song by Narottama das Thakura (not sure which one). “Whatever presents the Vedic conclusion is accepted as part of the Veda, or knowledge.”

Maharaja told me about Vikarna and how he changed sides just before the battle. It was very nice to spend some time with him. He is a very purified and purifying personality.

As you will notice from reading this blog, I don’t usually express myself from this perspective, and after this post I will revert to my usual way of expressing things. Some devotees once said to me in relation to a course I did through my work: “Why are you going to this course on leadership?” That is not the right question, for me. The question for me is: “Why are they not coming to us to learn about leadership?”

The answer for me is two-fold: we have not yet developed a deep enough understanding of the knowledge that we have at our disposal - mere repetition of the formulas and words is not sufficient - nor have we developed the ability to communicate it in the language that others can hear it in.

Others will have a different point of view, and that’s fine by me. That’s just my angle of vision, and I’m not pushing it on anyone who doesn’t want to listen to it.

The language I have used in this post will be comprehensible to only a few persons, and most people who come here by way of Google and other means will have no idea what I am talking about, because the communication is too dense with background concepts. Usually I talk about Krishna Conscious principles using the conceptual building blocks that my audience carries around in their head.

I will probably go through and find all the verses and sections of the books that I have quoted here, and link to them. I humbly request that comments on this article be limited to verses which support the points contained within it. If someone wants to present a different perspective then I feel that the appropriate way to do it is by taking the time to write an article and use a trackback. I don’t want to get involved in argument, or spend time on points of disagreement. I’m happy to present my realizations for those who want to read them, and myself read, or not read, the realizations that others see fit to publish on their web sites. I respect the opinion of people who take the time to form it and consistently articulate it. I comment on things I agree with, and neglect everything else, in accordance with Sri Bhaktyaloka.

Global Warming has become the number two reason people visit my site through search engines, retaining its one-up position on my articles about Good to Great and Executive Leadership.

No. the reason that people are finding me right now is due to some Australia Day 2005 nostalgia (Australia Day is July 26). People are searching for the famous Sam Kekovich Australia Day Lamb advertisement that showed last year on the tele that called vegetarians “Un-Australian” and invited them to “stuff off” - with a generous offer by Keka to show them where the airport is if they don’t know… heh heh heh. Gotta love it.

Yes, the ad is still available for viewing online, and can be found here. Check out my commentary on it while you’re here.

Here’s the Sunday Feast handout for the next three weeks. Usually we do a different one each week, with the program schedule (songs and singers, in order, and the presentation for that evening) and the translation for one of the bhajans that we are singing that night.

This one has to last for the three weeks that I will be away, so I’ve taken the opportunity to cast the vision of service and the next step at the Sunday Feast.

This is in the drafts folder and I’ll publish it before I head to NZ.

When I first became integrated with the team at the Loft in Auckland I was inducted into the outcome of several conversations that informed the vision and strategy of the Loft preaching paradigm. The Loft was originally put together by a team of preachers lead by His Holiness Devamrita Swami.

In an early discussion one of the sannyasis said: “Why are we always like an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff? Why do we always get people after they fall off? Why don’t we get people before they go over the cliff?”

This line of thinking contributed to a focused approach to presenting Krishna Consciousness to a specific segment of the population, and tuning the presentation to serve those persons, while tuning other segments of the population out. They made a conscious decision to purposefully focus on persons other than those seeking primarily relief from distress (who are often at the bottom of the cliff).

This is not a selfish, insensitive, or elitist approach. Imagine a war zone with many casualities. You are a doctor. You have to quickly assess the patients and treat them. Your responsibility is to save as many lives as possible. If you focus on the most critical cases first you will be able to treat only one or two persons. Others, meanwhile, will die, or go from serious to critical. If, however, you treat less critical cases first and then engage them to help you, you will be able to more effectively help a greater number of people.

We’re not talking about neglecting any type of person here, we’re talking about structuring a practical approach to progressively build sufficient capability to serve all types of persons.

There is one Bhaktivedanta Purport to the Caitanya-caritmarita, cited in the Contemporary Urban Preaching Seminars, related to this:

The Krishna consciousness movement is meant to attract all types of men, even those who desire things other than the Lord’s devotional service. Through the association of devotees, they gradually begin to render devotional service.

Most people come to the Krishna Consciousness movement with desires other than performing pure devotional service to the Supreme Transcendent Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. Therefore they have mixed motivations involving the four different psychological dispositions described in Bhagavad-gita that I outlined in my article on Preaching for Leadership Recruitment. Depending on the elevator pitch that drives your preaching approach in a given program (we think of them as “brands” to help reinforce the understanding that they are tuned to a particular target market), you’ll appeal primarily to one or the other of these groups.

Remember that most people are not conscious that they want Krishna Consciousness - they think they want something else. The Loft is based on attracting those people by understanding their temporary needs and desires, and simultaneously ministering to their eternal needs and desires - a principle described in the abovementioned puport:

By associating with devotees, such people give up the mumukshu principle and render devotional service. The real cause for this change is the association of devotees.

Now depending on the presentation that you make, you will primarily attract one or the other of these groups.

• If you emphasize free food and escaping from the horrible material world - you’ll appeal to people whose primary motivation is avoiding distress.
• If you emphasize “being opulent for Krishna” you’ll appeal to people whose motivation is to acquire wealth.
• If you emphasize a program of social reform or revolution you’ll appeal to people who are inquisitive.
• If you emphasize a program of acquiring knowledge, you’ll appeal to people who are looking for knowledge.

The point is that you have to be intentional about which type of persons you are appealing to, because remember - as I mentioned, a person’s inner psychology is revealed by the choices they consistently make when two values are in conflict - they value one above the other and act accordingly. So what has strong appeal to one type will necessarily have weak appeal to another group. Birds of a feather flock together for a reason. If a person doesn’t have a consistent internal value structure they are mentally imbalanced and will manifest as socially dysfunctional. If your program doesn’t have a consistent value structure it will be dysfunctional as well.

I’m on a flight to Dunedin, NZ tomorrow morning at 6 am. I’m at work at the moment finishing up the last touches on the latest edition of the podcast that I do with my friend wmealing. I’ve starting preparing for the Urban Missionary podcast. I’m going over to Linux Conf AU 2006 for a week, and then for a week to the retreat at Lake Taupo. Don’t know if I’ll get to sleep tonight.

Please realize, wherever you are in the world, that I don’t get the significance of your email address, or even know how to spell your name. When you write your name and email address - SPELL IT OUT CLEARLY IN UNAMBIGUOUS LETTERS.

Is that a U or a V? a or o? r or v?

Here is another early morning meditation from my trip to NZ back in December - The Four Natural Character Flaws of a Leader, and How to Overcome Them.

I wrote those realizations down one morning, but never finished it. I may rewrite it at a later date, but I think that there is something valuable for someone in there. I would like to recognize my indebtedness to His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami for helping me to connect with this.

(Let’s hope that this one is a little less controversial than the last….)

Experts on presentations generally recommend reflecting on your material and then writing down the one sentence or phrase that you would say to the audience if you could only say one thing. It’s a useful discipline that helps to distill your message to its essence and develop a laser-sharp focus. Tony Evans (who did a great series on Discipleship) takes it one step further, ending his sermons with “I’ve only said one thing tonight - …..”.

Underlying our communication of Krishna Consciousness is a consistent message. One elevator pitch that I have noticed, the kernel, the basic conclusion that is expanded out in further detail is the following:

Life is full of suffering - birth, death, old age, and disease. The material world is a horrible place, filled with horrible things. You don’t want to take birth here ever again. You have to become Krishna Conscious.

In some circles, this is the central message driving the preaching, seeking to motivate people to take to Krishna Consciousness. This is the underlying mentality, the essential point that everything revolves around and keeps returning to: “You know, at the end of the day my friend, life is full of suffering….”

If you read my discussion on Preaching for Leadership Recruitment, you might realize that this type of preaching will appeal mainly to people whose character is such that they are seeking relief from distress. This will resonate with them, and they’ll say: “Yes, I feel that. I am attracted by that”.

A side point is that the people you have will determine the people you will attract. Birds of a feather flock together. The people who are attracted by this preaching will then repeat it with conviction, and attract more people who are looking for this.

There was one boy who was studying administration at the university. Those who know him will know who I’m talking about. He is temple commander now in one of our facilities. Classic ksatriya. Wanted to be a politician and change the world. He was attracted to the movement by a presentation that we were on a mission to change the world. That’s another elevator pitch:

This world is designed by Krishna, and He has the perfect system for its functioning. Our duty within this world is to help the people by organizing the world according to Krishna’s spiritual principles for material organization.

Presentations on this theme focus on social and economic problems and Krishna Conscious solutions for them, in this way demonstrating the superior practical nature of Krishna Consciousness. This presentation appeals to the people who value competence, pragmatism, and changing the world.

Here is the elevator pitch that His Holiness Devamrita Swami uses, consistently:

These books contain the highest knowledge. If you read these books you will be able to see clearly what you are doing and make the best decisions in your life. You will be able to really help yourself, and help others.

Where others might conclude their class with: “Chant Hare Krishna”, “Become a devotee”, “Come to the temple”, “Join us in escaping the misery of the world”, or any one of a plethora
of conclusions, H.H. Devamrita Swami consistently concludes with: “Therefore you should study this knowledge so that you are equipped to make the best decisions”.

No prizes for guessing which type of people that this preaching consistently attracts.

I believe that this is one of the vital ingredients for success in Loft preaching - using the right elevator pitch, or the correct conceptual orientation in presenting Krishna Consciousness. Loft preaching is about recruiting and developing reproducing teams of people. A successful Loft leads to another successful Loft. I always used to wonder - “you know, I saw those devotees all the time while I was growing up in Auckland, but I was never attracted to the movement until His Holiness Devamrita Swami started Loft preaching there. Then I became interested and attracted to participating in the movement.”

Of course some of that is due to my personal journey in life and need to experience certain things, but looking back on it from this angle I can recognize that it was when I was given a presentation of what Krishna Consciousness was about that appealed to my internal values that I was tipped over the edge. I just wasn’t fortunate enough to be on the platform of pure devotional service and spontaneously attracted to Krishna’s pastimes in the spiritual world - like most people in this world.

In the Contemporary Urban Preaching seminars you will hear His Holiness Devamrita Swami explain that most of our guests come through their network of friends and social connections, and very few from foot traffic, which is why we favour low-cost second story locations slightly off the city center.

I am an exception to that in that I was foot traffic. I mention myself in this connection to provide a further example that I personally know about. I was walking down the road one day when I saw a sign that said: “The Loft - Broadway’s Spiritual Centre. Vegetarian Food. Dine. Network. Meet like-minded people.”

I was vegetarian and interested in finding places to eat, and when I read those words: “Network. Meet like-minded people” I thought only one thing: “Recruit”.

And now I’m recruiting for Krishna Consciousness movement.

The type of bait that you put on the line will influence the type of fish that you catch. I therefore propose that an attempt to emulate a Loft that uses a presentation based primarily around: “Material life is suffering - let’s all escape” will fail to have the same success that the Loft programs in New Zealand do, because it will appeal to people primarily seeking relief from distress.

More on that soon…

An “elevator pitch” is a 30-second or less summary of what you, your company, your product, or your service are all about.

The name comes from the exercise of imagining that you step onto an elevator with someone else. You press the button for your floor (it’s a sky scraper and you’re going to the top, or else it’s a slow lift), and the other person says: “So what do you do?” You then have to communicate to this person the essence of what you are all about before they step off the lift. It might be 30 seconds, it might even be as little as 10 seconds. What would you say? “Ummmm…. aaahhh… oh, have a nice day”

Bob Boylan, author of “Getting Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same Direction”, and many others (such as Guy Kawasaki), make the argument that if the people in your organization don’t have the elevator pitch, then they really don’t know what your organizational mission is. Albert Einstein said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

In terms of the presentation of Krishna Consciousness we obviously need an elevator pitch, because as I mentioned last year: “today’s generation lives and dies by the “soundbite”, the “schlogan”, the tasty sample that succinctly summaries the siddhanta.”

You lose people’s attention if you can’t quickly and succinctly communicate your message. People are so overloaded with information today that they have developed defenses in the form of filters which quickly sift through the information they are bombarded with. You get a small opening, an audition, if you will, and you have to give them the intro that will get you the gig, or at least an extended audition.

Another point is that this elevator pitch is like a kernel or a seed that all the rest of your messaging develops from. It’s the underlying “one thing”. Everything else in your presentation reiterates and reinforces this central point.

Now - what’s your elevator pitch?

At the moment I’m getting ready to go to New Zealand for two weeks. One week in Dunedin for Linux Conf AU 2006, and one week in Taupo for the Lake Taupo Retreat (which incidentally I think needs a little more work in the brand identity department).

Last night we went over to Tirtharaj and Taraka’s place to do some more recording with Ramananda for an eventual CD that we are going to release. Afterwards I went to the Loft to wash dishes.

Washing dishes is real nectar. I started out washing dishes at the Loft, and I hope I can end up that way. It’s when I’m washing dishes that I can really feel how every little activity is contributing to the overall mission of respiritualizing human society, even moreso than when I’m talking with people about it.

I’ll tell you that it’s easy to wash dishes when the program is organized and effective. You can see how your contribution is making a real difference. Last night there were 28 guests, and the hot topic of conversation was where the Loft is going to go. The guests were more excited about the number of people who were there than the yoga class itself. They were asking each other and the staff, “What to do? Where are you going to go?” I think that once we get back from the retreat we are going to see capacity crowds every night, and as for the facility upgrade, let’s just say: “Let’s see what Krishna has in store”.

The new NASA probe to Pluto is going to slingshot itself off the gravity well of Jupiter, and we’ll be slingshotting ourselves off this upcoming festival to send the program here into orbit.

Here is a new article that I wrote this morning on the subject of Preaching for Leadership Recruitment < - click there to read it. I’ve been thinking about it over the past month, since I was in New Zealand in early December. I finally managed to get it down in response to a process of strategic planning that we are doing here in Brisbane.

This article talks about four types of people, based on the presentation of Bhagavad-gita, and how these people are attracted to, and best engaged in an organization. I’ve written it in the language of Urban Missionary, but if you want to translate it to a business context simply use this translation table:

Preaching = Marketing
If you want to know about how to appeal to these people.

Preaching = Recruiting
If you want to know about constructing an organization based on these principles.

Get the right people, and get them in the right roles, and then everything else will take care of itself. Fail to do this as a first step and everything significant will be impossible to achieve and you’ll spend most of your time dealing with problems.

Organizational ineffectiveness stems from lack of competent leadership. Degrading organizational effectiveness is due to lack of leadership succession. Failure to expand is due to lack of leadership reproduction.

In order to be successful an organization needs a culture of leadership development and a consciousness of recruiting for leadership potential. As Srila Prabhupada explained his strategic vision for establishing varnasrama-dharma - first establish the brahmana class (visionary leaders), then the create the Varnasrama college and train the ksatriyas (directive leaders).

I read this today on Slashdot:

James Lovelock, the planetary scientist famous for his Gaia Theory, writes in today’s Independent of his belief that it is already too late to divert an environmental catastrophe which will see much of human civilisation destroyed. Fearing it too late to be green, he instead suggests communities plan for survival in a Mad Max type world with limited resources ruled by violent warlords. “We have to keep in mind the awesome pace of change and realise how little time is left to act, and then each community and nation must find the best use of the resources they have to sustain civilisation for as long as they can.” He suggests we should be writing a practical guidebook printed on long lasting paper containing “the basic accumulated scientific knowledge of humanity.”

I went to the video store last week to try to rent Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome, while I was thinking about the issues that I wrote about in my recent post on Global Warming. Unfortunately the movie is so old school that they don’t have it on DVD, only VHS.

Let me recall something that Srila Prabhupada said to Tamal Krishna Goswami, over 30 years ago: “The mission of this Krishna Consciousness movement is to be recorded in the annals of history as having saved the world in its darkest hour.”

On the one hand you can read news stories of impending environmental disaster and crisis conferences convened by national governments. On the other hand you can read about ever-growing markets and profits for industry and further development of superfluous consumer items, all touted as the “progress” of civilization. The pace of economic development proceeds unabated, even accelerating. First world nations such as the US are insatiable consumers and promiscuous producers, devouring energy and converted raw resources as processed goods at a phenomenal rate. Developing nations such as Iran demand access to the same levels of energy consumption that developed nations have.

It seems that no-one can see the contradiction, no-one can draw the link. No-one can give it up.

By averting the catastrophic apocalypse that humanity is calling upon itself, by rebuilding a sane human civilization on the basis of sustainable values, the Krishna Consciousness movement has a grave responsibility. This movement is responsible for the preservation and propagation of the Vedic knowledge that gives human beings the principles by which society can be organized for peaceful, sustainable, and spiritually progressive existence.

Jesus talked about the man who built his house on sand, and the man who built his house on rock, and how when the rain came, the house built on sand collapsed completely. As a civilisation, the global civilisation that was glorified recently by one commentator for having given Iraq free access to global markets, we are building our house on sand.

Individually, what are you building your house on?

What eternal, fundamental values undergird your personal lifestyle? How much of your identity is tied up in this culture that is rushing brashly and irresponsibly toward a precipice?

I know that most people are simply swept along with the prevailing currents and tides of society - but there are some among you who can see this, but feel powerless to do anything about it. You feel frustration in that you can see clearly where this is heading, but seem impotent to stop it. Know that this Krishna Consciousness movement exists, and that it is dedicated to stopping this madness on an individual and social level, and effecting a return to sanity.

Our strategy has two prongs: the formation of urban spiritual communities which provide a network of support and shelter from the hostile socio-economic forces that currently prey upon the increasingly vulnerable, alienated, and isolated inhabitants of modern cities, and the establishment of self-sufficient farming communities working on bio-dynamic principles of sustainability.

The entire program is guided by the timeless principles established by Krishna, explained by sages throughout history, and recorded in the oral tradition of the Vedas.

Join now, and help save the world!

If anyone has been wondering where Ekendra is, he showed up at New Govardhana, ISKCON’s farm in New South Wales, Australia, just in time to cook it up for the devotees at the festival, along with his wife, Seva Kunja, and their increasingly large small son, Sukha-sindu (the ocean of happiness). Click to see a photo of Ekendra, and to see his wife and son, Seva Kunja and Sukha-sindhu (on the left, next to Prahlad and Param Satya).

Ekendra’s updated his blog and the new feeds should be visible on ISKCONNews.net now.

We require hundreds of bona fide students in Krishna Consciousness. The world is in need of this function. People are going to hell for want of proper guidance. No other religious institution are so much serious about God consciousness as we are. So you must train your contemporaries in such spirit of alertness, then we shall be able to open hundreds of centers, and the people in general shall be saved from being misguided.

-Srila Prabhupada, letter to disciple, 1970