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*Hare Krishna!*
On Sept 30-Oct 2, the Congregation Development Ministry (CDMC) of ISKCON
Malaysia organized a Leaders' Convention which was held from Sept 30 through
Oct 2 at NUBE, Port Dickson.
We were fortunate that the occasion was graced by HH Bhakti Vinod Swami
Maharaj, GBC and Temple President of ISKCON Coimbatore.
The program commenced on the evening of September 30 with Gaura Arati, after
which devotees took Prasadam and retired early to rise for Mangala Arati the
next day.
*Oct 1*
After Mangala Arati, Tulasi Kirtan, Japa, Darsahan Arati, and Guru Puja, HG
Krpa Sindhu Prabhu led an ecstatic Kirtan which had all devotees present
dancing in ecstasy! Following this, HG Jagat Sakshi Prabhu, Temple President
of ISKCON Trivendram, Kerala gave a wonderful Srimad Bhagavatam discourse
highlighting the qualities of a pure devotee. One point which was very
striking in this class was that “A devotee is one who is extremely strict
with himself and extremely lenient with everyone else.” This is a point
which will stay in many our minds for a very long time.
After a sumptuous breakfast Prasadam, HG Simheswars Prabhu gave an opening
address in which Prabhu stressed the importance of leadership. Then, HH
Bhakti Vinod Maharaj began his first session by defining the term “leader”
and stating the qualities a leader should have per GBC iterations. Maharaj
's amazing public speaking skills shone as he delivered several relevant
anecdotes and quotations by Srila Prabhupada. The session was very
interesting and enlivening for all devotees present. By the end of it, many
of us did not realize that almost 4 hours had gone by and it was time for
lunch Prasadam! Maharaj ended by dividing all present into five groups, and
assigned us to make a presentation each at the end of the convention the
next day.
The evening session continued with Maharaj playing an episode of the
Twilight Zone series. In this show, a group of people from Earth are trapped
in a dangerous, foreign planet with bad weather and which lacks basic
amenities required to sustain life comfortably. They had been trapped there
for 30 years, and were being led by one Captain Bentene who constantly
motivated them and assured them that “a Ship” from Earth would soon come to
rescue them all. Throughout the first part of the show, Captain Bentene
demonstrates near perfect characteristics of a leader. The long-awaited
“Ship” then arrives from Earth to rescue Bentene and his party. The entire
group is overjoyed and start making plans to leave and resume their lives
back on Earth with their respective families. However, Captain Bentene
starts feeling threatened that the tenure of his powerful position as their
leader will soon end. The story takes an interesting turn at this point as
Bentene tries different means to convince the party that he will continue to
be their leader wherever they go, but meets with great resistance. An
exciting sequence of events follow, ending with Bentene being left on the
desolate planet alone due to his stubbornness and unwillingness to follow
the party back - unless made leader.
At this point, many realizations came upon the devotees present. We all had
Prasadam and retired for the night.
*Oct 2*
Today, Maharaj himself led the most ecstatic Kirtan after guru puja. The
captivating sounds of Maharaj's Kirtan left all of us wanting more; however,
true to time, Maharaj stopped the Kirtan promptly to deliver an amazing
morning class on Bhagavad Gita verse 3.21. Maharaj explained the value of an
Acharya or leader and related some very wonderful pastimes of Srila
Ramanujacharya.
After class and breakfast Prasadam, we resumed with the leadership sessions.
Maharaj begin by asking the devotees what they had learned from the Twilight
Zone episode. He then explained the flaw exhibited by Captain Bentene- He
had led them and given them much hope that the final destination/goal would
be amazing. But when the actual goal (the ship) arrived, due to selfishness
and the fear of losing his power, he tried to destroy it instead of allowing
them to attain it. Maharaj went on to explain that in the same way, a
seemingly Krishna conscious leader may point the devotees towards Krishna as
the ultimate goal, but when Krishna finally arrives, the leader may reject
Him, threatened that he would lose his own position. Hence, all leaders
should be very cautious to not fall into this trap.
The session continued with the five groups of devotees presenting what they
had prepared- four groups presented very interesting and humorous skits
pertaining to leadership examples, and one group presented a full fledged
multimedia show advocating caring spirits and forgiveness among devotees.
All presentations were nicely done.
Following this, Maharaj concluded the convention, and many leaders were
invited to give testimonies on the two-day convention. HG Radha Madhavam
Prabhu, Chairman of the CDMC delivered the closing speech, and the program
culminated with a great climax as Maharaj led a wonderful Kirtan which once
again had all the devotees dancing.
The convention was one that was an eye-opener and brought many realizations
and new inspirations to all our leaders. It was an all-in-all joyous
occasion- we had the presence of Bhakti Vinod Maharaj all throughout,
wonderful Kirtans and discourses, blissful association of devotees from all
over the country, and last but not least – the most amazing Prasadam. The
Prasadam was cooked by Mukunda's Kitchen, Seremban (HG Punya Sloka Prabhu),
and the devotees of the Port Dickson center, headed by HG Cittahari Madhava
Prabhu. The range included many local delights such as fried rice and
noodles, idlis with samabar and chutney, professionally made roti canai,
meehoon, puttu with banana, curry puffs, as well as rice with dhal and
sumptuous, tasty subjis! It was truly an enthralling experience.
For the benefit of those who were not present, we have appended below some
of the main points from Maharaj's leadership sessions:
- A leader is one who knows where he is going and gets other people to
follow
- Qualities of a leader as established by the GBC:
1. Has vision
2. Loyal to Srila Prabhupada
3. Loyal to ISKCON
4. Carries out Brahminical leadership
5. Practices cooperation and unity
6. Has strong spiritual strength
7. Has knowledge of Srila Prabhupada's books
8. Has a balanced lifestyle – able to execute service
9. Compassionate and shows concern towards all
10. Is accountable and responsible
11. Seeks and gives association and support
12. Empowers followers
- Why give up your devotional service to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna
simply because someone said something offensive to you? It is your eternal
right! It has come to you after millions of janmas! And you want to just
lose it? Do not care what others think, but always care about what Krishna
thinks. Even if the worst thing happens, do not leave your service and
Krishna consciousness.
- A preacher need not be a scholar, good speaker, or entertainer. He/she
just needs to speak Krishna conscious philosophy that will transform others.
Language is NOT a barrier in preaching; as such we, as devotees, should not
give excuses that we cannot preach because we are not well-versed in a
certain language. Instead, we should speak with whatever little we know and
feel a great urgency to teach Krishna consciousness and save others.
- We need transformational leaders, NOT transactional leaders. Srila
Prabhupada was a transformational leader.
. Transactional leader: One who is able to give fortune, good
economy, etc. but no “feel good” empowerment
. Transformational leader: Able to positively transform a characters
for the better and empower people to feel good and foster positive
characteristics.
- “Management is a SPIRITUAL activity. We have to manage our spiritual
activities.” - Srila Prabhupada.
- Krishna consciousness is for everyone. It is for the MASS, not just
those with CLASS! Leaders MUST remember this and reach out accordingly.
- The whole Parampara – Srila Prabhupada, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati
Thakur, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, Srila Rupa Goswami, are looking upon us,
the Malaysian leaders to spread this mission. We are responsible for all
people in Malaysia to join ISKCON.
- Devotees should have good self-esteem. Be proud to be a devotee of
Krishna!
And, finally, our personal favorite, adapted from a famous caption:
*ISKCON, with all thy faults, I still love thee!*
* *
Let us all pray unto the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada so that we will be
able to properly serve this movement which he indicated to be like his very
own body.
*
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*
* *
*Devotee Testimonials:*
*“I restrained from leadership service in ISKCON some years ago due to some
problems. Now, after attending this convention, I pledge that I will return
to leadership in ISCKON Malaysia.”*
HG Surabala Prabhu, Kulim, Kedah
*“It was a real spiritual motivation & eye-opener for me. HH Bhaktivinod
Swami Maharaj's classes were superb and he also freely mingled with the
participants.my sincere thanks and appreciation to HG Radha Madhavam Pr, HG
Rasika Murari Pr, and their team for the efforts rendered.”*
HG Sundara Sridhara Prabhu, Bedong, Kedah
*The topics presented by HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami Maharaj were excellent. The
sessions gave us a lot of realizations on having the correct attitude and
mood in serving Srila Prabhupada’s movement. Having more similar sessions in
the future will definitely help enhance our leadership qualities. The Srimad
Bhagavatam class by HG Jagat Saksi Prabhu was full of nectar. Not forgetting
the mouthwatering Prasadam. For those who did not attend, you really missed
it.!*
HG Krishna Daya Prabhu, Sungai Siput, Perak
*Thank you to CDMC for the wonderful seminar. Keep it up. The seminars by HH
Maharaj were excellent and strengthened our desire to serve Srila
Prabhupad's movement even more. Hope we would have more of HH Maharaj's
association in the future.*
*Three Haribols to HG Punya Sloka Prabhu's prasadam! Just out of the world.
Thank you again to CDMC for giving us this wonderful opportunity. For those
who missed...it's really a lost opportunity.*
HG Yaduraj Prabhu, Taiping, Perak
*HARI BOL! to CDMC. Million thanks to the organizing committee. This CDMC
seminar is commendable. Especially the presentation by HH Bhakti Vinoda
Maharaj. His interaction with the devotees is superb. Every moment of his
speech was really captivating. The knowledge he was sharing and imparting
could not be resisted. In future I wish more leaders takes part. I further
wish that the CDMC would organize similar programmer for devotees at large.
*
HG Cittahari Madhava Prabhu, Lukut Bhakti Kutir, Negri Sembilan
*I want to record my thanks and appreciations to the CDMC and the members
who had painstakingly, arranged the very successful seminar mentioned above.
A very big HARI BOL to all of you.** The seminars were simply inspiring,
motivating and so relevant to not only the leaders,*
*but to every member of genuine concern for ISKCON. HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami
Maharaj, by his charismatic presentation of the subject matter, made a
waking-call, not just to my arrogant mind, but also my consciousness.** Wish
more leaders were present. Not only leaders, but every congregational member
of ISKCON should have access to this kind of subject matter, the
understanding that " Srila Prabhupada underwent much more inconveniences,
and difficulties than any one of us. That Srila Prabhupada faced adversities
beyond our imagination- but he tolerated. ........... And so could we!"*
HG Muni Stuta Prabhu, Teluk Intan, Perak
*108 Haribols to the CDMC for a memorable and a wonderful convention. All of
us participants returned home with sweet memories , rejuvenated with
blistering kirtan, enlightening classes, unforgettable Prabhupada lila and
most of all floating in the magic touch of Srila Gurudev’s Sannyasi disciple
HH Bhaktivinod Maharaja and the Charming HG Jagath Saci Prabhu whose opening
class had everyone spellbound and hankering for more krsna katha and
Prabhupad lila. We need more of such blissful days forever !!!! Long live
CDMC*
HG Paramananda Krishna Prabhu, Bahau, Negri Sembilan
*Like all those who were fortunate to experience the nectar of the
association of especially HH Bhakti Vinod Maharaj also HG Jagat Saci
Prabhu and the local devotees it was a unique experience where interaction
was transparent and the learning experience was in a happy, transcendental
mood without anxiety. Haribol, very good sessions and an eye opener.
Unfortunate many of the leaders who would have benefited were not able to
attend this time , Please consider a second session with Maharaj for those
who missed out, *
HG Dvija Gauranga Prabhu, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
* *
*The topics presented by HH Bhakti Vinoda Swami was excellent. It gave us a
lot of realization on having the correct attitude and mood in serving Srila
Prabhpada’s movement. Having more similar sessions in future will definitely
help to enhance our leadership qualities. Srimad Bhagavatam class by HG
Jagat Saci Prabhu was full of nectar. Not forgetting mouthwatering Prasadam.
For those who never attend, you really miss it.!*
HG Krishna Daya Prabhu, Sg. Siput, Perak
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