Mauritius Development

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Letter PAMHO:6487311 (241 lines)

JPS

08-Feb-03 06:50 (01:50 -0500)

Giridhari Swami [28794] (received: 08-Feb-03 08:08)

(Bhakti Brnga) Govinda Swami [28632] (received: 08-Feb-03 08:23)

Kalakantha (das) ACBSP (Alachua - USA) [37276] (received:

08-Feb-03

10:49)

Scc: Arjuna (das) ACBSP (Vacoas - MU) [331]

Scc: Advaita Krishna (das) (Phoenix - Mauritius) [65] (received:

08-Feb-03 09:24)

For: EC

Mauritius Development

---------------------------

Home Base: Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Sri Mayapur Dham, WB, India

At Camp out-base:Orissa Nama Hatta Convention, Balasore, Orissa, India

 

To Whom it may concern:

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada who is

ISKCON's Founder-Acarya and ever well-wisher.

 

I recently visited Mauritius on my annual Mauritius Panihati Cheera-Dahi

Festical. Since Srila Prabhupada said to observe Rathayatra in the southern

Hemisphere in December/January, when it is summer there, I considered it

appropriate to observe Panihati Cheera Dahi festival during the Mango season

in Mauritius & other Southern Hemisphere places. I have been doing this in

Mauritius now for three years. During this visit I also attended some

University programs and various other preaching programs. Some ideas &

realizations came to mind after visiting Mauritius which I would like to

share with you.

 

The Unique Krishna Conscious Potential of Mauritius:

--

 

Since Mauritius is a small island democratic nation with 55% Hindu-Indian

population it is unique in the world. Its total population is around 1.2

Million, I am informed. Traditionally the Prime Minister has always been a

hindu. The schools teach religious study in which hinduism is featured and

students study chapters of the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic texts. Srila

Prabhupada visited Mauritius on the invitation of the then Prime Minister

and Srila Prabhupada gave instructions to make Mauritius a Krishna conscious

island-state. Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened to visit Mauritius and

was enthusiastic to give relevant instructions to the leaders for developing

Mauritius along more spiritually oriented lines. Krishna consciousness has

been in Mauritius since that time and many devotees have been made through

the Krishna consciousness preaching. The potential to fulfill Srila

Prabhupada's instructions and dreams in this regard is something very unique

in the world which should not be lost by ISKCON. I preach in many Indian

populated areas of the world, but the oppurtunities which show themselves in

Mauritius are not visible in any other country of the world to the same

degree according to my experience.

 

BRIEF HISTORY & PRESENT SITUATION OF MAURITIUS:

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Many know the history so I won't go into details. I was asked to go to

Mauritius some years ago by the EC to trouble shoot and investigate the

situation because of some reported conflicts. When I got there I found that

there were conflicts and groupism in Mauritius along lines of different

disciples of different gurus. I was informed how in Mauritius originally

after Srila Prabhupada's departure Jaya Tirtha das was the GBC and Guru

there. He had initiated people from the top echelon of society, but when he

fell down we lost those elite devotees of the island. Then came Bhagavan

das as next GBC and Guru. He was again able to enliven the people, but when

he left it also was devastation. Then Giriraj Swami and the local devotees

gradually built things up. Still there was some divisions on the island,

but when Giriraj Swami fell ill and resigned from his GBC duties other

alternative GBC ZS's were sought. At one point Bhakti Tirtha Swami was to

come, but one group blocked his coming through a letter to the Government

and Maharaja was black listed. Trivikrama Swami tried his hand for a while

under the auspices of an official GBC, but then he resigned and the EC made

some agreement with him which is not fully public. When he was going to

return he was also black listed and some persons held responsible for that

have been censured by the EC. Now B.B. Govinda Swami is continuing as the

GBC. One can see that Mauritius has a bit of a difficult history in regards

to its GBC representation and probably the reign of HH BB Govinda Swami has

been the most peaceful for a while. I heard that a couple of years ago his

strong preaching has virtually stopped the guru groupism which used to exist

in Mauritius and all disciples of different gurus are visiting the temples

now. At present it seems there are disciples of many Spiritual Masters in

Mauritius including a number of initiated disciples of their Holinesses:

Giriraj Swami, Krsna das Swami, Gopal Krsna Goswami, Bhakti Caru Swami,

Bhakti Tirtha Swami, Bhakti Bringa Govinda Swami, Satsvarupa Swami and many

others.

 

This was more of a political history of GBC members and doesn't reflect all

the wonderful preaching history which would take many pages to report on. I

will just give a brief over-view.

 

There is a beautiful temple in the Northern Part of the Island in a place

called Bon Aqcuiel which is having a vedic traditional design implemented by

Sri Arjuna Das under the Presidentship of Sri Sriniketan Das, both Srila

Prabhupada initiated disciples. Sri Sriniketan Prabhu has been the TP there

for as long as anyone can remember and is very stable and a strict devotee.

He is a spiritual force of guidance and support for many devotees in

Mauritius.

 

There is another temple in the southern part of the island in a place called

Phoenix which is not architecturally special, but very utility oriented but

it has facilities like temple room, reception, offices, gift shop,

restaurant, FFL kitchen, B'cari & B'carini Quarters, Guest Rooms, Gardens

and ample land. What makes this place special is its central location in

the Island in a place easily reachable from the most highly populated areas.

There are shopping centers on both sides of the Temple within a short

distance and the location is very strategic for building a temple which

could have a very big impact on the spiritual orientation of the island.

Since I visited this temple a few years ago, on the request of the EC, it

has improved. The present TP, Sri Advaita Krsna das Adhikary, has built a

new Altar Room in a larger hall of the Temple and put nice flooring in the

Temple Hall. The old temple hall has become a reception area and on Sunday

feasts both areas get filled up. During my Panihati Festival 600 devotees or

more came and participated filling up all the interiors of the temple and

some more were outside. I was informed that normally on Sunday over 300

visitors attend the temple. I was also informed about special FFL programs

where food is delivered to the doorstep of really hungry people and getting

good aclaim. The TP, Advaita Krishna das, is a grihastha but his business

runs with minimal input from himself and is run by his wife and staff

members so he can devote his maximum time to the temple, which he does. He

was initiated by Bhagavan das, but hasn't taken shelter of any Spiritual

Master as yet so is considered by many as a neutral person outside of any

guru oriented camp. He has been able to engage many persons in his temple

from all different sections to his credit. In spite of that there are some

persons who are not inclined to work with Advaita Krsna das and make some

noise against him. This I heard mainly second hand as nobody came to me to

make any specific representations during this visit, although in the past I

occasionally got some emails. I noticed some who wrote me emails are now

working with Advaita Krsna das. Seems that the devotees there need some

loving and firm spiritual guidance on how to work together and how to

integrate. Since Mauritius is a small island with limited area, everyone

needs to be engaged somewhere and somehow in Krishna consciousness, but

there are only so many options on the island.

 

Both temples are roughly responsible for preaching on their respective

halves of the island nation and have regularly nama hattas in most villages

and towns of the country, I am informed. They also have regular weekly

harinama's in each half with about 500 persons attending. These harinamas

are something very special. Many other joint or common or similar programs

like Bhaktivedanta College, college & university programs, FFL and Nama

hatta are being held. The Northern Half has started some pilot Bhakti Vrksa

Groups which have been growing. During Janmastami Festivals about 50,000

people attend the temples according to the last information I received a

couple of years ago. It has probably increased since then.

 

KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS DEVELOPMENT & PREACHING OPPURTUNITIES I SEE:

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1. Since Hinduism is taught in the schools ISKCON could influence the text

book and curriculum, which is currently oriented towards mayavada, to a more

vaisnava or neutral orientation. The whole education process could be

influenced by ISKCON over time which would have a powerful impact on all the

future generations.

 

2. If the preaching efforts were continued systematicly and without the

divisiveness which often plagues Mauritius the widespread development of

Krishna consciousness in this island could become an example for the whole

world. People all know of Krishna consciousness and are generally

favorable. Even in the airport the imigration officials greet you with

"HARE KRISHNA!" A blue print and plan on how to effectively reach each and

every area of the country should be worked out by each team and reviewed

periodically for results and effectiveness. Bhakti Vrksa Groups may play an

important role in developing Krishna conscious preaching in this country.

 

3. University Preaching: during my guest lecture in the Mauritius University

[i spoke on "Human Cloning and its Ethical Considerations"] I was surprised

to see that a high number of ladies studying there were wearing saris and

Indian traditional dress. Something you don't see anymore even in big cities

of India where generally all the students are militantly westernized and

ridicule anyone wearing traditional dress. The class was packed and the

students were very attentive and receptive. I see a tremendous potential

for developing programs for students.

 

4. Popularizing chanting and japa are something that could be achieved in

Mauritius. The young people in Mauritius are leaning more towards Krishna

consciousness and this should be promoted vigorously.

 

5. Many initiated devotees exist on the island who are no longer attached to

Krishna consciousness because of the history of Krishna consciousness there.

Some effort to locate all these devotees and re-involve them in Krishna

consciousness could yield nice results.

 

6. I heard that in the beginning of Krishna consciousness in Mauritius many

of the 10% Tamil speaking Hindu Population (most people are from Hindi

speaking regions of India, mainly Bihar and Bojpur) were active in Krishna

consciousness, but over the years they have become distanced. If some Tamil

Preachers from South India or Malaysia were able to spend some time

cultivating the Tamils in Mauritius they could again become active in

Krishna consciousness.

 

7. There are other ethnic minorities like Chinese which could also be

cultivated to participate in Krishna consciousness which could expand

Krishna consciousness.

 

8. Building an attractive temple in the strategic land of the Phoenix temple

which would have a dynamic impact on the people of the island would be

landmark and big impact on everyone. I don't know if students or tourists

are brought to the Krsna Balaram Temple on the Northern Part of the island,

but this is something that the Government could also promote as a cultural

demonstration and lesson.

 

9. Utilizing the existing temples, media of communication (TV, Radio, etc.)

Krishna consciousness could be spread into every home on a regular daily

basis. This should form part of the blue print of preaching. Already some

Krishna conscious restaurants and snack shops are in the country and this

could be increased as demand grows.

 

10. It is something positive if different preachers can come to Mauritius

who are all briefed on the sensitive aspects of preaching here and who buy

into the local leaders blue print and cooperate for achieving the stated

goals. Care should be taken not to create camps nor to remove leading and

general devotees needed in Mauritius.

 

11. Interfaith dialogue in this country is from the unique position of

Krishna consciousness being part of the majority religion. There are other

religions but they would appreciate interfaith and it could help to

generally create a coalition for spiritualizing and preserving the

religiosity of Mauritius while the country is developing economically. Srila

Prabhupada's formulas on the strong blind man and the weak wise man with

vision could be applied in this country.

 

12. I could go on and on... the potential for developing Krishna

consciousness in this country with political support, governmental support

and a generally favorable and simple hearted population are something unique

and special. I just wanted to give some ideas on how I see ISKCON in

Mauritius here could implement things which in other countries we can only

dream of in the far distant future. With further investigation and thought

i am sure much more then the very basic ideas I got could be developed by

the leaders there.

 

I would hope that all the devotees in Mauritius would cooperate together to

expand the Krishna consciousness movement and demonstrate their love for

Srila Prabhupada. Time is short and Kali is moving at a rapid pace. There

is still great potential for Mauritius, but as time goes on things will also

change if Krishna consciousness is not preaching appropriately and timely in

Mauritius.

 

I wanted to thank all the devotees who are practicing and spreading the

great news of Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Mauritius for their

wonderful devotional services. I always find it enlivening to visit

Mauritius and see the wonderful devotees. Thanks for you nice hospitality

and great association. I hope that under the able guidance of your local

GBC ZS HH BB Govinda Swami, and the local leaders you can all achieve great

things for Srila Prabhupada in the near and ongoing future. If I or our

congregational ministry can do something to help we will be happy to do

whatever is within our power. I hope the EC and ISKCON GBC members concerned

can do something to help Krishna consciousness in Mauritius and to empower

the local leaders there and to give them whatever support they need to see

Krishna consciousness get developed on a priority basis there. I heard that

at one point Srila Prabhupada was considering making the world headquarters

there...

 

Your servant,

 

 

Jayapataka Swami

(Text PAMHO:6487311) ------

 

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