Cowherd-friendly communities

[Guest guest]

> If you have a copy of the Prabhupada Varnasrama book, you should read

> Prabhupada's Geneva conversation of June 6, 1974, "Every Man Should Own

> Some Land." Even this very phrase of Srila Prabhupada's embodies an

> important essence of Vaisya nature.

 

What we are trying to do here, as some devotees have advised is to set up a

core of very renounced devotees/brahmanas who form the core of the

community.

 

There are several options for our land, one of them being that we take a

long lease on it and then parcel it out to devotees to develop.

 

We are thinking of following the model of Auroville in south india, in the

sense that you can take some land, and you can create a simple living

project, pottery, basket making etc, but also grow your own vegetables, and

help the other families to produce grains, oil, flax etc. We keep the

products within the community, and sell of excess for cash requirements.

Prabhupada said in respect to the hyderbad farm that the everything they

produce is used by them, and then he says, it is all the property of Krsna

Balaram. Interesting huh! You use it, but you know that it belongs to Krsna

Balaram.

 

You can build on the land, (within certain requirements and restrictions),

and we will all help to build. If you want to leave you can take any

removable assets that you have brought, but you cannot take any fixed

assets, the house and other fixed assets are the property of Madhuvan, but

are in your care for as long as you are there. Also as is common with

agricultural leases, if you have land under your care but are not utilising

it, it can be taken away for another to use.

 

If someone wants to be more independant, they are welcome to purchase

neighboring land and cooperate with us.

 

> You probably won't be able to follow this in detail, but the more you can

> accommodate vaisya nature, the more successful your plan will be --

> because the vaisyas will find fulfillment instead of frustration. What

> they want more than anything is to expand and develop a program -- not to

> be told what to do.

 

What we are trying to do is to reach consensus in our community management.

No all powerful bosses. We will be picky who can join us, we need people who

want to put Krsna and Srila Prabhupadas instructions at the forefront of

their lives. People who are happy with less, and who are prepared to engage

in ongoing study how to create a village according to Srila Prabhupadas

indications. There is room for a vaisya to excell, but he needs to recognise

the ultimate proprietor. We are trying to follow the lead made by Dhanesvara

prabhu in his paper on Spiritual economics.

 

YS Samba das