New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

The well being and sustainability of the community is very much connected with the well being and care of the devotees as they age. For instance, here is one idea to help aging devotees. On our donor lists I’m sure there are doctors who might be interested to come here once or twice a year to provide some health care for residents. Let’s get the names of doctors and get on this. They could receive a cabin for their family and have an office at the temple. Simultaneously, the community could set up a nonprofit along the lines of Wheeling Healthright to receive medication and reduced cost hospital care. This would all serve to involve these doctors more with the community and get to know the residents better and develop friendships with them. In this way they develop stronger connections with the community.

Another idea: myself and other devotees have items available which the fund raising dept can send to donors as gifts. Let’s encourage devotees to make items and thus the fundraising can invest in community residents rather than buying gift items from India. It will be so nice to be able to tell donors that the gifts were made in NV.

These are just two win-win ideas. Also making NV into a retreat center for the American public is something that I have been advocating for a long time. This would generate funds, provide paying positions for more residents and create a more positive image of the community for the public. Every resident of NV should be proud to tell any visitor what they are doing to maintain themselves.

We have to take a look at the potential and direction of NV. All this requires an in depth, ongoing, think tank approach for a long range vision, along with implementation. What can emerge from such discussions is a collective vision of the goals of NV; a real vision which is inclusive and honors all residents and real goals which all the residents can embrace, feel part of, and be enlivened to work towards. From my limited study of Mahabharata, the two things that jump out from all the instructions given to Yudhisthira on how to lead his kingdom is that the leadership must provide order and opportunity.

ys
Sankirtana d.