New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Hare Krsna Vaishnavas
 
Thanks to all of you who came to our 13 Sept, 2011 meeting and helped carry our discussion forward!  I hope you found it productive.

For those of you who chose not to participate, or who were otherwise engaged, here is what we covered.

We began with a short discussion on how writing a Vision Statement is a part of the planning process.  We discussed that the planning process is essentially a process of translating community values into public policy for the future development.  We then defined the terms “vision” and “vision statement” as ‘vision’ being a guiding image of what we would like the community to be, whereas the ‘vision statement’ is the formal expression of that vision.

In other words, the statement is our putting into words, pictures, graphs, etc. the vision.

This was followed by everyone completing the worksheet “Preparing a Vision Statement- Values”

Next 5 quotes from Srila Prabhupada specifically regarding New Vrindavan were presented, followed by Prabhupada’s document “The 7 Purposes of ISKCON”.  These were used as a reference to help everyone consider what, to them, is important to have here regarding our future.

We viewed a sample of a vision statement for New Vrindavan, and then everyone wrote an initial vision statement themselves. These were all collected (these were written anonymously) and collated into 1 document, which is attached to this text.

We next presented a variety of subjects that must be included, and others that can be included in our master plan. The mandatory ones are: vision statement, land use map, and implementation strategy. From a list of over 30 areas to consider (this list came from 4 different sources- 2 are professional references, 2 are from devotee groups) we combined everything into 7 broad categories.
 
These categories are (listed alphabetically):

• Agriculture, cows and self-reliance;
• Community Design and Facilities;
• Devotee Care and Relationships;
• Economic Development;
• Education, arts and culture;
• Outreach, preaching and pilgrim care;
• Revealing the Dhama

We showed how these major categories were a result of sub-topics that are of a similar nature, and how we therefore grouped them as we did.
 
Team leaders were announced for the various categories as well:

• Agriculture, cows and self-reliance- Jaya Krsna das, Varsana Swami.
• Community Design and Facilities- Gaura Sakti das
• Devotee Care and Relationships- Mother Sukhavaha
• Economic Development- no Leader selected
• Education, arts and culture- Sankirtan das
• Outreach, preaching and pilgrim care- Yugala Kisore, Sankirtan das
• Revealing the Dhama- Varsana Swami

Lastly, we ask everyone, including all of you reading this text, to select 1 or more categories that are of interest to you, and volunteer and participate in expanding that category. This information and work will be used for extensive future planning and development of our Community.
 
We will make priority lists of work; people and services needed to perform that work; resources needed- men, money, facilities, land, etc.
 
The more YOU get involved, the more you can help shape this community. It cannot, and should not, be done by an individual nor a small group, but by all the residents.

To contact any of the above Team Leaders:
Jaya Krsna das- temple phone; 304/843.1600
M Sukhavaha: 917.495.3646
Gaura Sakti das: cvpt.at.nvc@gmail.com or come into the CVPT office, cabin in front of Temple and Lodge
Sankirtan prabhu:845.6840 story108@juno.com
Yugala Kisore das- no phone
Varsana Swami- either through Sukhavaha or Gaura Sakti das, or just speak with him directly.

These devotees were selected as Team Leaders because of their ability to work with others in a Team environment, and their interests or knowledge of the specific category.

The Community Vision and Planning Team has a steering committee, who meet weekly to ensure all areas are being properly addressed, and to ensure the entire plan is completed nicely.  Members are: Varsana Swami, Gaura Sakti das, Sankirtan prabhu, Mother Sukhavaha, Jaya Prabhupada prabhu, Jaya Krsna prabhu.  Each devotee was selected by me.

Gaura Sakti das