By His Holiness Prahladananda Swami
The aim of our Krsna consciousness movement is to convince people that Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is a person who is complete in all opulences, and when you offer service to Him with love and enthusiasm, you can attain the highest perfection of life. This is to become conscious of Him. Everyone has this opportunity, especially the humans. In this age, just by hearing about Krsna, we can understand our relationship with Him, and become free from the misidentification with the material body and mind. All this requires is that we hear from a bona fide source and chant.
Congregational development gives people the opportunity to come together, and hear and chant about Krsna. Gradually, they understand their relationship with Krsna. By practically performing their day-to-day activities, in that relationship, they will receive Krsna’s mercy. They will know that they are the eternal servants of Krsna.
People associate according to their understanding of what the goal of life is. Unfortunately, the mass of people think that the goal of life is economic development for the purpose of sense gratification. They need association with people who know how material nature works, so they can regulate their activities of economic development and sense gratification. This will help their progression towards liberation. People may not be engaged in Krsna’s service directly, in terms of preaching, but if they have the Opportunity to associate, they will encourage each other. They will make progress in the grihastha ashram, and greatly affect their family structure and maintenance. This will encourage them to make progress in devotional service by making Krsna the center of their lives. Although deity worship is essential, in this age, it is more essential to hear and chant about Krsna. Everyone will be inspired to serve Krsna, in the home or the temple.
In Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad-gita, Prabhupada defined detachment in a purport. In the morning and evening, the family should hear Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita, chant Hare Krsna, perform deity worship and offer food to them. In the material world, there is no absolute happiness and freedom from distress. If the family is centered on Krsna, the family will most likely stay together.
(Excerpt from the book ‘The Nectar of Congregational Preaching’ by ISKCON Congregational Development Ministry)
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