Residential Devotees Welfare Fund Draft #2 + Schematic Diag

Residential Devotees Welfare Fund (RDWF): draft #2

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The below version is not updating proerly.
Please see the current version online here:
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Thank you very much.

Yours in service of Sri Sri Guru-Gauranga and all their devotees,




Dina-Anukampana Das

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Hare Krishna

Sri Sri ………………………. Mandir

Residential Devotees Welfare Fund (RDWF):

Concept, Constitution, Rules & Regulations (Draft #2)

om ajnäna timirändhasya / jnänänjana saläkayä

cakshur unmilitam yena / tasmai sri gurave namah(a)

sri caitanya mano ’bhishtam / sthäpitam yena bhütale

svayam rüpah kadä mahyam / dadäti sva padäntikam

vande ’ham sri guroh sri yuta pada kamalam sri gurün vaishnaväms ca

sri rüpam sägrajätam saha gana raghunäthän vitam tam sa jivam

sädvaitam sävadhütam parijana sahitam krsna caitanya devam

sri rädhä krsna pädän lalitä sri vishäkhän vitäms ca

he krsna karuna sindho / dina bandho jagat pate

gopesa gopikä känta / rädhä känta namo ’stu te

tapta kancana gaurangi / rädhe vrndävanesvari

vrshabhänu sute devé / pranamämi hari priye

namo mahä vadänyäya / krsna prema pradäyate

krsnäya krsna caitanya / nämne gaura tvishe namah(a)

vänchä kalpa tarubhyas ca / krpa sindhubhya eva ca

patitänäm pävanebhyo / vaishnavebhyo namo namah(a)

nama om vishnupädäya / krsna preshthäya bhütale

srimate bhaktivedänta / svämin iti nämine

namaste särasvate deve / gaura väni pracärine

nirvisesha sünyävädi / päscatya desa tärine

jaya sri rüpa sanätana bhatta raghunätha

sri jiva gopäla bhatta däsa raghunätha

sri krsna caitanya prabhu nityänanda

sri advaita gadädhara sriväsädi

gaura bhakta vrnda

hare krsna hare krsna krsna krsna hare hare

hare räma hare räma räma räma hare hare

A.Concept

Slogan: ‘Care For Devotees’ (SP: “If you love me, love my dog.”)

(Slogan seen at Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam’s Pilgrims Info Centre: “Take care of the Lord’s Devotees and the Lord will take care of you.”

Basis: Love & Trust (SP: “Our Society is like one big family and our relationships should be based on love and trust. We must give up the fighting spirit and use our intelligence to push ahead.” – Letter to Upendra, Los Angeles, 6 August, 1970)

Mission: The next level:– bringing together the micro-level with the macro-level i.e. giving the tiny units and individuals of Iskcon the support of the total, world-wide body of friends, well-wishers, supporters and devotees of Srila Prabhupäda for their welfare, health and old-age concerns. Moving towards Building Sustainable Communities and moving away from merely Building Temples.

Vision: To empower life-long dedicated individuals in Iskcon with direct access to funds & brähmana dakshina, thus enabling them to continue their dedicated service with dignity, with renewed enthusiasm and with an enhanced sense of social security within the house which Srila Prabhupäda built, i.e. the global vaishnava community of Srila Prabhupäda’s followers.

Preamble: It has often been said that Iskcon has grown big and un-caring, and that many devotees who are now aging are in grave anxiety about who will look after their needs, now that they have spent all their youth, energy and money in serving Iskcon. More and more often the question of devotees’ welfare has been raised at temple management meetings, but often there is no specific commitment for bearing responsibility for this. And even if a resolution is passed, it may or may not be implemented, or it may be cancelled at a future meeting, or the persons in management posts may change and thus the long term responsibility cannot be guaranteed. It is humbly proposed that instead of trying to move this huge institution (which everyone knows has enough problems of its own - even at GBC level - to deal with, and thus may never find time to think about or discuss the plight of the ‘little pawns’ within the movement), an immediate, effective and caring solution can be reached by empowering the devotees in need to directly bear responsibility for this. According to the rules of varnashrama society, brähmanas are allowed to beg for their maintenance and receive brahmana dakshina. At the same time there are many devotees, well-wishers, friends and supporters of Iskcon and Srila Prabhupäda who would be ever-ready to help a devotee who is in need. However, presently, there is no proper mechanism in place for such funding to reach the individuals concerned directly and in time. Therefore the following proposal is being made to set up an informal organization amongst the residential devotees in this temple, so that they may seeto their own lifelong care and maintenance. (This organization must be based on love and trust, and it should work on the principles of mutual agreement, cooperation and care). It is hoped that in the very near future, , by the success of this pilot project, devotees in all other Iskcon centres and organizations around the world will follow this exampleand mobilize themselves to duplicate the model of this program – this would ensure that full-time devotees everywhere will easilly have political-free and hassle-free access to help and care he needs, without the need to go through much red-tape to access funds that many supporters are ready to give.

Click On Picture to see all of it:

B. (DRAFT) Constitution Rules & Regulations¹

The residential devotees in any Iskcon or Iskcon-related unit/temple/organization should band themselves together informally as a cooperative union to immediately take into their own hands the matter of their maintenance and care, especially in terms of medical and old-age benefits। This will benefit them immediately and it can work if it based onthe love and trust that they have amongst themselves, and their commitment to spotless honesty:

idänim dharma pädas te / sa tyam nirvartayed yatah

tam jighrkshaty adharmo ’yam / an

rtenaidhitah kalim

“You are now standing on one leg only,

which is your truthfulness,

and you are somehow or other hobbling along.

But quarrel personified [Kali], flourishing by deceit,

is also trying to destroy that leg.”

- S.B. 1:17:25 “Punishment

& Reward

of Kali”

B1.Funding:

Shastric Authorization: Residential devotees have the right to beg.

“A brähmana does not become anyone’s servant. To render service to someone else is the business of the çüdras. A brähmana is always independent becau

se he is a teacher, spiritual master and advisor to society. The members of society provide him with all the necessities of life. In the Bhagavad-gitä the Lord says He has divided society into four divisions—brähmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shüdra. A society cannot run smoothly without this scientific division. A brähmana should give good advice to all the members of society, a kshatriya should look after the administration, maintaining law and order in society, vaishyas should produce and trade to meet all the needs of society, whereas shüdras should render service to

the higher sections of society (the brähmanas, kshatriyas and vaishyas). Ja

gannätha Mishra was a brähmana; therefore people would send him all bodily necessities—money, cloth, grain and so on.” – SP’s purport to Caitanya Caritämrta Ädi 13:82 )

Source of funding/Inspiration for donors: Grhasthas & Congregational devotee

s have the duty to donate to Brähmanas for their maintenance

“If the leaders and the rich men of the society spend fifty percent of their accumulated wealth mercifully for the misled mass of people and educate them in God consciousness, the knowledge of Bhägavatam, certainly the age of Kali will be defeated in its attempt to entrap the conditioned souls.”

• S.B. 1:1

  7:24 purport

  (Punishment &

Reward of the Personality of Kali Yuga)

Srila Rüpa Gosvämi also followed this principle by spending fifty percent of his money in order to serve Krsna through brähmanas and Vaishnavas. He gave twenty-five percent of his money to relatives, and twenty-five percent he deposi

ted in the custody of a merchant. These are the approved methods recomm

ended in the Caitanya-caritämrta. Whether in the renounced order or in the grhastha order, a Vaishnava should follow these principles set forth by the previous äcäryas.

- C.C. Madhya Lila 25:205, purport

B2. Membership:

This fund is meant only for the benefit of dedicated life-long servants of Srila Prabhupada’s mission. The core members who will be involved in collecting, managing and disbursing the funds must be the same devotees who are dependent upon it for their welfare. These members (Category A) will be all the full-time brahmacaris/brahmacarinis within the temple who have served Iskcon or an Iskcon-related organization for at least 10 years. All other categories (B & C) of voluntary devotees (less than 10 year service, or grhastha etc.) who are financially dependent on the temple/organization will also be l

ooked after by the devotees who directly manage the fund. The younger devotees should imbibe a sense of caring, serving and helping the older devotees with love, and the older devotees should feel very safe and secure that they shall never be thrown out on the streets even if they lose their temple service or are unable to serve because of physical disability.

Category A: All full-time brahmacari/brahmacarini devotees who ar

e dependent on the temple for their food and shelter and who have dedicatedly served

Iskcon/related organizations for 10 years:

A1: Above 55 years of age and physically active/mobile

A2: Above 55 years of age and physically inactive/immobile

A3: Between 40 and 55 years of age

[Category A1 devotees can be engaged in serving/giving company to Category A2 devotees, whereas Category A3 devotees would generally be more busy directly in temple seva.]

Category B: All full-time devotees who are dependent on the temple for their food and shelter and who have served Iskcon/related organizations for more than 5 years:

Category C: All full-time devotees who are dependent on the temple for their fo

od and shelter and who have served Iskcon/related organizations for less than 5 years:

B3. Roles:

The Primary Controllers (called PCs) of this fund should be the oldest two full-time residential devotees from Category A who are doing seva in the temple. It will be their

responsibility to always ensure there are sufficient funds raised for all needs of the dependent devotees and to give out these funds promptly yet carefully whenever needed. They will also be responsible for regularly representing the needs of the devotees to the temple management committee and also to put pressure on them to regularly contribute a fixed percentage or amount to the Residential Devotees’ Welfare Fund (RDWF). However temple management should never be allowed to interfere with the management of the RD

WF. The PCs should each hold a key to the double-locked “Residential Devotees’ Welfare Fund” donation box (so that it cannot be opened unless both persons are present) and they should be joint-signatories (two persons should sign to make any withdrawal) to the b

ank account wherein funds are stored for safe-keeping. (A third person from Category A should be also made a signatory but he will be made to sign a document where he promises to sign for this bank account only in the event of emergency or when one of the two PCs has expired – this will lessen the fear that if one of the two passes away, that the survivor may claim the remaining money as his – but ultimately this system will wok based on honesty of the brahmanas concerned and the love and trust between devotees). Th

e PCs will act as Co-Treasurers and they shall be responsible for keeping the account book and receipt book up to date honestly. Receipt books need not be printed – they can be hand written using a simple small exercise book with each page folded in half vertically – t

he left half will be the counterfoil and the right half must be given to the donor. Every page/receipt must be serially numbered and each receipt must be signed by both the Primary Controllers. (When they are out of station, they should each appoint the Deputy PC devotee as Acting Primary Controller. They should therefore always avoid both being out of station at the same time – one of them should always be there to care for the devotees – it is a serious responsibility.) These receipt and account books along with the bank bo

ok and ATM Card (only for dire emergencies, with a withdrawal limit fixed at perhaps Rs5,000 in a week to reduce risk of unauthorised withdrawal – one PC can hold the card while the other PC can know the PIN – in this way both must be present to withdraw funds) shall be kept in the donation box at Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet.

Everytime they jointly open this donation box, they shall immediately join hands and shall swear honesty while touching Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet, saying: “Dear Srila Prabhupada, please bless us with wisdom and purity to honestly manage these funds which are meant for taking care of your full-time servants.” They should then recite SB 1:17:25 which

shall be pasted on the first page of the accounts book along with a picture of the bull with three broken legs (see above).

The PCs will also maintain a register of all members according to the various categories. They will make it known to every devotee who is financially dependent on the mission that they, the PCs, are responsible for his welfare in all respects throughout his life so that he should be encouraged to serve the mission wholeheartedly, confidently and honestly. (There have been many cases of devotees illegitimately keeping aside some temple funds for their own maintenance as they knew they would need it in future. However, in principle such conduct is not good, either for the individual or for the temple. This new pro

posal should help avoid that problem in future. We must see the bigger picture and realize that taking care of devotees is far more important than merely building and maintaining buildings.)

The member devotees can also appoint one or two Fund-Raising Representatives (FRR). This Representative should carry an authorization-cum-appeal letter signed by both the primary controllers and the letter should mention that all donations must be given via cheque only through the joint account which they maintain, details of wh

ich should be in the above-mentioned letter. At the same time, every member has the right to act as a fund raising representative to beg for contributions to the RDWF. The FRR

and any member seeking donations should confine his/their appeal for finance only to persons who are known to him and who are staunch devotees of Srila Prabhupada. All such donations must be given via cheque directly into the PCs joint account or dropped in cash form directly into the RDWF donation box at Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet.

A Secretary must be appointed and he will prepare the agenda and call for all mee

tings and he will prepare the minutes of the meetings and supply these to all devotee members within 2 days of every meeting.

A senior devotee (usually it would be one of the Primary Controllers) must be appointed as a Community Welfare Officer. He must open and maintain a confidential Personal File for every full-time devotee who comes to the temple. He must hold a confidential interview at least once every 6 months and record the details in this P File in this way:

• Family history

• Next of Kin contact information (whom to notify in case of emergency)

• Legal will

• Personal history (career, education, talents and hobbies etc.)

• Spiritual Life history

• Health needs

• Emotional needs

• Basic necessities

• Previous projects/seva done

• Current projects/seva

• Future or Dream projects

• Wish List (i.e. things he/she would like to have/ to happen)

All interviews must be kept in strictest confidence and the files safely locked. The CWO must sincerely be interested in understanding the needs of each individual under his care. He should pick up tips and seek guidance from professional social workers in the matter of how to do effective counselling for the devotees. He must assume full responsibility for their welfare, spiritual progress and happiness just as a father would. He must never treat anyone unfairly or disrespectfully.

Generally, the temple management tends to feel obliged to maintain only those devotees who are currently doing active or productive service. However the RDWF is for maintaining all devotees all their lives, irrespective of any post or duty they are holding.

B4. The RDWF Hundi:

• This Hundi should be much smaller in size than the main temple hundi (donation

  box).

• It should have above it a prominent sign reading as follows:

start of notice 1 (Click on picture to see it)

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“RESIDENTIAL DEVOTEES’ WELFARE FUND”

We are now graciously caring for (XX no.) residential devotees,

(YY no.) of whom are above 60 years of age.

These funds shall used exclusively for the lifelong maintenance and care of the residential devotees who have dedicated their lives to serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission. Please contribute generously. Thank you.

Community Welfare Officer,

Sri Sri ________________ Mandir

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end of notice 1

• It should be chained or fixed securely so that it is immovable and it must have two locks – one key will be held by each PC and they must promise all devotees and Srila Prabhupada that they will never open the box unless both are present with a third person as witness who will help count the money and update the accounts book

  which will always be locked inside the trunk. Keeping this account transparent is very important because if there is any doubt that money being collected is being stolen or mis-used, that would seriously reduce the donations received. In future, more and more elderly devotees will be dependent on this Fund, so great care must be taken for honest accounting to be seen.

• A second, much smaller sign board should be put up near the main hundi of the temple, which is usually just in front of the deities. It should read as follows:

start of notice 2
Click on picture to see all of it

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PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING A PORTION OF YOUR DONATION

TO THE ‘RESIDENTIAL DEVOTEES WELFARE FUND’ DONATION BOX

WHICH IS AT SRILA PRABHUPADA’S LOTUS FEET.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

COMMUNITY WELFARE OFFICER

SRI SRI ____________________ MANDIR

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“By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord. The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord.”

– Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1, Chapter 2, verse 16.

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end of notice 2

Supporting Scriptural References:

Go means “cows and calves,” and ganayos means “cowherd boys” or all those connected with the cows, including the gopés. In other words, Govardhana Hill didn’t want to serve only Krsna, or only Krsna and Balaräma. He wanted to serve Them along with Their devotees, not only the cowherd boys and girls but even the cows and calves. He wanted to serve all of them.

We should learn from Govardhana Hill that we can please the Lord better by serving the Lord’s devotees than by trying to serve the Lord directly. In the book Krsna, Srila Prabhupäda comments on this verse. He says that Govardhana Hill knew the secret of how to please the Lord by pleasing His most beloved associates. Govardhana Hill gave his body and everything else not only for the service of the Lord personally but for the Lord’s servants as well. That’s how he gave respect to them.

- from Back To Godhead magazine, Issue #28-02, 1994, Article “The Glories of Govardhan Hill”

The servants of God come to propagate God consciousness, and intelligent people should cooperate with them in every respect. By serving the servant of God, one can please God more than by directly serving the Lord. The Lord is more pleased when He sees that His servants are properly respected because such servants risk everything for the service of the Lord and so are very dear to the Lord. The Lord declares in the Bhagavad-gitä (18.69) that no one is dearer to Him than one who risks everything to preach His glory. By serving the servants of the Lord, one gradually gets the quality of such servants, and thus one becomes qualified to hear the glories of God. The eagerness to hear about God is the first qualification of a devotee eligible for entering the kingdom of God.

- SB 1:2:16, purport. (See also B. Gita 18:68 & 69)

B5. Use of funds:

• For routine and emergency medical expenses, whenever needed

• For regular (once every two years) and emergency visits to their homes

• For regular annual pilgrimages (to Mayapur, Vrindavan, Dwaraka etc.)

• For preaching/book distribution yatras

• For old-age persons maintenance expenses & pension

• For monthly pocket money (if/when the temple does not provide this in time for the devotees basic travel and other expenses)

• For any other facilities needed by the devotees and sanctioned by the members by at least 50% majority. Examples: 1) In the long run, to acquire, construct or rent suitable premises to house aged devotees [called as ‘Vanaprastha Dham’], especially those who may have lost their mobility may need specially designed facilities. (Such immovable properties will be bought and placed under a Trust in which the two PCs are Trustees – they must sign a declaration promising to replace themselves as Trustees when they step down from their post as PCs and appoint the new PCs as Trustees. (At such time it may become necessary to register this organization – this could be done under the name Residential Devotees Welfare Union) 2) To arrange for a special kitchen and employ devotee cooks to provide suitable diets as prescribed by the doctors or geriatric (old age) specialists.

Henceforth, Iskcon should no longer be accused of having a policy of “Use & Throw Away” with regard to devotees. Younger devotees shall see that elders are very secure and well cared for. They will be enthusiastic to fully dedicate their whole lives to seving the mission of Srila Prabhupada.

B6. Method of Management:

The devotees involved in caring must never be stingy or hesitant to spend required money. They should not have fear of scarcity but believe in the abundant grace of Lord Krishna and the generosity of His congregational devotees. So long as not a paisa is wasted we should be confident that Lord Krishna, Who Is served by millions of Lakñmés, will surely provide for His dedicated servants.

The Accounts must be audited annually (a congregation devotee qualified as a C.A. can be found to volunteer for this duty) and the results published and posted to every donor and displayed on the temple notice board.

At least once every month, all the Category A member devotees (not Category B and C) should meet to discuss the statement of accounts, the previous minutes, all items on the agenda and any other matters. These meetings should overwhelmingly give all devotees present a sense of being part of a loving and caring family of Srila Prabhupada’s, as his beloved spiritual children.

The meetings should be held in a room in the residential area of the older devotees. It should not be held in the same place where temple management meetings are held. This is because it should be made very clear to everyone that this meeting has nothing to do with the temple authorities but is personal caring of residential devotees for one another.

Category A devotees can bring up their requests for help personally at these meetings. Category B & C devotees should make their requests only through the CWO. They may be called into the meetings briefly for any clarifications if necessary.

Every 6 months, a complete statement of accounts showing names and amounts given by all donors along with all expenses incurred must be published on the website www.careforbrahmanas.org/our_temple’s_name and a hard copy mailed to every donor. Aging devotees are a great asset to our community and they should always be allowed to maintain their dignity and must be treated with love and respect. Their personal stories, letters and photos should also be published along with the accounts, to give it a human, personal and caring touch. This webpage of the temple must have photos of every devotee who is being maintained, and when clicked on (www.careforbrahmanas.org/our_temple’s_name/devotee’s_name), it should show their bio-datas, the projects they have worked on in the past, the present services and projects they are working on, and their future dream projects, along with their personal ‘Special Wish List’ of things they may like to see or do or have (eg. I would like to visit Badrinath one day; or, I would like to have an MP3 player to hear SP’s lectures, etc.)

C. In Utmost Good Faith

Some may express the fear – what if the money we give is misued?...

There is no way to alter the current status to give iskcon-sheltered brahmanas the financial independence and dignity they need except through ENTRUSTING THEM in utmost good faith with the wealth they need, believing that no one knows better how to spend or use money than a brahmana, and that satyam is synonymous with being a brahmana. (The above-quoted purport to C.C. Adi 13:82 refers.) [We must free them from economic slavery, from exploitation and from the humiliation of having no alternative other than to go back to their families, whom they had rejected and neglected all these years, when they are in need of financial help or shelter.] That is why in the past, the kings had to endow temples with sufficient land to generate income so that the brahmanas were never in scarcity, plus he had to give charity freely to brahmanas. [eg. Even in Singapore, in the past, we have seen that the Sree Mariamman temple owned almost all the properties on the prime South Bridge Road] We have to move towards that situation by directly giving financial help to the brahmanas because there are no Räjarñis like King Yuddhiñöhira Mahäräj to look after them at this point in history. (Soon they may mainfest as the 10 thousand year golden age proceeds according to prediction.)

Srila Prabhupäda’s lecture SB 2.1.2-5 @ Montreal, October 23, 1968

“…Actually, there is no brähmana or kshatriyas. They are extinct. And because the brähmanas and kshatriyas are extinct, therefore social orders are in chaos. There is no brain; there is no good administration. That's all. Without kñatriya, there cannot be any good administration, and without brähmana, there is no good brain. Therefore we pray to Krsna, namo brahmanya-deväya go-brähmana-hitäya ca, krsnäya govindäya...

namo brahmanya-deväya / go-brähmana-hitäya ca

jagad-dhitäya krsnäya / govindäya namo namah

So this is very important. We are worshiping, offering our respect to Krsna, as brahmanya-deva. Brahmanya-deva means "the Lord who is worshiped by the brähmanas." So Krsna consciousness is not for the shüdras. Krsna conscious... One who is elevated to the standard of becoming brähmaëa, they can become Krsna conscious. But by the mercy of Lord Caitanya, every one comes to the stage of brahminical standard. Only to observe these four principles and chant Hare Krsna, you are at once more than brähmana, Vaishnava. Vaishnava position is more than brähmana.

Srila Prabhupäda speaks with Australia’s director of research for the Department of Social Welfare when he visited ISKCON Melbourne on May 21, 1975:

…. So the first defect of modern society is the law allowing divorce. Another defect: there is no method for training a man to become first-class. That method is there in the Vedic civilization. Now, of course, that method is also abolished, due to the degradation of this modern age.

Formerly, though, society was divided into four classes—brähmanas, kshatriyas, vaishyas, shüdras: advisors, administrators, merchants, and workers. The brähmanas were first-class men—ideal. But in today’s society there is no ideal man. Society should have some living example, so that people can see, “Oh, here is an ideal man.” And the ideal man is described here in our Bhagavad-gitä. Any man can be trained. And if even just one percent of the people become ideal, the remaining ninety-nine percent will see and follow. But now there are no ideal men. That is the defect.

So we are training people to become ideal men. That is the purpose of this movement. And in practical terms, you can see what our students were in their previous life and what they are now. Therefore, the government should establish an institution to create ideal men. We can help.

- from the article “Create Ideal Men” published in the ‘SP Speaks Out’ section of the Back To Godhead magazine, issue #35-01, 2001

From these quotations we can see that making real brahmanas to help reform civilization as a whole was an important, integral part of Srila Prabhupada’ mission. Now that the global community of trained brahmanas has grown, as well as the size of the congregations of devotees of Srila Prabhupada, it is timely that a project like this is embarked upon, to allow the Brahmanas to beg directly from the devotees whom they serve and thus have no anxiety about their maintenance or future position.

Other ideas:

• Eligibility – years of service etc;

• status of PCs – they must be serving in the temple. (if they leave the service or the temple, or if they become 50 years of age, they must hand over their role along with the hundi keys and transfer the bank account/funds and all properties held in trust, over to the new PC.)

• Two certificates (handed over ceremoniously and lovingly by all other member devotees) on the day:

  • A) after 5 years of temple service is completed

    • Congratulations

    • Appreciation of dedication

    • Commitment by the PCs to looking after his welfare in all respects for all his life

  • B) upon their turning 50 years of age

    • Congratulations

    • Affirming that in sickness or in health, he/she is a treasured member of the community and praying to him/her to kindly accept the service the devotees will offer for the rest of his life (unless he accepts Sannyasa Danda or Bäbäji Vesha, at which point he will be on his own, free to depend solely upon the All-Merciful Sri Krsna.)

    • Re assure them that they are the greatest assets to our community (not just to the temple) and that they are very much needed, wanted and loved.

    • They should be encouraged to enter Vanaprastha Ashram and began developing their personal bhajan and sadhana more seriously.

Elderly devotees must joyfully be served with love, and they must never, never be made to feel like a burden or that they are unwanted. Special effort must be made to facilitate their hearing, reading and chanting. Younger devotees can be made to read to them on a rotating roster etc. Remember the slogan: “Care For Devotees”

Footnote:

1 This Constitution should be approved by all member devotees at the first meeting, and later on, changes to the Constitution can be made only when there is 100% agreement by all members to any change.

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Postlude:

The above paper is just a rough draft. What is important is the concept. Details of implimentatoin are certainly unrefined and much brainstorming can be done at local levels at the time of implementation, once the idea is accepted and found to be useful / necessary for the future community development / revival of daivi-varnaashrama-dharma within our Srila Prabhupada's greater mission of re-di recting human civilization and re-establishing a class of brahmanas who are independently thoughtful and who will powerfully preach the shastras As It Is. Your impressions, comments & suggestions are most welcome - please post them on the comments section at the end of this blog post. Thank you. Hare Krishna. your servant, Dina-Anukampana Das

COMMENTS FROM READERS:

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Comments on the above RDWF Paper from Sakshi Gopal prabhu (a professional accountant):

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i'd like to share a couple of thoughts on this:

a. re: the recording keeping on the use or application of funds for devotees: it's an accepted audit practice that the person who is responsible for the cash is not the one who keeps the records.. this is carried out by two different persons or departments to ensure that it's seen to be 'clean'. It would be good if the third/fourth person CWO could be the record keeper.

b. re: keeping the ATM card and book in the Hundi, we might be caught putting all our gulab jamuns in one plastic bag...you may want to consider having the ATM card and book separately. The receipt from withdrawls have to be given to the record keeper who willl require the CWOs who have the rights to withdraw funds to sign in his record book.

c. re: the PIN and ATM being held separately it might create problems in instances where the CWO with the PIN has to go somewhere and is not around....then he would have to pass the PIN to some other person whom he appoints..if you want to be really safe, no PIN or ATM, all transactions from the bank face-to-face.....but for practical reasons, the other way is to give the ATM card (and even the bank book) to the record keepers..and the PIN remains with the main CWOs... in this way, each time there is a withdrawl from the bank, the record keepers are aware..(Remember, the main CWOs have the PIN and need to sign so there is no problem of theft)

d. also, the HUNDI. it might be useful to do a count of the cash in it..there may be an agreement to have a maximum amount in the HUNDI, and the extra is deposited in the bank..in that way, it's safer and also you earn interest..

re: the document you prepared, please create more white space with coloured rows for headings and perhaps some pictures too...also there are several typos....

hope this helps Prabhu...

your fallen servant,

sakshi

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Comments on the above RDWF paper by HG Sukania Venugopal:

On 20/01/2008, Sukania Venugopal wrote:

Hare Krshna!

There should be a move to look to the welfare of aging or devootees who are unable because of illness and don't have the means to address their predicament. So the idea of devotees offering a token of love ofwhatever amount they wish to offer according to their financial abilty is definitely on a regular basis is something for ISKCON to consider.The Muslims pay a tithe 'zakat' which is then used for the needs of those in need.

In Malaysia, Markendeya prabhu of the Mentakab iskcon branch undertook a project of building a home for the aged and infirm and recently they had an opening ceremony which I was told by my father (long time vice president of iskcon malaysia) who attended it as being a wonderful realization. If one is truly filled with KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS it will be reflected in his or her's thoughts and deeds.This endeavour by Markendeya prabhu I personally feel is putting into practise this concsiousness which more often than not in many instances remains only at the level of lip service.If he can do this it just proves that anything is possible based on sincerity and unconditional love!!

KRSHNA is within each and everyone of us and we need to REMEMBER this.By not addressing to the needs of those in need we are indirectly NEGLECTING BHAGHAVAN'S needs within us.

Every center should implement this principle of a regular offering of love which must be an unwavering commitment by the devotees for it to succeed.It must be given willingly and not grudgingly- with an open heart and mind.

Thank you

Sukania
(malaysia)