January 2011 Bhaktivedanta Manor Newsletter
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Over the course of 2010, between ten and fifteen devotees based at Bhaktivedanta Manor travelled around the country distributing the transcendental literature of Srila Prabhupada to the general public. During the month of December however, these efforts were stepped-up as the Winter Marathon commenced. Many devotees spent between eight and twelve hours a day on the streets, during the first three and a half weeks of December, meeting people from all walks of life, ages, and cultures, giving them books on spirituality.
With this winter being one of the coldest in a hundred years, the devotees had a tough time, but they braved the temperatures and the sometimes unforgiving public, and soldiered on, doing their duty. What inspired them to carry on? For many, the opportunity to share with others divine wisdom that changed their own lives; for others the and to please Srila Prabhupada during this blessed month and for some the sheer challenge of the cold, rain and snow. Back at the Manor, some devotees arranged a wonderful Marathon Display around the altar of Srila Prabhupada (pictured above).
The theme is based around a scriptural reference of the very advanced devotees being like a swans – which are able to separate milk from water. The devotee’s ability to separate matter from spirit and focus on the latter, makes him or her swan-like. The large swan-wings protruding from the Acarya’s seat were not only beautiful but each feather contained the name of a devotee and their story of how they received their first book. In all, during the month of December devotees from the Manor distributed just short of 15,000 books. We thank all the devotees involved for their laudable efforts.
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