Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.
This is a time of uncertainty for your Back to Godhead magazine. For many years it has not had
the prominence in your movement that it had in ISKCON’s early decades. Many reasons account
for this, the main ones having to do with your dedicated disciples and granddisciples discovering
alternative, successful means to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Back to Godhead’s diminished role in preaching has resulted in financial challenges, even to the
point of threatening the magazine’s survival. A question naturally arises: Does BTG still have
a vital role to play in ISKCON? You wanted the magazine to be an outreach tool, but you also
wanted it to have subscribers who would read it regularly and gradually be trained in the philoso-
phy and practices of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Accomplishing these two purposes in the same maga-
zine has always been a challenge, and it seems that devotees are finding ways to accomplish one
or the other of them through means other than BTG.
Another of your purposes for BTG was that it would serve as a place for devotees to express
their understanding of the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In addition to stressing the read-
ing of your books, you also stressed the importance of writing, so BTG was a natural place for the
publication of such writing. Now devotees have multiple ways to share their realizations.
Despite these realities, for many devotees, BTG was a vital part of their early years in ISKCON,
and they in particular feel that BTG must go on somehow or other. They have a devotional senti-
ment toward the magazine. They know how important it was to you. You referred to it as the
backbone of ISKCON, and they naturally feel uneasy about the prospect of its disappearance.
Those of us serving your magazine pray to you for signs how to proceed. Some reorganization
is taking place, and devotees are meeting regularly to work toward developing a strong digital
presence for BTG while keeping the magazine in print as well. Please bless and inspire us to make
decisions that align with your own desires in regard to your beloved Back to Godhead.
Hare Krsna,
Your servants at BTG

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