Hare Kṛṣṇa dear Śrīla Prabhupāda,
Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.
As per Your Divine Grace’s desire to train youths in both the material and spiritual spheres and reach out to the local Thai people, we have been running a student center in Bangkok under the guidance of your senior disciples and our śīkṣā- and dīkṣā-gurus, His Holiness BVV Narasiṁha Mahārāja, His Holiness Kavicandra Mahārāja, and His Holiness Jayapatāka Mahārāja, all GBC secretaries of ISKCON Thailand. What follows is an account of some of our activities and outcomes:
- Resident local Thai youths: Around 10–12 Thai youths stay at the center and perform simple morning/evening Kṛṣṇa conscious programs – japa and kirtan, discussion on spiritual topics, cooking and cleaning. During the day, they study at nearby universities: Assumption (ABAC) University, Ramkamheng University, Stamford University, Kasetsart University, and others, and acquire a material education as per their interest and/or parents’ sponsorship. In the last twenty years since our center was established, a few dozen local and international students have benefitted from this scheme. Most of them have continued their spiritual life and several are initiated, and assist in spreading the mission of Lord Gaurāṅga in Thailand and other parts of the world.
- Weekly Saturday program: Around 20–30 devotees and others gather and perform kirtan, read and discuss the Bhagavad-gītā, which has been translated into Thai, attend Gaura-ārati, and honor prasādam. The resident youths help organize the program alongside the senior congregation members who live around the area.
- Outreach programs: We have bhakti-vṛkṣa and children’s programs in the Sukumvit and Sathorn areas. We’ve been conducting these programs for around a decade, mostly on Friday evenings or Sunday mornings, as per the convenience of the host and leading devotees. Harināmas and other kirtans along with book distribution are held at times in nearby parks or areas such as Ramkamheng, Bangkapi, and Lumphini, and sometimes in trips from Bangkok to nearby cities like Pranburi, Suphanburi and Ayutthaya. We also hold yoga and mantra meditation sessions, organized at universities or other schools by the friends and acquaintances of the resident youth or members of our congregation.
Please continue to bless us, guide us, and give us your shelter through the association of senior Vaiṣṇavas – your disciples and granddisciples. Also, may we be able to assimilate more spiritual knowledge by studying your books deeply and may we relish the nectar of the holy names in the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. May we continue to be an instrument for delivering the message of Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Gaurāṅga to the people of Thailand and worldwide. We hope and wish our endeavors please you and the previous ācāryas.
Trying to serve,
Sumādhuri Līlā Devī Dāsī and Antaraṅga Gopāla Dāsa
On behalf of ISKCON Ramkamheng (ABAC), Student Center