Our dearest ever well-wisher, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
irviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
Please accept our prostrated obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to you on this
auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, the 129th anniversary celebration of your appearance.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.22.35), spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa, beautifully describes the qualities of a
tree, especially patience, tolerance, and selflessness:
aho eṣāṁ varaṁ janma
sarva -prāṇy-upajīvanam
su-janasyeva yeṣāṁ vai
vimukhā yānti nārthinaḥ
Just see how these trees are maintaining every living entity! Their birth is successful.
Their behavior is just like that of great personalities, for anyone who asks anything
from a tree never goes away disappointed.
Your Divine Grace, on this most auspicious occasion of your Vyāsa-pūjā, we submit this humble
offering in a mood of tolerance and surrender, exemplified by a tree: taror api sahiṣṇunā. The tree
is the perfect symbol of tolerance, as it provides shelter, fruit, and shade to everyone without dis-
tinction, despite being cut, pruned, or harmed. In a similar way, Śrīla Prabhupāda, you showed
the utmost tolerance in your service to Kṛṣṇa and surrendered yourself completely to His will.
The tree is a symbol of patience, tolerance, and mercy. Śrīla Prabhupāda, in the same way, you
tolerated so many hardships in spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness across the globe, never showing
any signs of anger or resentment, always focusing on the higher goal of pleasing Kṛṣṇa and guru.
You embodied the qualities of the tree in your life of service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Dear Śrīla Prabhupāda, for ISKCON Burlington, we humbly submit three key challenges and
three opportunities over the course of last year:
Challenges:
1. Lack of active participation in temple activities: getting the congregation to be more involved
in planning/executing festivals, and to be more enthusiastic in giving their time, service, or
donations.
2 Not many initiated devotees, which puts more load on initiated devotees to do more frequent
āratis, classes, and kīrtanas.
3 Smaller congregation compared to most other centers – meaning more responsibility falls on
the temple council.
Opportunities:
1. New families visit each week: encourage them to become regulars.
2. Utilize social media to attract attention: a great opportunity to develop and connect through
social media.
3. Organize volunteer initiatives that involve serving the local community and attract the atten-
tion of potential devotees.
One often overlooked quality of a tree is that it always stands naked. Similarly, Śrīla Prabhupāda,
like the tree, in front of you we are “naked” – that is, we are devoid of any good qualities or quali-
fications to serve you as per your desires. As such, our main goal at ISKCON Burlington is to
imbibe the sublime mood of united cooperation in devotional service and unalloyed commitment
to your instructions.
By your grace, since writing last year’s Vyāsa-pūjā offering, ISKCON Burlington has pro-
gressed in its outreach efforts. Your center held a successful fourth Ratha-yātrā. Devotees go
out monthly on book distribution, and our book scores have increased over last year’s. Further
growth has occurred in terms of numbers of in-person and virtual Vedic classes, and in the chil-
dren’s Vedic fun school.
We humbly pray for your blessings so that we may assist you, with unwavering determination,
in fulfilling the mission of Lord Caitanya. Thank you very much for the greatest benediction: the
opportunity to serve ISKCON’s worldwide family. Hare Kṛṣṇa, our dear Śrīla Prabhupāda.
The insignificant servants of your servants,
The devotees at ISKCON Burlington