711217 - Letter to Sri Galim written from Bombay

Letters by Date, 1971

Tridandi Goswami
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Date: December 17, 1971
Camp: "Akash Ganga," 7th floor, 89 B. Desai Road, Bombay-36

My Dear Sri [handwritten] Galim,

Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of December 4, 1971, along with the several pages of poetry from all the nice devotees at Austin temple. I thank you all very much for your kind sentiments. I am also very glad to accept Bill Walsh, Sue Walsh and Hayden Larsen, upon your recommendation, as my duly initiated disciples. I am also replying them herewith. I am sending three sets of beads, duly chanted by me, under separate post. Now it is in your hands to give them all good guidance how to perfect their lives in Krishna Consciousness.
I am so happy to learn that your routine work is going on very nicely there, under your direction. There is no real need of our own temple, as long as the routine work is going on. But because people require a place to sit down comfortably and chant, then we must do the needful and accommodate them in the style they are accustomed. So if there is some nice place in the future, you may take it on rent and open it to the public. Meanwhile your school and other programs are very good. As long as preaching work is going on, somehow or other, that is first-class program. One thing, you say that literature distribution is low; actually, the test of the strength of our preaching work is that we sell many books and magazines. So what is the difficulty? Simply preach very sincerely to anyone and everyone, and go on in this way preaching more and more, and the demand for our books will increase.
So far the impersonalist rascal, you may simply challenge him by asking 'what is your philosophy.' It is not very difficult to defeat these persons, because they haven't got any substance, simply big words. But we have got our books, Bhagavad Gita--if you engage him in public debate, politely handle his statements with a cool head and reply from the authority of our books, that's all. Krishna will give you all help to expose his lack of knowledge and his faulty understanding.
I hope this meets you in good health and lively mood,
Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami