740604 - Letter to Hrdayananda written from Geneva

Letters by Date, 1974

4 rue Le Sueur
Paris 16 France

June 4 74

My dear Hridayananda Maharaj,
Please accept my blessings I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter of May 10, 1974. I was eager to receive your first GBC report and I have carefully noted the contents.
As GBC your first responsibility is to keep yourself spiritually fit and see that all the devotees in your zone of management are chanting 16 rounds, rising early and strictly avoiding the sinful activities. If they are doing this, then management will be at your finger's end. Of course I am encouraged to hear that in each center you have stressed the distribution of my books and you are seeing that devotees daily go out for sankirtana as a primary devotional item. So you have a very wide range of area to cover and many things to look after, please do it very soberly, consulting when necessary with your GBC Godbrothers. Our progress is slow but sure, when walking down the street, we first place one foot down and when it is firm we take another step. We want to firmly establish centers in South America. I fully agree that the centers should be as far as possible manned by men who are native to the country; that will make our position even stronger, just as in the USA all you men and women have managed.
As far as Brazil, why not go in first with sankirtan parties, distribute books in Portuguese, and then we can see later about opening a center.
As far as counsel is concerned, simply keep up your fresh utsaha or enthusiasm for service. That will accomplish wonders. And always remain ideal yourself by strict adherence to the bhakti principles.

Your ever well-wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,
ACBS/sdg
Hridayananda Goswami
Gob. Tirburcio Montiel 45
Mexico 18 D.P