Letter to: Brahmananda — Tittenhurst 27 October, 1969:
“Regarding the number of BTG which you print during the winter months, that must be decided amongst yourselves. Similarly, you should decide about what is to be done with the North Carolina center. I have no objection if they move to some other place. Perhaps they will require some other nicely trained brahmacari to give them assistance either in North Carolina or some other place. So, decide amongst yourselves what is to be done and do the needful. This is management. You have asked about the management of our society, and the position is that management should be done in such a way that people may not break away. That is the first business of management. I have already explained the matter to you and Tamala, so you do it consulting amongst yourselves, gradually coming to the general governing body for managing the whole affairs. At the present moment whatever you are doing is all right.”
Letter to: Satsvarupa — Delhi 21 November, 1971:
“Yes, preaching is more important than managing. Just because you are preaching nicely and distributing so much prasadam, the management will follow like a shadow and Krishna will send you no end of help.”
Letter to: Patita Uddharana —Delhi 8 December, 1971:
“I am pleased to see that routine work is going on nicely in Columbus center under your supervision. This routine work, such as chanting, speaking, rising early, cleaning, cooking and offering prasadam, arati, reading books—these activities are the backbone of our Society, and if we practice them nicely in a regulative manner, then our whole program will be successful. If we become slack or neglect these things, then everything else we may try will fail.
So, it is very important that you keep your standards very high in these activities, then your preaching will be strong. Preaching is our real business, preaching and distributing books. If your preaching work is strong, then your management of temple affairs will also become automatically very strong.
Just like if the head wills it, the hand will move. Preaching is like the head of our KC Society—if the head is removed, the whole-body dies. Managing is the hands, which work nicely if the head is healthy.
If the hands are removed, the body will not die, but it will be crippled. So preaching is more important than management, but both must be there if the whole body is to operate nicely.”
Letter to: Sama das and Sammita dasi — Bombay 4 January, 1973 Baltimore:
“Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated December 22, 1972, and I am so glad to hear that you are reopening the Baltimore temple and that you are prepared to stay there your life long for developing it to the highest standard. Yes, I was little disturbed to hear that we had closed down the Baltimore temple before. Baltimore is a very important city of your country and we must maintain our center there at all costs. I can understand by your letter that you are both very serious and sincere devotees of Krishna, husband and wife, so I think that you will have no difficulty in performing your duties there. First business will be to preach widely throughout the city and distribute our books and Krishna Consciousness propaganda. In this way, try to recruit some local men to help you. You are only two persons, therefore big temple with Deity worship and so many other things will be impossible to maintain. Therefore, if you get a place, simply hold our standard program of kirtana morning and evening, with class, inviting friends and other people that you meet. In this way develop the thing gradually, we are not in very much hurry to get big big house and very comfortable position, no. Our first and foremost business is to spread Krishna Consciousness. So, utilize every opportunity that Krishna gives you for preaching His message, that is real meaning of temple management. Everyone should consider himself the servant of the other. That will make management very nice.”
Letter to: Karandhara — Bhaktivedanta Manor19 July, 1973:
“Regarding incorporation of our ISKCON centers, we want to run all our centers as nonprofit religious organizations; that is the main point. Keeping this point in view too much official control is not good in spiritual life. The centers should remain spiritually fit and independent. Some control must be there as is now. Too much control means so many vouchers. Gradually it will become a mundane institution. All our managers should be spiritually advanced simple and honest in carrying out the orders of the spiritual master and Krishna. That will be a nice standard. Democracy in spiritual affairs is not at all good but breeds power politics. We should be careful about power politics. Our only aim should be that each and every devotee is full dedicated to Krishna, then things will go on nicely. …
I am afraid of taxing my brain about this Corporation of ISKCON so you and Bali Mardan Maharaja do the needful that will be a relief to me.”