During the summer, Nimaihuset has covered the tent-rental market in Great Gothenburg to support the Temple with laxmi (vaishnava-slang for money). Fastest, cheapest and happiest tent-rental team around.
At first we charged 900 SEK (100 Euro) – for the tent, going there by car (twice), putting it up and taking it down (3 persons each occasion), gas included. The first renters were really unhappy about the low price and couldn't stop thinking and wondering about why we did it. Maybe we just wanted to get together and have some fun, was the last proposition we heard from the distressed renters.
So we had to raise the price, quickly, not to hurt people. Vasudeva das hit the Internet and changed the ad. From then on it was 1300 plus car and gas, and that seemed to be all right with most people, although most of them added up to that too, some with a couple of hundred (which was a good arrangement, because that way they got the chance to donate to the Temple and make a slow start out of material existence, back to Krishna – Sevananda das used to say "say goodbye to the material world" behind their backs whenever that happened).
We preached Krishna consciousness whenever we had the chance, but the renters were normally in a totally other consciousness (marriage-, birthday-, barbeque-, company promotion-...) and it was a little hard to get through. Vasudeva das smilingly and patiently tried to explain bhakti yoga to one of our renters with the words: "It's more religion than gymnastics".
One of the renters had in 2006 given lift to a hitch-hiking Brahma-Samhita das, from whom he had bought a packet of prasadam-cookies. He still remembered how good they tasted (taste for prasadam). He wanted to help putting up the tent (taste for seva). He said he wouldn't be there when we got back, but he was. Our guess was that we were seeing the workings of sukriti. We sold him 10 packets of prasadam-cookies before we left. Wonder what's next for him...
Some interesting facts:
In the beginning we needed around 4 hours to put the tent up, at the end we did it in an hour and a half.
A normal downing it was in the beginning a little less than 2 hours. At the end of the summer we got really structured, skillful and motivated. Fastest downing: Lerum (34 kms east of the Temple) – perfect wheather conditions, motivated, skillful and focused team (Radha Giridhari devi dasi, Makhan Chor das, Sevananda das). From stepping out of the car (11:02) to being back in it (11:29), tent nicely packed, including payment and thank-you-goodbye: 27 minutes! Unfortunately Makhan Chor lost it with the car, driving around in Lerum city (it's not big...) for 10 minutes before at last getting out on the freeway, otherwise the ecstasy would have been complete.
Next year we will report the times for putting the tent up and downing it for every job. There will be pictures too. And Sudarshan das has promised to do some filming.
Some pictures:
Sevananda das and Siddhanta das in ecstasy having put up the tent 50 kms north of Nimaihuset. The renters were getting married and the day after they were going to Sicily. They had been there before. The sicililans were all right, they told us, as long as you don't snitch. (Photo: Vasudeva das)
Radha Giridhari devi dasi securing the the tent from take-off. The renters unknowingly donated 22 SEK to the Temple when summing up the total cost. Not much maybe, but this was in the Purusottama Adhika month, when all spiritual efforts are multiplied by a thousand. Donating 22.000 SEK to the Temple... Say goodbye to the material world. (Photo: Sudarshan das)
End of tent season: Subhal das and Sevananda das (picture) cleaning and packing down the tent for the winter, while engaged in harikatha and listening to Srila Prabhupada chanting the Maha Mantra. (Photo: Subhal das)
No pictures of Subhal unfortunately, Sevananda hasn't really figuered out how to use the camera yet. However, there's a couple of filmclips of him:
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