By Deva Madhava das
‘You were on Mayapur TV…!’ ‘What’s that Mata?’ I was calling one of our congregation members to coordinate her contribution to our first major infrastructure purchase, a restaurant fridge… which was being gotten rid of cheap by a local Indian store that was closing down. ‘Yes, yes, Mayapur TV. I watch the LA Temple Bhagavatam class every morning and today the devotee speaking mentioned your center!’ ‘Oh, well that’s exciting. Do you happen to know the reason?’ I wondered out loud. ‘Oh Yes, he was making the wonderful point that Mahaprabhu has said His Holy Name will be spread to every town and village… so he asked all the devotees if they’d heard of an ‘Ypsilanti’ Michigan. Of course no one had, and then he happily declared that Srila Prabhupada now has a temple in Ypsilanti Michigan… That’s you!’
For a moment I wasn’t sure whether to be inspired or insulted, but given the circumstances I took it as an auspicious sign that settlement of the yatra into our new home was pleasing news to Vaisnavas near and far, however humble a space and place it might be situated in.
The devotees still won’t call our center at 106, or rather 108 N Adams St in Ypsilanti Michigan ‘The Harmony Collective’. They prefer the tried and true ‘Krishna House’. To be sure, as you walk out of the house, you will read the back or our sign which still says ‘Krishna House- All Welcome’ in quaint hand painted lettering. An original from our first rented property three years ago, the front of the sign now reads ‘The Harmony Collective.’
The name change came after much deliberation on more than a few signs from Krishna.
For two years, with rented properties, we’d operated under the name Krishna House. We signed the mortgage for our current location on October 31st, 2014… which happened to not only be a day to play pretend for the average Joe and Jane, it was also dress up day for the divine couple… as Gopastami fell on Halloween a year ago.
A few weeks after purchase, while enjoying one of the simple pleasures of modern home ownership (Google Mapping our property and neighbors in street view) I noticed that Sri Google had listed our driveway and ‘historic’ horse barn adjacent to the house as ‘108’ N Adams st. The numbers on our house said ‘106’ N. Adams; I was obviously intrigued. I made an inquiry with the city during a call about our zoning and found out two wonderful things during the exchange. The first was that the city was rezoning their whole business district, and that in 3 months our center would be automatically rezoned in a suitable way as an ‘educational facility’ allowing for both live in residents and public/commercial use. As if saving thousands of dollars and potentially months of energy in litigating wasn’t good enough news, the kind women on the phone also, with the click of a button… made our official working address ‘108 N. Adams St Ypsilanti, Mi.’
Even our house had been hiding… pretending to be a less auspicious, less exciting, less totally obvious choice for where to put our center!
The final straw for me was when our stalwart sankirtan soldier Siddha Hari Prabu, the type of classic ‘Haribol bhakta’ who twinges a bit if I happen to refer to ‘the Divine’ in one of my talks, came to me saying the name ‘Krishna House’ was putting people off.
During the summer we spend 5 or 6 days a week on the streets chanting, dancing and distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books along with Krishna Prasada. Siddha Hari prabhu is our primary point man, speaking to folks as they walk by, and often inducing them to chant or dance themselves with his genuine and jovial nature. We are in dhotis, saris and tilak, playing mridunga and kartal doing the swami step… and people are excited and into what we’re doing… until they see the invitation card says ‘Krishna House’. Somehow it sets off the ‘religion’ alarm and, as Siddha Hari described, they suddenly become stand offish or distant.
The name ‘Harmony Collective’ came ultimately from thinking about an expression of Srila Prabhupada’s which is dear to our community ‘Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate after I’m gone’. We also took a page from our param Guru Deva Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, who renamed his publication ‘Sajana Tosani’ ‘the Harmonist’.
So now the card reads ‘The Harmony Collective- Learning Love Through Cooperation’ at the top, while the bottom makes clear we are operating by HDG. The effect seems to be something like putting the label ‘Gluten Free’ on ice cream…. somehow; it’s good for you now! The name intrigues people and reaffirms what they hope our sankirtan party is all about, love and cooperation amongst people with a mutual desire to respect and enjoy life in all its expressions. Of course those words find their true meaning in service to Krishna, but we tell them more about that after they come to a program and get some halava in their bellies.
5,000+ plates of prasadam, 1,000+ books, 650+ hours of harinama, 120+ new guests, 1 Rainbow Gathering, 1 YogaFest, 1 Art Fair, 2 Weddings and a University of Michigan Football season later ‘The Harmony Collective Ypsilanti’ begs the devotees to please like them on Facebook, send whatever money and man power you can offer… and bless us that we may be allowed to live at least one more year as aspiring servants of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya at 108 N. Adams st ‘Ypsilantay’ Michigan.
Finally I’d like to thank some of the exceptional Vaisnava’s that Krishna has kindly sent to give us their association. The presence of HH Romapada Swami, HH Bhakti Sundar Swami, HH Bhakti Marga Swami, HH Bhakti Ragava Swami, HH Chandra Mauli Swami, HH B.A. Ashrama Swami, HG Deena Bandhu Prabhu, HG Kalakantha Prabhu, HG Abhirama Prabhu, HG Sri Nandanandana Prabhu, HG Prthu Sravana Prabhu, HG Malati Devi, HG Cintamani Devi, HG Vishaka Devi only to name a few… affirms for us that Srila Prabhupada is in support of our effort. We hope that those devotees and many more will continue to come and enliven our community and guests with their realizations on the Supreme Personality and the joy of His service.
For you,
Deva Madhava das
Temple President
The Harmony Collective Ypsilanti
(ISKCON Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA)