Is it ok to celebrate Holi to attract new people to the temple?

From: Krishna Gaur Das
in some western  countries devotees use Holi as An event to Attract more souls indirectly towards krishna consciousness.Is celebration of Holi dependent on different situations?

Transcript

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Question in some countries devotees celebrate Holi as a means to attract new people to the temple won’t that increase the celebration of Holi in our movement thereby leading to undesirable results answer we don’t have to impose our own present situation and the inferences drawn from that situation on everyone else in spiritual life different devotees are placed in different time place circumstances and the devotee leaders over there have the maturity to know how best to attract people to Krishna and even if some of them are not mature enough and they are doing some things which are inappropriate it is not for us to judge we practice Krishna consciousness enthusiastically and share it enthusiastically and by that we do our part we don’t have the responsibility for ensuring the property of the whole mission, we don’t have to make our self appointed watchdogs for the whole movement, Holi is not a sinful activity by any standards it is a religious activity it is not just religious activity it is a Vaishnav activity celebrating Holi and there are descriptions of Holi being celebrated in the Gaudiya literature and in that sense it is not wrong but because of the mundane vision that most people have and because of the sensuality that is accompanied with it in today’s times that is why it is generally been discouraged in our tradition by our modern Acharyas but that doesn’t mean that it is to be banned so it is one of the most colourful festivals within the Indian cultural calendar and it attracts a lot of attention media attention, many people know to consider Holi as one of the characteristics of the Hindu religion, so one of the defining characteristics so from the cultural point of view it is colourful and attractive so if that can be used to attract people to Krishna there is nothing wrong in that just as we can use Yoga just as Srila Prabhupada said we went to Kumbh Mela so that not to get liberated but to help others come to Krishna similarly Holi can also be used that way but in general where we can get attract people to Krishna by direct means then there is no need for festivals like Holi to be celebrated which often have a mood that is different from the mood that our Gaudiya Acharyas want to cultivate and that is actually the mood with which any pastime of Krishna need to be enacted, that is the mood of pure devotion but often here the mood is of pure sensuality in many cases and that’s why that is to be avoided but beyond that let us not be self appointed watchdogs for everyone else let us focus on doing what we can to attract people to Krishna and let other devotees do what they can so because we don’t know the full time circumstance situation and there may be certain people we may do say in certain situations we may do out of mind control seminars, now that may not be required in villages but that is what is essential in companies and among students say stress management seminars, so just as there can be some form of bridge outreach to get people closer to Krishna so this form of bridge outreach is also entirely acceptable the important thing about a bridge is there has to be a beginning and there has to be an ending, that means what the bridge is connecting is it should be clearly understood, so if the bridge itself becomes a residence place and those who constructed the bridge move from their original homes to the bridge and start residing over there, that would become undesirable, that means the things which we introduce for giving people a facility to appreciate Krishna consciousness and come to Krishna consciousness if those things become our primary activity not just in terms of the time that it consumes but also in terms of our own self identification then that is going to be a serious problem but if devotees are studying Shri Prabhupada books doing sadhana and are focused on the practices of Krishna consciousness then some bridge programs are certainly acceptable and they may even be essential for the effective outreach of Krishna consciousness, thank you