No ‘lazies’ or ‘crazies’

Srila Prabhupada is often quoted with regard to the fact that temples aren’t meant for ‘lazies’ or ‘crazies.’ A famous 1972 letter, to the temple president of Bhaktivedanta Manor at that time, gives some insight into Srila Prabhupada’s mood regarding this issue: “If new students are coming and they want to live with us in the temple, they must agree before living with us to follow these principles without any exception. Otherwise, it is better for them to live outside and attend the class, aratrika, prasadam, like that, and gradually as they become convinced by their intelligence, they will voluntarily agree to perform the austerity or tapasya of living in the temple. But anyone who lives in the temple must follow all these principles without exception, otherwise they may be asked to live outside.”