A story from 2019 from Denver’s Comic Convention
Comic Con is one of the most favorable events for sankirtana, and it comes to Denver every year.
Because of the large crowds the event provides, the brahmacaris usually treated it like a sankirtana holiday, and anyone who didn’t have other
services that day was expected to take part in distributing books. However, in 2019, one of the beloved residents of the ashram was getting married, so I was the only one available to go to Comic Con. I was intimidated to go out alone, but I felt it was my duty.
I started off working the side streets outside the venue and approached as many people I could. But everyone was hastily making their way inside the convention center, so it started off a little slow.
I thought, “I have to get inside if I want to do big.” One of the brahmacaris had suggested that I bring an event lanyard from a previous year
to get inside. So I prayed to Krishna and eventually made my way to the entrance trying to devise a plan to enter.
As I got to the front of the line, I noticed that one of the staff members was a younger kid, who I thought I might be able to get by with the proper enthusiasm. But he was especially careful and wasn’t buying the outdated lanyard I was wearing.
At this point I figured that honesty was the best policy. I told him I was trying to distribute transcendental knowledge to help people get free from stress and that if he let me in, he would get spiritual benefit for this important service. He was reluctant but decided he would bring me to one of the event organizers. I knew my chances were low so I prayed deeply for Krishna to find me a way inside.
As we were making our way toward some manager in the main hall, one lady saw a book in the side pocket of my rolling book bag. She pointed at the book and said, “Hey, I got one of those books before!”
It was the Perfection of Yoga in Arabic, and she was an English-speaking Western woman. (For those who don’t know, the cover of POY in Arabic is much different from most BBT books.) Clearly the Supersoul arranged for her to recognize a book by Prabhupada, since I wasn’t dressed like a devotee nor was I wearing tilak. I took the opportunity to engage with her and pulled out an Easy Journey to Other Planets from my side bag.
I said, “Oh, really? Was it this book?” And she said yes with excitement. Astonished, I proceeded to pull out a Bhagavad Gita and encouraged her to take it as the next book for her reading list. She gladly accepted and gave a donation. Meanwhile, the kid who was escorting me to the manager got distracted and continued on his way to find the manager. I took it as Krishna’s mercy and made my way inside unnoticed. It became clear to me that if we want to serve Krishna bad enough, he is obliged to make all arrangements.
Afterward, all the devotees at the wedding came out for a maha-harinam (link below), where book distribution continued.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
https://youtube.com/shorts/qAbDCCCJtFM?feature=share
Your servant,
Bhakta Brandon
