Blog
Another time bomb went off
It was hot summer day in May 2003. I was preparing for medical entrance exam and was completely exhausted by the long hours I had put. Add to it the tremendous anxiety about carrier and future. I desperately wanted to read some inspiring book, which would give me some peace of mind. I started searching books on the shelf. In the corner was Bhagavad-gita As It Is. It had been kept on my book shelf for nearly ten years. I opened it and began to read. I realized that every verse in the Gita was related to me and the Gita had solutions to my...
read moreThe Best Birthday Present
This is about how the biggest book distributor in the USA, Bhakta Jaya Khush, came to Krsna consciousness. At his tenth birthday party, someone gave him as a present: Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita As It Is. At the time he thought, "Who has the nerve to give me a book for my birthday?" Ten years later, he's a music producer traveling around with a famous musician. This musician is quoting the Bhagavad Gita to Jay Khush, who's shocked that a famous African-American is quoting the book of his religion to him (he was born...
read moreBook Distribution is sooo Sweet
After a wonderful seminar by HG Radhika Raman Prabhu, it was so enlivening to go door-door to distribute sets. Inspired by the lecture, Jamuna Mataji took a set for her cafe. Then we went in an area where no one wanted to accept a Gita, but we met one Chinese lady who happily took Gita and a Chinese book. She also learned the Maha mantra and she chanted in her own sweet way saying, " Hale Krishna". We met two families who took SB. One family we met, she was a doctor and her two sons were so inquisitive about the pictures in the...
read moreBy being instruments we are part of the whole symphony
One day, I forgot to pray before doing book distribution. And no books were going out. Suddenly, I remembered and offered my prayers to Srila Prabhupada and asked for his blessings. And the books started going out. Prabhupada showers his unconditional and immediate reciprocation upon souls desiring to be instruments in spreading Lord Chaitanya's mission. At times, we think we are the doers, but then we are made to realise that we're just instruments of the Lord's will. Entering into a prayerful mood before performing any...
read moreMuslim extremist takes a book
Krishna's mercy is powerful. I met a Muslim extremist on a college campus in Southern California. I showed him the Bhagavad Gita and explained the science for a minute or two. Unfortunately, he threw the Bhagavad Gita back at me and flatly refused it. He began to shout, "This is bogus!" I asked if he followed the Islamic tradition, and he said, "Yes, Allah is the only God!" Krishna gave me intelligence at that moment. Instead of lashing back at him and defending the supremacy of the Bhagavad Gita, I countered him with...
read moreIncredible Experience of Book Distribution by Mayapur’s youth
Hare Krishna, dear devotees! My name is Radha, I’m 19 years old and I am a student in my final year at Sri Mayapur International School. I want to share with you my incredible experience of book distribution in London this summer. I hope that it will please the senior devotees and reassure them that book distribution is still alive and well. And I hope it will encourage all the devotees of my age to give it a try. Here is how it started: for a long time I had wanted to feel myself like a real, active preaching brahmacarini from...
read moreA World-Class Butcher Takes A Book
I was distributing books on Queen Street in central Auckland one Sunday morning. I stopped a confident young man from Bolton, England. During the exchange he explained not only that he is a butcher, but he was New Zealand to represent England in the Butchering World Cup! He explained how proud he felt and how much he enjoyed the work. About the butchering “profession” he commented, “Butchering keeps one fit, but it is also a great way to take away stress.” He said that although he is “doing well in life...
read moreHow to Give Books for Free When They Don’t Have a Donation to Give
Hare Krsna, I'm sure you've all read the recent story I sent about a mended relationship. A young man was upset because he was given books as though they were free and then experienced them being taken back when he didn't make a donation. For years I've been saying to devotees, "Don't make it appear that the books are free and then ask for a donation, and if a donation is not given, take the book back." It still happens, as the incident in that story shows. It was an exchange with a student, a young man, not...
read moreAn Unexpected Encounter in the Wilderness
I cannot stop realizing how His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada is so merciful to his “grandchildren” in giving us the service to spread Krishna consciousness everywhere. I went with my family to June Lake. We were unable to find any spots at the campsite at 10 p.m., so we just set up our tent in the forest near the lake shore, which is not permitted. At 7 a.m. (the temperature was 3 Celsius) I made a fire and was about to jump into the crystal-clear lake. A person stopped by the fire, because he was cold. His name was Vikas. I...
read moreSome nice book distribution realizations from an ISKCON youth
Hare Krishna, dear devotees! My name is Radha, I’m 19 years old and I am a student in my final year at Sri Mayapur International School. I want to share with you my incredible experience of book distribution in London this summer. I hope that it will please the senior devotees and reassure them that book distribution is still alive and well. And I hope it will encourage all the devotees of my age to give it a try. Here is how it started: for a long time I had wanted to feel myself like a real, active preaching brahmacarini from Srila...
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