Book Distribution Stories
Plesse accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Some stories for the pleasure of the devotees..
I was in Liverpool, a western suburb known for its drugs and crime. I saw one middle aged lady covered in tattoos and and piercings, she looked miserable and run down, so I thought what a perfect recipient for Lord Caitanyas mercy. I stopped her to show the books she glared at me and scrunched her face like she just saw a dead body. She said Naa!Naa! and briskly paced away. about ten minute later I see her again, but this time she was accompanied by a rough looking man with a his muscles bulging out form his sleeveless shirt. He looked at me angrily and shouted for me to come and see him, making gestures with his arms. I thought, oh no what have I got myself into now? As I was intensely praying to Lord Nrsimhadeva he quickly walked right up to my face, clenching his fist and asking me why I was talking to his girlfriend. In all humility I said that I was a religious monk showing people books about God. At that moment his whole demeanour changed and he began to act like a baby. His tone immediately changed and asked me how much the books were. he gave ten dollars and I handed him the Krsna book. His girlfriend came up to us scornful and asking this man what he was doing, she was shocked. The man yelled and cursed her and said, "I knew you brought me here for a reason". He grabbed her by the arms and waved back at me with a Krsna book wedged between his arms as he walked away…
Again at Liverpool it was blazing over thirty degrees and I was excessively tired from the heat. I was cooling down outside the shop doorways with air conditioning. I had to sit down half a dozen times already that day just to get over from the heat. I was thinking how am I going to get the energy to go on for the rest of the day. I tried to muster up some enthusiasm and stopped one gentleman in a suit, he was friendly and very interested he didn't have any money because he had left it in his office. He asked me to walk with him so he could give a donation. So I walked back to his office and it turns out that he was the regional manager for the Common wealth bank. We walked through a few glass doors and he sat me down on a luxurious couch in his air conditioned office. I thought, this is just what I needed. So, he said lets examine these books more closely. I displayed all the books I had on his desk, Bhagavad Gita, Krsna book, Srimad Bhagavatam and various small books. He asked questions about Krsna consciousness for half an hour and with in our conversation I found out that he was actually a Muslim but very interested in philosophy and theology. He was impressed with Srila Prabhupadas books and we established that the Koran and the Bhagavad gita both teach a universal and personal existence of one God and that Krsna is another name for Allah. He shook my hand and gave a donation for a small set of books. he personally walked me outside the bank and gave me his card with his contact details. I waved goodbye some what rejuvenated from the terrible heat.
Towards the end of the marathon one boy stopped me outside the Sydney central railway station. He said, "do you remember me? You tried to stop me three weeks ago and I just walked by. I was feeling very bad for not talking to you, many things had happened to me and Ive actually been contemplating more about life." He said that he was praying to God to show him the purpose of life. One day he found a peculiar blue book called the the "Science of self Realization" someone had left at his work. He began to read it and was convinced by Srila Prabhupadas preaching, his new years resolution was to follow the four regulative principles. He bought the Bhagavad Gita from our second meeting. Recently he came to Govindas and to the ashram, he likes to chant and is very submissive towards the books. He's a young Fijian Indian boy working full time as a supervisor for an arcade. Hes also a stand up comedian and was on television several times, now hes reading Prabhupadas books to find out how he can get people to laugh at the futility of material existence.
hope this meets you in good health;
Your Servent
Hrman Krsna das
