SUCCESS ON THE ITALIAN RIVIERA
RAPALLO, Italy—I rang an office bell, and a boy opened the door. I offered him a book on karma, but he said he wasn’t the owner, so I asked him to show the book to the owner and let me know what he said. In a situation like this, the person rarely takes a book, but I tried anyway. While I was waiting, I began to reciting the *Gita* verse starting *sarvasya caham hrdi sannivistho*, praying that the Lord in the...
It takes a village to raise a child
I had been cultivating Casey for a few weeks. I met him at an outreach event at Mission Bay, New Zealand. He was very appreciative of the spiritual atmosphere created by the kirtan and the questions he asked seemed indicative of a sincere soul searching for spiritual connection and knowledge. I asked him how he ended up here and he told me about 5 years ago while in Manila, Philippines, his hometown, he felt inspired to go to a local...
A Holistic Connection
One afternoon in Cuneo, Italy, I met a boy in a holistic center who greeted me, but I was busy talking to other people and I couldn’t give him proper attention. The afternoon continued, and I finished my distribution in the town. It was already evening and time to leave for my apartment. As I’m about to leave, loading the trolley of books into my car, I see the same boy also get into his car and leave, passing right in...
THE MORE MAYA YELLED, THE MORE THE GITA HELD HIM
Last night in Sridham Mayapura during Gita Jayanti, Vinod Gopal Prabhu and I were stationed inside one of the temple’s book shops. We were trying to give out Bhagavad Gita As It Is to the colorful array of universally fortunate pilgrims, the guests of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. I spotted a slightly more Westernised-looking man in his 30s, wandering through the crowded shop, looking at the books, and at...
Matthew with 6 Gitas
I was distributing books in Balboa Park (in San Diego) and met a guy named Matthew. He was waiting for me while I spoke to a Mexican couple for five minutes. Then he came to the table and said that he’s very interested in meditation. He’s been practicing it for the past nine months. He lives in San Marcos California, where there is a Science of Self-Relaization fellowship close to his house. So he’d periodically go there. As he...
MERCY AS IT IS ON THE GITA’S ADVENT DAY
Nélio approached us, asking: “What is your religion?” Mahananda Murari Prabhu explained that we exist to serve God, and the Hare Krishna Mantra is, precisely, a request for service. After a frank and relaxed conversation, Nelio and his sister Neliane revealed that they now had a totally different view of us, and so happily they kept their Gita! In photo 2, Manohara Saciputra Prabhu went out after the Sunday Festival and...