Chanting Together with Book Buyers
Vaisesika Prabhu is like an incarnation of book distribution. He has made the service of sankirtan approachable for all sorts of new people and taught new things to veterans. Especially dynamic for me has been adopting Vaisesika's practice of giving everyone who has bought a book a mantra card and reciting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra together.
Yesterday evening, after I picked up Aron from her workplace at Natural Grocers, we got out on sankirtan. We had only a bit of daylight left, and a half dozen people bought Srila Prabhupada's books from us, even though there were some strong rejections and some persecution from Robert, the CVS Pharmacy manager, who broke up a sure sale while telling us to leave "his" parking lot.
The first person to buy a book was a fellow who surprised me by making a fuss that he was a Christian, but still bought The Science of Self Realization after I showed him that there was a section on Christ and Krishna. Then he recited the Hare Krishna mantra with clarity.
Sometimes people try to chant, but Krishna's holy names just don't choose to go there.
Next, a young lady named Marie bought the Sri Isopanshad. When she chanted the Hare Krishna mantra it came back to her that she had seen this mantra before.
"I have heard this before somewhere. When I was in high school, our Sociology teacher took us to some place that looked liked it was from India and there the people were singing this song."
I said "You mean here?" and flipped the card over to the temple address with the heading "Kalachandji's," and she got excited.
"Yes, that place!"
Your servant,
Mishra Bhagavan Dasa
