Gold in rubbish and the world is slowly becoming Krsnaized
While distributing books door to door in Thames, New Zealand, I came across a very sinister and vile man who spared no energy in his attempts to completely ruin my day with a torrential downpour of vulgarities and obscenities. It was as if he had been saving all of the frustration borne of a lifetime of unfulfilled desires and had finally found a suitable person on whom to deposit them. He even tried to sic his dog on me. Needless to say, I was pretty disturbed by seeing him. As it turns out, his neighbors were all birds of the same feather, thus I found myself moving along the residential street at record speed because the residents wouldn't spare me a moment of their time. After so many slammed doors and rejections, I pulled around a tight corner and into a driveway just as a car was pulling out backwards. Without even thinking I yelled, "Oi! You can't leave yet! I've just arrived!" (Where does this spontaneous arrogance come from? Somehow or other I've got to dovetail this sort of thing.) The couple in the car stopped in the middle of the street. Unlike the others, they were very favorable to the Sankirtan Mission, so much so that they bought two big Bhagavad Gitas, one for themselves and one for a friend. Thanks to the expediency of their neighbors I was able to catch them in the nick of time. I could see that Krishna helps us to find gold even amongst the rubbish.
In Bankstown, which is a multicultural suburb of Sydney, Australia, I had just gotten started working the sidewalk outside of a local open air cafe. I've never tried selling books to someone while they're in a restaurant but because of the inspiring association of my dear Godbrother, Uddhava, who is the personification of enthusiastic book distribution, I decided to try being more bold. I hollered over to a young indian man who was dressed as a chef and drinking a coffee at one of the outdoor tables. "Haribol! Have you gotten your Bhagavad Gita today?" He was very favorable and he purchased the hardbound Krsna Book instead. Then he called his friend over (another Indian chef) and instructed him to purchase a book as well. We all spoke a little bit about ISKCON and Hare Krishna and then I went back to the street.
Unbeknownst to me, the men at the table next to the Indian men overheard the words Hare Krishna in the conversation and began speaking about Hare Krishna themselves, and a woman waiting at the counter next to that table overheard the words Hare Krishna from *them*. She inquired from table number 2 about where the Hare Krishnas are, who directed her to table number 1 (the Indian men), who pointed to me (the aspiring Hare Krishna). The woman approached me and described how she had frequently met some devotees in various places around Sydney but never had any money with her. Furthermore, she didn't have any money with her then either! But because her desire for the books had increased so much, she went back into the restaurant to make another purchase just so that she could take some money out of her account. She purchased two books, the Bhagavad Gita and the Perfect Escape. Thus, everyone in the cafe assisted in Lord Caitanya's Ever Expanding Nectarean Ocean of Sankirtan Bliss. I think the world is slowly becoming Krsnaized.
Your Servant,
Yasodeva Das
