He just kept running into the Hare Krsna’s
We had a lot of Srimad Bhagavatam distribution leading up to Bhadra Purnima, but one story stuck in my head because of how an inspired young man had many small encounters with devotees that fanned his bhakti flame.
A month or so ago I got a message saying that a gentleman named Damien had contacted the Hare Krishna Auckland Facebook page saying that he was interested in Srimad Bhagavatam. He had purchased some books from the temple foyer book table whilst visiting the temple and had seen a poster for Srimad Bhagavatam and wanted to purchase the whole set. Side note- I set up a book table in ISKCON Auckland’s foyer in 2016 so anyone visiting the temple will have a chance to purchase Srila Prabhupada’s books even if there is no devotee there to meet them. The table has an honesty box for people to pay for books and has a variety of different language Bhagavad Gitas and small, medium and large books, as well as posters and flyers for courses at the temple. The table distributes 100’s of books a year, and now a Srimad Bhagavatam set!
I connected with Damien via Facebook, he said he loved the small books he got from the table and that he found Civilization and Transcendence “Most gripping, it addresses a lot in a little packet”. After messaging for more than a month he finally arrived from Hawks Bay to collect his Bhagavatam Set. He explained more to me about his journey, he had lived in Wellington for a while and kept meeting devotees in the street, he had favorable exchanges with them and they invited him to Bhakti lounge, but he didn’t get books or ever go. When he was up in Auckland he again met sankirtan devotees and decided to purchase a copy of HH Devamrita Swami’s Hiding in Unnatural Happiness which he read and relished. Later he went for a holiday at his parents house in Australia and was shocked to find in his room a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita, this Gita has been there all along, but only through exchanges with devotees and reading Hiding in Unnatural Happiness did he notice it, feel drawn to it and then understand it. All this inspired him to visit the temple when he returned to Auckland and there he discovered more of Srila Prabhupada’s books and Srimad Bhagavatam.
All glories to all the devotees along the way who directed Damien to these transcendental books.
Your servant,
Bhava sandhi dd
