The potential for book distribution at funerals in India
Am I the first to discover the potential for book distribution at funerals in India? Diagonally across the street from my place, a few months ago a new family moved into what my (late) sociologist sister might have called lower to lower middle-class accommodations. In that time period, I noticed one of the family’s elder members becoming increasingly weak and once or twice being helped into an auto-rickshaw, obviously for a trip to the hospital. The day before yesterday, he passed away. A shamiyana (decorative tent) was erected in the street,...
read moreThe Gita reaches a man with another Gita
Mahananda Murari Prabhu was talking to people when he felt the good energy of Lucas and Manu, who passed by. He wished that he would have the opportunity to approach them later. So he was then happy when they reappeared in front of him. Wasting no time, he discovered that they are really nice. When he told them that he had seen them before, they responded, amusingly, “Really? Did we pass by you? Even though you’re so big and wearing flashy clothes, we didn’t see you!” Manu already had some other Gita, but now he...
read moreNice encounter at an outdoor table
On harinama in Porto Alegre, Manohara Saciputra Prabhu, the temple president, was called over by a lady named Cléia, to talk to her at her restaurant table. At that point in the harinama, he had run out of invitation cards and pamphlets with the temple’s new address, so Cléia asked him to write the address on paper. Manohara had just been chanting at the harinama, and he also had no books with him at the moment. She determinedly said how much she likes our books and asked him to get some. Manohara happily complied, thinking of the...
read moreOn their way home, back to Godhead
In the first photo: These people had read about Vedic culture in a book by a French scholar, so they receptively conversed with Bhakta Gustavo and purchased a set of books. In the second photo is Carol. She felt tired due to worrying about her own and her family’s futures in this difficult world. She found hope in the message she heard from Gustavo and trusted his recommendation to read some special books. In the third photo is a man who already met devotees. From them he had bought a Gita and learned the maha-mantra. He has read part...
read moreDistribution on Radhastami
Mahananda Murari Prabhu met a friendly couple from Brasília in Curitiba. They are students of the world’s religions. He was once a Christian pastor, and at a certain point he realized that he should broaden his spiritual horizons. He began to welcome boooks from Eastern schools, as he did today, happily purchasing BBT books. Their photo is attached, and in another photo we have Neto and Emelin. They met devotees at other times and have some BBT books. Reading and trying to understand them, Neto had a realization. He said that everything...
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