Getting and giving the mercy
While I was visiting Bali, Samudra Sena Prabhu, the temple president, told me of a nice experience he had while distributing books during the marathon. He approached a man and offered him the Bhagavad-gita. The man looked at the cover and asked, “Why does it say, As It Is?” Samudra Sena explained that a proper explanation of Bhagavad Gita has to be pure and in d’sisciplic succession, like Swami Prabhupada’s. The man looked through it and was impressed. He said, “I’ll take fifty of them.” Samudra was...
read moreReal dogs distributing books
See the dog in the attached picture? Well, he distributes a lot of books. Mahalaksmi, the devotee next to him, goes out on book distribution with Janardana (his name). Many people stop and pet the dog. While they’re petting, she asks, “Do you like him? I think you’ll also like this,” and she shows a book to them. Most people take a book and give a donation. Half of the books she distributes are because of Janardhana. At ISKCON Silicon Valley, there is another dog book distributor. His owner puts a bag on the dog’s...
read moreOm namo shivaya
During the December marathon in Durban, I came across this gentleman with rudraksa beads and three lines on his forehead. I felt hesitant to approach him, but I did anyway. I greeted him with “om namo sivaya” and asked, “Do you know that Lord Shiva is the greatest devotee of Krsna?” What he said next took me by surprise: “I was a Krsna devotee, but changed to Shiva, and I’m thinking of going back to worshiping Krsna.” I instantly thought that this guy is confused and is searching. Actually everyone is searching for Krsna,...
read moreLetting the books fly
I was distributing books in Melbourne and approached a young man wearing shorts and a sleaveless shirt. I was showing him the Science of Self Realization and explaining the contents. He was interested and wanted to take the book, but said he had no money. I mentioned that we use card readers for credit cards. He said, “I can only take money out from the bank.” So I thought, “Oh well, I guess he won’t be taking a book, because not many people go all the way to the bank to withdraw money.” But then he kept asking...
read moreLucky thief
I met this nice middle aged Indian gentle man. I was trying to show him Bhagavatam, since usually Indians say they have Gita. To my surprise he pointed to the Gita and says, “Can I have that instead?” I said enthusiastically , “sure!” It turns out that he is visiting from Florida and some one smashed his car window in hotel parking lot and stole the Gita from the car. He was in the middle of reading the book. So he was all disappointed and the very next day he runs into me and buys himself a Gita. He asked me what I...
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