Stories from the Marathon in Finland
It was the 22nd December, and I wanted to distribute 100 books. I had stayed the whole day in a freezing cold parking lot that was connected to Ideapark, a huge shopping mall.
It was nine P.M. and I had distributed 91 books. I thought to myself, "I am so tired I cannot go on anymore. Tomorrow I will distribute a hundred."
I got on the car and started driving to the accommodation. While in Lempaala, I thought, "Maybe I could try the local pub. I have done it sometime before; let's see."
When I parked the car, I silently prayed to Lord Nityananda that I could distribute Srila Prabhupada's books in such a degraded place.
I asked the waiter, whether I could sell some books to their customers. She agreed.
Immediately two girls (sisters) who were at the counter, addressed me, "Are you one of the Hare Krsnas?"
"Yes", I replied.
They started to explain how they were university students and had visited our temple on the teacher training course with the theology group. Such a group comes for a visit every autumn. They expressed their great interest in Vedic wisdom and their doubts about Christianity.
Then they told a most amazing story of how they had met a man who they thought to be a reincarnation of Christ. This man had been able to tell some very detailed information of their childhood, which no one could have known.
Then they became even more excited and said, "And now you will think we are completely crazy, but we have seen a UFO." And so they went on telling their far out story. They were not drunk, nor crazy.
Then they said, "And now we meet you. There is no sense to it. We never come to this place. This time we came to this pub to buy some food for the evening meal. And what are you doing in this place?"
Eventually they took five books for forty euros. Some other customers of the pub bought the remaining four books. By the causeless mercy of Lord Nityananda the final result for the day was 100 books!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Transcendental book distribution ki jaya! Anantakoti Vaisnava vrnda ki jaya!
Your servant,
Avadhuta Chandra das
