Success for Fylgessio and a pleasant surprise
I was in Papatoetoe (a quiet south Auckland suburb), talking to a Fijian Indian gentleman, who agreed to buy the Gita and went into the post office to get some money. As I was waiting for him to come back, a car suddenly pulls over to the side of the road, and an African boy comes running over to me, exclaiming "I need to speak to a monk- to ask some questions. Can I take your number? And can we meet sometime?"
I gave him my number. Then the Fijian came back and gave $20 for the Gita.
A week goes by, and I get a call from Fylgessio (the African boy). We met up, and I invited him back to the ashrama for lunch. He has been seriously searching for a spiritual path for the past ten years. He looked into Islam and many branches of Christianity, which is the most prominent religion in South Sudan, where he is from). Anyway, he is a really intelligent guy.
We spoke about some verses from the Gita. And I showed him how to chant. He was so happy with what he was hearing from the Gita that he ended up leaving the ashrama with one and a string of japa beads.
Two months later, after meeting Devamrita Swami, Fylgessio now comes to the ashrama five days a week, and he's chanting four rounds and reading Bhagavad Gita daily.
A couple of months ago I was on Queen St. having a really tough day. It was hotter and more passionate than usual. I was having trouble just stopping people, what to speak for distributing any books. After two hours and not one book distributed, I turned around and this guy was walking slowly in front of me.
I tried to stop him with "We're just stopping all the intelligent looking people today!"
He smiled and said "Oh really?"
I put a Gita in his hand.
Surprised, he said, "Wow, the Bhagavad Gita. I've always wanted to read this book!"
I gave a short presentation and he was even more surprised to hear that we just ask for donations. He gave $30 and walked off a happy man.
It turned out that Dan was from a small remote town in the south Australian outback and had flown over to Auckland for three days for his father-in-law's funeral. But we know there was a more important reason for his travels.
Transcendental book distribution, ki jaya!
Your servant,
Stambha bhava Dasa
