The Purifying Waters of Door-To-Door Book Distribution
After our taking a swim in the river along the gorge between Otaki and Napier in NZ, Ameyatma bathed me in the purifying waters of his door-to-door book distribution mission just before the sun went down. We knocked on about twenty doors and took turns doing the presentation of Srila Prabhupada's books.
It is a bit inconceivable how sweet and gracious the people of Napier were. One lady, whose name is Storm, raced to beat us to the door and had it open before we got there. She was eager to chat with us and told us she already has all of the books we had in our hands. We then remembered Devamrita Swami's new book, Hiding in Unnatural Happiness, and “returned fire” with "You don't have this one! It was just published."
She and her husband very happily gave a donation and took another book to add to her collection. They're the couple in the attached picture. She even gave us a bag for “your ladies” that came from India, she said. Robert (in the photo with the copy of Beyond Birth and Death) was disconnected and unwilling to take a book, but Ameyatma and I just kept standing there trying to come up with new things to say.
We watched his heart completely soften while we stood there chatting with him, until he found a few coins and happily took the BBD. Jeff, holding the Chant and Be Happy, at first said he wasn't interested but we threw out our last chance: “You like music though?” and handed him a CBH. We told him about the Beatles and George Harrison. He immediately went through a soft-heart metamorphosis before our eyes and clutched the book, exclaiming, “I will read this.” Then he gave a generous donation.
A few Gitas also went out before I started to take photos, including one to a nice couple with a brand new baby crying the whole time we presented the Gita. –ys, Nitai-cand Dasa
