Where I Went and What I Did
I remained in Tallahassee for the first eight days of March, where I chanted three hours at Landis Green, behind the main library at Florida State University (FSU) on weekdays and at Lake Ella on the weekends. On March 9, I took a bus to Gainesville, and chanted Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch for almost an hour and a half, and then Jeff, who I knew from the NYC Harinam party, drove me to Tampa, where I chanted in front of the University of South Florida (USF) Library with four devotees for two and a half hours, collecting contact information from students for the USF Bhakti Yoga Society. The next three days I chanted in front of the Marshall Student Center at USF, which was more crowded. Saturday we chanted for four hours in Ybor City, and Sunday we chanted at the stadium before the Monster Truck event for two hours and then at Ybor City for another hour and a half. Monday I returned to Tallahassee, chanting at USF in Tampa for an hour and a half before my five-hour bus ride and at FSU in Tallahassee for an hour and a half after. I felt successful in my mission in Tampa, chanting for twelve and a half hours over five days at USF and collecting contact information from 49 students for the Bhakti Yoga Society mailing list! During March, I am also blessed with the opportunity to proofread Vijaya Prabhu’s Treasures of the Brhat Mrdanga for the second time, and because it is transcendental literature I am finding it ever fresh!
I share inspiring quotes from Srimad-Bhagavatam which I encountered in Vijaya Prabhu’s book and quotes from my personal reading of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita as well. I share excerpts from the writings of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, and I share notes on the lectures of Srila Prabhupada disciples Avadhuta Maharaja and Visvavan Prabhu speaking in Tampa. I share many amazing and inspiring book distribution stories from a variety of devotees which I found while proofreading Vijaya Prabhu’s book.
Many, many thanks to all the devotees who are sponsoring books for our distribution at Florida State University and other venues in Tallahassee, who include: Adhara-Shakti Prabhu, Tapasvini Dasi, Vegavati Dasi, Krishna Bhajan Prabhu, Kulavira Prabhu, and Dhanya Rico. Thanks to Rama Raya Prabhu for donating one of his extra mrdangas to ISKCON Tallahassee and to the Atlanta book party for bringing it to Florida. Thanks to Sasha of New York City and Kishor Prabhu of Tampa for their kind donations to me personally. Thanks to Devavan Prabhu, who picked me up at the bus in Gainesville, let me rest at his place, and dropped me at Krishna House, so I could chant Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch while en route to Tampa.
Itinerary
February 9–April ?: Tallahassee harinamas and college outreach
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
On weekdays, I would chant with Chandra at Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library. We would give books to interested people.
Once a young man glanced at my book display as he passed, and I called him over. He said he had all the books, an Indian man younger than me sold them to him, and someday he would read them. I asked his major, and he replied criminology. I said, “In all the books there is one article on criminology, start with that.”
I opened Science of Self-Realization, and it fell open to this article amazing enough. He noted the page number and promised to read it.
Here Kaliya Damona Prabhu, the new temple president of ISKCON Tallahassee, chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, where we chant on the weekends (https://youtu.be/fV3-tqZcII4):
Jorge leads a Hare Krishna chant at Lake Ella in Tallahassee and teaches a friend the mantra (https://youtu.be/ux6Jv4XKPHU):
I chanted Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch at the University of Florida with Srila Prabhupada disciple, Satyahit Prabhu, who chants Hare Krishna there almost every day. As I returned to Krishna House, I saw Hridayananda Dasa Goswami sitting on a campus bench with a few devotees, and I thanked him for taking the trouble to stop in Tallahassee on his way from California to Gainesville. I mentioned how it was inspiring that some of the students who attended his program have now come to as many as three programs.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tampa
Bhakta Jeff accompanied me on all the Tampa harinamas. He wants to establish daily harinama in the Tampa area. I knew him from the NYC Harinam party back on MacDougal Street in Brooklyn in 2016. He invited Nikunja Bihari and Mangala Arati Prabhus of New York to spend some time in Tampa and do harinama, thus for a couple of days we had four devotees altogether chanting at University of South Florida.
Nikunja Bihari Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in front of the University of South Florida Library (https://youtu.be/5q0_QK4Ao4E):
While Nikunja Bihari was chanting, an Indian graduate student in civil engineering joined in the kirtan, playing the shakers and chanting the response (https://youtu.be/4FauuXHMasI):
When I meet the civil engineering students on the campus, I always tell them I like civil engineers so much better than uncivil engineers!
One USF couple, attracted by the Hare Krishna chant, signed up on our Bhakti Yoga Society mailing list and got a promotional Bhagavad-gita, and Chant and Be Happy and “On Chanting Hare Krishna” as well. I saw them happily reading their books at a nearby table and told Jeff to tell them we had extra instruments if they wanted to play along. Not long after, they came up, and we gave them shakers and taught them the mantra, and they had a great time singing and dancing with us (https://youtu.be/zc4apTndHtI):
We chanted Hare Krishna for four hours in Ybor City on Saturday. One man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, came up to us, and already knowing the mantra, he chanted, played the shakers and danced. One lady sat down in one of our chairs, learned the mantra, and sang and played the shakers. One guy, who attended the Dallas Hare Krishna temple, played the drum and chanted, and later played shakers. Toward the end of the harinama his young daughter, who already knew the mantra, also chanted and played shakers. Another guy stopped by and purchased Bhagavad-gita. Before he left, he also learned the mantra, and chanted, danced, and played the shakers. Thus we had a lot of positive interactions that afternoon in Ybor City, as you can see in these clips from our Facebook Live video of two and a half hours of it (https://youtu.be/74RnbZME0rQ):
A couple younger ladies did the same (https://youtu.be/ouXJoqAVq_s):
Vivasvan Prabhu encouraged different devotees to lead the Sunday feast kirtan at his temple in Tampa. Here Rayn leads the Hare Krishna chant, and devotees dance (https://youtu.be/Vd-Ey2epGY8):
A friendly Bangladeshi student spontaneously took a video of Jeff and me chanting Hare Krishna in front of the Marshall Student Center at USF before my midday bus to Tallahassee on Monday, and she was happy to send it to me (https://youtu.be/pArTaIYAHOc):
A sauce of organic blueberries, organic sugar, and organic coconut flour can turn leftover waffles and oatmeal into an exciting breakfast!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.31.19, purport:
“The devotee can do good not only to humanity but to all living entities as well. Everyone can benefit spiritually by the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. When the transcendental vibration of Hare Krishna is sounded, even the trees, animals and insects benefit. Thus when one chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra loudly, he actually shows mercy to all living entities.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.11.13:
“The Lord is very satisfied with His devotee when the devotee greets other people with tolerance, mercy, friendship and equality.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.16, purport:
The devotees are representatives of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and to elevate the conditioned souls to their original consciousness, they travel all over the universes to enlighten the conditioned souls about Krishna consciousness. The best devotees are atmavat, or those who have fully realized the Supreme Soul. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, as Paramatma, is sitting within everyone’s heart, trying to elevate everyone to the platform of Krishna consciousness. Therefore He is called atma-bhavana. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is always trying to give the individual soul the intelligence to understand about Himself. He is always with the individual as a friend sitting by the side of a friend, and He gives facilities to all living entities according to their desires.”
From a morning walk conversation in May of 1995:
“It is missionary activity, that they do not understand, but you have to make them understand. They are not calling you, ‘I am suffering; please come,’ but it is your business to go and let them know that ‘You are suffering. You take this method.’ That is the way of becoming very quickly recognized by Krishna. Otherwise, if you think, ‘They are not understanding; what is the use of going there? Let me sleep,’ that is not good. They are not understanding; still, you have to go. Then Krishna will take that ‘He is laboring so hard for My sake.’ Never mind he is successful. It doesn’t matter. But you are working hard for Krishna. That is noted down. So our business is to be recognized by Krishna. Whether one man is converted or not converted, that is not our business. We shall try our best. But Krishna must see that I am giving service to Krishna. That’s all. That is wanted. Not that you have to judge that you have approached so many men; nobody became Krishna conscious. That doesn’t matter. But you have gone there. You have endeavored your sincere effort. That is recognized by Krishna. That is the order of Caitanya Mahaprabhu: yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krishna’-upadesa: ‘Whomever you meet, you give him, you inform him the instruction of Krishna.’ Caitanya Mahaprabhu never said that ‘You see that he has actually become Krishna conscious.’ Never says. You simply say and go and say. That is your business. It is not that you have to see that he has become Krishna conscious. It is not so easy. It will take, bahunam janmanam ante, after many, many births. But you have to do your duty. Go and preach. Then your duty is finished. Of course, you will try to convert. If he is not converted, that is not deviation of your duty. You have simply to go and spread. Just like when I came to your country, I never expected any success because I knew as soon as I say ‘No illicit sex, no meat-eating,’ they will reject me immediately.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 6.200, purport:
“One cannot express sufficient gratitude to Krishna for being freed from the materialistic way of life.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 6.220:
“Renunciation is the basic principle sustaining the lives of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotees. Seeing this renunciation, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is extremely satisfied.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 6.220, purport:
“The devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are not at all attached to any kind of material enjoyment. They have completely given up sense enjoyment to engage fully in the service of Lord Sri Krishna and dedicate their lives and souls to serving Krishna without material desires. Because their devotional service is free from material desires, it is unimpeded by material circumstances.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Every Day, Just Write Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life:
“When I’m writing, the words take a trip of their own, but when speaking to Prabhupada, I’m in the confessional, contrite, eyes shut, aspiring for the holy contact. He said it would depend on my purity whether I would be able to contact the spiritual master in the heart.”
From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:
“Thoughtless self-denigration may be another trick of the lower self to leave us unenthusiastic to work toward the improvement we are actually capable of.”
From Here is Srila Prabhupada:
“Even as a businessman, Abhay was spirited. After the war, he started Back to Godhead, although he had to fight the government to print it. They wouldn’t let him buy newsprint because of the paper shortage. Abhay went to their offices and explained the importance of Krishna consciousness and convinced them to ‘sacrifice a few reams of paper in the midst of many wastages ... for the sake of humanity and Godhead.’ An early instance of what Prabhupada would do repeatedly, and the example his disciples would be inspired to follow: when you go to preach, don’t let the opposition stop you. Explain to people calmly and logically that Krishna consciousness is important. Permission should be given for God conscious activities because that is the ultimate responsibility of the government.”
From Japa Transformations:
“‘You’re My Everything.’ This is a Radha-Krishna song. A song of every pure devotee toward the Lord. King Yudhisthira had opulence beyond the king of heaven, but he didn’t care for it. All he cared for was serving Krishna. Krishna was his everything. We should strive for this. ‘You’re my everything, Krishna. I don’t want anything else. I just want to love You and serve You.’ ‘You’re My Everything’ is a tender sentiment and one to be kept true. It’s the highest thing. You’re mine, mamata. You belong to me, and I belong to You.”
From Here Is Srila Prabhupada:
“As the movement grows in many countries, we cannot expect that everything will be done just as it is in India. Krishna consciousness will have its Western flare:
“‘Sometimes our Indian friends, puffed up with concocted notions, criticize, “This has not been done. That has not been done.” But they forget this instruction of Narada Muni to one of the greatest Vaishnavas, Dhruva Maharaja. One has to consider the particular time, country and conveniences. What is convenient in India may not be convenient in the Western countries. Those who are not actually in the line of acaryas, or who personally have no knowledge of how to act in the role of acarya, unnecessarily criticize the activities of the ISKCON movement in countries outside of India. The fact is that such critics cannot do anything personally to spread Krishna consciousness. If someone does go and preach, taking all risks and allowing all considerations for time and place, it might be that there are changes in the manner of worship, but that is not at all faulty according to sastra. . . . The formalities may be slightly changed here and there to make them Vaishnavas.’ (Bhag. 4.8.54, purport)”
From Srila Prabhupada Samadhi Diary:
“If we think of Srila Prabhupada as His [Krishna’s] eternal servant and as a result we go where he is, is that not the param gati [supreme destination]? Besides, no other path is open to us. This Bhaktivedanta Swami marga is safe, affectionate, enlightened in vraja-bhava. It’s our identity and purpose.”
From My Relationship with Lord Krishna:
“Attaining Krishna consciousness is done by softening the heart, not by hardening it. We don’t have to compete with anyone else, and we cannot be cajoled into pure devotion. It’s something we have to want to do on our own. Furthermore, there is no failure—whatever we do in Krishna consciousness is to our eternal benefit.”
“If you can’t distribute books, then preach in another way. Do something that takes courage but is possible for you. Show Krishna your earnestness, and He will remove the obstacles on the path.”
From May Apples, Stroudsburg, PA – Queens, NY – Philadelphia, PA (May 5–13, 1996), Writing Session #8:
“What if I don’t like the outer forms of ISKCON now? Still the river began of chanting Hare Krishna. What he taught was pure. Whether it is pure now or changed, you can decide and time and will decide. But what he taught was never lost. Caught some of it in Planting the Seed. Happy days.”
“Oh, Sacinandana Swami, you are kind to me to make use of my books and talks. I want to be alive and will give it out – help people come to Krishna consciousness. Do it by example – and precept.”
From Every Day, Just Write Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life:
“I am happiest when in line; pulling the traces of bhakti. I am a servant of the Lord, not of the senses and mind. In mantras find God!”
“Read it, little man,
and save your soul.”
From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:
“Chanting with the distraction of my day-to-day life makes me want to get my rounds done. There is business to take care of and people to deal with. This is an offensive attitude toward the holy name; it prevents me from loving Krishna in His nama-rupa.
“Did you ever have the impression that someone was hurrying you and trying to get rid of you? I think of a clerk at the information desk of the passport office in Manhattan. Her function is merely to decide who should go where as they try to apply for their passports. If you try to settle your affairs with her or ask her a more detailed question, she gets rid of you with a rude, ‘Who’s next?’ Do we deal with harer nama like that? What to do?”
From Write and Die: A Novel:
“God is everywhere to the observant one. But not to the self-pitier.”
From Writing Session #10:
“Krishna consciousness, get on the road. Precious time and dangers too. What else can we do? Turn to the Lord. It’s not just a matter of increasing quotas of reading or japa, although that may help. The thing is love, dependency, calling out, remembering and serving for His pleasure.”
“Krishna wants you to serve Him. That’s all. That will make you happy.”
From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 6, Chapter 46:
“In Hawaii Yogi Bhajan had also visited Srila Prabhupada to invite him to his Unity of Man Conference, which many sadhus were already scheduled to attend. Srila Prabhupada had spoken sternly, pointing out that simply gathering people at a meeting was not unity. Real unity could be achieved only if the participants of the meeting agreed to accept the authorized science of God in the revealed scriptures.”
Avadhuta Maharaja:
Sanat Kumara spoke the Sanat Kumara Samhita which tells about the pastimes of Radha Krishna.
Ideally we should become so perfect that we can understand a person’s heart and feed those who are anxious for spiritual knowledge.
If you have realization, then your words have more potency.
We should prioritize our hearing, and hear from those who are maha-bhagavatas.
If you associate with a maha-bhagavata, his mood is reflected in your heart.
If we hear first-class hari-katha, our heart will melt.
If you do not serve Krishna, the default consciousness is to serve yourself.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura recommends vaishnava-seva and harinama for attaining perfection.
To hear from Srila Prabhupada in person is best. In audio lectures you hear the emphasis, but in videos you also see his body language, so they are next best.
One devotee in the Gaudiya Matha would chant all night. So he did not nod out, he tied his sikha to a beam above him.
Vivasvan Prabhu:
The best way to learn about a person is to hear about him describe himself. That is what Bhagavad-gita is, God describing Himself.
God is not a fruitive worker who has to perform a sacrifice to accomplish something as some Christians consider God had to do with Jesus Christ to free people from sins.
Our faith in Krishna is increased by association with advanced devotees.
The Christians do not believe if someone comes to the mode of goodness he is free from all sins.
The four defects of the conditioned souls, the tendency (1) to commit mistakes, (2) to cheat, (3) to become illusioned, and (4) to have imperfect senses, cause them to commit sinful activities.
The secret is fill your day with Krishna consciousness activities so there is no time for maya.
One rich landholder asked Jagannatha Dasa Babaji to demonstrate a miracle. He began beating the ground with a stick. The landholder worried that he offended the saint, but but the babaji explained he was not angry at him. He was beating the ground to scare away a goat eating tulasis at Radha Kunda. The landholder immediately telegrammed Radha Kunda, and learned that a goat had indeed entered a tulasi garden in Radha Kunda and had eaten the tulasis. Thus that landholder developed great faith in Jagannatha Dasa Babaji, as did many others who heard the story.
Jagannatha Dasa Babaji said near the end of his life, “You can all stay in Vrindavan because you are all pure devotees. I am going to Navadvipa because I am an offender, and Gaura Nitai do not take offenses into account.”
Srila Prabhupada was asked how it is that Lord Jagannath is more merciful than Radha Krishna? Srila Prabhupada replied that some of the pujaris of Lord Jagannath eat fish and He forgives them.
If you think you are not in maya, then you are in maya.
Just there are so many captains and commanders working under a five-star general, there are many regular gurus working under the founder-acarya.
Offenses to devotees are so detrimental to spiritual advancement that we will not go back to Godhead if there is one devotee who is upset with us, so we have to be very careful in our dealings with devotees.
Srila Prabhupada said do not become your enemy’s enemy. In other words, people may treat us as an enemy, but we should still wish them well.
Among the devotees in Los Angeles in 1976 there was the mood that if you are too busy with service, it is not so important to chant all your rounds. When that was expressed to Srila Prabhupada, he said, “Who has said this?” And then he talked about the great importance of chanting japa.
Srila Prabhupada said he had to travel around the world two or three times each year to keep his disciples inspired. If the present day gurus thought like that, we would have a very strong ISKCON.
As neophytes it is good for us to desire to go back to the spiritual world, but as we become advanced we realize that by being completely absorbed in devotional service we are already in the spiritual world.
Udayananda Prabhu (ACBSP):
“In the mid 1990s a woman in her early seventies came into my art shop at the local shopping mall. She bought several paintings for her home, and while I framed them we talked. She told me her name was Harriet Barret. She was the mother of three children and the grandmother of seven, and she had been married for thirty-six years before her husband passed away a few years earlier. Somehow we got to the subject of reincarnation. When Harriet mentioned that she believed in reincarnation, I replied, ‘It’s not a question of belief but a matter of fact. I’ve been a student of Vedic literature, specifically the Bhagavad-gita, for more than twenty years.’ I then explained some of the Gita’s teachings, and she was very receptive to the philosophy. At the end of our conversation I asked her to come again. ‘There’s a book I want to give you,’ I said. When she came back two weeks later, I gave her a copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. She took the book and thanked me enthusiastically. She then began coming to my shop every week, asking questions about vegetarianism, material attachments, the three modes of nature, and so on. One day she asked if I knew anything about meditation. ‘Oh, yes,’ I replied, ‘I’ve been doing mantra meditation for many years. Someday, when I’m not so busy, I’ll show you how to meditate with beads.’
“A few weeks went by, and Harriet kept coming to my shop. ‘When are you going to show me how to meditate?’ she would ask. But because of my busy work schedule I just couldn’t find time to show her how to chant Hare Krishna on beads. Then one day she called me on the phone. By then she had read more than four hundred pages of the Bhagavad-gita. ‘How do you pronounce K-R-S-N-A?’ she asked.
‘Oh, that’s Krishna!’ I said, pronouncing it for her.
Then she asked, ‘How do you pronounce H-A-R-E?’
‘That’s Hare!’ I said.
‘And R-A-M-A?’ she asked.
‘That’s Rama!’
‘So,’ she asked, ‘you say Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare? Is this the mantra you were going to teach me?’
‘You got it!’ I said.
“I explained that this is the maha-mantra – the greatest mantra – and that chanting it is the highest form of meditation one can possibly perform. If she chanted this mantra, I told her, all her material attachments would be broken and her past karma removed, and eventually she would become completely purified. She would transcend the bondage of repeated birth and death and return home, back to Godhead.
“Harriet started chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily. At first she chanted fifteen minutes a day. Gradually she increased. One day she called me in a very excited mood. She had just chanted for two hours without stopping. I was very happy at Harriet’s progress. Her enthusiasm to learn more and more also humbled me and made me appreciate the incredible gifts Srila Prabhupada has given the world. How easy it is to take for granted the perfect wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and the potency of the holy name! The realization I’ve had is that billions of people never get the chance to have the most important questions of life answered – even by the age of seventy-one. Harriet Barrett had led thoroughly prosperous life, but something was missing. Then she began chanting Hare Krishna every day, and the gap in her life was filled. She told me that the Hare Krishna mantra was the most valuable acquisition of her life. ‘Never in my seventy-one years have I ever experienced such overwhelming joy and tranquility,’ she said. ‘I am humbled that at my age the Supreme Lord would be so kind to give me this great gift of purification and the ability to understand it.’”
Vijaya Prabhu:
“A boy about fifteen years old had a religious nature. In fact, he was so serious about God that the other boys his age used to tease him. One day as they were playing, one of the boys found a BTG on a seat and gave it to their religious friend, teasing him all the while. He swallowed the teasing and took the magazine. He took it home and read it cover to cover, finding it very interesting.
“A few days later a quarrel broke out between his mother and father. Seeing his father approach his mother with a knife to kill her, the boy was shocked and spontaneously jumped in front of his mother and was stabbed. Both parents were horrified, and they called an ambulance to rush him to the hospital. He was in coma for three weeks.
“When he came out of the coma he told his mother, ‘I saw Krishna! I saw Krishna!’ But she had no idea what he was talking about. She was just happy to see him alive. After recovering from the stab wound, he searched out the nearest temple and moved in.”
“It is natural that one undergoes a change of heart after receiving one of Srila Prabhupada’s books. We may not see the change right away, but Prabhupada said that one who simply touches one of his books will benefit, what to speak of reading it. The whole process of Krishna consciousness is meant to bring about a change of heart.
“Not only do those who receive Srila Prabhupada’s books experience a change of heart, but so do the book distributors. They become more aware of Krishna’s presence everywhere, and thus their hearts become purified. In general, book distributors become more Krishna conscious. As all distributors will agree, book distribution means taking shelter of Krishna, praying to Krishna.”
“Once in Germany Tosana Krishna Prabhu stopped a girl on the street and tried to present Srila Prabhupada’s books to her, but she was quite dejected and not interested. She started to talk about the meaninglessness of life.
“Tosana Krishna said he was a Hare Krishna monk and showed her a two-volume Krishna book set, the German edition of which is subtitled “The Source of All Pleasure.” He explained a little about Krishna consciousness and then said, ‘If you’ll just try to read one story a day, your sadness will disappear very soon.’ She decided to check it out, but she told him she had only five euros, which wasn’t enough for both volumes. Tosana was a little hesitant, but his merciful nature prevailed and he gave them to her. Finally he explained a little about chanting Hare Krishna—how to do it and how it can make one happy.
“She walked off with her books, but after an hour or so she was back. ‘I’ve been chanting the happy mantra you gave me, and soon after I started I couldn’t control myself—I became so blissful that I couldn’t stop laughing. And I have to confess that I had another ten euros in my wallet that I was planning to buy drugs with. But now I don’t need drugs anymore, so here’s the rest of my money.
“But this is not the end of the story.
“The same girl came back the next day, still in bliss, and asked Tosana, ‘How can you spend so many hours on the street every day selling books? I’ve done some advertising on the street, and I know how tough it is to sell stuff on the street.’ After listening carefully to the devotee’s explanation about the glories of book distribution, she decided to try it herself. She took a stack of books and began distributing them.
“Param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam!”
“Chowpatty Book Distribution
“Mohan is a very senior officer in the railways of Mumbai. If he would catch a devotee distributing books on the trains, he would heavily fine him, and if the devotee could not pay he would put him behind bars or detain him until the devotee’s family members or authorities from the temple came and paid the fine, for which he almost never issued a receipt. With the bribe money he would go to hotel restaurants and pay for expensive meat dishes and liquor.
“One day, he had a heart attack and barely survived. The doctors prescribed complete bed rest for three months. His daughter gave him a Krishna book to read while he recuperated.
“‘God has saved you,’ she said. ‘Now please read about Him in this book.’ Mohan read the entire book. ‘God is so beautiful and nice,’ he thought, and from then on he began to pray regularly. ‘I felt much more peaceful after reading Krishna book,’ he says. ‘I then read the Bhagavad-gita and found that all my suffering was due to my bad karma.’
“Reading the Bhagavad-gita and Krishna book completely changed Mohan. He gave up his bad activities and began associating with devotees. Everyone was amazed to see such a turnaround in him. Now during the December marathons he makes sure the devotees get all the permission they need to distribute on the trains.”
“The most important factor determining our success on sankirtana is our consciousness. More than ninety percent of our ability to distribute books is in our consciousness. If we go out on sankirtana with a mood of service—to please Krishna, to give Krishna’s mercy to the conditioned souls, to please our spiritual master—that is the right consciousness. Proper consciousness on sankirtana depends on our sadhana.
“If we hear our rounds attentively and regularly and attentively read Srila Prabhupada’s books, our consciousness will be on Krishna. When we chant our rounds we should try to keep our mind absorbed in the sound of Krishna’s holy name. We should train our mind to think of Krishna.
“From the example of Bhakti Tirtha Swami I learned how to chant more attentively. When he would chant and find that he was inattentive, he would back up on those beads and chant again. He said that though it took him longer to chant his rounds the quality was better. When I heard that, I started following his example, and it has helped me immensely in improving the quality of my japa.”
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati once said, ‘When Bhagavan is merciful to me, He arranges unlimited persons to speak sour words in uncountable ways, simply to teach me tolerance. One who cannot learn to tolerate the cavils of the world is ineligible to chant harinama.’”
“Srila Prabhupada wrote to two sannyasis: ‘If you are not tolerant and humble, you will not be able to preach Krishna consciousness.’”
Daru Brahma Prabhu:
“I was at the Los Angeles temple gift shop when a mataji working in the store came up to me and asked, ‘Did you ever distribute books in the Miami airport?’
“I said, ‘Yes, at different times.’
“She exclaimed, ‘It was you! Do you remember giving me a big book in the airport a few years ago and asking for a donation? I gave you a dollar and you said, “Well, we really try to get around $5 to cover the cost of these big books. Do you mind if I give you a smaller book instead?” Then you started to gently replace the big book with a smaller one. But I got upset and said, ‘No, you gave me the big book and I want that one!’ And I forcibly grabbed the big book back. You then pleaded with me for a bigger donation, but I got so angry that I grabbed even the dollar I’d already given you and stormed off with both the book and my money.’
“By now my memory had been jogged sufficiently to remember the incident. I remembered distinctly thinking at the time, ‘That !%@#&%#!! I bet someone who takes a book like that will go to hell for quite awhile.’
“She continued her story, saying, ‘Well, Prabhu, I read that book and within a short time became a devotee. And for many years I myself went out and distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books in the Los Angeles airport.’ It turns out that she was very good at it, too.
“So the lesson is that not only may someone who doesn’t take a book from a book distributor become one, but even someone who steals a book from a distributor may become one, too. You never know with Krishna.”
Haraprana Devi Dasi:
“Once as I was distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books in a small city in Belgium, I met a woman who listened very emotionally as I showed her a book. ‘I don’t need the book. I’ve just bought some pills in the pharmacy [she showed them to me] and am going home to commit suicide.’
“‘Why?’ I asked her, shocked.
“‘My husband has died, and I can’t live without him.’
“I told her about reincarnation and explained that committing suicide would not solve her problems. ‘This knowledge is all in these books,’ I explained. ‘They can be a great help and shelter for you.’
“She agreed to read one of the books before taking the pills and asked me to come to her house so she could pay for it. After she had invited me to sit down, we started a conversation. She showed me photos of her husband, and to my amazement I came across some pictures of her and her husband visiting Radhadesh, the main Hare Krishna center in Belgium, during a marriage ceremony.
“I said, ‘Hey! That’s where I live! And the girl getting married is my friend; she’s also here in town right now.’
“I went to get my devotee friend. As we spoke with the woman, she gradually became more and more enthusiastic and bought all five books we had with us. She promised us she was going to throw the pills away, read the books thoroughly, and keep in contact with the devotees.
“She kept her promise. Now she often visits the temple, and she opens her house to any devotee who wants to stay overnight or distribute books from there.”
Mahatma Prabhu (Greece):
“As I distributed books on one of the Greek islands, I met a lady who had gotten an Isopanisad from me on a different island a couple of years earlier. She told me she was convinced it was a very special book, and it had stolen her heart. Here’s why:
Just before meeting me and getting the Iso, she had split up with her husband and was heading for divorce. But after buying that fateful Iso and again meeting her almost ex-husband, she suddenly found they had something in common. Earlier he had also bought an Isopanisad from me and, like her, had found it fascinating. Because of that connection, they got back together and are still living happily as I write—putting Krishna in the center.”
Madhupati Prabhu:
“I was distributing in Kassel, a big city in Germany. It was during the Prabhupada Marathon. I had a quota of a hundred books a day. I really wanted to distribute that much. The previous days had been very nice. But on this day my mentality became that of an ass—work, work, work. No compassion, no Krishna, no taste. Oh, what a counting game! Just numbers, no souls . . . uff tough stuff. From nine o’clock till noon I distributed twenty-five books. Then I took a break. Then again I distributed from two to seven. That was my schedule. Well, my heart was closed, people didn’t stop, I couldn’t connect . . . tough.
“I saw a young drunken lady, maybe around twenty-three years old—suffering. She didn’t have much clothing on—no heavy jacket—and it was below freezing. I presented a book to her and said, ‘I’m a monk, and we distribute these books.’
“‘How much?’ she asked. ‘Nothing, it is my present for you!’
“‘How much do people usually give?’ she asked again.
“‘Three euros,’ I said. Actually, the normal donation was five euros. ‘But you don’t have to give anything.’
“‘No, I want to give you something.’
“She gave eighty cents. I went for a break in the van. As I resumed my distribution around two, my heart was still closed. Seventy-five books to go. No one stopped, and I thought I wouldn’t reach my quota. I was so much into the numbers.
“Again I saw the lady begging, freezing, drunk to numb the cold. Just suffering. I wanted to give her some warm prasadam. We still had some dal left. But my selfish mind switched in: ‘No, it’s the marathon. It will cost you at least twenty or thirty minutes, and during that time you could distribute ten books.” So there was an internal fight between my good and bad angel. Finally I decided to approach her and asked if she was hungry. She said she was. I told her, ‘Wait here till I come back.’ So I ran to the van, heated up the dal, filled a plastic bottle with it, and brought it to her.
“She was so grateful that I gave her this prasadam. She happily ate. Then she approached me, opened her wallet and gave me three more euros. She had actually begged very hard for that laxmi. Gauranga!
“Then everything changed. Because I had taken some time to personally care for a soul, I gave up on ‘my own strength.’ Krishna opened up the curtain. The people stopped, the flow of love was there, my heart was open. In the last four hours of the day Krishna let me distribute around eighty books.”
“This was an incident I will never forget. It is not by our own strength that we can get a good result. It is Krishna who gives such a result to those who are living the truth. Because of practicing Krishna consciousness I felt some compassion for the suffering lady, and Krishna was pleased.”
Laksmivan Prabhu (Czech Republic):
“In Český Těšín, on a busy parking lot, I approached a stressed-out-looking businessman. After he rejected the offered book with the oft-used comment ‘No time!’ I used a heavy maneuver to respond: ‘You don’t have time because time has you. Therefore you should stop now!’
“He slowed down. I showed him the Bhagavad-gita, pointed to a picture of Arjuna, and explained, ‘He was in a similarly stressful situation.’ The businessman slowed down and finally stopped, at which point I quickly explained to him: ‘Arjuna is like us, and his best friend Krishna gave him expert advice on how to solve the karma problem and the time problem.’ Sensing a spark of interest, I quickly presented the set of books I had with me and told him the price. Mr. No Time gave a good donation, shook my hand, and drove off with a stack of fifteen books.”
Tulasi Devi Dasi:
“While distributing at a university I stopped a girl and a boy holding hands. The usual happened: the girl pulled the boy away. Then I said, ‘Oh, you must be boyfriend and girlfriend.’
“They giggled, liking that, and looked at each other with puppy-dog eyes.”
“‘Yeah, I could tell you weren’t married yet because you two still like each other, holding hands and carrying on. Once you get married, it’s all over. Soon you can’t stand each other and fight about every little thing.’
“They laughed.
“‘That’s why you need to get into self-realization—to understand yourself and others on a deeper level. Otherwise you’ll just get bored and start to hate each other. Your cute dimples and mannerisms will become obnoxious.’
“They laughed again in agreement and eagerly took a book.”
“At the airport, one of the supervisors was famous for his anger. Somehow one day he stopped to ask me about a vegetarian cookbook. He didn’t want to hear about anything else, especially chanting. He just wanted to lose some weight by eating a vegetarian diet for awhile. He loved his meat and had to have it—five hamburgers at a time—but just for a short time, to lose weight, he wanted to eat only a vegetarian diet. So I gave him The Higher Taste. I also gave him some prasadam, which he loved.
“The next time I saw him he told me that over the last week he had lost ten pounds and that he was having some ‘strange experiences.’ He had seen a deer on the road, but instead of thinking of shooting it (his usual response), he started driving real slow so as to not scare it or hit it. He said he was seeing it as a living entity. His consciousness, he told me, was changing. His perspectives were different from before. He was shocked and said, ‘How is this possible!’
“Another week passed, and this time when he saw me he told me he was really surprised that now the very idea of ever eating meat again repulsed him. He was seeing everything very differently. While we were talking, other airport supervisors would come by to talk to him. They expressed shock that we had ‘gotten’ him. By this time he was preaching to them how his whole consciousness was changing, how his whole outlook on life was opening up.
“After three weeks of his eating only a vegetarian diet, his wife brought home a hamburger for him. But he didn’t want it at all. As he stared at it, though, he thought he’d better not waste it. So he ate it— and got sick as a dog. All night he was throwing up and had diarrhea. Then he knew: that was it, no more meat.
“So now he’s still coming along, getting a lot into spiritual philosophy and even chanting Hare Krishna a little bit. He even stops strangers in the airport and preaches to them to get a book. What a change! Prasadam, ki jaya! The Higher Taste, ki jaya!”
Padma Locana Prabhu (Bali, Indonesia):
“I had been distributing all day and was about to go home. But something inside me (the Supersoul?) pulled me to a nearby beach. I saw a man sitting on the sand staring out into the ocean. I went up to him and, standing behind him, said, ‘I have something I think you’ll find interesting. You look thoughtful.’ At that, the man reached back, and I handed him the Bhagavad-gita.
“I started telling him about the teachings as the man looked at the book. He didn’t look at me at all; he just listened and looked through the Gita. Then he said, ‘How much?’ I told him the price and he paid. I then told him about the temple, which was close by.
“That night the man went to the temple and asked the devotees, ‘What can I do to advance in spiritual life?’ They told him to chant the Hare Krishna mantra, and he took up japa. Now, one year later, he is chanting sixteen rounds and aspiring for initiation. Recently the man told me what he had been through up till the time he had received the Gita: ‘I was an avid gambler and had lost two houses because of it. I was an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, and often coughed up blood. My doctor said I might have only six months to live if I didn’t change my ways. I’m only forty years old. When you saw me on the beach, I was so confused and depressed I didn’t know what to do. Then you brought Krishna into my life. Now I’m so happy. Thank you.’”
Radha-piyari Dasi:
“A devotee in Mumbai went out to distribute Srimad Bhagavad-gita. At one place he knocked on the door but no one replied. Again he knocked, but still no answer. With firm determination to distribute the Bhagavad-gita, he again knocked on the door with great force. A lady angrily opened the door and shouted, ‘What do you want? I’m very busy,’ and tried to shut the door. But the devotee blocked the door with his foot and put the Bhagavad-gita in her hand. As soon as she touched the Bhagavad-gita, she relaxed and calmed down.
“The lady then asked the devotee about the Gita, and he explained to her the difference between the body and the soul according to chapter two — how the body is just a dress for the soul, which never dies. She then told the devotee that what she was ‘busy’ with was committing suicide. She showed him the table she had been standing on and the fan on the ceiling with a rope hanging from it, complete with a noose at the end. It was only by the mercy of Sri Krishna and His devotee that she had been saved from suicide. Now she is a devotee chanting sixteen rounds and is associated with an ISKCON temple in Mumbai.”
Acala Prabhu:
“I used to be a major in the Russian military. At that time I started practicing various types of yoga and studying Eastern philosophy. I heard that some of the privates in my company were devotees of Krishna, so I called them in to speak to them.
“When they heard that the major wanted to speak to them, they became afraid, thinking, ‘He’s in such a big position. Why would he want to speak to us unless we’ve done something wrong. Now we’re going to be punished!’
“They came to my office, and to their amazement I started asking them about bhakti-yoga. ‘What would be a good way to start learning?’ I asked.
“‘You should read the Bhagavad-gita,’ they replied.
“‘Do you have one?’ I asked, and they said they did. They gave me Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is and were so bold that they asked for a donation. I was surprised that these little privates could ask me for a donation—but also impressed, so I gave them some money.
“Later, whenever they would see me they’d ask if I’d read the book yet, and I would always say, ‘No, I haven’t had the time.’ I began to feel a little guilty that I hadn’t read it, so I read the translations. After that, when they asked if I’d read the book yet, I could honestly reply, ‘I have.’
“Then one night Srila Prabhupada came to me in a dream and said, in perfect Russian, ‘It will be all right if you read the purports also.’ I woke up and was astonished that Prabhupada had come to me to instruct me. So I immediately started reading the Bhagavad-gita again, but this time without skipping the purports.”
Anakadundubhi Prabhu:
“It is quite normal for a devotee to be compassionate. He just has to remember how his life was before he joined. If we do not feel compassion, we should pray to Lord Krishna to give us some of His unlimited compassion so that we can share it with the conditioned souls. This always works for me. Krishna never lets you down.”
Karuna-Dharini Devi Dasi:
“When I was a kid growing up I was close to several alcoholics. I felt like I would go on feeling sorry for everything and everyone for the rest of my life! But I couldn’t help them. It was a very debilitating feeling, bad karma.
“When I became a devotee I learned you could help people just by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra out on harinama. Suddenly I could change the karma of a wino or a businessman or a stray dog. What a relief! Prabhupada has given us the best and most effective form of compassion.”
“Another great way to be compassionate is to give the maha-mantra to each person you meet. Teach them how to say it. That is very powerful and personal. Another way is to distribute prasadam sweets, personally invite them to the temple, take their phone number, and call them.”
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Sometimes spiritual life seems very difficult, and we wish that it was much easier. Krishna, out of compassion for us, tells us how He can be easily obtained:
ananya-cetah satatam
tasyaham su-labhah partha
nitya-yuktasya yoginah
“For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pritha, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.14)
We might protest that is hard to remember Krishna without deviation, but if we are dedicated to practicing to remember Krishna without deviation, we will find that it is possible. After all, Srila Prabhupada said, “Impossible is a word in a fool’s dictionary!” Krishna is in our heart, and He supplies our remembrance. Thus if we really want to always remember Him, by His grace, we will find it is possible, and by doing that we can easily obtain Him.
