Pages

Saturday, April 04, 2020

Travel Journal#16.6: Tallahassee


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 16, No. 6
By Krishna Kripa Das
(March 2020, part two)
Tallahassee 
(Sent from Tallahassee on April 4, 2020)

Where I Went and What I Did

For the third week in March, we continued chanting Hare Krishna three hours a day in downtown Tallahassee and at Lake Ella since the campuses were dead because it was spring break. The final week of March, we were confined to the ISKCON Tallahassee porch as Hare Krishna temples in North America were keeping their residents in the temple to reduce the chance of devotees getting infected with the coronavirus. We have a couple chairs on the lawn for nonresidents who want to participate in the kirtans, and we require people to bring their own instruments and not use ours. On our porch harinamas the attendance ranged from five to ten participants. On the third day, we started putting the kirtans as live videos on Facebook, where they got from 120 to 475 views,which was more people than we would reach downtown or at Lake Ella.

I share quotes from the books and lectures of Srila Prabhupada and from the books of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share quotes from Back to Godhead magazine articles by Mahatma, Nagaraja, Urmila, Caitanya Candra, and Tirumala Prabhus. I share many, many inspirational stories and realizations from senior devotees and book distributors from Vijaya Prabhu’s soon-to-be-published book, Treasures of the Brhat Mrdanga, and I share notes on classes by local devotees, Brajananda Prabhu and Daniel.

Thanks to Daniel for his generous donation of foreign and American currency and for the video he took of me dancing as Brajananda Prabhu led the chanting of Hare Krishna.

Itinerary

April–?: Tallahassee temple porch harinamas
May 12?: Sheffield harinama and program
mid May?–mid July: Paris harinama
July 28–August 1: Pol’and’Rock festival
August 7–8: Liverpool harinama
August 9: Liverpool Ratha-yatra
August 19–23: Canada Vaishnava Sanga Festival
August 24: Montreal harinama
September 16?–December 31: Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama party

Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee


Originally we chanted in downtown Tallahassee and at Lake Ella, but now we are constrained to the porch of the temple.

Shanti Prabhu of Bengal chants Hare Krishna at Tallahassee evening kirtan (https://youtu.be/IbmhLuIxvZI):


Daniel chants Hare Krishna at Tallahassee evening kirtan (https://youtu.be/HY7Fk9dlC-U):


Dharmaraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Kleman Plaza, and a young couple plays shakers (https://youtu.be/rxP4jP8WthE):


Curious as to why the girl was so very eager to chant with us, I inquired and learned she once got three Hare Krishna books at Okeechobee Music Festival.

Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Kleman Plaza (https://youtu.be/Kh6PmY6ZhiI):


On a Friday night, the main bars in town were closed because of the coronavirus, so we roamed the Tallahassee streets looking for people to hear the holy name, and we found one enthusiastic couple. Here Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna, while the man dances and his wife films (https://youtu.be/n4RWb21N7m0):


Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna in Serenity Coffee and Kava Bar in Tallahassee, and customers and staff, numbering five, played instruments and even chanted (https://youtu.be/RWQpPVwsOX4):


Over the weekend, at least seven people either played the shakers, chanted with us, or did both while we chanted Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, our weekend venue.

Here Daniel chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, and a father and son play shakers (https://youtu.be/chIdNLG0_q8):


Here Jorge chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella (https://youtu.be/CjOGt0Ws7JA):


Linda chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, and a girl tries chanting along (https://youtu.be/G7L-niMI1gc):


Jorge chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, while the same girl continues chanting with us (https://youtu.be/M9lpak8CXYE):


Daniel chants Hare Krishna at Lake Ella, while the girl glances at Perfection of Yoga (https://youtu.be/j6J8H3tZs8k):


One of the days, Daniel invited a girl to chant Hare Krishna with us for five minutes. She experimented with chanting and playing the instruments for half an hour. Then she told us she was tripping on acid. Daniel said we were just going to chant a little over an hour more, and he encouraged her to stay with us. I told her if she stayed, she would have a good trip. Daniel showed her the pictures in Science of Self-Realization, Bhagavad-gita, Perfection of Yoga, and Easy Journey to Other Planets. She especially liked the Vishnu on the cover of SSR and the effulgent photo of Srila Prabhupada sitting at a table with the painting of Govinda above him in the Gita. Commenting on the illustrations in the books, she said, “These are the trippiest pictures!” Because she stayed for almost two hours of harinama, Daniel gave her the Science of Self-Realization and Easy Journey to Other Planets for free as she did not have any money with her, and I gave her the “On Chanting Hare Krishna” and the temple invitation. We can only hope some day she is telling her how I came to Krishna consciousness story: “I was tripping on acid in this park in Tallahassee, and some Hare Krishnas invited me to chant with them.”

Here Linda chants Hare Krishna on the Tallahassee temple porch, our venue for harinama during our coronavirus lockdown which began on March 23 (https://youtu.be/S7ID3ME1kr0):


Dharmaraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the porch (https://youtu.be/BZVr1K5yNlk):


Here Brajananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the porch (https://youtu.be/sfeVIaB7y_o):


Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna on the porch (https://youtu.be/tWt7mBqT2jc):


On the first day of chanting on the porch of the temple, three devotees chanted the whole three hours, and all seven of us were there for the last forty minutes. During the three hours, thirteen neighbors got in or out of cars, twelve walked nearby (five were walking dogs), two jogged by, and one rode a bicycle. Two cats walked nearby, and a lady across the street sat on her steps and talked on her phone. Thus various living entities heard the chanting of Hare Krishna, but fewer humans than when we sing at FSU, Lake Ella, or Kleman Plaza, our usual spots. The chanting was more focused for me, as there were fewer people to interact with, and the time went by faster.

Jorge chants Hare Krishna in front of the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/MEXnrIkKxmM):


While Jorge was chanting Hare Krishna, a kid danced in the street (https://youtu.be/KBQUy_zcM8U):


When Dharmaraja Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna on the Tallahassee temple porch, we had enough instrumentalists that I could focus on chanting the response and dancing to the music which is my favorite thing to do on harinama (https://youtu.be/gqXazgmQ9-A):


Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna, Brajananda Prabhu, plays guitar, and Jorge and Lexi dance outside the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/Q7GOSmfynE0):


Later Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna in the evening kirtan we did on the Tallahassee temple lawn to benefit our congregational members, who are not allowed in the temple because of the coronavirus lockdown (https://youtu.be/LxgOe53JFNk):


Lexi also led the Hare Krishna chant on the Tallahassee temple lawn (https://youtu.be/TcIi3k9F4Io):


Brajananda Prabhu, our temple president, chants Hare Krishna and plays guitar in several Tallahassee temple porch kirtans (https://youtu.be/9E3Rcwx6hWQ):


Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Tallahasssee temple porch (https://youtu.be/0Tkcap2R3_8):



Brajananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the porch of ISKCON Tallahassee, and devotees dance (https://youtu.be/mBVGVNZ-MJQ):


Dharmaraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna and Brajananda Prabhu plays guitar on Tallahassee temple porch (https://youtu.be/-89ZNCHOtgw):



Arjuna Abhimanyu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Tallahassee temple porch, and a student who was walking by and who accepted Daniel’s invitation to join us, listens, accepts an “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlet and later mentions he has been to Krishna Lunch and discusses the relationship between our teachings and those of Christianity (https://youtu.be/Fd1LVHUzrM4):


Brajananda Prabhu plays guitar and chants Hare Krishna on the Tallahassee temple porch, and I dance (https://youtu.be/QB6GrITpfkA):


Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi plays drum, and chants Hare Krishna on the Tallahassee temple porch (https://youtu.be/ZN8Tb-pMw3U):


Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.5.47 verse and purport:

Karmis are always anxious to accumulate wealth for their sense gratification, but for that purpose they must work very hard. Yet even though they work hard, the results are not satisfying. Indeed, sometimes their work results only in frustration. But devotees who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Lord can achieve substantial results without working very hard. These results exceed the devotee’s expectations.

Purport: We can practically see how the devotees who have dedicated their lives for the service of the Lord in the Krishna consciousness movement are getting immense opportunities for the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead without working very hard. The Krishna consciousness movement actually started with only forty rupees, but now it has more than forty crores [four hundred million rupees] worth of property, and all this opulence has been achieved within eight or ten years. No karmi can expect to improve his business so swiftly, and besides that, whatever a karmi acquires is temporary and sometimes frustrating. In Krishna consciousness, however, everything is encouraging and improving. The Krishna consciousness movement is not very popular with the karmis because this movement recommends that one refrain from illicit sex, meat-eating, gambling and intoxication. These are restrictions that karmis very much dislike. Nonetheless, in the presence of so many enemies, this movement is progressing, going forward without impediments. If the devotees continue to spread this movement, dedicating life and soul to the lotus feet of Krishna, no one will be able to check it. The movement will go forward without limits. Chant Hare Krishna!”

From “Prepare to Go to Krishna” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

[This is an edited transcript of a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.1 in Los Angeles on May 19, 1972.]

Krishna is within your heart. If you kindly continue to hear about Him, as you are doing, then Krishna will be very much pleased. ‘Oh, this person is now interested in Me.’ Because nobody’s interested in Krishna. So Krishna is also silent to them. But as soon as you become interested, oh, Krishna becomes very active. ‘Oh, he’s trying to do something. I shall help him.’”

Sometimes people say in India, ‘Swamiji, you have done a wonderful thing.’ I do not know. I’m not a magician. But I am confident that I did not adulterate the words of Krishna. That’s all. That’s my credit. I did not like to take the position of Krishna. I remained the servant of Krishna, and I spoke what Krishna said. That’s all. This is my secret.

Everyone can do that. There is no magic. The magic will act as soon as you become a pure devotee of Krishna. The magic will be done by Krishna, not by me or you. He will do it.”

From Isopanisad, Mantra Two, purport:

There is no harm in becoming a family man, or an altruist, a socialist, a communist, a nationalist or a humanitarian, provided that one executes his activities in relation with isavasya, the God-centered conception.”

From Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.39, purport:

Surrender means not that we demand something from the Lord but that we completely depend on His mercy. If Krishna likes, He may keep His devotee in a poverty-stricken condition, or if He likes He may keep him in an opulent position. The devotee should not be concerned in either case; he should simply be very serious about trying to satisfy the Lord by rendering Him service.”

From an arrival lecture in Los Angeles on May 18, 1972:

I came to your country single-handed, with this pair of cymbals. Now you are so many chanting Hare Krishna. That is my success.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:


We Krishna conscious persons should not become obsessed on the topic of coronavirus. Wash your hands and sip water and chant Hare Krishna.” 

From Soul Eyes:

Oh, give me the guarantee!
If You want to, I will
take whatever
You give. I’ll have to be
satisfied with
whatever You give me.

Please give me
a happy grateful heart
to accept whatever You
give and to work
for You in whatever capacity I have,
to preach Your message.
Give me a tongue to
chant Your holy names,
and I will give You my
guarantee to try my best
to give You loving service.
All my day, all my
remaining months in
this life and the future and all
the future . . . whatever it is.”

Radha with the Laughing Eyes”

Radha with the laughing eyes,
to Krishna She’s always a surprise.
She enchants Him in every way
that He doesn’t know what to say.

She’s His enchantress, though
He rules Her heart:
They are never apart.
Radha with the laughing eyes
is more than Krishna can surmise.

She stuns Him with Her glances,
but He keeps on taking chances
to keep Her conquered by His love.

Radha with the laughing eyes
is Krishna’s favorite gopi,
and She’s His only Queen.
Not even in a dream
will He forsake Her.
Krishna with the loving glance
enchants Radha, and She’s
conquered, but always
ready for another ruse.”

I want to keep performing small acts of devotional service. I want to preach for another springtime, another summer. We belong to the earth, at least while we’re here, and then we go away. It’s Krishna’s place and His trademark is the singing of the birds.”

A Catholic priest once told a story that when he was a child, there was a man who stopped into the church every day, even if only for a few minutes. He entered the church and said, ‘Hello, God, it’s me, Billy.’ When the man was dying, God came to him and said, ‘Hello, Billy, it’s Me, God.’ The priest was encouraging us to go to church and pray; don’t forget God or the house of God. The Samadhi Mandir is Prabhupada’s ‘church.’ Hello, Srila Prabhupada, it’s me, Satsvarupa.”

Don’t be enamored by the beauty of this world or you’ll have to taste ugliness. Service to Krishna the all-attractive. See Him manifest in this world.”

From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 7, Chapter 2:

[On the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in 1968 in Los
Angeles.]

After the feast the devotees followed Prabhupada into his room. He sat at his desk and read letters aloud to the small gathering of his disciples seated on the floor before him. The letters were of appreciation. And these letters became Srila Prabhupada’s offering to his spiritual master. Prabhupada read aloud statements like ‘We really like chanting,’ ‘We’re happy since we met you,’ ‘We’re trying to teach other people how to chant Hare Krishna’—simple sentiments.

Reading the letters, Prabhupada became very happy. He then put the letters along with the flowers before the picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Then looking at Nandarani, he asked, ‘Have you become happy since you have been chanting
Hare Krishna?’

“‘Oh, yes,’ Nandarani replied, ‘my life is wonderful.’

Looking at the others, Prabhupada asked, ‘And what about you? Do you feel more satisfied since you have been chanting Hare Krishna?’ They all answered yes.

“‘Then I have only one request,’ Prabhupada continued. ‘Whatever happiness you have felt, you simply tell someone else about that. That is all you have to do. You don’t need to teach anything. You don’t need to teach the philosophy. You just explain to people that because you chant Hare Krishna you have become happy, and if they chant, they will become happy. Then I will be satisfied, and my spiritual master will be satisfied.’”

From Passing Places, Eternal Truths: Travel Writings 1988–1996:

Time marches on, and we’ll all be scraped off the plate like peas before too long. We are helpless in the face of time.”

From Geaglum Free Write Diary:

Lord Krishna, Lord of the flies,
ornament of Radharani,
object of affection of all Vrajavasis –
so much that their whole lives are
placed in You –
Lord of demigods, Shiva and Brahma,
Supreme Controller who allows
us to do what we want
but reminds us what is best –
I pray to You through my service.
I write, I write and
give it to Srila Prabhupada and the devotees
that the devotees may feel free
and hopeful of the possibilities for
their own growth and expression
in Krishna consciousness.”

Krishna twist in all things. In His pastimes and teachings and names, in His order to His devotees, He’s the most sacred and powerful. Don’t adulterate or trifle with His teachings. Don’t hide Him. Don’t try to take His place. Don’t neglect His Bhagavad-gita in your life. Don’t use the body He gave you for sense gratification except as necessary to keep healthy – while you serve Him.

Best use of a bad bargain – brief existence on a merry-go-round a few more years.”

From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 4, Chapter 33:

My books are like gold,” Prabhupada replied. “It doesn’t matter what you say about them. One who knows the value, he will purchase.”

From Mukunda Mala, text 13, purport:

It is not an easy thing to wake up from the complacency of ordinary life. Everyone knows that life is full of difficulties, but we tend to think that our family members and friends are our only solace. . . . Several times in the Mukunda-mala-stotra, the poet compares the material world to the sea, and the Lord (or His lotus feet) to a boat that can rescue us. The metaphor is excellent, for no matter how expert a swimmer a person may be, he cannot survive on his own in the rough and vast expanses of the ocean. So our attempt to swim the ocean of material life on our own strength, encouraged by our family and friends, is as futile as the attempt of the lone swimmer at sea. We should turn to our only rescuer, the Lord, and with utmost sincerity thank Him for coming to save us.”

Mahatma Das:

From Maya is Going to Test You” an excerpt from Living the Wisdom of Bhakti: Life As a Spiritual Practice, Vol. 1 to be printed in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

Obstacles are those things we focus on when we lose sight of our goals.”

Actually, there’s no way we can directly win a fight with Maya. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita 7.14, mama maya duratyaya: ‘My material energy is insurmountable.’ She has a million tricks up her sleeve to illusion us and keep us away from Krishna. She can even convince us that we are conquering her while we are fully in her clutches.”

What you focus on is more important than where you are at.”

Nagaraja Prabhu:

From When God Loses Control” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

One of the most amazing things we learn about God from the Vedic scriptures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam and other scriptures that focus on Krishna, is that even though He’s God and therefore unlimitedly powerful, He enjoys being controlled by His devotees. This quality of His shows that love is at the core of ultimate reality.”

In the ultimate sense, Krishna is always in control of everything, but because love is essential to His nature, He arranges events in which He is free to ignore that He’s God so that He can savor the pure love of His devotees.

Krishna’s dealings with His devotees go on eternally in the spiritual world. In His transcendental land of Goloka Vṛndavana, He lives with His eternal associates in an atmosphere of love and intimacy. His Godhood is not displayed there. His friends climb on his back, His parents scold Him when He’s naughty, His girlfriends rebuke Him out of jealous anger – all because He wants things that way. And because He’s God, He always gets what He wants.”

Urmila Devi Dasi:

From Devotional Surrender: An Embracing of Truth” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

While words such as surrender and submission seem to imply a kind of military or forced conquest with concomitant painful suppression of one’s own interests, the spiritual reality is entirely opposite. Any thoughtful person can quickly ascertain that all creation is fully dependent on the Lord in all respects and at all times. Surrender is, therefore, an embracing of truth. And when we understand ourselves and others in truth, our actions bring us the happiness, meaning, and satisfaction we all desire.”

Vijaya Prabhu:

But book distribution is an austerity only in the beginning. Eventually it becomes the most ecstatic experience. Book distribution is by far the most ecstatic experience I have ever had. When you feel that you are just a soul approaching other souls to help them in the most profound way, and that Krishna is overseeing the whole encounter, it just becomes so wonderful.”

When Krishna was in Hastinapura to negotiate peace with the Kurus, he visited Vidura. Vidura didn’t want Krishna to go to the assembly of the Kurus because Vidura knew they wouldn’t take Krishna’s advice. The Lord then said to Vidura, “The wise have said that if a person attempts a virtuous act with all sincerity but fails, he will still receive the merit of that act.” Even if you fail to distribute a book to someone, you still get the merit. By performing this austerity we can only benefit.”

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. [Morning Walk, 20 May 1975, Melbourne]

When we go out on sankirtana, it’s very common to meet people who’ve already had some contact with devotees, and usually a very nice exchange ensues. But sometimes we meet people who are familiar with us but are unfavorable.

Once I was distributing in the Miami airport with several other devotees when a man saw us and basically went nuts. He started shouting at us and calling us all kinds of names. After a minute or so he went on his way.

But he wasn’t through with us. He watched us distribute, and after a person had received a book he would approach him and ask if he wanted it. After he found a person who didn’t want the book, he asked him for it, walked over to us, and ripped it up in front of us. After he did that a second time I couldn’t take it anymore. I went and found a friend of mine in the airport and told him what was happening. He said, “Show me where he is.” I brought him over and the person ripping up books immediately walked over to my friend and said, “Don’t buy a book from him! They’re with a cult!”

At that, my friend pulled out his police badge (he was an undercover policeman!) and told the man, “You have five seconds to get out of my sight and leave these people alone, or I’m going to arrest you for disturbing the peace!” The man’s jaw dropped and he left the area in a big hurry. The undercover cop, who had many of our books, was familiar with us, and so was the envious man. One benefited and the other got his appropriate reactions.”

Srila Prabhupada once said, ‘If someone says “Good morning” to a devotee, he’s begun his devotional service.’”

Krishna has a problem—us conditioned souls. And when real religion becomes too much eclipsed and irreligion too predominant, He comes here to solve the problem. If we perform the austerity of trying to help Krishna solve this problem, then how much pleased He is! Everyone has to do something, so why not help Krishna solve this problem of forgetfulness of the conditioned souls? He says that there is no one more dear to Him than one who preaches the message of Bhagavad-gita, and that there will never be anyone more dear.”

Srila Prabhupada once said, “If you want to be inspired to distribute books, you should chant the Sad-Gosvamyastakam, because it is in the mood of preaching.

Another time I was at a college campus sitting behind a table displaying the books. An old janitor came by, rolling his trash bucket. He saw the books and asked me, ‘What’s that all about?’

Yoga, meditation, philosophy,’ I replied. It gives inner peace.’

‘All right, sounds good.’

He gave a donation, took the Bhagavad-gita, put it in a plastic bag to protect it from the trash, and put it in his trash can. I would never have spoken to him. That’s the nice thing about doing a book table: So many types of people come to the table that sankirtana devotees usually don’t approach.”

Lord Shiva and Parvati went to a village dressed as ordinary village people. While they were walking around, a beggar came and asked for a donation. Lord Shiva said he didn’t have anything, but Parvati told him he should give something. He ended up giving him a watermelon. The beggar was not very satisfied, however, because he didn’t like watermelon, but he took it anyway, thinking he could get something for it in the village. He found someone who would give a few cents for it, and then he went on his way. When the person who bought the watermelon cut it open, he was surprised to find that it was filled with priceless jewels. The beggar who received the melon didn’t know its great value, so he effectively just gave it away.

This is the situation we find when we distribute books. People receive these great treasures of knowledge, but because they don’t know how priceless they are they give them to someone else or throw them away or keep them in their house for years and years but never read them. As far as possible we should try to help them understand how important the books are so that they don’t make the same mistake the beggar made.”

One verse I chant quite often on sankirtana is Bhagavad-gita 13.23:

upadrastanumanta ca
bharta bhokta mahesvarah
paramatmeti capy ukto
dehe ’smin purusah parah

‘Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.’ I find that this verse helps me remember that Krishna is the controller and that He is always with us in all circumstances. It helps me depend on Him more.”

It’s not easy to get free of this attachment to the result. Srila Prabhupada once said, ‘There are two things that go very deep in the heart: attachment to the result and sex desire.’ Book distribution helps us become free of both, and therefore the sankirtana-yajna and Krishna consciousness go well together.”

We should always remember we’re not just distributing books: we’re distributing the most profound knowledge on the planet. As we learn at the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Vedic literature is like a tree and the Bhagavatam is its ripened fruit (nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam). When we go on book distribution we are distributing the most valuable fruits of Vedic wisdom. We want to deliver these fruits to every home on the planet.”

I highly recommend that all devotees learn the tat te ’nukampam verse [Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.14.8]. As Srila Prabhupada writes in The Nectar of Devotion: ‘This statement of Srimad-Bhagavatam should be the guide of all devotees.’”

Krishna very much wants to give His mercy. But we have to want it. And what is in the way? Sense gratification—poison for the soul. It is just a disturbance to our actual happiness. As Srila Prabhupada says in his purport to Bhagavad-gita 3.39, ‘While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.’ Why? Because it takes us away from actual happiness. But book distribution is the real pleasure of the soul, because helping the conditioned souls get closer to Krishna pleases Him the most. We should pray to Krishna for His mercy so we can distribute books steadily.”

When Srila Prabhupada was asked about the secret of his success in spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world in just twelve years, he said, ‘I have presented Krishna as He is.’ Krishna is all-attractive; so if Krishna is presented as He is, then people will be attracted. If we go out and preach, understanding our position, understanding Krishna’s position, and understanding the position of everyone we meet, then people will be attracted. Our position is that we are servants of Krishna. So if we go out on sankirtana with that mood and just try to please Krishna by distributing books, then people will feel that purity and sincerity and will want to reciprocate. So the main point is that we have to try to please Krishna, and if we do, then people will reciprocate.”

Traveling with the Vaishnava Youth Tour to Thunderbay, Canada, I met a devotee named Prema, a doctor from Pune, India. There were no devotees in this remote place, so he had decided to do some preaching and maybe make devotees. By the arrangement of Krishna, a professor at the local university had heard about a drama of the Ramayana and wanted it to be performed at the university. She learned from Prema that Bhakti Marg Swami in Toronto had the script. She got in touch with him and persuaded him to come to Thunderbay to organize the play.

There were no devotees to play the parts, so he asked local students to be in the play. He had about eight people in the cast. They performed for three nights, and each night three hundred people paid eight dollars. They loved it. Prema had a table of Prabhupada’s books available and distributed two hundred dollars’ worth of books every night.

What really impressed me was that all eight actors now have their own Bhagavad-gita’s and attend a class on it every other week. They became devotees!”

Many people are interested in Prabhupada’s books. We just have to go out and pray to be Krishna’s instrument.”

I explained that these books change people’s lives by presenting a positive alternative to our degraded society.”

Manidhara Prabhu

If I understand that my eternal nature and the eternal nature of everyone else is to be a servant of Krishna, it is simply bliss to go soul to soul every day to help them understand who they are. Sankirtana is austere only when we think we’re the material body.”

“Hridayananda dasa Goswami

Due to the false ego, one may find book distribution difficult, but don’t give up the book distribution, give up the false ego. The difficulties one undergoes in one’s service are the price one pays for pure devotional service.”

Vaisesika Dasa

Sometimes devotees are afraid to go out on book distribution because they think so many horrible things may happen, but if we overcome the tricks of the mind and just go out, we’ll find that so many wonderful things will happen.”

Aja Govinda Dasa

We were distributing books in Boise, Idaho, downtown. Three of us. Every Wednesday there’s a ‘live after five’ concert there. We tried about fifty people but nobody would even listen. We were very much disheartened. Almost everyone was drunk. We prayed hard to Radharani for Her blessings. Then miracles started happening—one book after another was going out. All of us were engaged, talking to different people. We were busy distributing and at the same time trying to hide what we were doing from the security personnel, who were patrolling the event.

Suddenly a policewoman called me over. Her face looked tough. I prayed to Radharani and also to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who never fails to protect His devotees. She gruffly asked, ‘What are you doing? What do you have in your hands?’

Almost trembling and collecting all my strength, I boldly said, ‘We’re Hare Krishnas. We’re distributing these transcendental books for the benefit of mankind. These books will save humanity from suffering in the cycle of repeated birth and death.’

As I looked into her eyes, they softened, and to my surprise she said, ‘Yes, you can distribute these books without fear.’

Since that day, on the authority of this policewoman, whom Srimati Radharani sent to endorse and encourage our book distribution, we boldly and freely distribute books in downtown concerts. All glories to Radharani, who sent Her messenger to help us! Devotees of ISKCON, please do not fear or hesitate. From my personal experience I can assure you that Srimati Radharani is with us.”

Ayodhya Dasa

Prabhupada once said, ‘You can hire a cook, you can hire a pujari, you can hire a cleaner, but a preacher you cannot hire, because that comes from the heart.’”

Madhumangala Dasa

When I’m struggling and only a few people are taking Srila Prabhupada’s books, I often pray in desperation for Prabhupada’s mercy. In that mood I’ll introduce myself and say, ‘My spiritual master has told me to distribute these books. He told me that if I distribute these books sincerely to whomever I meet, I will attain spiritual perfection. I’m just sincerely trying to follow his orders to the best of my ability.’ Often, upon hearing what I say the person will become interested in Srila Prabhupada’s books, take some, and give a nice donation.”

Jagannatha Dasa

I was walking down a street in downtown Kansas City when I suddenly felt an incredible force inside me, pushing me to give a book to a woman walking on my left. I handed her a Science of Self-Realization and told her what the book was about. She said, ‘Sure I’ll buy this book. Let me give you a donation.’ As she handed me five dollars she said, “Actually, I’m a Christian, see? [She pointed to a little cross hanging around her neck.] I was just praying to Jesus that I want to love God more than anything else in my life. At that time I felt a more intense connection with God than I’ve ever felt in my life. I thought, ‘What’s going to happen next?’ Then I walked out here and you handed me this book!”

Lila-Madhava Dasa

I was distributing on a sidewalk at an intersection in Barcelona, Spain. Every day I would try to stop the same young lady, but she would ignore me. One day I walked with her a few meters, pleading with her in a friendly way: “Come on! Just take one book!” Pointing to the Teachings of Queen Kunti I was holding, I said, “Here, please take the teachings of the queen!” But to no avail; she wouldn’t stop.

However, the next day when I saw her she humbly approached me and asked, ‘Can I buy the Teachings of Queen Kunti?’

Surprised, I replied, ‘How did you know the name of the queen?’ I clearly remembered not having mentioned Queen Kunti’s name to her but saying only ‘Please take the teachings of the queen.’ But here she was, asking explicitly for the Teachings of Queen Kunti. She replied, ‘Actually, I had a dream of this Queen Kunti last night. She told me, “Go buy my book from that man.

Queen Kunti ki jaya!

The young lady gave such a nice donation that I also handed her a Bhagavad-gita. When she saw it, she exclaimed, ‘The Bhagavad-gita! I can’t believe it! My boyfriend has been telling me about this book for a whole year!’ Then I showed her all the books I had. She gave even more laksmi and ended up buying my entire selection.

Book distribution is mystical.”

Yasodeva Dasa

With a bright smile I hand the Christian the Bhagavad-gita and employ Ramadasa Prabhu’s perfect tactical maneuver: ‘Please take one. Christians always give the best donations.’”

Bhakta Eben

I was distributing at an Ozzfest concert in Virginia. I approached a car to show the occupants some of Srila Prabhupada’s books. As they were checking out the literature, a girl in the front seat began to tell me a story she was reminded of by seeing the books.

She told me that the previous July 4th she’d been in Washington, D.C., at the National Mall and had seen these guys in dresses dancing around chanting and playing ‘bongo drums.

I realized she’d been at the DC Ratha-yatra and said to her: ‘Ok, I confess. We Hare Krishnas are the guilty party. Did you like the festival?’

At that she got really excited and told me she’d hung out there for about an hour and was totally amazed by the chanting and dancing and the whole vibe of the scene. She even had a piece of prasadam cake but put it down after one bite because she felt like she was tripping on drugs from eating it. Must have been some pretty potent prasadam!

Meanwhile all her friends in the car were listening in and getting very excited as the conversation got more animated. She then got even more animated and told me ‘I even climbed up onto the altar and fanned—’ Just then I opened one of the books and showed her a picture of Prabhupada. ‘That’s him!’ she shouted. ‘I fanned him!’

Everyone in the car went nuts, but then I had to tell her that it wasn’t Srila Prabhupada himself but a lifelike statue. Still, doing some service for the pure devotee had its effect, and everyone in the car went home with one of Prabhupada’s books and an invitation to visit the festival again next 4th of July.”

Tulasi Devi Dasi

I approached a lady whose brother and sister-in-law are devotees in the Brooklyn temple. After we’d talked for a few minutes, she told me what really impressed her: ‘When my brother and his wife joined the temple, they couldn’t keep their big dog in the temple, so they left it with me, our mother, and our little brother in North Carolina. But the dog immediately ran away, and for days no one could find him. They looked everywhere. Then my little brother figured it out. He went into the forest loudly singing “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna” just as my brother and his wife would. Then lo and behold, the dog started barking and ran to him. So now everyone has to chant Hare Krishna or the dog becomes miserable and runs away.’

She was impressed. This experience helped her get some realization of our philosophy. The dog is not a dog but a spirit soul, and chanting Hare Krishna is not material. She bought a book and a music CD, which she said she was going to play for the dog. She also took some prasadam for herself and her devotee dog.”

Sivarama Swami

When I met George Harrison, he said he had become interested in devotees because they were on the streets chanting and selling books under any condition—rain, snow, hot sunshine. He knew they could do this austerity only by getting a higher taste. Thus he respected devotees before he even met them.”

Vaisesika Dasa

But there is also another type of mantra that I’ve been using. I call it an ‘exit mantra.’ For example, when I finish speaking with someone I look the person squarely in the eye, shake the person’s hand, and tell him or her, ‘I want to thank you very much for taking your valuable time, and I want to tell you what an honor it was to meet you.’

People really like that. Sometimes they’re miraculously affected. They may have originally responded with something like ‘No, I’m not interested in this; I don’t want to give a donation; I’m a Christian and I don’t believe in this.’ I thank the person from the bottom of my heart, telling him, ‘I want to thank you very much for taking your valuable time, and I want to tell you how much of an honor it was to meet you.’

And while I’m saying that, I’m thinking of the verse in Sri Isopanisad which says that we should see every living entity as a spiritual spark, and that a person who sees like that has no anxiety or fear. This is the transcendental meditation on sankirtana. And after my ‘exit mantra,’ the same person who said ‘I’m not interested’ sometimes comes back a half hour later and tells me, ‘We would like to donate.’ Several such experiences have really had a heavy impact on me and made me realize that ‘Wow, everything we do and say, and the way we do and say it, and even the way we think when we’re saying it and doing it, has a distinct and definite impact on the people we’re speaking to.’”

Khela-tirtha Dasa

We should try our best to assure that everyone walks away with a good impression. A famous saying goes ‘There’s no second chance for a first impression.’ Understanding this is so important. Our meditation should be to bring people closer to Krishna. If a person doesn’t take a book the first time around, maybe he or she will the next time or the time after that. We can slowly soften their hearts through genuine care, concern, and detachment.”

Visvambhara Dasa

If the person is not ready to receive the book, we shouldn’t force him. Whether favorable or not, the person will get purified first by looking at the devotee. If someone insults a devotee or swears at him, the devotee should be tolerant. Next time, by the mercy of Krishna, the person may meet another devotee and become favorably disposed. He may have darsana of the book but not take it. And the next time he may touch the book but not purchase it. And the next time, when sufficiently purified by the previous encounters, he may purchase the book. A book distributor understands that all these incidents are part of sankirtana; they gradually uplift the nondevotee to the point of being ready to receive the mercy and buy the book. If we realize this, we will always leave people with a good impression.”

Bhakti Vikasa Swami

One time in America, at a book table, an old man approached the book distributor and asked him, ‘Do you have the Bhagavad-gita?’

Yes, sir,’ the devotee replied.

‘Let me see it.’ He took the book in his hand, turned it around, saw Srila Prabhupada’s picture, and said, ‘Yes, I’ll buy this one.’

‘Why, sir?’ the devotee asked.

Pointing to Srila Prabhupada’s picture, the man replied, ‘This man has been coming to me in dreams for years and telling me, “Buy my Bhagavad-gita, buy my Bhagavad-gita.” When I saw you dressed in the same color as him, I thought that maybe you would have his Bhagavad-gita. Now I’ve found it.’”

His Holiness Bir Krishna Goswami

While I was in Mayapur in 1975, a leading Venezuelan book distributor came. I wanted to introduce him to Srila Prabhupada, so I took him up to Prabhupada’s darsana room. Several devotees were showing him pictures of temples that had recently opened. Prabhupada was politely acknowledging the reports, graciously looking at the pictures. When I had the opportunity, I said, ‘Srila Prabhupada, this devotee has distributed ten thousand copies of your Bhagavad-gita in Venezuela.’

Prabhupada’s eyes opened wide. ‘Really?’ he said, looking at the devotee. Prabhupada then pointed at the devotee and said, ‘He has the mercy of Krishna!’

The other devotees were a little taken aback that Prabhupada was more pleased by this report than theirs. Prabhupada could sense their discouragement and said to them, “You also have the mercy of Krishna. In Vrindavan there are the cowherd boys, Krishna’s mother and father, and the gopis, and all of them are dear to Krishna, but of all the devotees the gopis are special. Similarly, in our Society there are so many types of service a devotee can do, but the book distributors are special.”

Devamrita Swami

For two years in the early ’70s I did sankirtana seven days a week in New York, and I couldn’t do anything. I would do a few books here and a few books there, very small. They used to call me ‘the hard-luck kid.’ I was even a party leader. I was trying hard, but I just couldn’t get any results. Then one marathon, at the start, I prayed to the Deities because for two years I had not been able to do any big books. That was the supreme goal back then—to be able to do a Bhagavatam volume or a Gita—and I was just doing small books, paperback Krishna book trilogies. So I prayed to the Deities: ‘Please. It’s two years now. I’m begging You, just give me a chance.’

I’ll never forget it.

I went out to a shopping-center parking lot and said, ‘OK, I’m just going to do like the big guys do, the airport distributors—Tripurari, Svavasa, all the others. As soon as I drive into the parking lot, I’m just going to open the trunk of the car and pull out the big books, and whoever is right near, I’m going to approach them, without even loading up my book bag. So I did that: the first person took hardcover book, and so did the second person and the third person. By the time an hour or two had passed, I had done fifteen hardcover books. I was just trembling in ecstasy because I knew this wasn’t me! After two years, seven days a week, doing nothing, there was no way I was going to think I was the doer. I never forgot this realization all my life.

I remember Bhrgupati and another devotee coming up to me and asking ‘What’s going on? What’s come over you? What’s happened?” because here you have somebody who was just doing a few little magazines and small books a day for two years, and all of a sudden I distributed so many hardcover books. When I got back to the temple the sankirtana leader— Romapada Prabhu, he was a brahmacari then—he was astonished: ‘What’s going on?’

I said, ‘I prayed for the mercy and He gave it.’

This can happen to anyone. You should not think that you’re totally bound by your circumstances and it will always be the same thing. Make some kind of endeavor to go to a higher level for Krishna. Beg for His help in your service.”

His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami

I said, ‘Srila Prabhupada, this is the perfect reciprocation: You are working so hard day and night to write these books, and all the devotees are working hard day and night to distribute them.’

Prabhupada said, ‘I am writing the drama, and they are playing on the stage.’”

Brghupati Dasa (ACBSP):

Imagine you have a pot of water on the stove and you light a flame under it. After thirty seconds you won’t see anything—it will look exactly the same as it did at the beginning. After one minute of heat you still won’t see anything. After two minutes you may still not see anything. But after three or four minutes you’ll see some bubbles on the inside of the pot. And after five minutes or so it will suddenly break into a boil. Thirty seconds before the water boiled, it looked like ordinary cold water. The water had to absorb all that heat, and at a certain point, when it reached the critical temperature, BOOM, it broke into a full boil. But thirty seconds before that you would not have been able to recognize it as very hot water. At that point it would have been foolish to say, ‘Oh, the fire is not having any effect on the water.’ It may superficially appear that nothing is happening and that the water is not getting warmer, but it is factually becoming increasingly hot, to the point where it eventually breaks into a boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

Similarly, the books are having their effect. It appears as if nothing is really happening as a result of book distribution. No nations are declaring themselves to be Krishna conscious states. But it is having its effect. The more the books go out, the more the effect is building up, just as the longer you leave the pot of water on the stove, the hotter the water becomes. If the books keep going out, going out, going out by the hundreds and thousands and millions, a point will come at which something dramatic happens, just like water starting to boil when it reaches the boiling point. If the books keep going out in big quantities, as has been happening, a point is going to come at which everybody will say, ‘Oh! I guess this book distribution really is all that it was cracked up to be.’ But until that happens, the tendency is to think, ‘Oh, nothing is really happening. Look, we’ve distributed so many millions of books but human society remains the same.’

But this is the same as saying that the heating water on the stove is not getting hotter because we haven’t seen it come to the boiling point yet. Only a fool would say that. But an intelligent person, one who has common sense, knows that at every second the water is coming closer to the boiling point.

In the same way, if the books keep going out in large quantities, as was Srila Prabhupada’s desire, at every second human society will come closer to some dramatic positive transformation. And what is that? The fulfillment of Lord Caitanya’s prediction that His name will be heard in every town and village. Therefore we should be very confident that if we just keep pushing on this movement by distributing books, Krishna consciousness will spread to every town and village. As Srila Prabhupada put it, ‘Print and distribute as many books in as many languages as possible, and the Krishna consciousness movement will automatically spread.’”

Vaisesika Prabhu

Rupa Goswami says that those who hear the sankirtana party even once immediately become washed of sins and gain an inkling of their spiritual identity. And as we’ve already seen, people who are especially fortunate also eagerly join our sankirtana party upon seeing and hearing it.”

Karuna-Dharini Devi Dasi

That is perhaps the single most truly beautiful and addicting quality of book distribution: the more you work for others, the more it works on you. It puts you in an altered state of awareness. If you are truly out there for the purpose of benefiting the people you meet, if that is actually your pleasure, your happiness, and your meditation, you are the luckiest person in the world, and Krishna is in your hand.”

Navina Nirada Dasa

I met a simple man, your ordinary 9-to-5 worker, in a chemical company in Basel, Switzerland. He was not really interested in the topics I tried to explain to him. But he had a great fortune: in his company worked a really nice devotee. He preached to the workers, brought them prasadam cakes, and also distributed books. The worker I met was very impressed with this devotee, telling me that he worked the hardest, that he was the best at his job, and that he helped other workers too.

Now, this man was by no means a philosopher, but because he was so impressed by the good example of that devotee, he understood that Krishna consciousness is something extraordinary. And he happily bought three books.

So, whoever you are, wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing, if your character is first class you can convince people about Krishna consciousness just by your example. That is actual preaching. It is not easy to convince someone simply by words, especially if one is not an expert speaker. It takes both acara and pracara, perfect behavior and perfect speaking.”

Himavati Devi Dasi

One day I distributed a few books on a street in Prague. Then I headed back to the temple on a completely full metro train. I was reading a book, and after some time I noticed that everyone had left the carriage except the woman sitting next to me. I immediately thought of something Kadamba Kanana Swami had related during a class—how he had met a devotee when he was a karmi. That devotee had been sitting next to him on a bus but didn’t say anything to him. Maharaja said, ‘Because that devotee didn’t talk to me, I wasted a lot of time till my next meeting with devotees.’

So, I thought, I must address this woman. As it turned out, she was really interested in the books and took several of them.”

Moral of the story: ‘Whomever you meet, tell them about Krishna consciousness and try to give them a book.’”

Samapriya Dasi

The Ballad of a Sankirtana Devotee

Brhat-mrdanga drumming with a sacred, mighty force
Meant to keep your mission on its elevated course.

Not graced to travel with you as your servants or your cooks,
We dedicate our lives to you, passing out your books

This life is very precious; nothing more that one can give
Than ease the suffering of lost souls and show them how to live

Clad with faith as armor, we wield the sword of truth
Enlisted in your army, we sacrificed our youth.

One becomes compassionate by being kind to all,
Lifting every jiva from its downward tragic fall

The sankirtana devotee gives everyone a chance,
Awakening a love supreme that lifts all hearts to dance

Taking up this service, one must be strong and brave,
To see the soul in everyone, not choose whom she will save—

Leaving our ego far away. From the holy site
Where these books of truth emerge, some will run in fright.

A sacrifice for your desire is our only claim
We thrive upon your sacred text and chant the holy name

Not graced to travel with you as your servants and your cooks,
We dedicate our lives to you, passing out your books.

They were written for all souls, and we are all the same
These books ignite within the heart a transcendental flame

Enlightened words of ecstasy exist on every page
What could be more valuable in this fallen age?

In silent hours of the night, absorbed in meditation
writing down the Lord’s decrees of secret revelation

As He spoke to the Pandavas, a battle though it took
The essence of the Vedas is captured in your book

The gurus always present, but we must play our part
They come to teach that love of God begins within the heart

An intimate connection, awakening that place
Hearing with sincerity awards internal grace

Krishna knows the selflessness that one accepts to serve
and awards accordingly; we get what we deserve

But in proportion to one’s love, the Lord is ever ready
to give Himself to His dear friend whose service has been steady

And of those gentle souls engaged in serving all these years
Not many of us know their names and fewer know their tears.

They did not travel with you as your servants or your cooks,
Their love for you is nurtured by the wealth within your books.”

Radhakunda Dasi

One guru in India who came to our Vrindavan temple with some disciples took a Bhagavad-gita from me and came back a few days later to tell me that he had taught the Bhagavad-gita for fifty years, but had never known what it was until he read Bhagavad-gita As It Is. He said, ‘Your guru, Srila Prabhupada, saw the very beginning of the Battle of Kurukshetra—Krishna and Arjuna talking—and then only He wrote his edition.’ With tears in his eyes, he said, ‘When I read this, I cry. This never happened to me before while reading the Gita.’”

Indradyumna Swami

Don’t worry,’ said the old man [who was cleaning the toilets near our festival site in Poland]. ‘I know it’s not the best work, and it doesn’t pay well, but we get by.’
He paused. ‘And do you know how?’ he asked.

I was afraid I would put my foot in my mouth again, so I didn’t answer.

‘By reading the Gita,’ he said slowly.

Gaura Hari, Nandini, and I looked at each other in amazement.

‘Yes,’ he continued, ‘your Gita makes sense of everything. You can clearly understand the soul by reading it. No other religion has such a concise explanation of the soul, reincarnation, and karma. If a man kills someone and then himself dies soon after, how will he be punished unless he’s born again? Reincarnation explains why some people are born into misery and others into good fortune.”

For a moment I thought I was dreaming. Was the old cleaning man really speaking Vedic philosophy?

Take the material body,’ he continued. ‘It is only dead matter. How can it be activated unless there is the presence of the soul? That’s why it’s wrong to kill animals. They also have souls. God created beings so they could live, not so they could be killed.”

‘A man works all his life,’ he continued, ‘and he gets a pension to live out his remaining days, but the cow gives milk all her life, and then people kill her. It’s wrong. And the whole world is suffering the reaction in the form of wars. Therefore God sends messengers at different times to enlighten us to these truths, but people just don’t listen. What can be done?’”

Akunthita Dasi

Distributing one day, I noticed that a businessman was watching me. After I’d talked with a couple, he approached me and said, ‘May I have a book? I travel a lot. In the past three days, I have been to five airports in five cities, and in each place one of your members stopped me and offered a book. The first time, I got angry and refused it. The second time, I just said no. Then I was curious about what you do, so the third time I briefly looked at a book, but didn’t get it, because I’m a Christian. At the fourth airport, I talked with one of you and asked some questions, but I still didn’t take a book, though what I heard interested and impressed me. En route to the fifth airport, I thought about it, and now I want to get a book.’

He took a Gita and a Lilamrta, impressed as he was by Srila Prabhupada’s work. I was the only book distributor at that airport, but suddenly I felt the protection and support of our spiritual family. Five of us invisibly worked together to start this man on his way back to Godhead.”

Some American Christians can be extremely fanatical, nasty, and unimaginably bad. One even spit at me. I stopped talking to them a long time ago. One man definitely didn’t want to take books, and he said the usual thing: ‘Jesus is the only way! You will go to hell!’ He said he had to catch his flight.

I said, ‘All right. Let me give you something.’

I gave him a photocopy of a BTG article called ‘A Christian Tribute to Krishna Consciousness.’ It was written by a theologian, who compares the devotees to Saint Francis of Assisi. He accepted it and left. I stopped other travelers and forgot about that man. But an hour later, I saw him running by to catch his plane. As he passed me, he handed me back the article. It was just one sheet of paper. Now it was folded. I just put it in my bag and thought that maybe he didn’t like it.

When I got back to the temple and sorted through my stuff, I found that paper again. I opened it, and there was $50. Since then I always carry that article and give it to Christians.”

Aisvarya Dasa

At the festival in Cherry I stop a young Christian couple, who respond with the usual routine: ‘Can I ask you some questions?’

I succumb. Eventually they ask, ‘What would you do if you found out that what you’re doing is false?’

I decide to tell them that to convert someone to Christianity, it’s good to respect the person’s intelligence, to gain his respect for your mission. This has the desired effect of encouraging them to leave.

Later, they reappear and offer a dollar bill for an Isopanisad. On top of that, I receive the Bible.

When I see them a third time, they tell me that they are reading the Isopanisad and liking it.”

Caitanya Candra Prabhu:

From Absurdity, Abdication, and Abuse: Lessons from the Mahabharata” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

Before the Kurukshetra war, Krishna went to the Kuru kingdom with a peace proposal on the most accommodating terms. Duryodhana not only rejected the proposal but also tried to arrest Krishna. This attempt was reprehensible because it violated all diplomatic conventions that guaranteed the safety of a peace envoy.

Krishna foiled Duryodhana by expanding Himself to gigantic proportions and displaying His universal form. The form emanated such fire and anger that everyone was blinded. Overcome by fear, the soldiers who had charged forward to arrest Krishna fell on their backs, rose falteringly, and fled.

Hearing the chaos, the blind Dhrtarastra asked Sañjaya, ‘What is happening?’

Sañjaya replied in an awestruck tone, ‘Krishna is showing His universal form.’

On hearing this, Dhrtarastra said to Krishna, ‘O Kesava, I have never seen anything throughout my life. You are revealing a form that few can see. Please bless me with the vision to see this form.’

Krishna replied, ‘So be it.’

Soon Dhrtarastra could see for the first and only time in his life. And what a majestic sight he saw: the blazing form pervading all directions, containing luminaries from all over the universe, reducing everything around it to insignificance.

Thus Dhrtarastra experienced Krishna’s unparalleled power through two benedictions. First, he got the power to see. Second, he got to see the awe-inspiring universal form.”

Tirumala Devi Dasi:

From “The Spiritual Highway” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 4 (July/August 2020):

We may wonder how to identify what really is best for us and what to do to be in that ideal situation. But the bad news is that there isn’t an angelic harp that mysteriously plays when we make a life-changing decision that’s the right choice. The good news, however, is that the Bhagavad-gita teaches us that Krishna already knows what is in our best interest and affectionately places us in the right situation whether we realize it or not.

A story highlights this point well. The residents of a small town constantly complained to the mayor about their problems.

Eventually the mayor said, ‘I have a brilliant idea. We’re going to have an exhibition of problems. Everyone can bring their problems, we’ll put them on display in the town hall, and everyone can come and see them.’

“So everyone playfully had a look at everyone else’s problems. Eventually it was time to leave, but then the mayor said that no one could leave without taking a problem with them. So when they had to choose a problem, they thought very seriously about which problem to take. Guess what problems everyone ended up taking? Their own! It was easier to take back their own problems than anyone else’s.”

Brajananda Prabhu:

Narada is always participating in the Lord’s pastimes and appears throughout the Bhagavatam, even from the beginning.

Srila Prabhupada wanted to do another Bhagavad-gita, based on a different commentary.

Brahma’s day of 4,320,000,000 years of ours is unfathomable to us, but it is just another day for him.

Most people who realize they are the soul do not know what they should be doing as a soul.

All the seven purposes of ISKCON are educational.

Even in the West, music originated from songs of worship.

Bhakta Daniel:

I find it is very inspirational to have some regular contact with Lord Caitanya’s pastimes through reading or hearing.

-----

In the material world people tend to equate happiness with sensual enjoyment, but Krishna in Bhagavad-gita 5.21 tells of a superior happiness that derives from concentration on the Supreme rather than bringing the senses in touch with their objects. This superior happiness is declared by Krishna to be unlimited. Now that is something valuable to aspire for! In the Krishna consciousness movement we generally concentrate on the Supreme by concentrating on the name of the Supreme, especially in the form of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra:


Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare


And that is something simple to do. One merely has to practice.

bahya-sparsheshv asaktatma
vindaty atmani yat sukham
sa brahma-yoga-yuktatma
sukham akshayam ashnute

“Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.21)