The nectar for which we are always anxious for! by Madhu Mangal das
Dear Prabhu's,
Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to our most beloved Srila Prabhupada, all glories to Sti Guru and Sri Gauranga all glories to the sankirtan devotees of the Lord!
Every so often now and then, I take the train from here in Rondebosch to the seaside village resort of Muizemberg or Simonstown, which makes a nice change from the malls and shopping centers in town. These seaside village resorts are very nice for distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, although now it is the end of the 'high season', not so many holiday makers are there. Most of the residents are usually retired professional people, artists in small cottage industries, yoga teachers ect. and the odd German tourist, rastafarians and the ever present backpacker. I normally take the 2nd class, as most of the passengers are African, who being very musical people are very attracted to chanting. When I get into the coach, I greet everybody and shake everybody's hand. I then ask, "I am sure that you can all sing very nicely and I am sure that you have very nice voices?" to which they normally respond to with great enthusiasm when I get them to chant – sometimes by the mercy of Guru and Krishna, the whole train-car is in ecstasy chanting the holy name of the Lord. This particular morning the mood in the coach was a little subdued, so I took out my japa beads and started to chant – sometimes when they see me chanting, they become curious about the chanting and ask me questions, this then is the perfect time to get everybody to respond to the holy name of the Lord. At one station a lot of passengers entered – one man rushed passed me in the facing seat that I was sitting on. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, sweating and unshaven. I could see from his mood, that he was in a bit of frustration. He glanced at me and I greeted him, "Hey, smile man, you look so serious, it'll do you the world of good, and you'll feel better too," I said to him. He looked,muttered a four letter word under breath, turned round and went to the other side of the coach. He stood for a second, turned round and sat opposite me. I asked him if he was from Cape Town, yes he was he said. He asked me if I was a Hare Krsna. I told him that I belonged to the Hare Krsna movement – I was a Hare Krsna, but that I was the servant of the servant of God. He began to cool down. I began asking about what he did and where he was going. He told me that he was in the coffee export business – I started talking about the different types of coffee and asked him which type of coffee was his favorite, he replied: Blue Mountain.
He said to me, "Listen, please forgive that I spoke to you like that, I just had a lot of hassles with the ticket guard." He told me that just as he was about to get on the train, he discovered that he could not find his ticket, and had explained that he had paid for his ticket and a big argument ensued, luckily somebody on the platform bought a ticket for him. He said he was sorry that he was in such a bad mood. "Oh, don't you worry, I also have the same problem sometimes. Welcome to the material world. We should make our mind our best friend, not our worst enemy. Here have a look at these books, they're very interesting and will show you how to control the mind and senses, which are causing all the problems we face in the material world." I showed him Srila Prabhupada's books, yes he had seen some and had read them. He took a Perfection of Yoga. I asked him for a donation – he told me that he did not have much money. "Oh, that's alright, give me whatever you can, it's the thought that counts, not the amount of money that you give me, I am not distributing these books for material gain, I am doing it out of compassion and love for God." He opened up his moon bag, which I could see was full of receipts and scraps of paper and gave me a few cents. "Thank you very much, I really appreciate your donation and I trust the book I have given you will bring you happiness," I gave him an invitation flyer and invited him to the Sunday and Wednesday programs. And don't forget to bring your appetite with you when you come, you're really going to need it, believeme when I tell this." He smiled and began telling me about the type of yoga that he was practicing, which from what he was telling sounded extremely bogus. While listening, I would just say, "Wow, really, it sounds very interesting. This type of yoga that we practice is very simple, there is no need to sit in a certain position, concentrate on your breathing or stare at the tip of your nose, in fact you can do it anywhere, any time, any place. "You know, I really want to learn aboutBuddhism, what can you tell me about Buddhism?" I told him that actually Buddhists do not believe in God or the existence of the soul." He shook his head and said, "Really, you mean that, like, dust to dust ashes to ashes, it's all over, just nothing? Hey, I must really make a plan to come and see you, I'm really confused."
The devotees of the Lord are compassionate to the fallen and conditioned souls, just by giving them the mercy of Srila Prabhupada in the form of his books, although they may be in illusion, we have made them a friend of Krsna. Although that man was frustrated by the material energy, just by listening to him and being compassionate, he is on his way back home, back to Godhead!
At the seaside village of Muizemberg, approaching me was a young man wearing dreadlocks and a tee-shirt printed with the leaves of the so-called 'sacred herb mon'. Around his neck he wore a small picture of Hailli Sellassi on a leather thong. "Hi there brother, I can se that you are an ierri man, one love, Ja Krsna," I gave him a trational Rasta greeting, which is normally Ja, and added Krsna to it. We did the Rasta handshake greeting, top of the fist on top, then the bottom, fist to fist and then taking the right hand and touching the heart. This rasta was really in the mode of goodness – most rastas that I meet, are usually on another intoxication level from smoking too much of their beloved the sacred herb, that it's sometimes difficult to communicate with them. We began to have a very enlivening conversation about the brother-hood of man, one love and Ja. I began explaining that Ja was the father of everyone and that we call Him Krsna. I opened up the page in Chant and be happy and showed him the picture which shows all the different names of God. "Hey brother, I have read lots of these books they are really amazing. I have one of these books in my bag, I carry it with me wherever I go. He opened his bag and showed me a well-thumbed SSR. I told him since he liked Srila Prabhupada's books so much, I was sure that he would like to take another one. I opened up my sankirtan bag as he looked for a donation. I asked him what he was doing, he told me that he was on his way to see a buyer for his beadworkthat he sells. He gave me a donation and took a book and thanked me and saidthat he was looking forward to reading it. Normally after I give someone a bookI give them a hug, but this rasta gave me a hug instead, and so tightly, Ithought he was never going to let go – he was just bubbling over with "onelove'. I gave him another rasta handshake and said, Isn't Ja Krsna amazingbrother," and said goodbye. About three seconds after he left, I heard him calling – I turned around and saw him jump about two feet in the air, as he waved to me and shouted, "Yoooo, hey, one love Ja Krsna!"
