Paris sankirtana rewards an atheist
It often happens that people just give a nice donation but do not take a book. Someone will say, “I like what you are doing, but I think that you should give the book to someone who really needs it.” But THEY REALLY need it, too! So I was wondering how to give someone the book at this point in the conversation . . .
Recently, I met an atheist in Paris. He doesn’t like religion and God.
So I told him, “No problem. I think that you can take this small book instead: “Science and Consciousness.” It is meant for intelligent people like you!”
“Oh, okay. I will give it a try.”
And he gave me four euros. When I saw that amount, I really wanted to give him a Bhagavad-gita, though he had rejected one a few seconds before.
When I told him it was a gift, he replied with the famous sentence “Give it to someone who really needs it.”
“Okay, sir. One second! Can you just hold it a second? My laces are undone!”
“Yeah, no problem!”
“Got you!” I responded.
He replied, “I knew that it wasn’t true, and you just wanted me to take the book!”
“And I knew that you knew! So why did you decide to take the book then?”
“Because our short conversation awakened a little interest in me for this book. And I became curious to read it.”
This is what had attracted his interest: When I preach to an atheist who likes philosophy, I always quote Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, two big philosophers who didn’t believe in God, but liked the Vedas very much.
ys,
Bhakta Jad
