A Revelation Right Next Door
Last night it was hot and uncomfortable indoors, so I took my two-year-old son, Vitthal Bhakta, for a walk. I had my japa beads and was softly chanting. My son was tired, so we had a leisurely stroll without any major interactions except when he wanted to pick up a stick and walk with it.
He was quietly observing. He poked the stick here and there. As we reached closer to home, my son, very tired by now, insisted on being picked up. We passed the open door of my neighbour of nearly five years. We've had a few short interactions, but just pleasantries. One of us was always in a hurry.
This day, though, he was somehow inspired to say, “Hold on, let me get these groceries inside,” so we waited.
He then asked me, “Say, are you a Hindu priest?”
I answered, yes, I am a Hare Krishna priest specifically.
He said, “I am a Hindu, though I am a bad Hindu.
I said that, in fact, there is no such thing as a Hindu.
He said, “Anyway, I got one of your books.”
I asked him which one.
He said, “Bhagavad Gita As It Is.”
I encouraged him to read it and asked him where he got it.
He told me that a lady from Assam, a sister of one of his aunts, lost her fifteen-year-old son in an unfortunate accident with electricity. She was devastated, but felt solace “in your Hare Krishna movement.”
It turned out that she is so fired up that she preaches and distributes Bhagavad Gitas, and recently he attended a home program in a suburb of Toronto where these Gitas were distributed.
It sounds like she is a real preacher and has received reciprocation from Krishna in the four years since the tragedy of her son's death.
We continued to talk, until it was time for me to put my son to bed. My neighbor shared a lot about himself, much more than in the last five years. Surely the wonderful preaching by that lady and his having the Bhagavad Gita in his home had something to do with this. He said that the print in his edition is too small for his aging eyes, so he is going to get an electronic version that he can magnify it and read comfortably. He assured me that he would do this right after he got back inside his house.
I was marveling about this. Here I am, “a weekend warrior” who spends much of his spare time distributing books and going to great lengths to stop people on the street or knocking on their doors, when right outside my door is one ripe fruit, and I never approached him.
But then I felt assured that Krishna had already taken care of him, leveraged his Assam connection, and arranged for him to receive His instructions through one of His servitors. A modern-day marketer could not do better. In fact, they can learn from Krishna.
Now it is my duty to stay in touch, invite him to the temple for festivals, answer his questions, introduce him to the wonderful devotees in the community, and figure out a way to get him actively engaged in the process of Krishna consciousness. That lady from Assam distributed the book, and I get to be her servant in following up on the man. How wonderfully Krishna arranged all of this.
So next time I am on the street, I will rest reassured that the ones we “lose” are not really lost. Krishna's got them all. And the ones we “get,” who knows what plan Krishna has for them? Surely it is a perfect plan arranged for them to come back to Him.
Please distribute more of Srila Prabhupada's books. Thus is one of maybe thousands of such experiences people are having each day, but not necessarily writing about.
Mahabhagavat Dasa
Toronto, CA
