A Transcendental Adventure
The Greenstone Mall is a short drive from the BBT Africa house in Johannesburg. Doing some book distribution there, I approached a young man pushing a trolley packed with duvets and pillows. I said that I am a traveling monk and teach yoga and philosophy and have been traveling mostly in South and East Africa for sixteen years.
I do not know why, but I said, "My friend it looks like you have been undergoing a crisis. Is there something that you would like to tell me."
He looked surprised and replied, "Well, now that you ask, I have been having a bit of a problem."
I suggested that we sit down on a bench to talk. He was from Cape Town and was living with a girlfriend and was thinking of going back to Cape Town, as he found his work stressful. It required a lot of concentration and was a highly responsible profession: detecting structure fatigue on aircraft. He said that his parents were not well off, and he felt that he could go back home to help them.
I began to tell him about how the world is full of imperfections and how those in the bodily concept of life try to solve material problems. It was like trying to fight fire with fire. I took out some books and showed him the changing bodies picture in Coming Back. He connected again and said, yes, that was the book he would like to take from me. He said that he did not have any money, but could draw out some from an ATM.
I said to him, "Okay, I can come with you, and on the way you can tell me more."
He told me that his girlfriend is a Hare Krsna devotee, and her name is Mara. Her mother's name is Radha. She is from Croatia, and they both had lived in the Cape Town temple.
I remembered who he was talking about. When I was staying at the Cape Town center, Radha Sanga and her daughter, Gaurangi, lived there. I told him I knew them.
We both laughed, as he gave me the money for the book. I took down his contact details and invited him to the Book Club program we started at the BBT Africa house on the last Thursday of every month.
On my way back to the house, I remembered that Radha Sanga is a disciple of Devamrta Swami.
A friend of mine named Shyam Gauri and her husband (who is from New Zealand) do book production. I told Shyam Gauri about the encounter that I had, and she replied with amazement that just before I had told her this, she had been speaking to Radha Sanga on Skype, and Radha had mentioned her daughter Gaurangi and that Gaurangi's boyfriend was not happy in Johannesburg and may return to Cape Town.
More recently, Shyam Gauri was again speaking to Radha Sanga on Skype. Gaurangi had recently spoken to her mother and told her that her boy friend had been reading Coming Back, the book I had given him.
By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and the blessings of Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai, special souls come our way. We just have to be prepared for more mercy coming our way. It is always a transcendental adventure serving Srila Prabhupada in his glorious book distribution mission.
Yours in the service of Lord Sri Krsna and His devotees,
Hare Krsna,
Madhumangala Das
