Army Man to Monk?
We drove to Thames from Hamilton (New Zealand) for a day of book distribution. I was distributing outside a mall and a supermarket and meeting some nice people.
I stopped a couple and fortunately hit it off with them. The man had been in the New Zealand army and gotten depressed. He'd managed to get out and happened to find a small book on Buddhism. He read it and wanted to be a monk. He had come to the mall and brought along another book on Buddhism. He felt happy to meet me, beinga monk and all, and liked our books, but didn't have any money on him. He promised he would be back, though, when he left.
In the meantime the security found me and gave me the option of going to see the mall manager. I thought I'd give it a go. By Lord Caitanya's mercy, someone there said I could stay, but advised me to call before coming again. I went back down and really hoped that young man would come back, and he did.
His girl friend wasn't with him, and we had an open-hearted talk about spiritual life as a monk. His girl friend doesn't understand what he is going through. I gave him my details, and he left with a Gita and a Journey of Self-Discovery. He'd handed me some green notes ($20 in New Zealand is green) before he left. He actually gave $60.
Srila Prabhupada, ki jaya!
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