Determined people
I was on Cuba Street in Wellington when I tried to stop an Asian lady and her teenage daughter.
Upon starting a conversation with me, she said that she is Buddhist, and I glorified her for that and presented a Gita. She very favorably listened.
Her daughter looked skeptical, as if perhaps her mother was being scammed.
She interrupted and said, “Mum, I don’t think we need this book. Let’s go, please.”
I was a bit thrown off and unsure what to say, but her mum said, “I think we should get this book, sweety.”
I was to hear that, but then a random lady approached and looked at the Buddhist lady and repeatedly shouted, “Let’s go! You don’t have to get this book.”
In my sankirtan experience I have often seen some fanatic Christians act like this, and in most cases the person does get thrown off and walks away without the book. But not this Buddhist lady. She was determined.
She looked the lady in the eye and said, “No. I am not going anywhere without this book. I want to buy it.” And that lady backed off and walked away.
I invited the Buddhist to the program at Bhakti lounge. She very happily gave a nice donation and got the book.
She connected so personally to the Bhagavad Gita that nothing could shake her determination. Hopefully by reading it with that determination she can go beyond impersonalism and appreciate her connection with Krishna.
Ys,
Mandraghosh Das
Here’s a similar story I just heard from a devotee in Mayapur.
He was distributing books in Europe when a Muslim and his son stopped to see what he had. The devotee explained some tenets of the Gita, and the son, who was about five years old, showed interest. The man said he was of another belief and so was uninterested. But the boy said he was. He said, “I’m not leaving this spot until you get this book for me!” Seeing the determination of his son, the Muslim gave a donation. The boy joyfully walked off with a Gita in hand.
