Even the impersonalists support the sankirtan movement
I met a very nice couple while going door-to-door, who live just a few blocks down the road from our brahmacari ashrama in South Auckland (New Zealand). Both are from China and are practicing disciples of Master Chang Hai.
Ultimately the philosophy that Master Chang Hai advocates is impersonal, but nonetheless all of her disciples are either vegan or vegetarian and follow codes that are extremely similar to our four regulative principles. They have a strong environmental focus, and very enthusiastically encourage people to become either vegan or vegetarian to save the planet and the lives of so many animals.
Thus, when I first met this couple, they were appreciative of what I was doing, and gave a nice donation for several books. Because they were quite receptive, and were already so interested in a pure and spiritual lifestyle, I continued to visit them every couple of weeks. I would always take them some prasadam, and would spend time with them discussing vegetarianism and the basics of spiritual life. Although I knew that they were ultimately impersonalists, I would never try to argue with them, but instead looked for the things that our respective philosophies had in common. I continued to visit them for several months and they would always give me a very warm reception and a donation of $20. They even bought some of our Chinese books, as they preferred to read Chinese over English. After a while I could see that their ardent desire was that everyone in the world becomes a vegetarian.
Then, last week, something happened to me that I knew they would like: I met a guy on Queen Street (Auckland City) who told me that he had read the * Bhagavad Gita* and then immediately become a vegan. When I asked him what inspired such a change, he replied that it was because of the laws of *karma * and reincarnation; he did not want to come back in his next life as an animal and be killed for killing animals in this lifetime.
When I next visited my Chinese friends I told them of this incident. They listened to me with rapt attention as I described meeting the man on Queen Street. Then when I disclosed his decision to become a vegan my two friends gasped in astonishment and admiration. It really touched their hearts. I then told them more about our efforts to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books, and they were highly appreciative of this.
When I returned to the ashrama the following evening my Godbrother Sastra Krit Prabhu told me that a Chinese man had visited that afternoon, asking for me. Although I was not home, he had dropped of a cheque for $100. When I asked Shastra why he had done this, Shastra told me what he had said: ÒI wanted to support your cause".
Thus even the impersonalists are supporting Lord Caitanya's *sankirtan*movement.
Your aspiring servant,
Gokula Ranjana Das
