How Amazing are the words of Krsna
We were at the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival in Canada – http://www.kwmc.on.ca/content/multicultural-festival – with a harinama, a book stall, and many, many enthusiastic sankirtana warriors freely distributing Krishna's mercy to thousands of festival goers. We have been going there for several years, and the people's response has always been encouraging. The organizers even give us a special spot to accommodate our need for a harinama space and a book tent: an area nicely shaded by tall trees to protect us from the hot summer sun. We distributed hundreds and hundreds of books. The final scores are not yet in.
A muscular young man on a fast bike was weaving by, eye shades on, headphones, no shirt. For some reason (I am usually not that aggressive) I was impelled to practically stand in his way arms outstretched to get him to stop. But he didn't mind, and he greeted me with a big smile. I started chatting to him about where he was from, what he did. I told him I was a yoga instructor. I explained to him that the kind of yoga I practiced didn't involve stretching in pretzel poses, though I focused on getting past the body and mind in my practice. He said he did rock climbing exactly for the same reason. I showed him the changing bodies picture and said that one day he wouldn't be able to climb rocks any more, but this yoga he could do well into his ripe old age and have absolutely no fear of death when it came.
I handed him a Bhagavad Gita and he respectfully took off his gloves before looking at it. He'd never heard of the Bhagavad Gita before. I showed him the famous passenger-on-a-chariot picture. He loved it. I showed him the picture of the yogi, saying that he was pretty ripped too, just like him. Brad laughed and really got into the conversation.
We recited a random verse from the Bhagavad Gita together, the Sanskrit and the translation. He really, really got into it! Then we got talking about it, and he said he wasn't into religion. I agreed with him wholeheartedly, saying that anything divisive was not actually religion but politics, because just as there is one sun known by different names, so there is one Supreme Absolute Truth and that anyone can have a personal relationship with the Supreme Absolute Truth. I said that everyone has faith. For example, he had faith that when he pushed the pedal of his bike, it would move forward, that when he went to the doctor, the medicine would heal his body, that the bus driver knew what he was doing. He appreciated that view of "faith". I showed him 9.2 and we chanted that verse and translation together. He was smiling ear-to-ear when I said that I didn't have to tell him when he was thirsty or hungry, or when he had taken enough food, so who needs to tell him what he is getting from a particular tradition, when he got it, he would know what he got. But just because it comes from a religious tradition didn't mean it didn't hold value. That appealed to him somehow.
We talked about how young men and women are simply driven by their external senses. A young man, driven by his genitals, will do anything for a sexual experience with a girl. He said he was acutely aware of that, and that he actually lived in a forest for a month recently to try and get away from all the mess! He even quit his job and tried to refocus on the purpose of life. I confessed that for some reason I was impelled to stop him. He then confessed that he's been here for so many years, but never once did he come through the harinama festival, and that he's not the type to stop, that he felt that there was some higher purpose to our meeting.
He didn't have any money with him. So he left his really expensive bike with me, saying he didn't want to leave it outside the ATM, saying this was his other baby, other than the truck, went to a nearby ATM and got a donation, the donation was good enough to cover an SSR and Coming Back, too.
We chanted Hare Krishna together, he said this was just the thing he needed on his next climb where he was really "in the zone to meditate". Took the books, took a card, said he'd write to me, and spoke glowingly to my next sankirtana customer, a yoga enthusiast named Alexander (who arrived while Brad had gone to the ATM) saying he was sure he'd enjoy the conversation with me, flashed me a beautiful smile, and went on his way.
How amazing are these words of Krishna that satisfy the soul so fully, how amazing is this Bhagavad Gita As It Is that makes Krishna accessible to everyone! How fortunate are we to be out on sankirtana! Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!
your servant,
Mahabhagavat Das
