ISKCON Silicon Valley Books Last weeks Palo Alto Harinaam – GNAB
This letter will give everyone a glimpse into the ecstacy that has enveloped Silicon Valley by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada through his sincere disciple Vaisesika Prabhu.
Your Servent
Vijaya Dasa
I had the great fortune of being present for last weeks hari nama (75 devotees) in palo alto. With the protection of Vaishnavas, the holy name and the apparent liberal nature of Palo Alto downtown visitors, I felt I had nothing to fear.
Krishna was very kind to give me some drops of book distribution nectar that I wanted to happily share:
1. In the start, I met a French family with 3 cute daughters all within 6 years age, who watched innocently with their parents as to what was going on. I gave them the kiddi packs, and the parents immediately became open to talk. They had just moved from France a week before and were amazed at the kirtan party. I told them briefly about our temple and gave them a small book and our contact address.
2. A group of 4-5 middle-aged californian people (heavy-set and cheerful) was passing by one of whom asked me, "is this kind of the dalai-lama protest?" I said, no, our beliefs are that we are not this body, we are not buddhist, christian, indian or american. We believe we are the soul without any such designations. What we are chanting is to revive the connection of our soul with the Supreme divine being. Then I showed him the mahamantra on the bookmark. They very readily appreciated. The guy who had asked me the question responded "Oh this is wonderful, you guys are wonderful. This is what I want to hear, You are doing a great job." They happily took 3 small books and said we will read them. It was amazing to see their instant smiles while coming in touch with the kirtan.
3. I met about a 60+ yr old doctor who was walking hurriedly towards his clinic, but he couldn't stop himself from being pleasantly stunned with the kirtan. I caught him a bit off guard, and he readily took the Beyond Birth and Death. I told him, you are a doctor, so you are probably going to appreciate reading this the most. He readily accepted and took the book, telling me he will surely read it, and that sadly he was in a hurry to reach his clinic. I gave him our temple address and told him we come here once a month, so he can find us later again.
4. Towards the end of our kirtan, there was a nice looking young middle-eastern couple, they were new to the US. The lady got hooked on to the international vegetarian cookbook. She said she was trying to be a vegetarian (she eats seafood and has stopped everything else) and was glad to find something international. Then as I got them talking, they wanted to know what religion we were, and if we had a book that summarized the philosophy. I showed them the Bhagavad Gita, and then the picture on changing bodies. The man said, "oh, we dont believe in reincarnation. We are muslim!". That instant, I felt even more determined for them to take the books. Luckily his wife said, "Oh dont worry about him, I am more flexible!" Then they stayed for a while, debating to take the book on comparison of vedic philosphy with other western philosophies (SP discussions on that), or the Bhagavad Gita. In the end they ended up taking both. The guy said to his wife, "do you think we will read this" she said, "even keeping this book (Bhagavad Gita) in the house is good isnt it?" It was most stunning to see such positive reception, it was as if Radharani was personally showering some mercy on me by allowing me to become an instrument to share these books with the pious lady.
All this is just a brief account of the experience. Not to forget, the aura that surrounds the kirtan party, that changes the whole atmosphere into Vrindaban. The trees, the birds, the children, the materialists, the yogis, the jyanis, the homeless, all get enchanted and some are pleasantly surprised to realize their own attraction towards the joyful chanting of holy names. Even the hardest of hearts cannot resist it.
Jai Srila Prabhupada for allowing us to enter the experience of the pure spiritual world.
Your Servent
Bhaktin Rashmi
