It’s our Right To Distribute
After attending the festival of inspiration in New Vrindavana I was feeling inspired so I went out to distribute books. Right now I'm stuck in Columbus Ohio for a few days till I can get my motorhome running better so there weren't very many choices for me for distribution spots since I have to walk. A short walk from the temple is a place on high street where there is a barnes and Noble book store and some cafe's so I went over there to distribute. It started off a little rough, since the wind was wipping down the streets but after a half hour or so of praying to Gaura Nitai things really began to change. I met a lady who is a waitress and she was very interested and reached into her bag of tips and gave a good donation. Then I met a guy named Chance (kind of like Chants) He said he'd been to the temple before and had chanted. He also gave a good donation and said he wants to learn how to chant. He asked me for my email so he could ask questions. I got his too. I'm sure I'll hear from him again.
Just then Maya's agents appeared. The security guards. They told me I can't do that there. I told them that I'm on a public sidewalk and that my activities are protected by the first amendment of the constitution of the United States Of America. They had to call in to headquarters for that one. THe boss told them that I can only distribute two feet from the street and not any closer. I told them that the sidewalk is ten feet wide and I know that the store doesn't own the sidewalk so they'll have to get used to my presence. Many greedy corporate neoconservatives are trying to take away the rights of the people with such cowardly enforcements like the patriot act and other such nonsense proposals, and I wasn't going to have anything to do with it. Just then the boss called back and said he made a mistake and the distance is actually ten feet from the store that I have to stand back. I knew he lied about the two feet part just to be a control freak. I had no problem staying ten feet from the store since the store was quite far from the sidewalk. This has also happened in such places all around the country where the establishment is trying to take away the simple rights of people. After I explained to them my rights as a citizen to express myself in public places they had no choice but to back off since I was right and they were wrong. Maya's agents come in many forms, but were defeated that day. I'm sure many more situations will arise like that but if we are sincere then nothing will be able to stop the Sankirtana Movement. Srila Prabhupada said that no demon or anything can stop the sankirtana movement. Only if the devotees quarrel among themselves will Maya be able to enter and stop the Sankirtana. If you feel like quarreling and not cooperating then grab some books and go out and distribute them, you'll quickly realize that there's no nectar in quarreling and lot's of nectar in distributing.
Sri Krishna Sankirtana Ki Jai!
Your Servant,
Devaki Nandana Dasa
