Lord Caitanya’s mercy in unpredictable and unexplainable
Hare Krsna,
It's such a pleasure when Krishna sometimes shows us the immediate chain of somebody becoming a devotee through the books of His pure devotee. And how sweetly Krishna does it!
During the Srila Prabhupada Marathon, London's Soho Street temple was out there on the streets, with grihasthas supporting it from behind. We got over 1,500 sponsored copies of "Chant and be Happy."
At the last day, when Christmas fever reaches its climax, a Bhakti-Vriksha team tried to become instrumental in sharing all 1,540 books at once, standing next to the busiest Oxford Circus station.
see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AClT5ek3d0w
Here the story unfolds. Two months ago, I got a chance to take a Writer/Director course at the London Film Academy, and recently I made my first outreach, short-fiction film about the Hare Krishnas. The co-producer, Jason, is a young, materially and spiritually mature, British lad. For the last few days he was been helping in many ways, coordinating actors, location searches, etc.
One week after we brought the rented filming equipment into my flat, we had a little sanga going on at the flat, named Gambhira. I offered Jason a plate of prasad. He gratefully accepted. A few minutes after that he joined his first kirtan, with his first (as he described them) goose bumps every now and then while the kirtan was on. He was soon to walk out with us, meditating on the next day's filming.
That was the point Krishna reminded us that books are our everything. I went for "Chant and Be Happy" and "Your Ever Well-wisher". Standing in the doors, the moment he saw "Chant and Be Happy," he was shocked. He said that this was the book that he found on the seat inside a carriage on Dec 24th after finishing his shopping and yet feeling quite miserable as it didn't feel like this Christmas was going to bring him happiness. He felt like somebody left a book, and Jason was sure it didn't happen by accident.
What's even more amazing is that the kirtan and prasad he honoured was shared between exactly the same team of boys who were distributing books on the 24th when one of the books went down into the tube and got left in the carriage.
Jason is a director and a producer. This whole arrangement (that he felt deeply inspired by, while leaving the flat) made him think very seriously about the supreme director and producer in his own life.
Let's pray he dives further into Krishna consciousness and we'll see many more Krishna conscious films in the near future.
Your servant,
Shaktyavesha Avatara Dasa
