Somebody Joined !!!
I am sitting in the temple room chanting my last rounds on an island in the middle of nowhere, in a land that has yet to discover the wheel, and where deer and rabbits roam wild eating all our trees and flowers. Then in comes Arjuna dasa with a stranger. A young man in his twenties. Stunned momentarily upon seeing another human being from the outside world in this remote mandir, I stammered out a quiet "Haribol". This young man wanted to join our temple and dedicate his life to iskcon by moving into the asrama and doing whatever was required to become fully Krsna conscious. Still in shock at this unexpected news, I asked "HOW ,WHY???" He was working in dublin 2 years ago and got a "Chant and be Happy" off a samkirtana devotee. ( At this point I should mention that the Irish yatra only has about 2 full time book distributers) He read the book and figured everything inside was safe and sound and then started chanting Hare Krsna, 16 rounds a day, and following the regs etc. Finally he quit his job and after sometime got a bus to the nearest town to our temple, determined to meet another "devotee". After 3 hours walking in the dark asking locals how to get here, one farmer took pity on him and kindly took him in his tractor to the lake surrounding our Mandir. By chance a devotee spotted him and put him up for the night in his home and now as I write this he is chanting japa in the temple room down stairs fully fired up and confident that he has changed his life for the better. So there you have it. Book distribution still works. It is still one of the most important preaching tools Iskcon has to offer. This young bhakta, had a job, was a respectable member of society, is not insane like many of our converts. Just a normal guy who got a small book, read it and was convinced that chanting Hare Krsna is the best thing he could possibly do with his life, so packed his bags and found the temple.
Haribol!!
Your Servant,
Aisvarya Das