Surprise Surprise
After a hard day of book distribution on Queen street, which is the main street in Auckland, New Zealand, our team decided to venture south for a bit of door to door, just to top off the evening. I was having a hard time on the street (as I usually do) and was not in the most devotional mood, still, out of duty we trudged our way through the unfortunate town of Old Papatoetoe, determined to acheive fame and adoration. Obviously, my lust and frustration increased exponentially with each consecutive rejection and as my desperation increased I decided to pray to Krishna for (1) swift fulfillment of all my material desires, (2) uninterupted success in spiritual life, (3) fame and adoration, (4) to sell a lot more books, and also (5) a taste for the Holy Name. "Try for shooting the rhinoceros," Prabhupada used to say. The next door was answered by an old New Zealand man who seemed only moments away from death. Unenthusiastically I said, "Hare Krishna, I'm here to preach about the Lord" and gave him the "On The Way to Krishna". As he heard the name of Krishna tears began to well up in his eyes and he was actually shivering in ecstasy! I honestly thought that he was having a heart attack. He tried to narrate some story about how he had seen a Harinam party in the city so many years ago but his voice was choked up and completely incomprehensible. So I asked him to give a donation for the book and he did so. Without another word (which seemed futile at this point) I walked away, but when I looked back he was still standing in the same place, with eyes glowing like a young child as he absorbed the image of Krishna deep into his heart. He was stunned in that position for at least 20 seconds before reentering his house. Then I remembered the verse: *CC Adi 7.73*: *"Simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna one can obtain freedom from material existence. Indeed, simply by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one will be able to see the lotus feet of the Lord."
I was working "cloak and dagger" inside a mall in New Papatoetoe, another unfortunate suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, and I managed to stop an intense-looking Kiwi fellow who had probably just got out of prison that very day. Despite his grisly appearance and demeanor we managed to stir up a riveting conversation about his mature religious sentiments. I knew instantly that the ominous black figure that approached us from the side was a private security guard, the sworn enemy of honest sankirtan devotees everywhere. He invited himself into our conversation and asked nicely that I take this whole exchange outside, as I am not allowed to sell books inside the mall. Much to my surprise, the grisly fellow whom I was with snapped at him! "Hey mate, we're talking over here. Why don't you just sit down and wait until we're finished!?" Our security friend wasn't prepared to argue with such a tough fellow, so he sat down and patiently waited until the man purchased a Srimad Bhagavatam and left. Although he was still a bit confused by the whole ordeal, he escorted me out of the mall. As we we're leaving he told me that he was just in the staff room reading Srila Prabhupada's Isopanisad when the order came in to ask me to leave. As it turns out, he was a frequent visitor to the local ISKCON temple. I told him about the importance of book distribution and asked him to make a donation to attone for his being the one to ask me to leave. He kindly contributed but refused to take another book because he owns most of Prabhupada's books already.
