Two short stories from Montreal
French Largess
I met a French man who showed interest during our conversation, but he still didn't want to take my English Bhagavad-gita. So I showed him the hardcover French version I had. I couldn't present it to him nicely because I don't speak French, and so I wasn't confident about asking for a big donation. Instead of the standard $20.00, I told him it was just $15.00. But he misheard me and, after looking through every one of his pockets for enough to make a donation, he eventually handed me $50.00.
A Rare Guest
Yesterday we met a nice boy at the PIE-IX Metro Station. He had been sitting close to Bhakta Kurt and me as we rode the train reading aloud the pastimes of Dhruva Maharaja. When we all got off at the same metro stop, we saw him at the top of the escalator waiting for the bus. As we approached him, he looked like he wanted to say something to us. Hopeful that he hadn't felt infringed upon by our reading, I acknowledged him and we began a conversation. The first thing he said was how peaceful a presence we had. Being an especially sensitive person, he said, he was very aware of people's moods, and he appreciated that there was something rare about our appearance and attitude, something different from the depressive mood he was used to encountering. While we all rode the bus, Kurt and I, seeing that he was bright and thoughtful, invited him to the temple.
He came, but he was a little reluctant to enter, so we stood outside and spoke about our disappointment at the loss of innocence in ourselves and in society at large. Eventually he took Srila Prabhupada's Gita and The Perfection of Yoga. Then he said he wanted to learn meditation. So I took the opportunity to break through his reluctance to come inside by telling him of one monk who is a skilled meditator and teacher. Inside the temple, I interrupted Karuna-sindhu's studying to bring him to meet this boy, and the three of us spent the next two hours discussing meditation techniques and philosophy. We gave him japa beads to chant on, and demonstrated how to chant. He was overpowered just by hearing the mantra, without himself even chanting.
When he had to leave just before lunch, I gave him some of Sri Sri Radha-Manohara's maha-prasadam, and without waiting, he ate most of it right in front of us. I got an email from him a few hours later in which he wrote that he had felt a surge of happiness after leaving, "almost as though he was directly touched by God." I expect we'll see this boy again soon.
Your servant,
Yogendra dasa
PS I just received another donation for the sankirtan van in Africa. We would like to thank Devala Rsi das and his wife Sri Pati dd who gave $500. We now have $4,100.
Your Servant,
Vijaya das
