Lord Nityananda is the most munificent of incarnations. He is Lord Balaram Himself who manifested in Chaitanya Lila 500 years ago. From whatever little I understand without the blessings of Lord Nityananda, it is not possible to access the mercy of Lord Gauranga who is Krishna Himself. Besides, Lord Nityananda goes door to door blessing the most unfortunate souls caught up in this illusory world of happiness and instilling in them Krishna prem.
To put it in perspective to todays world. this causeless mercy from Lord Nityananda is transmitting through Srila Prabhupada who tirelessly is preaching the tattva of Gaurana Mahaprabhu. So through Srila Prabhupada from Nityananda prabhu, no doubt I have been given access to chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra. For this reason of causeless compassion to unqualified people, I am attracted to Lord Chaitanya and His movement. Otherwise there is not much chance for me to understand spiritual subject matters.
The sankirtan movement will go on for the next 10,000 years, so the saintly people predict. I would like to humbly contribute to my best. So in this mood of gratitude towards Lord Nityananda and the saintly acharyas, I decided to distribute books today. Although I had this plan for sometime, i was not quite sure till the last minute. However, I finally decided to spend some time knocking on doors.
I have been saying in previous posts all along, in my last 5 or 6 attempts in door knocking, so far, my realization is that I am finding it difficult to convince people to take books. My implication is that perhaps they are mostly Christians or mostly worldly minded people who have no interest in spiritual life whatsoever. So I thought may be I will drive to an area where there may be Indians living. Even if they are not interested in Krishna, I figured I can sell some books and get some donations. So I drove my car in that direction and found an apartment (not secured) and entered.
I managed to distribute some books but not many though. I want to narrate a rather humorous moment. There is an old english idiom, don't judge the book by its cover. Yesterday, literally the person was judging the book by its cover. I knocked and a man from Africa opened. Before I could complete my opening line, he excused himself to leave. I persisted and asked him to take a book. With reluctance, the man took the book and was starring at it for few seconds and his face had the combined look of skepticism and cavil. The man could not understand what he was looking at. I laughed inside and found it humourous on how he was coming to grips with Krishna. In my brief moment of humour I forgot to explain about the book.The cover of the book had Krishna with the Gopis and the title was Bhakti Yoga- The Art of Eternal Love. After few seconds, he did his best to hide his emotions and returned the book.
Later I met a Catholic who does not practice her faith, a mother of two and currently pregnant expressed that she is not very interested. By Krishna's mercy I got to talk to her for few minutes and she shared her feelings about her current situation and that her father-in-law was in critical condition about to die in the hospital. She said she was expecting a phone anytime from her husband regarding her in-law. At that moment, I stressed on how important to understand spiritual knowledge and urged her to chant Hare Krishna even if she does not understand its meaning. I gave her a book and a card with the mantra on it. I insisted she chant this mantra to her in-law even if he was unconscious. So I asked her to repeat the mantra after me and she repeated it carefully and with focus. She gave me donation and said she will look into this. I finally left saying the mantra is very powerful and can help anyone chanting it.
My original hope was to meet an Indian who I thought perhaps I can invite to my house for further discussions. Although most of the Indians in the US have no desire for spiritual life, still they are relatively more pious and may understand the science of Krishna. I figured the odds are less. As I was walking on the pavement to enter a building, I saw two Indians carrying grocery bags and entering the same building I was to enter. I did not think much of it, I just followed. By the time I entered, they disappeared, however I saw a door close. I guessed that door must be them. So I knocked in earnest and an Indian opened.
I showed one person (there were two) the Bhagavad Gita and discussed about the importance of cultivating spiritual life. The other room mate showed no interest. After about 15 mins of discussion, I found out he is from Maduari Tamilnadu and that his parents worship Vishnu. So naturally he was inclined to the Gita. He also gave me suggestions on where to go and whom to meet regarding further distribution. We exchanhged numbers and emails and am hoping to meet again next week for lunch. He seems to be interested in Krishna. However, time will tell. He took the Bhagavad Gita and gave me a big donation, I profusely thanked him and left saying we will meet again soon.
Although, overall I distributed few books, however, I thought my efforts paid off as I met these two souls. One catholic and one potential Krishna bhakta. With that thought, I drove back home.
Hare Krishna
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