This time the target to achieve is 25000 books by december end.
We call it "The MSF of 25k" :)
I went with some devotees to 2 places for last 2 weekends
1) Festival of Diwali celebration in Cupertino by bay area Indian
A lot of indian families with their kids came to the festival. It consisted of a main big pandal or tent for cultural dance & drama show & surrounded by a number of small tents selling food,mehendi,indian dresses, etc .... environment similar to an INDIAN mela.
Early afternoon was the most crowd expected & we were there on time .
At first it was difficult to stop indians & show bhagavad gita & other books. I heard similar comments " we have this!" "I donot have time" "I am not interested"
Sri Krishna purushottam Pr,a leading book distributor, heard this comment from an indian gentleman " I Know this"
Sri Krishnapurushottam pr replied "What do you know ?"
The indian face shot with anger but he did not reply & simply continued walking & then after few steps he turned back & said " I know better than You"
I took a break ,read a chapter of Krishna book & rested for some time looking at the eager indian faces who had come to the festival looking for some Pleasure.------- Pleasure seeking souls.
I thought in every thought , word & action a soul is seeking pleasure
as the evening started to set in i stood up & joined the book distribution again.
Then i saw a different scenario set in
As the indians were retreating back to their home with their children lagging behind they had faces of profound despondent. I approached them with Bhagavat gita in hand & they seemed to reply "Lets try this "
It was then when i was able to distribute many books to the retreating indians.
Their enjoyment had failed & they were experiencing "chewing the chewed " phenomenon.
Finally they saw with Hope on Lord Krishna & his timeless message "The Bhagavad Gita"
Finally i could happily do my part of book distribution as the sun set in.
2) Foster city apartment
Foster city is where Big companies like IBM & Oracle have their huge offices.
The city is very clean & every effort is made to make it look very green & clean.
It was a door to door book distribution .So we knocked every door of the 200 apartment village.
I was simply amazed at power of Lord Caitanyas sankirtan movement.
In door to door book distribution we would be easy be looked as a similar salesperson selling soap or carpets.
But i found that when devotees stand at the door , the person in the house somehow comes to know(maybe through param-atma) that this person is different from the normal salesperson.
I was shown respect for the cause that i supported. I said " We are from the local yoga institute distributing these books on Yoga & meditation which tells you how to get free from stress & get an inner purpose for life" & People responded well .
Many took books & gave donations. I thought myself to be "the Transcendental Salesperson"
I saw 2 american born teenage indian girls playing & i showed them the Krishna book .
They were very happy seeing the photos of Krishnas pastime .
I said " who would buy the book ?"
The girl named Sri said " I shall buy" , The other one named manu said " Sri you buy & i shall borrow the book from you " :)
Just then one lady came out to see their girls & I said to her " She wants that book "
She then replied to her child " We have this , we have mahabharat "
I said " This is not mahabharat it is Krishna stories from Srimad Bhagavatam "
She some how resisted & girl returned her book. I gave her the temple card & mahamantra magnet sticker to her .She looked at the mahamantra & said " I know THIS"
As i was walking back I thought they didnot take the books & it is Dusshera today
Lord Ram killed Ravana it is victory over Evil.
These books i compared them to as Lord Rams arrows which are loving placed in our hands to distribute to the lost souls of this world.
Lord Rams arrows once shot never fail
how is it that the book didnot go?
Well the arrow was shot & it is only a matter of time for that girl to become a devotee.
Any soul who appreciates the Lord & his pastimes & get attracted to it has started his journey back , Back home back to Godhead.
The spiritual science works seemingly on small sukrutis -- a small gesture of spiritual affinity.
When they are filled up to a critical threshold Lord Rams arrow of love hit the soul & afflicts him with love & longing for Lord Ram.