When I was first beginning to go out on books I used to get all excited to see an Indian bodied person thinking that, “this is your culture, surely you’ll appreciate this knowledge and take a book”. Yet time and time again I was surprised to find that many Indians in America fall into two categories
1.) they have come to America in pursuit of adopting what they feel to be a superior culture and have thus labeled Vedic culture as uncivilized, inferior and mere mythology
2.) they already know everything about Krishna *yet only go to the temple once a year to beg for material gain/show their piety* and surely cannot learn anything by reading sastra or talking to a western-bodied Vaishnava.
Of course as with anything there are exceptions to this as we see how many books are being distributed throughout India now, as well as, how many of our temples throughout India are filled with Indian-bodied brahmacaris. Seeing Westerners adopt the process of Krishna conscious inspires Indians to go back to their own culture. Srila Prabhupada noted this and thus his strategy was to make America Krishna conscious knowing that since its a leading nation, the world would follow suit.
Anyways…last week I was out on books and ever since one day of having a “no competion” *, I pretty much approach everyone without discrimination and try not to favor particular types of people I feel will be interested. The idea behind this is that preaching is a numbers game, the more people you approach, the more likely you are to distribute a book. (this was advice my Guru Maharaja gave me). So within approaching everyone I stopped several Indian bodied families, most of which fell into the first category I have outlined above as their children are pursuing “higher education” that University of Texas has to offer and have no need of the “mythological stories” outlined in Bhagavad-Gita.
Upon approaching another Indian family outside of a pizza shop, I stopped the patriarch of the family and canvassed him to take a Gita. He responded that he “already has all these books at home” (a common reply). I countered this saying, “Well, perhaps you have a friend you could give this book to. Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita that no one is more dear to Him than one who shares this knowledge with others.”
He replied, “well you are already doing a good job of that, I don’t need to do.”
I countered,” Obviously I am not doing so well since you are not taking this book.”
At that point his wife chimed in,” we are not going to give you any money”
I replied, “I’m not out here to collect your money. I have two part time jobs. I have never asked for any money from you thus far, I’m out here simply because I want to spread this knowledge.”
Hearing that I actually worked sparked the man’s interest. He inquired further about what I do for a living and the like.
I explained that I am student and work as a production artist/graphic designer and that’s what I am studying in school as well.I explained when ever I get some free time I come out and distribute books.
He remarked, “Even though I’ve went to ISKCON many times I have never spoken to a devotee. I thought all you did was live in the temples.”
I explained that nothing has to be given up in Krishna’s service but rather we must keep our material duties and spiritual duties going on side by side as a train runs on two tracks. If we neglect either we are setting ourselves up for failure as we must maintain the body nicely in order to be able to execute devotional service. (exception being mystic yogis)
At this point his wife’s heart became a little softened to and she became a little appreciative. He very much appreciated this and asked of my story how I came to Krishna consciousness. I told him about how I read excerpts from the Gita in a literature class in my second year of college and that the concepts of karma, and dharma made more sense then anything I have every read before. Thereafter I begin studying the Gita, and shortly thereafter found my spiritual master.
He then asked me, “how do you know this is real? How do you know the process works?”
I responded, “judging by the results. The changes that have happened in my lifestyle speak for themselves. I went from living the typical degraded American lifestyle to a much purer/cleaner way of living”
At this point he responded, “well maybe I can take a Bhagavad-Gita for my son” He then called over his son(whose name was some name of Krishna, Kesava, I believe) and asked me to explain my story to him.
So I repeated everything again, adding that while its alright to undergo material education it is also necessary to cultivate spiritual education as that is all we will be left with at the time of death. His son seemed very disinterested and eager to get back to whatever gramya-katha him and his friends were talking about. Nonetheless he stood there respectfully and heard what I had to say.
His father told him that he was going to buy him a Gita to keep in his dorm room. The son protested some, but saw his father was set on this, so he agreed. His father asked his wife to give a donation(she was the treasurer who was initially not so inclined to give) and took a hard Bhagavad-Gita. I invited them to come to our center and pointed out the address in the back of the book.
All in all, the husband and wife did a complete 180 in my brief conversation with them. Their opinion of the Hare Krishna’s was transformed from not so favorable to completely favorable. They understood that being a Hare Krishna does not necessarily mean that one must live a renounced life in the temple and go out begging alms but rather that one can be successful in the material realm while still being successful spiritually as well. Tis’ not so much about the externals/activities we engage in but, rather the internals/the consciousness we have while doing them.
Hare Krsna
*a no competition is where you and whoever you’re out on sankirtan with have a competition to see who can get the most nos. Its not to say we practice bad book distribution techniques to acquire these but, the idea is that if you are focusing on the nos you are more likely to approach people you normally may avoid. The underlying motive of this is to get you off the mental/bodily platform and help you understand that every one needs Krishna regardless of their dress.