Going on book distribution is always an adventure. We never know what lesson Krishna wants us to learn next.
Recently, I was distributing on 16th Street in downtown Denver, Colorado. A young man approached me with a concern.
He said, “Hey, why don’t you carry your books like a real monk on your back? Why do you cheat and use that rolling bag? That’s not very honorable.”
Slightly amused by the ridiculous accusation, I was surprised that he then kept insisting that he knew what the dharma of a brahmacari is. I became a little disturbed, but remained tolerant.
I said “It was nice meeting you, but I’ve gotta go meet a friend now.”
Then he walked away, saying, “Stop pretending.”
I thought, “Glad that’s over,” and went on distributing, feeling a little proud that I was able to tolerate that provoking situation.
A few days later I was out with books and ran into the same man, not recognizing him at first, and tried to hand him a book.
He arrogantly said, “Oh, it’s the fake monk again. Why don’t you just carry the books on your back like a real monk?”
I then lost my tolerance and tried preaching to him about avoiding fault-finding and seeing the good qualities in others. I lost my cool, and it seemed to make him happy. At that moment I realized that I had failed a test of tolerance sent by Krishna.
He said, “I’m just trying to get some emotion out of you.” And he left laughing.
I stood there bewildered, and I was disappointed that people passing by may have gotten a bad impression. As I was thinking this, one of the buses that drives through the mall stopped next to me and the doors opened. A man within stood there looking me in the eyes.
He said, “We’re all learning a little something today aren’t we?”
I said, “What did you say?”
Then the doors closed and he rode off, continuing to look at me as if to say, “You know exactly what I mean.”
Thus I took it as a situation arranged by the Paramatma to teach me humility and tolerance.
A few days later I was distributing books, and people were being very dry. They were rudely rejecting books over and over again.
Then, when I had almost lost my cool, a young man wearing a hoodie and sunglasses passed by, turned around, and said to me, “Don’t worry. Their souls are still sleeping. You keep on trying.”
After that I thought: Krishna really works through his various energies and shows us how He’s always right next to us facilitating our purification and advancement, especially out on sankirtana.
I hope this story is relevant, and devotees can relate to how Krishna arranged these “messages” out on book distribution for purification.
Your servant,
Amala Purana Dasa