I was distributing books in Sunnyvale, California, when a couple of young
men stopped at my table. I showed them the books I had: Bhagavad Gita,
Science of Self Realization, The 4 Questions, and Hiding in Unnatural
Happiness. One of them said, “We don’t believe in God.”
“Well,” I challenged them, “you can’t say there is no God, because you
don’t know.”
They agreed.
Then I presented the wager of the famous 17th century religious philosopher
Blaise Pascal. who framed belief in God as a bet. There are four ways to
bet on God’s existence:
– God exists and you serve Him.
– God doesn’t exist but you serve Him, thinking He exists.
– God exists but you don’t serve Him.
– God doesn’t exist and you don’t serve Him.
Using Pascal’s Wager, I further challenged the young men: “If God exists
and you don’t serve Him, that could be a bad bet because there are likely
things you should be doing and not doing. If you’re intelligent you’ll
investigate to see if God exists. If it turns out from your investigation
that God does, in fact, exist and you decide to serve Him, then you win the
wager, you win the jackpot, and go back to the spiritual world.”
The young men appreciated the challenge, thanked me, took all the books,
and gave the best donation of the day. No doubt about it: serving God is
always the best bet.
Your servant, Vijaya das
I was distributing books in Silicon Valley, California, at a table.
A lady who came to the table eventually said, “I’m a Christian.” I said, “Okay, then have a nice day, nice meeting you.”
After she left I thought, ‘Why didn’t I offer her a book with our line for Christians?’ The line is, ‘We’re not trying to change your beliefs, but there is always more to learn about God, right?’ This approach takes them off the defensive, so quite often they say ‘yes’ and take a book.
I was slapping my head for forgetting the line when a man and wife came by the table. I offered them a leaflet, noticed a picture of Jesus on the man’s shirt, and out came our Christian line: “We’re not trying to change your beliefs, but there is always more to learn about God, right?”
The couple were very nice. They gave a generous donation and took *The Four Questions: A Pathway to Inner Peace. *This line works like magic for anyone we meet who think they have another belief.
Your servant, Vijaya das
We go out for book distribution 15 days in a month and 6.5 months in a year, sharing Srila Prabhupada’s compassion and Lord Chaitanya’s mercy village to village and town to town.
Three years ago, I had this beautiful experience while on a Travelling Sankirtan Party. I was distributing Bhagavad Gitas and Krishna books but was trying to find someone who would take a full set of Srimad Bhagavatams.
As we were about to take a lunch break, I saw a sign that said “Library.” I had some previous experience of putting full sets of Bhagavatams in village libraries, so I thought maybe this library will take a set, too. My heart was actually saying “two sets,” but since there was only one library, I reasoned they would likely accept only one set.
The library was in a two-story building. A shop selling agricultural supplies was on the ground floor, and the library was on the first floor up. Seeing that the library was closed, I decided to ask the shopkeeper below for the librarian’s contact details.
The shopkeeper received me very happily, so for ten minutes I showed him the 1st Canto. Then I told him about the full set of Bhagavatams. He was listening very patiently with a broad smile, so I asked him, “Would you like to see the full set?”
“Yes,” he said. So I ran to the bus, returned with a set, and started to explain the contents of each canto. All the while my heart kept saying, “Two sets.”
In the meantime, the shopkeeper’s friend, along with several customers, had gathered and were listening with great interest. When I suggested that the shopkeeper take a set he agreed, then his friend immediately asked for one more. Without delay, I went back to the bus and brought another set. In this way, both of them received complete sets of the Bhagavatam.
When I returned to the bus, I found that the devotees had stopped near a Hindu temple to prepare lunch. I never got the chance to contact the librarian, and the library remained closed..
The Mercy of Gauranga, Nityananda, and Prabhupada is so sublime and astonishing that I was just an instrument in Their hands. My experience had said one, but the Lord in my heart said “two.”
Your servant, Madhur Gauranga das, TSKP Pune.