Just leave me alone!

Badrinarayan Swami:

“In San Diego a devotee was distributing small books in a parking lot. As he approached a car he saw a young man sitting in the driver’s seat. When the devotee knocked on the window, the man shouted, ‘Look, just leave me alone! Get outta here!’

“The devotee went on his way, but then he thought, ‘This guy’s pretty bad off. He needs a book.’ So the devotee returned and stuck a small book under the windshield wiper. Later the young man showed up at the San Diego temple and told this story. ‘When the devotee saw me, I was very morose. I was frustrated about school and felt no inspiration in life. My parents had sent me to a psychologist, but he was no help, and I became even more depressed. I thought there must be something wrong with me. I saw how my friends were so enthusiastic about going to school, getting jobs, making money. I concluded that everyone else was okay and I was just messed up, a total failure.’

“‘So I decided to kill myself. I ran a tube from the exhaust pipe through the trunk into my car, rolled up the windows, and started the engine. I thought this would be a good way to end all my misery and pain.

“The car was quickly filling up with carbon monoxide when someone walked up holding a big stack of books on his arm and knocked on the window. I told him to get lost. I thought he was a crazy fanatic—especially when he came back and put one of his books under my windshield wiper. ‘But then I began to get bored and thought, “Well, what would be the harm if I read something before I die?” So I rolled down the window, reached out, and grabbed the little book. The title looked interesting—Civilization and Transcendence. I started to read.’

“In that book I found that Srila Prabhupada directly points out the defects of modern civilization and gives people an alternative, the Krishna conscious way of life. Suddenly I realized, ‘Hey, I’m not crazy. Everyone else is!’

“‘So I rolled down the windows, disconnected the tube from my exhaust, and drove home. After reading the book cover to cover, I’ve come to the temple to become a devotee.’

“The young man stayed in the temple and became a very nice devotee.”