Book distribution in Texas is really fun.  We go place to place, shop to shop, home to home, street light to street light, door to door, neighbor to neighbor, classroom to classroom, highway to highway, Walmart to Walmart, gas station to gas station, all the while listening to Srila Gurudeva chanting sweet bhajans and telling people to chant "Haribol!  Bolo Hari Hari Mukunda Murari! We give them Srila Gurudeva's books and healthy raw food snacks thanks to Gopal's Healthfoods.    Here's a clip about sponsorship for the book rack program in Houston.  

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Gaura~Hari~Bol

A Walk in the Park in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is such a packed, crazy city. Syamarani didi and I were walking in the park the other day, and seeing all the people I got inspired to distribute books. So, I went back to the temple and got some books and went back out. The devotees here think its really hard to talk to Chinese people, and to some extent that is true, but I met so many wonderful people. I felt so guided by Gurudeva and Krsna as I was walking. Not thinking about anything - just allowing them to guide me to those souls waiting for these books. I stopped to talk to this elderly man sitting on a bench. I showed him the book To Be Controlled by Love in Chinese and he said, "I don't believe in religion. I only believe in myself." I said that's good - Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita to abandon all varieties of religion and surrender to Him. He was flipping through the pages of the book and I said, "Just take it home and read it and if you don't like it you can give it away to a friend." He kept looking at the pages and looked really intrigued. I said, "The book is free, but if you want to give a donation so we can print more, that would be great." He said, "I'm a poor man." I said, "No problem - whatever you can give is fine, even if it is 1 or 2 dollars. So he pulled 20 dollars (Hong Kong dollars, which is like 3US) out of his pocket. It was a really genuine exchange.

Then today I was walking in the park and I dropped a book right in front of this bench where 2 ladies were sitting. I took the sign that this book was for one them. So, I said, "I have this beautiful book for you." One lady took it and said Jesus saves. At first I thought, maybe I should keep moving, but some force (not of my own) made me stay to talk with her. Turns out we had the most lovely conversation! I said, "There is one God, with many names - Jesus, Allah, Buddha and Krsna." She said, "Yes, I believe that." Then I showed her a picture of Krsna. She asked, "What does He represent?" I said, "God." She looked interested. I then gave her a flyer for the art program we were having the following day and told her we would love for her to come and I think she would find it a wonderful cultural experience. She read the flyer and she said, "Are you a vegetarian?" I said yes and she got so excited and said she is too. She became a vegetarian because of a heart attack 10 years ago so said she did it for health, not because of faith. I said, "But don't you feel good now?" She said she feels more peaceful. I explained that is because the way animals are killed is so cruel and the consciousness of the person who kills them comes into us." She said, "You are brilliant." It was really sweet. Her name was Margaret and she said she was so happy to meet me and is going to call her Indian friend and see if she will come to the art program.

Transcendental book distribution ki jaya!

Book Distribution at India Festival 2008, Fremont (SF)

A few weeks into August, I grudgingly wake up at around 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning. As I turn off my alarm clock, get out of bed, and start to get ready, I wonder why on earth I am getting up so early during my summer vacation. Then, like a splash of cold water awakening my drowsy consciousness, I remember that it is Sri Balarama’s Appearance Day and I am on my way to help distribute Srila Gurudev’s books and posters at the Festival of India in Fremont. As soon as I remember this, I am excited and happy that this day and the next will be a perfect opportunity to serve Srila Gurudev. I go downstairs and get the boxes of books ready, and wait for Hrdaya Govinda prabhu and Radha.
Before I know it, we are on our way and soon reach the festival site. As usual, Ranga dd is there on time greeting us with a cheerful grin. We unload and decorate our booth and tables with saris, posters, frames, and books. I survey the other booths at the festival, and I think ours is definitely the most beautiful. After setting up, we do a short kirtan and pray that these two days will be a success. In no time at all, streams of people start entering the festival site and exploring our booth.
Our booth is like a precious island full of jewels, and the people outside are like wandering fish in the sea. Hrdaya Govinda is the fisherman, catching the fish with his friendly greetings and reeling them into shore. (Don’t worry, we’re vegetarians so we don’t eat them J) I am shy and lazy a lot of the time and feel unqualified to speak to people about all of these wonderful books, but Ranga dd continuously inspires me to be enthusiastic. So many people come by, drawn by the beautiful posters and books. For every person that comes by the booth, whether they leave with literature or not, we give them a flyer for our local center. We also give them a biography of Srila Gurudev, a small book, and ask if they would like to sign up for the Harikatha mailing list and/or Nama hatta programs.
By Baladev’s mercy, we made enough donations in just two day's to cover the cost of the books and table. We even had extra profit to donate to Navadwip! Just this past weekend, we had a very successful Nama Hatta program at a person’s home, whom we met at the festival. We hope to continue to build a relationship with this very sweet family and the community in that area and beyond. Srila Gurudeva ki jai!! –Gopika dasi


Oh My Goodness! Sharing is so much fun! Hrdayagovinda Prabhu, Ranga Didi, Gopika Didi, and I went to Freemont for the Festival of India 2008 event. Thousands of curious souls walked booth to booth to check out what caught their eye. And as Gopika said, of course ours was super cool and amazing. By Gurudeva’s and Lord Baladeva’s blessings people purchased Gurudeva’s potent books and beautiful posters, and for each purchase we gave them a baggy of popcorn prasadam, which made them feel cared for. At first we were kind of shy, but no problem, that went away with time. It was evident that just as Nike ads advise, we had to “Just Do It”, accept that Gurudeva and Sri Krsna were going to guide the people, and of course help us be bold. We took down the names of people who were interested in receiving Hari-katha and/or hosting Nam-hatta programs at their homes or attending programs. Then from that list we sent out an e-mail, and one person responded. So we did a program at his house, and over 60 people attended. After that successful program he is now interested in having monthly programs at his house, and wants to invite 100 people next time. It’s so wonderful to see Krsna do His God thing in people’s sincere hearts. –Radha dasi

BOOK DISTRIBUTION AT INDIA FESTIVAL, FREMONT (SF)

In the weekend of August 16 - 17, 2008 our Bayarea Sanga (Bhakti Center, San Francisco) participated in a 2 day annual event called 16TH INDIA FESTIVAL - 2008 organised by Federation of Indo-Americans of Northern California for past 16 years in rememberance of India Independence.
Some of the highlights of the festival were booths where vendors were selling clothing, jewelery, food, music, puja paraphernalia , literature and art & craft along with Free Health Fair, cutural programs and seminars. There were also non-profit booths from organisations around Bay Area. The foot traffic for 2 days was estimated to be around 15,000 to 20,000 people. This festival attracts not only Indian people but a mixed crowd who want to know more about different cultures, entertainment, just various respectful reasons.
Through Sri Guru and Vaisnavas causeless mercy our booth was well received. Lots of books were distributed and also Bhakti Art posters. Radha dd, Gopika dd and Hrdyagovinda Prabhu worked very hard.
There are many people there who want to know so much about just everything. Eg. a young man was going through books and he asked where do I start if I want to pursue on this path. And he took Jaiva Dharma. It is difficult to tell them about books when we don't know what it is about. We tried to get some emails for Harikatha Mailing List. For me, it was good experience to even try to talk to people only through Gurudev's causeless mercy. I'm praying at Sri Guru and Vaisnavas causeless mercy that they will allow us to do many many more such services. Lots of people are already aware about our Srila Prabhupada and were curious to know if we were Iskcon.

Radha dd and Gopika dd brought lots of books.. and she very nicely set 2 tables books stacked high. They nicely decorated the booth with beautiful sarees - very attractive. Hopefully we will do much better next year. It just naturally attracts people if you have a larger booth, books stacked high with one copy of each title placed upright in front of each stack, nicely decorated and when people see many people looking at everything. All these are very helpful. Radha dd said these are some of the marketing skills and yes, Radha dd is good about these things. Very inspiring for me. I learnt a lot. Lots of parents were requesting books for children, anything for children. Children are everywhere and if anything can be prepared for young childrens reading, it can definitely be distributed. We had Krsna books for distribution. Beautiful signs were made by Gopika dd. Parents were also asking about devotional cartoons. Coloring books - dasavatar was accepted well, we had few and it was sold out. People were quite receptive, very positive - especially younger people. I think overall our booth went well and praying that we will have many such opportunity to serve again. - Rangadevidasi

Excuse me sir! Welcome to the book distribution zone....

Excuse me sir! Welcome to the book distribution zone, a transcendental Vaikuntha embassy bubble which has opened up on your street corner!

 

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