By the mercy of K rsna one gets a spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master one gets K rsna.

So our coming to K rsna Consciousness is a transcendental and mystical arrangement by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the case of every devotee I’ve spoken to on the subject, and my own case in no different, the major ingredient in K rsna’s transcendental plot to get us all back home is the contact with Sr ila Prabhupada’s books.  This contact ranges from just getting a glimpse of one of His Divine Grace’s books in the hands of a devotee out on the street or wherever K rsna’s dear servants may be attempting to distribute, to deeply reading and absorbing every word Sr ila Prabhupada has given us .

Incidentally, “ each and every word”  Sr ila Prabhupada said is “for the good of human society ”. The following is a very tiny, tiny, drop in the great ocean of K rsna’s transcendental arrangement showing how indeed Sr ila Prabhupada’s books are saving human society.

 One time while at the house of my music teacher I saw one of Sr ila Prabhupada’s small books. I remember looking for a good few moments at the photograph of Srila Prabhupada on the back of the book. I remember been nicely confused because I couldn’t relate the book to anything I had experienced of before. I asked my music teacher about it and she said that her daughter got it on the streets of Limerick, but couldn’t tell me anything else.

Some years later I met a devotee on the streets of Dublin and he very kindly offered me some books. At this stage in my life I had become very degraded and was suffering very much. I was actually angered by the devotee and rudely refused his offer. Merciful as K rsna’s devotees are, he encouraged me to try “The Golden Avatara” vegetarian restaurant. This suggestion that I should eat vegetarian food annoyed me even more though.

Soon after, because of my bad habits, I became very ill and ended up in hospital for many months suffering great agony. Most of my friends gave up on me except my ex-girlfriend. One day she phoned me to see how I was doing and told me that she was babysitting for the Hare K rsnas. I didn’t connect the Hare K rsnas with the Golden Avatara  restaurant or the photo of Sr ila Prabhupada smiling beautifully on the back of the book at my music teacher’s house, and commented that “ I hope they are paying you well”. When she told me that they weren’t paying her at all I became intrigued to know about these Hare K rsna people. Later on Fionnuala gave me a “ Reservoir of Pleasure” , a small pamphlet, and told me all about the Hare K rsnas, Sr i la Prabhupada and the regulative principles. I read the ‘ Reservoir of Pleasure’  and felt great relief. I knew that this knowledge and this was very, very special. 

Sri Rupa Prabhu in action on the street

As my desire grew to know more, K rsna’s reciprocation with me increased and next I discovered a ‘ Science of Self Realization’   and more small books in my sister’s book case at home.   The Science of Self Realization  had a great impact on me and I got out my old rosary beads that I got for my confirmation, which I never used. Armed with my rosary beads I began trying to chant Hare K rsna after reading about the eight ecstatic symptoms one obtains as a result of chanting. While chanting Hare K rsna with great expectations of ecstasy, looking at my arms to see if the hair was standing on end, I would pray to Lord Jesus in my mind to let me know if what I was doing was OK or not.   I didn’t see any signs in my environment indicating that this chanting Hare K rsna Hare K rsna wasn’t OK, so I proceeded with great enthusiasm.

Next I went in search of the Bhagavad-Gita .  Easons book store or O’ Mahony’s   in Limerick had never heard of it. Then I tried Tony Clarke’s second hand book store. K rsna had a nice surprise for me here. I remember just taking a look at a huge book shelf full with books, no categorisation or organisation to it. Immediately my eyes saw the “ Teachings of Queen Kunti”  then next glance the “ Teachings of Lord Kapila” and then next glance a soft bound Bhagavad-Gita   As It Is. I walked out of the store with five or six of Sr ila Prabhupada’s books and didn’t pay more than £10 for all of them!

I became an avid reader and very soon, by K rsna’s mercy, met the devotees . They were three prabhus  living in a van, cooking the most wonderful food and absolutely convinced about what they were doing, which was spending all day on the streets distributing Sr ila Prabhupada’s books. I consider myself very fortunate and I am very grateful to the devotees who preached to me—Patita Pavana, Nitai Candra, Caitanya Candra and Rohini Kumara prabhus. Because they had strictly followed their spiritual master, His Grace P åthu Prabhu, who followed his spiritual master His Divine Grace Sr ila Prabhupada’s   instruction to distribute books and to spread this movement, all great fortune has come to my life. 

     

  It was 1984 and after distributing books at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa, Florida, we had parked in a Days Inn parking lot for the night Our van of five brahmacaris was fast asleep when we heard over a megaphone, “Alright in there! Come out slowly with your hands raised!” I looked out the windows surprised to see the van surrounded by ten police cars and more than a dozen officers with there guns drawn!

We emerged from the van squinting from the bright flashlights burning our eyes. The officers began to frisk each one of us, though we were dressed only in gamshas (bath towels).

“What are you doing here?” the officer in charge demanded.

“We are distributing love of God in the form of books,” I explained.

“Prove it!”

I opened the van doors, thinking this to perhaps be a dream. I reached into one of the boxes, pulled out a Bhagavad-Gita  and handed it to the officer in charge. He intently inspected the book, then me, then the book again, until finally he broke the silence declaring, “All glories to Srila Prabhupada!”

I was taken aback as were his gun-toting subordinates. At this point I was convinced that this was all a dream! The officer in charge proudly explained, “ I used to go to the University of Florida and regularly ate the Krishna lunch. You practically put me through college. I even stayed two days at the temple!”

Turning to his associates he announced “These are great books and you should all buy one.” On his order, the officers began reaching out for their wallets. Of the 20 cops, I think about 90% of them took books. We made almost $200!

Our new friend then apologised for the abrupt entry, telling us that earlier that night a gun store had been robbed and the description of the getaway vehicle exactly matched our van. I didn’t get much sleep that night after one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. But thanks to Prasadam distribution it turned into a great sankirtana story.