Dear devotees
Central Station, Sydney, 3 March 2010
I set out with Bhakta Oliver, a German devotee and another Auckland
Loft
success story. He had been approached by a sankirtan devotee but had
declined the SB 1.1 -- only to return to his hostel and find the same
book on the shelf! At that point, being the wise soul that he is, he
surrendered to the Loft programs. Every day for a few months he helped
the devotees there, and then he moved into the Auckland/Sydney
Brahmacari ashram.
Bhakta Oliver and myself went on sankirtan and....
Two young men approached me in a timid mood.
"Ahh . . . Do you know where to get any weed?"
(For all you pure devotees out there, ÒweedÓ is a street name for
marijuana, an illegal drug known for its ability to cover the soul
with
smoke.)
ÒOh, so you want to get high?Ó I said, full of confidence, knowing I
had
the real deal, the highest-grade gear available for them.
ÒI come form Nimbin,Ó I informed them with great authority. ÒDo you
know
where that is?Ó
ÒYes,Ó they said with a look of astonishment. ÒWe are going there
tomorrow!Ó
(Nimbin is a little hippie town in the hills of northern N.S.W. (Aus),
only a few hills away from the New Govardhana farm, where I grew up (a
little too close, unfortunately). Sadly, I know the tama scene too
well
from my juvenile delinquent days. But this was another chance to
dovetail.)
ÒWell, I smoked dope for too many years to count. I tried all the
different types and styles. And IÕll tell what: ThereÕs no
satisfaction!
Only lung contraction!Ó
Accepting my qualifications, they began to listen with rapt attention.
ÒYes,Ó I continued, Òyou smoke dope and get some temporary illusion of
stress relief. But ultimately you come crashing down, confused and
demented, with your black-tar-plugged lungs fighting for breath and
your
wallet empty from being ripped off by the local street thugs.
ÒWhy do we need it, anyway? Is life that bad that we need to make it
worse by over-endeavoring to accumulate money to support our drug
habit
as well as the dealerÕs?
ÒNot if you got knowledge, my pleasure-seeking friends!
ÒIf you wanna get high and never come down, then this book is where
itÕs
at!Ó
And I ran them through an interesting presentation of the pictures in
the BG, explaining how weÕre not the body, weÕre the soul, and one who
understands this lives a life of ever-increasing spiritual bliss, etc.
Throughout the whole spontaneous presentation, I had my doubts that
they
would be convinced, due to their one-pointed focus on finding some
moldy
old flowers that smell like and resemble stool. But, as the Supersoul
always does, He surprised me by inspiring one of them to say:
ÒWow! That was a good speech. Ok, IÕll take one.Ó
And he pulled out $15 -- which wouldÕve certainly been wasted on some
chemically-infused marijuana on the streets of Sydney -- and gave it
to
Krsna while expressing his gratitude for the awakening presentation.
Haribol!!!
I gave him details to keep in touch and, offering my respect to the
Supersoul within their hearts, waved good-bye.
Bhakta Oliver witnessed the whole underground operation going down in
the back streets of Sydney with amazement.
Oliver and I both concluded that we should take every opportunity to
connect people to Krsna and use all our experiences, good and bad, to
aid that goal. After all, Srila Prabhupada turned hippies into
happies,
right?
Getting high off the transcendental dust from KrsnaÕs lotus feet ki
jai!!!
Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!!
Your servant,
Dhruvananda Dasa
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Hari bol