At a temple I visit there is a nice devotee who previously was a gangster. While in jail he somehow received a Bhagavad-gita. He didn’t understand much, but enough to now be a devotee.
He recently told me that a friend of his is in a high security prison and is forced to do hard labor. The friend wrote to him, saying that he’d heard about his new life as a monk in a temple.
He said, “I need help. This place is driving me nuts. If I don’t get some type of help, I’m going to go backwards [take my life].”
My friend sent this person the Bhagavad-gita and instructed him, “You want help, so read this book and get on your knees and beg for forgiveness from God for your offences to Him and to others.”
Later he received a letter back saying. “Thank you so much for this book, the Bhagavad-gita. It saved my life. I’m not this body, and this life is temporary. Just by reading this book, I feel like I’ve left prison, because the knowledge has set me free. Thank you so much.”
Another life saved because of the Bhagavad-gita! The whole world is a prison, and by distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books we’re giving people a chance to leave the prison and go back home back to Godhead.
One thing I’ve been thinking about is when we’re distributing, meditate on giving not on taking. We’re givers, this is a giving society. When we’re sincerely trying to give, people feel it and then want to give. If we want to take, it creates a negative selfish atmosphere, and people back off from the atmosphere we’ve created.
There’s not much time left in the marathon. For the rest of this marathon let’s pray to give out more and more mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna.
Source: https://dandavats.tumblr.com/post/679957259444502528/life-saving-books-at-a-temple-i-visit-there-is-a
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