I recently sent out a sankirtan story by Madhumangala Prabhu called 'coming back.' When I first read it I felt a little uncomfortable about sending it out because it seemed to be a little shady. However, the exchange seemed to end alright so I sent it out. Then I received this letter from an old friend, Jayarama Prabhu, a devotee in Florida:
"All glories to all book distributors, but I'm not so sure Madhumangala dasa's transcendental trickery is the way to change hearts. Brian could very likely have felt that he was cheated. Being direct, and depending on Krishna, instead of one's own shrwedness is the best to do things. Leave guile out of sankirtana."
I think he's correct. In the past I saw so much trickery in book distribution and we paid for it by having a horrible reputation for many many years, but it's getting better now.
Srila Prabhupada said we should be known as perfect gentlemen. A gentleman is straightforward in his dealings. When people walk away from us after they've had an interaction we want them to feel that they have had a good experience. This is very important both for the people we speak to and ourselves.
I'm sure Madhumangala Prabhu doesn't regularly use this style of book distribution, he's a very nice devotee and a dedicated book distributor. Krishna arranged this so that we can all stand back and think about how we want to be viewed.
Your servant,
Vijaya das
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