Begging from beggars...

(December 15 2009) Yesterday I thought Krishna was testing my determination. Over 40 minutes went by and not a single person stopped by and took any interest in the copy of Bhagavad Gita I was holding out. So here it comes, I thought, the stories by stalwarts like Mangal Aarti & Premavati Prabhus came to mind.

Happily though, Krishna chose to treat me very gently quite appropriately too, the neophyte I am. He sent a few people to engage with some minor interactions, one man said "Thanks, I'm not a vegetarian" continuing to walk briskly, another girl suggested I needed a better line than "it's cool", which is what I blurted to her as she passed by once, and her comment came the next time. I sure hoped to have some sparkling repartee for every passing living entity, but tongue tied I was for the most part. Vaisheshika Prabhu's recounting of the lesson from Chaitanya Charitamrita came to mind, something like... "If the people who beg knew how hard it was to give, they wouldn't beg, and if the people who gave knew how hard it was to beg, they would always give"... here I was, begging to be more Krishna Conscious really. I thought, every person who passes by, makes me more Krishna Conscious. They are really gifting this ultimate treasure to me, whether they engage with me or not. Even if they take the book, they take far less than what they give back to me. What better can an insignificant unqualified beggar like me hope for? And I hadn't even chanted all my rounds!

I shared the sidewalk with another beggar, she was asking for money for herself with a simple line "Some change?". I begged her to see if she would take a book even just to read while she sat on the sidewalk, she refused emphatically. How strange it was for a beggar to refuse another beggar. If I see her again, I will try again, maybe she may say yes next time? But I returned the favour, when I started walking away, she asked me for some for change, she knew I had it, so I couldn't lie outright as people sometimes do. So I said, "Sorry, I need to pass it on higher". So beggars do turn other beggars down sometimes.

Several weeks later Februrary 19, 2010...

Next, a person who looked like he may be homeless or very very poor stepped out of the coffee shop next to me and smiled. He had an accent that sounded like he spoke Spanish as his primary language. He asked me something that I could not initially comprehend, but I understood he was asking me "Hare Krishna?". So I nodded enthusiastically and showed him the Spanish books I had with me. He said no, he wanted an English book. So I gave him one and asked if he had some change. He pulled out two coins from his pocket, a $2 (toonie) and a 25 cents (quarter). He asked me if the quarter would be OK, I nodded, eager to have him read the book. So he gave me the quarter dollar donation and took the book. I pulled out the Mantra card and he chanted Hare Krishna with me. What a miracle. I was thrilled! My desire to beg from a beggar was fulfilled on this day. Krishna is kind, He was kind to the other man, and He was kind to me. He helped me see very practically that I should not be judging someone by their appearance. How many rich people had I tried in vain to interest in Krishna's message? As he walked away with his newly acquired book, I saw him stop at a restaurant window and gesture at the patrons asking for money. And later on I realized I had done nothing, he approached me himself with his smile and a "Hare Krishna". Another little miracle... last week, Monday, Ateet Prabhu had written me an email that went something like this: "..may be someone will be attracted to the Matchless Gift..nice cover..and change his/her life...imagine..change someone's life for 25 cents!!!".

(photo originally on: http://therandomizer.wordpress.com)