A Change of Heart - The Magic Works

Submitted by Mangal Aarti dd

A few months ago I had met an old Indian man on Sankirtan and he was very edgy. We talked for a while but he would not come near the books. He went on and on about how he was Indian etc etc...so i was almost trying to get out of the conversation but Lord Caitanya had a different plan. The next day I had met him again at Avenue and Bloor and this time he was a tiny bit more receptive to talking with me about serious stuff. So he said he thinks he may have a Bhagavad gita at home but I insisted and said you may not have - so he did take it and gave me laxmi. But he was still stuck up about his Indian -Hindu stuff. Today months later i met him but he was completely different. First he stopped and he was just laughing and almost dancing. I could not understand what had happened to him. I asked him did he ever read the Gita or go to temple. Turns out he did both. He went to temple 3 times and already donated 300 dollars there - including the roof reconstruction project. I tried to ask him to come for MSF and he already knew about the marathon. He was talking about Krishna as 'Gopinath' referring so personally, just glorifying prasadam and how he is not allowed sweets but he loves the kheer. This man had changed completely - he was no longer the same man who i had met. Association with Srila Prabhupada's books had completely transformed him and all he could talk about was dancing in Kirtan and said he would come to temple for Vaisesika prabhu's program.

Basket Ball

Submitted by - Mangal Aarti dd

I was really struggling at the corner of avenue and bloor, no one was stopping and it was cold. I thought I guess I prayed too much to lord Caitanya for a taste of sankirtan and now He was going to make me stand there and not stop anyone. So i decided to just try to accept - time to practice what i had heard. Try to please lord Caitanya :)

I started to chant and this really tall tall man with a NBA Sweatshirt came along. I thought he wouldn't stop or even see me but did. First I handed him a tiny book and showed him a picture of Srila Prabhupada. He said he would take it. Then somehow I asked him if he was interested in ancient history and as soon as he looked interested I handed him the Bhagavad gita. He dived right into it. I showed him Sanskrit mantras, he tried and then just asked me how much for the book. I told him whatever he would like to give and he handed me a lot of laxmi for the books. I asked him if he was around for a while and he said he was playing today and leaving the next day back to US.

This is the time I started to put his over TALL hieght and lots of money and game together - i asked him to write to me and gave him a card. I am very ignorant and have no idea about what game he plays or who he is - but perhaps one day, he will take to Krishna Consciousness!

Fearless - Bhayam dvitiya aniveshita

Submitted by Mangal Arti dd

I met this nice Russian lady, perhaps middle aged. She didn't seem the yoga kinds but surely looked distressed. I showed her a Perfection of Yoga (POY) and explained about yoga, meditation and how it helps with relaxation. Sensing some stress, I asked her if she was stressed in life. While giving donation for the book she explained how her son was killing her. I asked her if he was a teenager and she explained he was just caught smoking marijuana, and that he lied about going to school but really was just taking marijuana. She was very distressed and was fearful of what he would do next.

I opened the Bhagavad gita and showed her what Krishna says about material world being a place of fear. And she immediately acknowledged saying yes she feels afraid all the time. She is afraid her ex-husband will loose his job and she wont get child support, Or she will loose her job or worse even she will loose her son - No relief.

Having appreciated the philosophy she left with a book. I realized how amongst millions of other things, we are thankful to Srila Prabhupada for granting us fearlessness through his books in this world. All fear is due to 'bhayam dvitya aniveshita' and through the lamp of knowledge Srila prabhuapda destroys it.

SB 11.2.37 : Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord.

Purport : According to Srila Sridhara Svami the objection may be raised that since fear is caused by ignorance, it can be dispelled by knowledge and there is no need to worship the Supreme Lord. The living entity falsely identifies with his material body, family, society and so on, and he simply has to give up this false identification.

SB 1.11.3 : Out of the four problems of material existence, namely the food problem, the shelter problem, the fear problem and the mating problem, the fear problem gives us more trouble than the others. We are always fearful due to our ignorance of the next problem. The whole material existence is full of problems, and thus the fear problem is always prominent. This is due to our association with the illusory energy of the Lord, known as mäyä or external energy, yet all fear is vanished as soon as there is the sound of the Lord, represented by His holy name, as it was sounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu in the following sixteen words:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare HareHare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare

We can take advantage of these sounds and be free from all threatening problems of material existence.

Krishna tracks, attracts and connects

Submitted by - Mangal Arti dd

I had a few minutes before the session at Urban Edge Yoga started and i stepped downstairs. I was trying to talk to this guy on a bike when a girl passing by asked me about our centre and said she was searching us on the internet. I told her to hold on for a few seconds and she actually waited. She was with a very kind looking man and somehow or other they waited. They were almost leaving when I caught a minute to talk to them - turns out the girl Heather was going to our temple in Miami coconut grove and used to take prasad there and even Warren was going to temple in Venice beach California. I invited them both upstairs to Urban Edge Yoga. Very kindly they agreed, I showed them the Bhagavad gita and as they were leaving I requested them a few minutes to make an offering..they sat on the couch. I started to talk to them and they told me their stories how they were both addicts and joined the AA group ... both were recovering addicts. She was born in LA and grew up in Toronto and went back to Miami where she met devotees. He was born in Toronto and moved to LA where he lived close to venice beach and ate at the temple sometimes and liked the Krishnas. They didnt have the Bhagavad gita but they had seen Srila Prabhupada's picture. She was an actress in TV commercials and then just walked away from everything due to her addictions. They took the Bhagavad Gita and said they will come back. He was very interested in Gita and she was in cooking. They took the dessert cup as they left and i was just wondering it happened - this amazing couple crossing countries to meet Krishnas, the night before they were searching on internet for us ...i was cooking upstairs and came down for few minutes and they stopped at the very minute - Krishna really attracts!

The "Unknown" Connection

Submitted by Mangal-arti dd

As I was coming out of the subway I saw this girl walk into the subway and she clearly caught my attention but I had just finished speaking with someone else and did not have a chance to take out any books or cards. My hands were empty, I regretted in my heart but she registered. I had to run from Bedford to St george and only had a few minutes…I stopped around the corner when I saw a man with his baby and he bought a small Bhagavad Gita, which was probably another 2-3 minute conversation. After this, I continued my sprint to St George. While running, something from within the heart made me stop and turn around. Much to my surprise I saw the same girl who had caught my eye near the subway and she was outside the subway that too near me. I knew Krishna had sent her back and I didn’t even bother with the formalities – I just looked at her and said " hey I just saw you a few minutes back entering the subway and I really wanted to give you a card but it was in my bag and now you are here". She actually took out her headphones and smiled to talk. I just handed her the Bhagavad gita – and before I could say anything about yoga and meditation – she said with great surprise – "wow Bhagavad gita". I was so surprised – I told her ‘don’t tell me you were looking for this as that would just be too much’. She said she had just done a course on religion at UofT where they mentioned the Bhagavad gita and she thought it was interesting and wanted it. I told her how I wanted to give it to her but we missed each other a few minutes back so this is divine intervention. I showed her some mantras, purport and Srila Prabhupada and told her to get it for a donation. She didn’t have money as she just bought a text book. I requested her to look into her wallet and give whatever she had. Somehow she listened and pulled out some laxmi to her own surprise. I asked her to come for Bhagavad GIta discussions and that we have dinner after. She asked me if it was vegan and I told her our centre was vegan and I was just totally taken aback by now because she was also looking for vegan people. We exchanged emails and as I was leaving she told me how she forgot something and had to come out of the subway in this direction as if we were just pulled towards each other by someone. I told her my real estate friend was waiting and I had to run and as I was running she called out – please email me.

We actually don’t sell these books, we just have the great honour of being in association of these books for a few minutes. It is our life’s greatest gift to be in association of guru parmapara

Mis-Judging a book by its Cover - Krishna Magic

Submitted by:- Mangal-arti devi dasi

It was interesting today as i stood at the corner of Avenue and Bloor hoping to reach out to someone with a book. My consciousness was battered and I was severely in pain, physical and mental, but that's not new anymore. I saw this semi clad lady just glide by in her skates and i thought perhaps she must be a crazy...anyways she was wearing a necklace that reminded me of Krishna, I stopped her and asked questions about it. We got talking and I showed her the books I had. She said she was curious about yoga and gave me $2 for the Perfection of Yoga. Soon she started to tell me about Osho's book she had read and some deepak chopra stuff. I immediately replied - wow you should have told me that before. Osho Deepak chopra..they all read Bhagavad Gita and I showed her a copy. Seeing the mantras i asked her to try and read one and she played along. Then she said i have to get a copy of Bhagavad Gita for myself...i told her take this one.She looked positively surprised but had very little laxmi and took the book. I started to tell her about Sunday's event and she said she would come and then i asked her about her life. So she showed me the picture of her daughter who was less than 2 years of age. I asked her to get her daughter along and we chatted. She hugged me several times as she left and said she would come on Sunday. I couldn't believe she was a mother - she barely wore anything and had 4 different earrings and chains and what not...but she too was searching Bhagavad Gita.

Later she stopped me again and introduced me to her friends who were cycling by...they said they would all come on Sunday, but just now i received an email from her :

Thank you Aarti,It was quite a pleasure meeting you today, I am so greatful for the book you gave me and want to start reading it soon. Although sunday sounded like a fabulous idea, my husband just informed me that its mothers day and that he and the baby have a day planned out for me already. I would really like to come to the next event so please let me know as they arise!Namaste,Kristina

A meeting with Sunny on a windy day...

Submitted by:- Mangal Arti dd

It was an extremely windy day. At Yonge-Finch, there are always a lot of extremely shady men who often come up with unpleasant words.  The combination of strong winds and crazy people petrified me even though I know that we are always protected by Sri guru and gauranga. So I decided to move closer to some crowds but how much of a crowd can one find on such a windy day. As I stood scared but trying to smile, this young, clean looking guy stopped without me asking him to stop, this scared me even further. He asked me if I was stopping people to sell something. I told him I was a yoga teacher and asked him if he knew anything about it. He said he had been doing yoga for a year; trying to stay still in the blowing wind, I handed him the Bhagavad Gita

I opened the book and started showing him the mantras and he said 'don't open the book it will get spoiled. I believe you and I will take it. How much is it?'.  I told him it was a donation. To avoid the wind he offered to go to the side and talk-whatever was left of me, got further scared, but we stepped aside and  he just gave me the laxmi and was ready to go. But then I stopped him and said hey I have a mantra for you. I told him try saying Gauranga. He didn't say it but asked what it meant. I told him it means 'Be happy'. He said 'Be happy'. I said yes, just try it. He then went away and I got back to my insignificant sankirtan efforts.

Suddenly I saw him come back and all my fear signals went off. I decided to turn around and hide, started to walk away. He saw me and called out, I pretended to be pre-occupied with my phone. Finally, he screamed GAURANGA and then again GAURANGA, now I had to stop.

He had unknowingly actually started the process of Bhakti Yoga. Later he came to me and asked me some questions but by now my fear was dead. He had called out to the Supreme Lord - he must have been a devotee from some life. Such is the power and mercy of the holy name
.
This episode reminded me of the account of Gajendra. Vaisesika prabhu had explained that Gajendra did not remember that he was Indradyumna or a bhakta. After 1000 years of battle with the crocodile when he realised he was going to lose and die, he still did not remember Krishna. But he remembered the Bhakti Yoga process he had followed in the past life and started reciting the prayers from his past life, not knowing who he was calling to. But the lord accepted the prayers and came right away to deliver his devotee.

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Thereafter, the King of the elephants, Gajendra, fixed his mind in his heart with perfect intelligence and chanted a mantra which he had learned in his previous birth as Indradyumna and which he remembered by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. SB 8.3.1

Never know ... who you'll meet!

Submitted by:- Mangal Arti dd
I was at the corner of Bloor and Spadina but there weren't many people on the street. Suddenly, I saw a man with very long hair on a bike at the traffic light was about to drive off. I thought well why not - so i ran up to him and asked if he had heard about yoga and meditation. I was thinking he would call me crazy but he stopped and looked at the book, I was pushing in his direction. As he saw Srila Prabhupada's name - he looked at me and said 'I have books from Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - are you Hare Krishna?'. My joy had no bounds and I said yes i am hare krishna. How do you know Srila Prabhupada. He explained to me that he used to go to the ISKCON temple in Mexico where he had even tasted prasad. His copy of Bhagavad Gita was back in Mexico and he didn't know devotees here. I showed him Urban Edge Yoga and invited him to our sessions. As he was buying the Bhagavad Gita from me he said he was starving and if he could get some prasad. I was so apologetic but then i remembered some super duper mini muffins in the cookie jar, upstairs. So i ran up and got him some muffins packed in a zip lock. He said he would comeback...

Miracles on the Street ... A Monk Asked Me to Read Books

Submitted by:- Mangal Arti Devi Dasi

Standing on a lonely corner where there weren’t many passersby – I met Natalie. She didn’t seem all hip or yoga types but I thought we should approach everyone – never know who is a devotee. As I started to speak with her she told me her doctor had asked her to do meditation and so I showed her chant and be happy. She really appreciated it and listened carefully about the content and gave me some laxmi. I tried to inquire a little bit more about her and she told me she got cancer two years ago and was told she would die and everyone is surprised she is still alive (still undergoing cancer treatment). At this point I told her perhaps then there is a special reason we met and I handed her the Bhagavad Gita and told her what it was all about - a life time classic, the reincarnation poster, Srila Prabhupada and his mission.

This really got her to open up and share her very strange dreams since she survived cancer. She explained to me she sees a monk in her dreams who asks her to read and read his books again. I had a chill go up my spine as she kept describing. Some of her dreams were vauge but this was really powerful. She didn’t really recognize the monk but she took a very strong attachment to Srila Prabhuapda’s picture and just decided to take the book and gave me a donation. We continued to talk as she expressed her spiritual aspirations.

Then she had another memory flash and she told me a few weeks ago her ex-husband came home with a yoga book and told her that there was a lady standing downstairs near yonge and finch and has books on meditation. She had almost come down to meet me that day but could not make it on time. She hugged me several times and talked about how this was a miracle. It was all so special as I started to realize Srila Prabhupada is truly the master Orchestrator of this sankirtan movement – we just have to stand at our spots and wait for mercy to fall in…Sankirtan truly is a downpour of nectar

Krsna - Akincana vrta : property of the materially impoverished

Submitted by:- Mangal Arti dd

Standing near Yonge and Finch I wasn't able to do much but I was trying to remember Vaisesika prabhu who said you cant do more than what you can do. So I was just praying that i could be properly aligned when this young lady stopped.I asked her if she had tried yoga or meditation and she said no but she wanted to try. I first showed her a Beyond Birth and Death, she seemed interested. I asked on if she had ever thought of questions in life around spirituality or who we are and where we come from. She agreed, I then asked her what her life was like - she said i have had a very tough life and I had almost given up sometime ago. She looked so young to be saying that - so i asked her why. Then right there in the middle of the street she shared with he her story - how her mother didnt do much and she has been on her own since she was 15 - , then she was in an abusive relationship and she had to save herself. Then her mother borrowed all her savings and just never returned - and now mother had abandoned younger sister so she was caring for her - and on top of all this she lost her job last year and thats when she was ready to give up. I was - at a loss of words. So I took out a Bhagavad Gita and introduced her to Srila Prabhupada's picture and told her here in this book is a secret - a secret that Krishna or God is 'Akincana vrta'...or the property of the materially impoverished. The fact that she has had such struggles implies that she is meant for something special. She expressed her desire to read Bhagavad Gita and I promised to assist her. She talked to me for a while and more she spoke more I was horrified to hear stuff. She didnt really look very old, I wondered how old she was. She said she was 23 - my jaw dropped. Please pray that this girl reads Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita and comes to his shelter.

Nectarean Travels

Submitted by:- Mangal Arti Devi Dasi

I was on my flight to Richmond, Virginia early today. Generally going through US customs and security is my most dreaded experience as they treat you like criminals. Today there was an exceptionally huge crowd at security checkpoint (like Christmas day) and they were randomly sending people to full body frisk or another line. I got sent to the other line and had prasad and japa bag in an open hand bag. As my hand bag came out the security lady (Punjabi lady who had immigrated here) saw the japa beads and just started to ask me questions. She said are you Punjabi and I said I am not but my best friend is Punjabi. She then asked me about the japa beads and i explained they were tulasi beads. She saw the Krishna pendent on my neck and said ‘Ah, krishna pendent, so beautiful’…as soon as she appreciated Gopinath she opened a flood gate of appreciation. After a few initial questions she said ‘ I could see you from a distance and had made out you are a very spiritual person’..I was staring at her in bewilderment. Then she said you don’t go now, you stay here and please talk to me your flight is at 8 AM and there is 1 hour so I wont return your boarding pass you talk to me’. I was in utter disbelief – there were so many people waiting and she was on duty just talking to me about God. I realized her courage and sincerity and my emptiness. She spent the next many minutes sharing with me her life and the related problems, I didn’t know what to say. Feeling the need to help, I asked her to chant a mantra - Gauranga…she asked me what it meant and I said it meant ‘be happy’…its golden faced beautiful lord. I also gave her my email and she asked for my phone number. I left with a feeling of gratitude as I got a chance to speak about Krishna even without any effort but I also felt regret as I didn’t tell her the Maha mantra.

Afterwards I was on the terminal waiting for my flight and as always relishing the experience by narrating it to Shyama on the phone – and I was just relaying to her how I regretted not getting the chance to introduce her to Hare Krishna mantra. And that very moment my phone rang to my greatest shock it was that lady Rajkamal or Rosy who was the security officer on duty, she just called to understand what Gauranga meant ?....Now Krishna was giving me a chance, responding to every prayer and now I had to tell her who was Gauranga – so there I am at the airport talking to security personnel explaining Gauranga means Golden faced beautiful Lord. Krishna is blue, Radha rani is golden but when he remembers her he becomes golden and then we call him Gauranga…I told her when you chant Gauranga you are remembering Radha and Krishna. But she was just insistent – she didn’t want to stop here – she asked me is there something more to the mantra – is there an OM around it. I told her well if you want the full mantra – then its Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna hare hare , hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare. So she said ok I know Hare Krishna. Then the discussion dynamics fully changed, she shared with me her tough life and how she cries everyday in front of her altar at home. She expressed her gratitude at having met someone who reminded her of God, she doesn’t talk to everyone like this…she was just pouring her heart out. I told her to try and chant and come to temple. I hope she does. I offered to get her a japa bag and she said she wanted a red or yellow one.

Krishna book – The heart of India

I met this lady and she was just passing by but somehow stopped when she heard about the monk. We got talking and I showed her the Bhagavad-Gita and she just turned her head around saying it was too much. Remembering Vaisesika prabhu, I thought lets show her the 'Perfection of Yoga' and she took it and gave me some laxmi for it. I thought I should keep trying. So I asked her more questions and found out that she had recently gone to India and spent 6 months studying Buddhism. So we talked a bit about Monks and Buddhism, while I was contemplating my next steps. Then I thought of trying an old tip by Vaisesika prabhu, and I said– hey you know what You want! - a book about India – here take the Krishna book. And she just took it. I showed her pictures, told her these were very easy narrations to read and had beautiful pictures (that she liked) and told her that it would give her the heart of India. I showed her the addresses of bhakti yoga centers at the back of Krishna book and she liked that for her future travels to India. She left with the Krishna book and happily gave her email to stay in touch.
- Mangal Aarti Devi Dasi