BY: BHAKTA PHILIP
Nov 26, 2010 — USA (SUN) — Recently I was at a hardcore music concert in Massachusetts distributing Srila Prabhupada’s glorious original books. The Boston area has always had a very strong hardcore music scene. People that listen to hardcore music are also generally very open minded, thoughtful, and pride themselves on really seeing through all the crap [for lack of a better word] in the world and not buying into any corrupt systems. As a result they usually dress in black and are labeled as outcasts and punks.
Generally this crowd of people also happen to be very interested in eastern philosophy and usually take Srila Prabhupada’s books, and due to their sincere appreciation are happy to fork out any money they have for them. On top of this, one of the head liners playing that night at this punk rock festival was the Cro-mags.
Nowadays the Cro-Mags are one of the most popular bands in the hardcore music scene and are close friends with the other headliner band that night called the Suicidal Tendencies (who have been at the top of the charts in that scene for over 20 years). The lead singer of the Cro-Mags happens to be a devotee, so some of their fans already know about Prabhupada, Krishna and ISKCON. One interesting quote from him on his MySpace page is:
“Interests: Bhakti-Yoga, Japa meditation, music, gigging, travel, writing, good movies, nutritional counseling, cooking gourmet vegetarian food, juicing, scuba, triathlons, helping the less fortunate and the next generation. But my MAIN interest is fighting to restore SRILA PRABHUPADA as the only guru of ISKCON and destroying the scammers who’ve taken over the movement. You know who you are… and your day is coming!”
As I sifted through the crowd of concert goers, laden with leather jackets full of spikes, chains, patches (depicting symbols, slogans and the names of bands that they are into), tattoos and piercings, I stopped everyone and offered them Srila Prabhupada’s wonderful transcendental books. Often, to my surprise, someone would grab one and look at it in a stern way for a second and then relax and say, “Ok good, we don’t want any of Jayadvaita’s nonsense here”. Then hand it back or buy it from me and thank me for being out there and not pushing the changed books and “not being a blind follower of the bogus rubber-stamped GBC and their f—ed up guru system”.
The first time that someone said this to me that day I was speechless and in shock for a second, that a bunch of older punks (some of them were kids but many were in their thirties and forties or older) knew so much about the inner politics of a once great movement, but now a bunch of broken down churches that only a few Hindus go to on the weekends. But that day not just one person who I approached with Prabhupada’s books but many seemed to be quite educated on the issue of the book changes and other shameful things that are going on within ISKCON, like the rubber-stamping of conditioned souls into the exalted divine position of Diksa-Gurus.
These days (with the Internet as such an integral part of everyone’s life) word travels fast and almost any information you want is just a second’s Google search away. Also there are web sites out there for just about anything. So although I am still a bit taken off guard to hear comments like this more and more these days, it’s really not that surprising, considering that everyone has access to the Internet.
Many people did not have money but were very interested in what I was saying when I explained that the books I was offering them are not a religion but are the original books where karma, reincarnation and all knowledge about the soul originally came from. So I explained that since I am responsible to cover at least the printing cost of these books, I ask everyone to give a donation in this regard. But since I am not after your money for myself, and I just want everyone to have these books, me and my wife have made a website called Krishnapath.org where you can download all of Srila Prabhupada’s original books for free as PDF files. I give them my card with the website address and my personal contact info on it. This way everyone goes away with a smile and in a grateful mood. And with full access to all Srila Prabhupada’s original books.
Many people that night got Srila Prabhupada’s books and even a few people got Tulasi beads from me (I always keep a stash of Tulasi neck beads and japa beads with me in our van just in case I meet some very sincere souls). I even met some of the band members and they said they would check out our website. I was stoked! And I am sure that Srila Prabhupada was pleased that his books went out.
If you would like some of Srila Prabhupada’s original, authorized (pre-1978) books to bring with you in your daily life to distribute, please contact: info@krishnabooks.org.
Speak Your Mind