Distrubuting Books {as way to make a living}

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

Anybody think this is at all possible. Would be pretty good job to have. You wouldn't mind getting up in the morning for this kind of fun. {maybe}

[theist]

Selling books is not the same as selling knowledge. Just do it with honesty and after having read them yourself to provide the proper conviction and motivation. That's Prabhupada's program.

 

And if Krsna will's He may increase it to fantastic levels. Srila Prabhupada started humbly with some articles as Back to Godhead magazine, writing the material getting it printed and selling it one on one in the street and wherever he could and look what happened.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

Yeah when I used to work in this office from School as work experience their used to be this Book Guy who used to come around every month or so. Maybe this would be a good idea.

Kinda a spiritual book seller. Not sure. All I can say I would have to have mercy of Lord Nitai. Cause personally I don't have a clue. Like nowadays nobody does something for nothing, seems advertising is big business. Like Bartering, give and take. You put these books in your 'whatever' and in return we'll put a sign outside our temple lol.

[stonehearted]

If we were to approach this as a way to make a living, we may find our success and our satisfaction somewhat more limited than we would hope. However, if we were to approach this as a way of serving guru and Gauranga and depended solely on their mercy for everything in our lives, including food and shelter, then we may find that it's a satisfying way to live. That's how we did it when I joined in 1969-70. We didn't have a life other than Srila Prabhupada's service, no other concerns whatsoever (for the most part--when other concerns injected themselves, we "blooped"). We slept wherever there was a place (I slept outside under our Tulasi trees most of my brahmachari life), ate whatever was provided by Krishna's grace (sometimes that was a lot of tasty, nutritious prasadam, sometimes it was whatever we could scrounge), wore cotton-polyester yardage (usually no shoes in our case), and bathed with a garden hose. Our days were spent either working (hard) around the temple, in the streets of Honolulu chanting and distributing our literature (sometimes up to 10 hours a day), or going door to door distributing literature and begging.

 

However, if a householder could make a comfortable living selling these books, that would be good work. But the real benefit would depend on his or her motives.

[theist]

 

But the real benefit would depend on his or her motives.

 

 

To start one may have very mixed motives. Should such a person first purify himself of all ulterior motives before he begins or is the act of serving by selling the books part of the purification process itself?

[stonehearted]

Of course our motives will be mixed. I didn't mean to warn anyone away from trying, but to caution that we should do so with some knowledge. It's not as if Pankaja is a hot dog eater fresh off the street.

 

We should also be aware that giving ourselves to distributing this literature may not always be easy or fun. Persisting when it's not, adjusting our approach--and examining our motives--is where real progress will come. Progress in Krishna consciousness requires that we become thoughtful, introspective. I meant nothing more than that.

 

One other thought to consider: Krishna consciousness is about giving. That motive produces the most succesful book distribution.

 

Hell, if it meant waiting until you're pure, I'd certainly have never started.

[theist]

I knew what you meant. You were very clear. I just wanted you to flesh it out some more.

 

Going on the street is like entering the front lines. You will really get an excelerated course. You can expect to be tested in many many ways. Your patience will be sorely tested by foul mouthed a__holes one minute and then the next some sweet young mayadevi will be looking deep into your eyes while you try to talk.

 

Then when your head is good and spinning Krsna will send a receptive soul and your consciousness will be at peace again and maybe He will drop some nectar on ya, just to keep you going in the right direction. Soooo nice.

 

It's an intensive. I've seen some make really rapid progress this way.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

Not that I'll know this yet. Babhu Prabhuji said 'just give krsna' which is nice way to put it. Thats same thing Prabhupada said. I guess yo live and learn until I actually do it I won't kinda really know how difficult it is. But I know this kinda Yajna to Lakmimaa I am goona do to get blessings. I want this job badly. Ok I say job. I kinda thought in my head that I need to think of this as something amazing..

 

 

This made me laugh:

Going on the street is like entering the front lines. You will really get an excelerated course. You can expect to be tested in many many ways. Your patience will be sorely tested by foul mouthed a__holes one minute and then the next some sweet young mayadevi will be looking deep into your eyes while you try to talk.

 

haha

[theist]

I call it getting ripped and whipped. Pain and pleasure both dishing out their lashes.

 

[Guest guest]

There ya go, babhru, remindin me of mckinley st.

 

I was not much of a book distributor, however, I can be proud in the fact that all who received a book from me took the content of the book quite seriously. I never made it as a samkirtana man because I hated the idea of giving books to folks by deception and false advertizing. Fortunately, my gbc at the time (my late friend sudama swami) recognized my inabilities, and transferred me to the farm to serve in that capacity.

 

I always wonder how things in our society would have turned out if the book distribution program was performed without cheating, misrepresentation, 100% on the up and up. Perhaps we would not have been able to purchase all those real estate plums, and stuck with the rentals (like ol mcKinley st, or woodland drive in laguna, and just had our own buildings in our centers, like LA, NY, London. There was plenty of funds from our donors, like Mr Harrison, Alfred Ford, and others who gave freely without being cheated an feeling ripped off. I think the extra funds received by having airports with dumpsters full of Prabhupadas books and pamphlets may have been the downfall of the society.

 

Srila Prabhupada hated the idea of folks cheating. When he heard of disciples soliciting funds by saying they were helping the refugees of Biafra, he was very displeased, and demanded those involved to make certain that Biafra relief organizations were properly compensated with all the funds collected by such duplicitous behavior. Srila Prabhupada was led to believe that the books were ALL placed in places of honor in the libraries of the recipients.

 

Anyway, Ive distributed a few BGAII's since I abandoned ISKCON in 1980. The books are still displayed in places of honor aboard Trident Submarines. Others were gladly accepted on consignment by New Age bookstores, etc.

 

Anyway, hare krsna, gotta go find nrsimha the cat and pick some mapalehus and plumerias between the Temple and UH Manoa campus. Thanx, babhru, I live in the past, because KC is beyond the time and place of matterial world.

 

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

 

PS theist, and certainly, da-kine was dere in 1971 at that wonderful scene in front of Intl Marketplace, and the cops were always protecting us against harassment.

[stonehearted]

Actually, McKinley Street wasn't a rental. The up-front money for puchasing it came from Balabhadra. When G sold it, he gave Balabhadra his money back, and B gave that to Srila Prabhupada.

 

But we couldn't get it together to get a bigger, "better" place, despite the best efforts. When G later met with Srila Prabhupada, at Coelho Way, Prabhupada gave him heck for giving up. He protested, "But these devotees have a much nicer temple than I could ever have gotten."

 

Prabhupada: "But I wanted you to do this!"

[stonehearted]

Pankaja:

You can expect to be tested in many many ways. Your patience will be sorely tested by foul mouthed a__holes one minute and then the next some sweet young mayadevi will be looking deep into your eyes while you try to talk.

 

 

Boy, you got that right! Just after I shave up early in 1970, I was preaching to a couple of young women on Kalakaua Ave. After a little discussion, one of them asked, "When did you shave your head?"

 

"Three days ago," I answered.

 

"God, I wish I had met you four days ago."

 

Me: "How sweet of you. Oops-I gotta go!"

[theist]

Before books were being sold we had only BTG's which we sold for a quarter. At some point the men of the temple noticed I was only approaching young girls. The coraled me one evening. My response, "But they are the most receptive." Caught with my hand in the cookie jar and still wouldn't admit it. I could never wait until Sunday's came around and all the new age hippy chicks would come to the temple. No wonder I only lasted 6 months or so.

 

Mahak I agree with you about the way the books were distributed. I remember Prabhupada heard about money being collected for Bangladesh and he had a letter sent to all the temples telling people which said that if someone collects even one penny for starving kids in Bangladesh he must personally see to it that that one penny was actually spent for that.

 

Those scams caused so much ill will with the public. The media stopped covering Ratha-yatra in Golden gate park here in SF many years ago. I blame all the cheating and scandels. Everyone came to think that Krsna consciousness was a cheating society. Even now people think Prabhupada was OK with all that _rap.

 

I would get lectures about spending too much time talking to people instead of selling more books. I was no good at it either.

 

And this was all way before the "pick the bone and bring it home" days really got going.

 

Lesson learned I hope.

[theist]

 

Prabhupada: "But I wanted you to do this!"

 

 

 

Beautiful. It was never about getting a big scene together. It was always about reviving the natural tendancy of individual souls to love and serve Krsna. To dig within ourselves and overcome all those blocks and dams that stand before our consciousness and Lord's living waters. It's the effort and the results are secondary and up to Krsna.

 

[theist]

Yeah some of them really like that 'lotus flower' speak. Such characters some of us are. Even while talking about Krsna's lotus eyes we are trying to draw them into our own.

 

The ad says "Image is everything", but no, motive is everything.

[gHari]

The world may not have been so alienated by the devotees. That is the way it was meant to be. Don't make the mistake again.