(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 13 April 2013, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.1.33)
To our book distributors, I would like to say this. When you are distributing books on the street, it is tough because people are not waiting for you. They did not come out to the streets to buy books. They came for another reason and then suddenly some ‘extra-terrestrial’ comes in his orange dress and tries to put a book in their hands, “Woah. Noooooooooo! Not interested.”
But sometimes, somebody is just a little absent-minded and you just like, “Bang!” put the book in his hands. You know, he has got it in his hands. Then he stands there looking at it and then you tell him, “Yes, yes, we are not selling them. This book is for you.”
“For me? Really? Oh.” And he has it in his hands. That is the nature of the hand; the hand wants to grab. And once the hand has grabbed it, then the hand does not want to let go. So, they have to have the book in the hand. Once they have the book in the hand, the hand wants to keep it even if the mind does not like it, “It’s mine.”
It is hard to let things go from your hand once you have got it. So then, you know, okay, some people will buy the book but there are also many people who say no. But those who had it in the hand but gave it back and said no, they will think about it, you know what I mean, like I said, it stays in the mind. They will be a little curious, “What was it anyway?”
Therefore, the people that say no today are the ones that are going to say yes tomorrow! They are already preparing the ground. So, do not worry about all those people that say no, it is okay. At least they got in contact; they had the chance and they let it go and they will start to think about it. And the next time a book is offered to them, they will think like well maybe…
Then sometimes, somebody walks up to you, out of nowhere and says, “Oh, can I have one of those books?” That is one of those guys that said no before and who has been thinking about it and finally, just on his own, comes and takes it. So in this way, we should penetrate with this knowledge because it is the real thing. We can tell people it is the real thing and it is! That is the nice thing and therefore sooner or later people will turn to it!
