Gods Threat!
Had a weird experience yesterday involving an ISKCON salesman (Hare Rama Hare Krishna weirdo/fundamentalist/gods right hand man etc.). The setting (as with most of my experiences & observations) is at Happy, a small restaurant close to my house, at 3.30 PM (for the first time ever in my life i've been to happy in the afternoon) & am reading this book titled White Lotus by Osho. When this procession of Hare Rama Hare Krishna followers makes its way down the road opposite happy, making a racket at 4 PM in the evening, & causing traffic jam just before rush hour. I am not sure but i think a couple of ISKCON salesmen were selling some ISKCON reading materials to the passersby & probably had come into happy for a drink of water, thats when i realised a guy staring at my book. I knew then & there that he'll be making a sales pitch to me but the conversation that followed was amusing:
ISKCON guy: Sir will you take a look at these books about Krishna Consciousness?
Me: No thanks.
ISKCON Guy: (continuing with his pitch & not hearing what i'd said) There this book about science & krishna consciousness.
Me: No thanks, but i've already got a book to read.
ISKCON Guy: What you are reading is trash! (pointing to my Osho Book) You will not gain anything from it.
(pause. This is the time I thought i'd be left alone again, but no)
ISKCON Guy: Do you know who is going to die?
Me: All are going to die eventually, i think.
ISKCON Guy: No, you are going to die, not me , you alone will die, I am amar (eternal) .
And finally he leaves, till then most of the people in the restaurant are stunned with our conversation, someone from the other table who'd half heard the conversation asked whether that guy had threatened to kill me.
All I can make of this conversation is that yes, I was threatened, I was threatened with eternal damnation (probably the way this "disciple" was recruited). I will not say that Osho & his books are good or bad, that is not for me to judge, heck i wouldnt mind reading ISKCON books for that matter , but the point is when i read or want to know about spirituality (or any knowledge for that matter) the first thing that i always do is to keep aside all bias or prejudice & as far as possible keep my mind open to any viewpoints. Knowledge, as far as i can make it, is different from judgements, judgements happen only before or upto the point till "full" knowledge is gained . After you "know" why would you want to judge, since any judgement is immaterial to you at that stage. If he has himself read ISKCON books I wonder what made this guy think that what Osho wrote was different & crappier than what ISKCON publishes?.
I read books coz I just want to know what various people think, thats all. Whether they think right or wrong is not something i am looking for, I am looking for the emotion that the writing evokes, the peacefulness that the authors words & their thoughts evoke. If these guys sell their books in a manner in which vegetables are sold it'll be really difficult for people like me to read such books. To say the least I am off reading any ISKCON stuff.
If i am going to die , theres no point reading about eternal life.
ISKCON guy: Sir will you take a look at these books about Krishna Consciousness?
Me: No thanks.
ISKCON Guy: (continuing with his pitch & not hearing what i'd said) There this book about science & krishna consciousness.
Me: No thanks, but i've already got a book to read.
ISKCON Guy: What you are reading is trash! (pointing to my Osho Book) You will not gain anything from it.
(pause. This is the time I thought i'd be left alone again, but no)
ISKCON Guy: Do you know who is going to die?
Me: All are going to die eventually, i think.
ISKCON Guy: No, you are going to die, not me , you alone will die, I am amar (eternal) .
And finally he leaves, till then most of the people in the restaurant are stunned with our conversation, someone from the other table who'd half heard the conversation asked whether that guy had threatened to kill me.
All I can make of this conversation is that yes, I was threatened, I was threatened with eternal damnation (probably the way this "disciple" was recruited). I will not say that Osho & his books are good or bad, that is not for me to judge, heck i wouldnt mind reading ISKCON books for that matter , but the point is when i read or want to know about spirituality (or any knowledge for that matter) the first thing that i always do is to keep aside all bias or prejudice & as far as possible keep my mind open to any viewpoints. Knowledge, as far as i can make it, is different from judgements, judgements happen only before or upto the point till "full" knowledge is gained . After you "know" why would you want to judge, since any judgement is immaterial to you at that stage. If he has himself read ISKCON books I wonder what made this guy think that what Osho wrote was different & crappier than what ISKCON publishes?.
I read books coz I just want to know what various people think, thats all. Whether they think right or wrong is not something i am looking for, I am looking for the emotion that the writing evokes, the peacefulness that the authors words & their thoughts evoke. If these guys sell their books in a manner in which vegetables are sold it'll be really difficult for people like me to read such books. To say the least I am off reading any ISKCON stuff.
If i am going to die , theres no point reading about eternal life.
posted by Bird at
5:30 AM
3 Comments:
Reply to the guy, "Nice to meet you Mr. Amar, now kindly F*** Off!"
Uhhh... I think the guy was just frustrated with no one buying his book man! Bird, you could have helped the guy in need!
And maybe he saw the cigarette in your hand.... so it lead him to conclude you are going to die... but what makes him conclude that he will be "amar" is still a mystery.
BTW, whatever happened to the Da Vinci Code? Finished it? Talk to Pals... he'll have some Osho advice for you. And BTW, Pals is a big ISKCON fan! I am witness to the fact that He practiced stuff in New York too!
Birdy, I think you give people too much benefit for them being alive.
Imagine, knowing me, what would I have done had this happened to me.
:) Laughing already, I see.
I agree with Apoo. There was once that I had used a dialogue on a decent acquaintance of mine. I had said "May God FUCK you, on this joyous occasion." The reason why i didnt twist his arm and shove it up his ass and make him dig his nose from the inside, is because i knew him. some up with something innovative to say to sorry people like these.
The next time someone tries to take away your right to be yourself, especially if it is to sell you something (talk about screwed up priorities), make him taste the insides of his scrotum. You owe it to the next guy he is going to torture with his facial faeces.
It is not my responsibility to correct people's delusions. As long as there is no physical threat there is no point in abusing people.
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