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Simply request that they chant Hare Krishna

Amarendra : I asked Prabhupada one time, “How can we make people Krishna conscious?” I was expecting some elaborate answer or formula and Prabhupada said, “Simply request that they chant Hare Krishna and then your business is finished.” And he repeated it. Devotees sometimes say, “Well I was sitting in the audience and Prabhupada said something and it was as if he was only talking to me.” Well, Prabhupada was talking to me but I wasn’t listening. I wasn’t listening because I have many defects, but the worst of them is attachment to the fruit. I am very passionate and very attached to the fruits of my labor even though it’s dovetailed in Krishna consciousness. In Gainesville I was preaching to students and I desperately wanted them to become devotees. I was almost willing them with my mind, “You must become a devotee.” I wanted to take away their free will and make them a devotee. Later on when I was a lawyer, winning and losing cases, I was so attached to winning; winning for Krishna, but still winning nonetheless. Because I was not listening to Prabhupada that night, I didn’t hear, “Then your business is finished”, which is right out of the Bhagavad-gita: you have to perform your prescribed duty but you have no right to the fruits of your endeavors. That is up to Krishna and that belongs to Krishna. He was talking to me because he knew that I have these attachments.



Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 4 by Siddhanta Dasa