4- Common mistakes
A common mistake, especially when one is starting on book distribution, is to draw out the book too soon, before stopping the person or introducing yourself, like if the book is a pamphlet. This is the quickest way to burn out a sankirtana field. Everyone sees the book, they see other people refusing it and they get the idea that it’s a valueless thing. Many think that you are giving the books away, and therefore snatch books from your hands without even stopping and so on. This is a terrible practice that has too many disadvantages to enumerate.
The proper way is to first stop people (by asking some question or starting a conversation) and to start showing books only when they stop. Keep in mind that our books are something valuable, and therefore you should not show them to everyone like a pamphlet. This way, the presentation of the books gets a much stronger effect and people are going to take them seriously. This practice helps them to perceive the books as something valuable. If the person is impolite, too defensive, etc. and you see that the conversation is not going to work, then it’s better to finish politely without showing any book.
HG Navina Nirada Prabhu: “I like Vaisesika’s point about picking the ripe fruits. If the fruit is not ripe, leave it on the tree, don’t break the branch. Pick the ripe fruits and leave the unripe fruits in the tree”.
When you do it this way, other people are going to see you showing books only to appreciative persons, and thus many are going to at least become curious about what these books speak about (thus getting a seed of interest that may make them stop on another day). People who don’t stop, don’t get further information about what you are doing, so they also may get curious and may stop another day. Another advantage is that our book distribution becomes much more discreet, which helps to avoid trouble, especially in places where there is repression to our book distribution, like in Russia or China.
It’s important to be aware of the way we speak, training a little bit, and correcting habits that are not favourable for our book distribution. We should speak in a loud and clear way, transmitting confidence to the persons we are talking to. An important tip is to learn to articulate the voice, changing the intonation, making small pauses between sentences, and so on. Our voice should not be flat or boring. Our mantras should have a beginning, middle and end, and should be based on simple ideas. We should be attentive to see if people are understanding what is being spoken, and, above all, we should sound enthusiastic.
In “normal” places, where most people are more or less open, usually the most effective approach is to just carry a stack of books in our hands. This usually has a polarizing effect, making the ones who are a little open, curious about what we are carrying and the ones who are not so nice, more closed and disinterested. This can actually be used to make our book distribution more effective, by choosing the persons who are not repulsed by the simple fact that we are carrying a pile of books. From there, if you politely ask questions and establish a connection with people before taking a book from the stack and start showing them, you’re probably going to get good results. On “burned” places, where people are too defensive (which may happen in places where devotees were already distributing books for a long time using the wrong tactics, or where there are a lot of beggars and street vendors, for example), or in places where you are not allowed to distribute, you may be more discreet, hiding the books in a shoulder bag. The idea remains the same: to draw out the book only after the person stopped and you established a conversation. The only difference is that they don’t see you carrying the stack.
Another important point is about the timing of your presentation. As in many other situations, there is a certain timing to it. You should not show books too soon, before you get a person’s attention and he stops, but also not show too late. If the book distributor just keeps talking without showing a book, he creates an awkward situation and time is wasted. It is better to be direct. When a person stop, try to present a book as soon as possible. For example:
- Hey! (waving to a young guy)
- Are you from here, or from out of town?
- (guy stops) I’m from Toronto.
- Really?? That’s where the nice people live, right? (guy smiles)
- We are showing these to all nice people, take a look! (handing a book)
If you stop a person in a nice way, as soon as you stretch your arm handing over a book, the natural instinct will be for him to grab it. That’s the function of the hand: to grab things. That’s the psychology used in supermarkets for example, where products are put within reach, so people can freely grab them and put them in their carts. When handing a book, it’s important to get the timing right (not too slow, nor too fast), and to aim it at the lower chest level (not higher, at the level of the neck or face, nor too low), where it’s comfortable for the hand to grab it.
Many people will have some block, and not take the book when you show it. If they don’t make the motion to take the book in one or two seconds, you should immediately withdraw your hand (while continuing talking). It works as a reverse psychology: When you get something and then you lose, immediately your curiosity or attachment for this object will increase. The person will get a feeling of missing something.
In many cases, when you withdraw your hand, the person will immediately stretch out his arm, wanting the book. That’s an unconscious reaction to the phenomenon I was describing. If this doesn’t happen, just keep talking for a few seconds more, and repeat the gesture of handing the book (it can be a different book, or even the same book, doesn’t matter so much!). If the person again doesn’t stretch his arm to grab it, you can safely presume that he is not interested. You can then just give a quick exit mantra and desire him good luck before parting ways. There are exceptions, like situations when they are already holding something, or when they don’t want to take their hands out of their pockets because it’s cold, for example, but most of the time, that’s how it works.
Don’t get sentimental thinking that you are going to purify people just by making them see or touch the books. Srila Prabhupada used to emphasize the potency of our books saying that just by touching the books, or reading even one word people get benefit, but we can’t use it as an excuse to make our goal to just make people see or touch the books instead of distributing them.
Our goal is to make people take books and read them. This is where the real benefit lies. Therefore, we should formulate our strategies in a way that is going to give people the best possible chance of taking books and getting the message. If we start doing silly things with some sentimental ideas that actually make people suspicious or disinterested, then we may actually be pushing them away from the path and thus doing a disservice.
Usually, when someone doesn’t even want to hold the book or to hear our presentation, it means that he has some serious misconception or prejudice, just like many Orthodox Christians in Russia, that think that our books are from the devil because they hear that from their priests. In such cases, the best approach is to just thank them and finish the conversation in a polite way.
If you want to insist, a better way is to make a small joke. For example, I sometimes just smile and say: “Oh, come on! Such a big guy afraid of a small book?”. If you want them to touch the books you can say: “Don’t worry, they don’t bite, they are inoffensive, just see” (and you start touching the book to your head and then very gently to their head) “See, nothing bad happened!”, and from there you can see. Sometimes by using jokes you can make them relax and hold the books and from there you can start your mantra. If even with jokes they remain defensive, then it’s better to finish politely and go to another person.
Generally speaking, if you are just starting on book distribution, you should try to speak only with persons who are polite and show some interest. Little by little, you can learn how to approach the difficult cases and also distribute books to them, but to engage these difficult persons effectively demands experience and therefore may take some time. It’s essential to have patience.
5- Control your legs
Another important point is to not walk alongside people trying to convince them, especially while showing books. A lot of times, devotees persist with persons who don’t want to stop, frantically walking alongside them and trying to show them books. This is a very bad practice that looks terrible and burns people out. Instead, we should keep our cool and talk only to the people who stop, even if it means making several attempts. People who don’t want to stop very rarely end up taking books anyway, no matter what we do or how much we insist, so there is very little sense in wasting our energy.
Many times, people show interest, but don’t stop immediately when we start speaking to them, therefore we have to follow them for a few steps to not lose the timing, and other times people pass by us and stop a little bit ahead, so again we have to walk one or two steps to close the distance, which is fine. But apart from that, do not walk alongside people, except in rare, exceptional cases.
The general process is to greet the person or say something to make him stop. If he just ignores you, then it is best to just let him go and focus on the next one. In cases where the person says something, but continues walking, it’s sometimes possible to make them stop with some quick follow-up. In any case, you should only show the books after he stops and gives you some attention. The ones who are not stopping may stop and take books some other day, but at the time there is no point in insisting.
In my experience, this is one of the most important aspects of book distribution: to be sensitive enough to recognise persons who are open and may be interested, and to be detached enough to let go of the people who just want you to get out of their way.
To repeatedly approach the wrong persons not only quickly burns out our energy and creates so many unpleasant interactions, but it also makes us lose precious time that could be used to successfully distribute books to interested people. In every place, there is always a mixture of the two classes. If we keep insisting with the uninterested ones, we will miss out the nice people who are actually looking for this knowledge.
6- Spontaneous approach and directed questions
As we become more experienced and learn how to distinguish people from different groups, we may start using more personal questions, directed specifically towards each individual. To a smart looking boy you could ask, “Excuse me, is there some scientist in your family? You look very intelligent!”, or “You look very intelligent! How many books have you read this year?”. To a happy looking person you could say, “You look so jubilant! What is your secret? That’s rare nowadays!” or “Are you into yoga or meditation? You look very spiritual!”.
HG Navina Nirada Prabhu: “When I meet backpackers or people traveling with luggage, I always ask them: “Do you need some more luggage?” They start laughing, and I give them a book. So, I just say something that relate to then and their situation. I always point out the obvious. If a person is carrying a guitar, I ask them if they play the guitar. Same with any other tool or equipment. This always make a connection. Just point out the obvious, state the obvious. People like that, they can relate to that, it puts them at easy.”
Apart from general lines, that work more or less everywhere, there are also specific lines that work well only on certain places or cultures. For example, in Brazil Sophia Loren was extremely popular in the 1970s, so most ladies that are 50, 60 or 70 years old remember it. So, if we say to a grandma: “You are so elegant, you look like Sophia Loren! What’s your secret?”, many are going to become ecstatic. In other places, however, this may not work so well. In any case, these lines are just examples. You should try to understand the principle and adjust the details according to the circumstance to create your own lines.
Everybody has some self-image, seeing themselves as some kind of undercover hero. When you start glorifying their qualities, immediately they get interested. If you can do it sincerely, that’s the best approach. It really puts the conversation on a very personal level right from the start. Everybody is a part and parcel of Krsna, therefore every soul has all the good qualities. Once you can start understanding that, you will not have any difficulties in finding many good things about every person.
HG Vijaya Prabhu: The more we are able to understand that we are the soul within and that everyone is a soul, part and parcel of Krsna, and that we are all Krsna’s servants, the more we can be friendly toward everyone and be free of the obnoxious poison of envy. Then sankirtana reaches a very pleasing level, where you feel that everyone you approach is like an old friend. This is the reality: everyone is part of Krsna’s family, and when we approach people we’re inviting them back to the spiritual world, where Krsna has His family. The books are invitations for people to come back to their real home, where they will meet Krsna, their best friend and intimate relative. (The Treasure of the Brhat Mrdanga ch. 5)
This kind of direct personal approach is much harder to master than the mechanical questions which I explained previously. It’s not just a technique that you can quickly master. It demands a certain level of realization, to be able to see everyone as who they really are: spirit souls, parts and parcels of Krsna; and talk to each person on a very personal level. It requires that we become honestly interested in them, breaking with the more impersonal mentality that we may develop when just using mantras.
On top of that, it requires a lot of experience, wittiness and perception to get it right. On the other hand, the benefit is tremendous. When I was distributing books in Russia, for example, I noticed that the generic mantras and “weak” questions like “are you from here, or are you visiting the city?” don’t work so well there; a few persons stop, but most just ignore you. The personal approach, on the other hand, works well. By asking the right questions, smiling and treating a person like an old friend, it’s possible to stop most people.
HG Navina Nirada Prabhu: “That’s something I often use. If I see a person that look favourable, I just go up to him and say “Hi!” and then I either shake their hand, or do the fist bomb, or whatever greeting is appropriate, and I say: “Yeah, I’m Nicolas, from Zurich!” and them the person says their name and from where they are from, so you just introduce yourself. In this way, it starts off in a very personal level. Once they agree to that, it’s very hard for them to walk away or to just become impersonal or cold again, so it melts the ice right from the start. It separates the sincere from the insincere, and it requires a bit of shakti and focus. “
In the beginning, one may have difficulty finding good qualities in people to talk about. If that’s the case, I can suggest studying chapters 21 and 22 of the Nectar of Devotion, that describes the qualities of Krsna. As mentioned, the first 50 qualities are also manifested by the fragmentary soul in minute quantity. Naturally, in the conditioned stage these qualities may be covered, but under the coverings, everyone is effulgent, strong, truthful, intelligent, learned, artistic, clever, expert, grateful, pure, magnanimous, heroic, gentle, liberal, auspicious, powerful, famous, attractive, etc. People like to be reminded of that, therefore don’t be shy of using adjectives like that when addressing people. Not only is it true, but when you mention such good qualities, people tend to reciprocate and really show these qualities when talking to you. Once I stopped an old lady and she replied “What do you want?” in an annoyed tone. I replied, in my most humble expression: “Today we are trying to show these books to the most beautiful, gentle ladies in the city, that’s why I stopped you.” The grumpy expression of this old lady completely changed, she smiled broadly and said enthusiastically: “Oh my dear son, you are such a nice boy! What can I do for you??” I started showing her the books and she happily took a small set. Many people just need a small encouragement.
Another important point is information gathering. Usually, when you say something about them, people immediately get curious and stop. Don’t be afraid of using any information that you can get from their expression, the way they dress, the symbols and accessories that they use, etc. in your initial approach and mantra. Can you detect what is his profession? (The key is often how they are dressed). Where he works? (Uniform, badge, or other symbols). Is he or she happily married? (Ring on the finger, happy face, looking healthy, etc.). Has children? (Pendants, photo on the t-shirt, etc.) Is he from some specific group or follows some religion? (Style of dress, facial expression, different symbols, carrying specific books). Does he have some particular hobby? (Often we can detect it by different symbols, particular expressions or types of body) Does he have some special liking for animals? Cats? Dogs? Whales? Does he like some particular band or actor? (Dress style, hair cut, accessories, symbols, names on the t-shirt). From which city is he? (Dress style, mannerisms, accent, symbols) Has he visited some particular city or country during his vacation? (Often they use a shirt or some other souvenir acquired there). Does he like some particular movie or TV series? (Often we just need to read what is written on the t-shirt). Is he into practice of yoga or has any special spiritual interest?
For example, you notice that a young lady is using a pendant with a triangle, a circle and a stick. This means that she likes Harry Potter. You could use it to stop her: “Hey, do you like Harry Potter right? Today we are making a special promotion to Hogwarts students!”. If a person is using a t-shirt from some zombie series, you could ask: “Oh, you like zombies right? Do you think zombies have a soul?”. One time I stopped one man using a shirt from some football team. I used this on my initial approach and started to talk to him as if he was a player of the team, congratulating him to be playing in the winning team and so on. Somehow it connected well, he became very happy and ended taking a small set, despite not being very interested in the books. In the end, he commented that this was actually the second time that he took books from me. He said that he took the first set some time ago just because I made a joke about Batman defeating Superman (happened that this guy was a Batman addict, so this apparently gave him great pleasure). Somehow, by these two incidents, this guy, who was not at all interested in spirituality, ended taking six books in total!
Another time, I was distributing books with two younger brahmacharis. When I was already going back at the end of the day I saw one of them talking with a young lady. I saw that she was not getting interested, about to give the book back and go away. I noticed that she liked Star Wars, so I decided to intervene to try to save the situation. I told her: “You should keep this book, it’s very interesting. This is the knowledge that inspired George Lucas in creating Star Wars” (which is actually true). She started to get interested, so I continued “In previous eras, powerful yogis and mystics would learn how to control matter by practising this knowledge. They would be able to move things with their thought, read and manipulate people’s minds, etc. just like the Jedis. If you practice this knowledge, you may be able to develop it too”. At this point her eyes started to really spark: “I want to read this book! I want! How much it costs??”.
The idea is to get into a person’s mental state and from there connect something that may make him interested in a book (like in the case of the batman guy), or to use it to create arguments to make him interested (like with the Star Wars lady). If you make them remember something that they find pleasurable or interesting, this sensation can be transferred to the book that you are presenting. Actually, our books cover any topic in the world. Once you realize it, it’s actually very easy to make the bridge from the books to any other topic.
Of course you don’t need to see all TV series and other nonsense to use when stopping people; you can learn these things just by observing and talking to people (sankirtana is the school of life, it’s amazing how much we can learn about practically any subject just by distributing books), and of course use whatever you already know. Once HH Mahadyuti Swami commented that in the 1970s there was one brahmacari in the BBT library party who used to sell a lot of sets to university professors by first talking with them about American football (he was a professional player before he joined). He would use his football talking to make them relax and become friends with them. By the time he would present the books, they could not refuse.
Also, a lot of times you can distribute books to persons who normally would not take them by being able to improvise. For example, once I was distributing books with a brahmacari from another city. He tried to stop one well-dressed lady and she quickly avoided him saying that she was not interested. I was a little bit ahead and approached the same lady when she passed: “Excuse-me! I’m his supervisor. I’m just conducting a short survey: What was the reason for you not stopping? Did you not like his approach? The clothes?”. The lady was taken by surprise and actually started to answer: “No, actually it was not because of that, I’m just very busy, life is very stressing nowadays…”. That was a good opportunity to present a book: “Oh! Actually, I have a book that speaks about how to deal with stress! Take a look!” And then, after a short mantra, the lady ended up taking a book. The whole exchange took just a few seconds.
Another time, I was distributing books in downtown Porto Alegre (south of Brazil) and I saw general Vilas Boas (who at the time was the commander of the Brazilian army) coming in my direction. He was old and sick, so he was being pushed in a wheelchair, surrounded by two dozen high-ranking military personnel and bodyguards. It looked like an impregnable aksauhini. Although the chances to be able to talk to the general were small, it was too good of an opportunity to miss, so I gave it a try. Trying to approach the general directly was out of question, so I decided to try to take advantage of the military hierarchical mentality. I approached one of the military men on the side and exclaimed: “Oh! You must be the general right?“. He sheepishly answered, “No, he is the general!“. The general heard and looked in my direction, I greeted him respectfully and approached him. Somehow the bodyguards didn’t prevent it.
He asked what I was doing, and I explained that I was distributing books with ancient wisdom from the Vedas. Knowledge about the soul and self-realization that has been transmitted to sages and saintly kings since time immemorial. Seeing that he became interested, I started to show him the books I had and he took a small set. He asked how much the books cost and I said to just give a donation from his heart. He signalled to one of the big-shots around him and he actually gave a generous donation. I talked a little bit more with him about the immortality of the soul and we parted ways. The interaction with the general ended being very positive, much deeper and personal than a formal meeting would have been. This general was a very nice and pious man, I was impressed. He got the books at a good time. Suffering from a degenerative disease, he didn’t have much time to live. I hope he can become a Vaishnava and join our movement in his next life. His honesty and leadership capacity would be very appreciated in Krsna’s service.