BENEFITS OF CHANCE MEETINGS
A couple of years ago, I wrote in our family blog The Flowering Tree an article about how a chance meeting of my father with Dayananda Pai, the librarian of Kasturba Medical College, while he was waiting to catch a bus at the Tiger Circle, Manipal, changed my life forever. He handed to my father a brochure for ECFMG examination, which led to my applying for that examination, passing it and coming to America within 8 months after that event. Every one of us might encounter strangers now and then, but often one fails to recognize their importance. Earlier, I wrote about a chance meeting with Prof. Emil Draister, which greatly benefited me intellectually. Here is another example of a chance meeting with a total stranger, which changed my life forever.
In 1989, I was heading to the baggage claim area of Lambert Airport, St. Louis, Missouri, after arriving from a trip abroad, when an American man approached me and placed a hardcover book in my hand. He asked me to give him a ten dollar ‘donation’ in return. I looked at the book. It was titled: Bhagavad Gita, As It Is. It was written by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Obviously, the man was a volunteer of Hare Krishna Cult. I paid him ten dollars and brought the book home. I put it on the bookshelf and forgot all about it. I had no interest in reading it, as I did not know much about its contents.
A year later, an American doctor called me and asked me if I had a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. Apparently, his wife was dying from cancer and he was looking for some spiritual solace. I gave him my book. Some months later, he returned the book with a terse note inside:
Philip W. Taylor, M.D. F.A.C.P. September 10th 1990
Bob, thank you for loaning me this book. I found it tough going but interesting. I should probably read it a dozen times to better understand more of it. Thanks, Phil.
I can tell you with certainty that he got nothing from reading that book. NOTHING. I wondered, why a ‘Holy Book’ should be so difficult to understand.
The book went back on the shelf. A few months later, I opened the book and tried to read it. I could not understand anything about the shlokas and the Swami’s commentary of them. I read many times, and yet, I could not make head or tail of it.
Over the next 13 years, I became obsessed with understanding the essence of the book. I diligently studied not only the Bhagavad Gita in depth, but also the Upanishads and the Rig Veda. In 2013, I published ‘The Untold Story of the Bhagavad Gita’ subtitled, ‘The True Intent and Spirit of the Bhagavad Gita in its Historical Context’; in 2016, I published ‘Ashoka’s Song in the Bhagavad Gita’ subtitled, ‘The Untold Story of Ashoka’s Edicts’; and in 2019, I published ‘ISHOPANIDHAD’ subtitled, ‘The Story of Brahmanism’s Triumph.’
All these things happened because of one chance meeting between a Hare Krishna Cultist and myself. I can say with absolute certainty that if that encounter had not taken place, my life would not have been as intellectually fulfilling as it has been.