Posted on by Carrie Triffet

If you ask, shall ye receive?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
As an author, I occasionally get requests for free books from folks who like my writings but can’t afford the luxury of buying them. Usually they ask for used or damaged copies – but of course I don’t have any of those. It’s not like bookstores mail their rejects back to me personally; that’s not how it works.
And authors don’t get free copies of their own books. (Even when the author also owns the publishing house, as is the case with my second book, The Enlightenment Project. My cost for that book, before shipping, is something like $4.80 apiece.)
With shipping factored in, it’s more like $9.00. Really, it would almost be easier for me to buy the book on Amazon and have it sent to the recipient instead.
So if I’m filled with love for humanity on the day the request comes in, I might decide to ship a book. Or I might not. I play it by ear.
• • •
So a few weeks back, I received a letter from a woman in India. A very sweet letter, asking for used or damaged copies of The Enlightenment Project. She said she and her community are hungry to learn about enlightenment, and eager to grow in wisdom. But they can’t afford to buy books.
I didn’t know what to make of the letter at first. All the people I know in India speak English better than I do; this letter was clearly from someone for whom English is a second language.
And so I wondered: Is this really a woman in India who wants to learn more about nonduality? Or is it some kid in a Nigerian internet café, who is testing out a peculiar new scam aimed at authors?
Not that the Nigerian angle made any sense, of course – let’s face it, it would take an awful lot of work to make a buck off a self-published spiritual author no one’s heard of. But this is where my mind went at first.
(Hey, it’s an enlightenment project. Clearly I still have a ways to go, in that department.)
I felt no immediate inspiration to ship books to the other side of the world, but didn’t want to reject the request either… just in case it was legitimate. So I handed over the question to Spirit: What would you have me do here?
At first I received no answer. But a few nights later, I was idly flipping channels and stumbled onto a charming documentary on HBO called The Sound of Mumbai, about a group of impoverished kids who perform a one-night-only concert of The Sound of Music at a world-famous Mumbai concert hall.
It was funny and sweet, and ultimately heartbreaking, as (spoiler alert!) nothing changes in the lives of those kids after the one glorious performance is over.
Afterward, as I was lying in bed, I felt a deep kinship with those kids. They were very real to me, they had all come very much alive. And their hopes and dreams mattered every bit as much to me as those of my nearby friends and neighbors.
And a sort of a whoosh of wordless realization struck me: This was my answer from Spirit. My sweet, gentle answer, set to Rogers & Hammerstein lyrics.
So I’ll be sending books to India. Possibly a whole bunch of books, because I’ve been inspired to ask for help from my FaceBook friends in this endeavor, and the generous response has been very heartwarming.
And special thanks in all of this, to my dearest Little Brother, Ananta Garg, for offering to cover import duties and handle distribution from the other end, once the books have been shipped.
I’m truly blessed. And, oddly enough, feeling like the richest lady in all the world. Funny how that works.
If you happen to feel inspired to join me in helping to start a very informal lending library someplace in Gujarat State, here’s what I’m looking for:
2 copies (new or used) of each of the following books:
The Disappearance of the Universe ~ by Gary Renard
Your Immortal Reality ~ by Gary Renard
The Power of Now ~ by Eckhart Tolle
A Course in Miracles
The End of Your World ~ by Adyashanti
Falling Into Grace ~ by Adyashanti
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire ~ by Deepak Chopra
Take Me to Truth ~ by Nouk Sanchez & Tomas Vieira
The Universe is a Dream ~ by Alex Marchand
And any other clear, easy to read favorite books you may have, on the general topic of Oneness.
Contact me here and let me know if you’re inspired to send books. You can mail them to me (I’ll provide a PO box address for that) and I’ll send them on to India.
Thanks in advance, and much love to you!
Sincerely,
The richest lady in the whole damn world

13 Replies to “If you ask, shall ye receive?”

  1. ~ I so love this for you ‘richest lady in the whole damn world’! Your generosity of self and knowledge will certainly spill out to inspire lives all over the World, India just may be the start of yet another path of sharing & caring! Your blog inspired me too over here in my little corner of this world….. Spread your love! ~<3

  2. Carrie – I can get a few of those books covered (do you need to identify which ones ?) I go to India often, so I can just ship it/send it directly to your India contact (that might be easier for you ?)
    I’m not big on lugging stuff from where I currently am, so I’m just probably going to go a local bookstore in India (Bangalore, Bombay and Delhi) are the places I visit often, and buy the required copies and send it, if that method is OK with you ? I know I’ve bought many copies of DU/YIR/ACIM/Power of Now in Indian bookstores, so I know those are freely/easily available.
    Would you like to send me an email with the contact details of the person who’s co-ordinating for you in India ?
    Cheers,
    Anil

    1. Oh, that would be wonderful, Anil! I’ll have to get his contact info for you; I think he’s based in Bangalore, but will have to double check. Or… would you prefer to send books to her directly? (If you’re buying them in India, that solves the issue of import duty.) I have her mailing address. Whichever way you prefer to do it, just let me know.
      Any of the books you’ve mentioned above would be wonderful, thank you! She has mentioned that some in her group don’t speak English, so she and her husband would be providing translation. (A daunting idea!) So I guess the books that speak most simply would be best.
      Thank you again!
      Love,
      Carrie

  3. Hi Carrie,
    I could help you with the books. Let me know which ones you still need and I’ll send a few your way. Happy Holidays!
    Dave

    1. That would be wonderful, Dave. Thank You! I could still use either or both of the Adyashanti books. I will email you a PO box address to send them to. Thank you again, and happy holidays!
      Carrie

  4. Carrie,
    If you still need the ACIM books, I can have new ones sent directly to you from FIP. I looked to see if they have an Indian translation, which they didn’t, but realized as I was looking, one would need to know what was spoken in their area, as I seem to recall from documentary’s that there are various dialects spoken in India.

    1. Thank you so much, Gloria! Actually a friend is buying some English copies of ACIM from a bookstore in India, and then sending them directly to our “library”.
      That’s a good point about dialects! I just assumed it was all Hindi and all spoken the same way regardless of region, but of course that’s not at all likely in such a vast country. Thank you again for the lovely offer, regardless.
      love,
      Carrie

  5. That is great that the ACIM books can be purchased there, and save on shipping costs, since they are quite heavy! Which books do you still need?
    I’ve been meaning to write to tell you I loved “The Enlightenment Project.” It is so encouraging to watch the progress of fellow travelers, and you have such a talent for describing your feelings, and experiences, one feels like they are right there with you. I’m already looking forward to the next book!
    Happy Holiday, Gloria

  6. Thank you so much, Gloria! And happy holidays to you as well!
    I’m still missing “The Universe is a Dream’ by Alex Marchand. It’s such a wonderful intro to ACIM, and I feel sure the graphic novel approach will be very helpful to folks who are struggling with English as a second language.

  7. O.k. if you will send me the P.O. Box number, I’ll get a couple of those on their way to you. I love his book. I bought one for my daughter, because she says ACIM gives her pretzel brain. LOL

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