He Finally Expressed His Emotions
by Bhaktin Rita
Last week, three college students and a recent graduate visited New Vrindaban. These young people are energetic, enthusiastic, spiritually-oriented, and socially aware. Their common interest revolves around the environment. Therefore, they spent the night in New Vrindaban in order to work in the Organic Teaching Garden and the Garden of Seven Gates.
On their first day, they received a special one-hour tour of Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold. They loved the Palace! They could hardly believe that all of the artwork and decorations had been made by young devotees their own age. They were amazed to learn that the devotees had no professional training. Instead, the devotees had built the Palace by studying do-it-yourself books.
Their second day, they received a personal tour of the temple room. Again, they were awed by the stained glass ceiling, as well as the other hand-made decorations. The devotees’ devotion was so evident, they had to accept that Prabhupada’s process of Krishna consciousness works.
Brad is one of the young people who visited. He just recently earned his Bachelor’s degree in philosophy. While the students expressed their enthusiasm and excitement, Brad was quiet. Because of his reserved nature, I had a hard time reading his mood. He was always attentive and appeared to be listening, but I thought, “Maybe he is just being polite.”
Near the end of their visit, however, I decided to pay the group a final visit. I tried to get Brad’s attention, but he had walked out of the room just before I began speaking to him. While I waited for Brad to return, another visiting devotee started as conversation with me. It was a long conversation!
For nearly an hour, Brad listened intently and without interruption. But he had heard me trying to speak to him earlier. During a break in the conversation, he finally asked, “Did you want to say something to me earlier?”
I said, “Yes. These three are going back to college and will be able to visit the devotees on campus. But you are going back to Cleveland. Do you want me to give you contact information for the devotees in Cleveland?”
Brad had been so reserved earlier, but he finally expressed his emotions. He told me, “Yes! I would love to get in touch with the devotees in Cleveland. I really want to find out more about this. I have a Bhagavad-Gita and I want to study it!”
I took his contact information and promised to e-mail him. Finally, after standing quietly for nearly an hour, he walked away. After two days of uncertainty, I knew without doubt that Prabhupada and the devotees had touched his heart.
