Alachua, Florida
By the blessings of Krishna I was asked to
speak from Canto 10 of the Bhagavatam. I hope that the class inspired at least
one soul. Just one soul. Hmmm! Maybe two souls are better. One spiritual
brother gave a piece of paper with two names on it, Vaikuntha and Sarva Satya.
“They are two souls who are in a nursing
home for veterans.” The gentle devotee who handed me the slip with names,
directions and room numbers in the home indicated that the two patients are
also veterans of our Krishna Conscious mission. I was happily committed to
contribute my short visit to these two contributors of humanity.
After a great walk over the sandy roads of
the area, my host family took us to Gainesville Health Care Center. We hit an
awkward time. It was dinner. Sarva Satya had lost an arm and needed to be fed.
To Vaikuntha’s room we slipped by and we saw him sincerely offering his food to
Krishna with the deepest meditation. He uttered mantras loudly with head to the
food. Once done, he raised his lovely bearded head and then noticed us standing
there. He blurted out a gorgeous, “Hare Krishna!” and with a welcome that was
novel to us; arms outstretched and with a smile enough to kill.
Back to Sarva in another room we went, and
he gave us his brief but meaningful greetings as well.
These were two souls there that we touched
and in turn touched us. Upon our departure from the center, Anil and family,
who drove us there in the first place, remarked after seeing the price paid in
the struggle of life by patients, “The entire Bhagavatam lesson about life can
be found by a visit to the home for veterans.”
Evening came upon us and there was one last
visit to make – to a local massage therapist, Michael Loomis. It was great
meeting him. One-hour session with him passed by in a flash. He just happened
to be a trekker himself, an adventurist. We had great stories to share.
It was just one more soul to be inspired.
I’m speaking about myself.
7 Km
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