CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Old Gold Mines
About nine years ago I had a rather remarkable experience. I had just finished helping two friends move into their new home—a small cabin in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado. After spending the night, we woke up to a beautiful morning and decided to go exploring. The entire area was pot marked with gold mines from the past.
This suggestion seemed to spark a lot of enthusiasm and within the hour we set off on our way, each feeling the excitement of the adventure.
We left about 9 AM and after venturing down long forgotten tunnels, climbing over mountains, and looking thru the remnants of one old mining camp after another, dusk finally approached. I remember how even after all of that exploring, I still had more than enough energy and enthusiasm to continue, right up until dark.
After dinner I was simply struck with wonder at all the energy I had. Instead of a forty-three year old man huffing and puffing, I felt as strong as I did when I was a teenager. We all did.
Whenever something profound happens to me, I try to understand it. I enjoy thinking about it. Is there a lesson to be learned? After all, it isn’t every day that something really significant happens to me.
The number one question I asked myself was where in the world did all that energy come from? The answer to this question is fascinating. The answer also has a place in this book.
For each of us—waking up full of energy and experiencing this throughout the day is the result of something very special and natural—not because of pills, fruit juice, elixirs, or potions. Rather, this energy is the result of being involved in something that is interesting to you.
This is what unlocks the energy. There is nothing like it. Because we were so interested in looking around all those old mining camps, it was just as if an energy switch had been thrown on inside of us. Being highly interested is the key.
And this is what I like about Krishna Disaster Relief. Not only is it a direct link to the most interesting person—Lord Krishna—via service to Shrila Prabhupada’s great dream, this service is, in itself, intrinsically highly interesting. Or, I could say that disaster relief has all the makings for a very interesting service.
In many ways, I find this fact to be one of the most important factors about Krishna Disaster Relief. It is extremely interesting. And when you combine this with the fact that people the world over love heroes, what I see is a powerful combination of forces that spell out for me, at least, a great victory for ISKCON and Shrila Prabhupada. After all, it is the fulfillment of his dream that this book is all about.