A Letter From Srila Prabhupada!
Indradyumna Swami: I'd been a devotee for about eight months and I really wanted to be initiated but Bhagavan said that none of the devotees he'd recommended for initiation had left and he was very strict about devotees waiting one year before they were initiated. This was unusual because in those days devotees were getting initiated after six months, four months, or even one month. But since Bhagavan didn't authorize me to be initiated I thought, "I want Prabhupada to know that I'm aspiring to be initiated by him." So, when Prabhupada was going to the car to leave the Detroit temple, I thought, "I'll give Prabhupada a donation", and I ran upstairs. I'd heard something about the BBT, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. When I'd joined the temple, I'd given all my money two or three thousand dollars to the temple, and the temple president had allowed me to keep ten dollars. I was saving that ten dollars for an emergency, it was some kind of security and for me, it was a lot. I put it in an envelope and I wrote a short letter: "Dear Srila Prabhupada, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to you. Thank you for coming to Detroit. It was a short stay, but I learned so much during your visit and I became attached to you. I'm sorry to see you go and I'm going to feel your separation." I put it in the envelope with the money, sealed it, and ran downstairs. Prabhupada was outside, just getting into his car and I was at the door thirty or forty feet away. I yelled, "Srila Prabhupada!" All the devotees stopped and looked around. Prabhupada said, "Oh?" I said, "I have a letter for you." I ran up to him, paid my obeisances, and gave him my envelope. Prabhupada folded his hands and said, "Hare Krishna." Those short encounters with Srila Prabhupada made such an impression in our hearts. lava-matra sad hu-sange sarvasiddhi haya. By even a moment's association with a pure devotee, one can attain all success. Prabhupada put my letter in his kurta pocket but it was sticking out. I thought, "Is he going to lose it? Will he read it?" Then he drove off. I thought, "Prabhupada's so busy, he probably won't reply."
Two weeks later a letter from Srila Prabhupada came in the mail. In those days, whenever a letter would come it was a special event. The temple president would get the letter, and he wouldn't say to whom it was addressed. We'd assemble in the temple reception room, someone would blow a conch, "Wooooooooo! A letter has come from Srila Prabhupada!" and whatever we were doing? working in the kitchen, cleaning the temple room, preparing the books for sankirtan everyone would drop it and run to hear a few drops of nectar from Srila Prabhupada. We didn't think, "Oh, this letter is for this particular prabhu." We'd thought that whatever Srila Prabhupada said was for the benefit of all of us, so every devotee would hang on every word in the letter. So, Bhagavan said, "Today we've received a letter from Srila Prabhupada addressed to Bhakta Brian." I said, "That's me! Prabhupada wrote a reply to my letter!" Bhagavan said, "Bhakta Brian, you can come forward and read the letter." So I came forward, my hands shaking, and I read, "My dear Bhakta Brian, please accept my blessings. I want to thank you very much for your donation of ten dollars towards my book fund. I have information from the authorities in your temple that you are doing very nicely in Krishna consciousness. So my request to you is that you always follow in the footsteps of advanced devotees and in due course of time I will be very happy to accept you as my duly initiated disciple." I was elated that Prabhupada had agreed to initiate me in due course of time. That gave me a lot of spiritual strength.
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 3 by Siddhanta Dasa
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