After going on a lone but ecstatic pilgrimage to Port Said in Egypt (from Cairo) in 1979 to take darsana of the docks where Srila Prabhupada disembarked on his Jaladuta journey from India, I had to visit the West. So I stopped in New York City for a day just to see the nectarean Prabhupada places of pilgrimage (Tompkins Square Park, the Bowery, etc.). When I arrived at "Matchless Gifts" (Prabhupada's first ISKCON temple) it was closed down, the door was locked and it appeared abandoned. I was very disappointed and stood around waiting, hoping that someone would eventually open the door to get inside to their apartment. But no one came. So I waited and waited. Then, when I was just about to give up after what seemed like hours, a stranger came along and said, "Would you like to see inside?" Of course I said yes and he opened the door, leaving me alone to absorb the transcendental mood inside the courtyard where Srila Prabhupada had passed daily to and from his first ISKCON temple in the West. This man just unlocked the door and left, and I have no idea who he was. A simple gesture of kindness from a stranger -- but for me, it was a miracle indeed.
