My Talk to the Walls
Ida Patterson had such tremendous affection for me. She knew me in the Ashram; and in December 1965 she invited me to Minneapolis to give talks. I went there to spend a week. She lived on Dupont Avenue.
My first talk in Minneapolis was a fiasco! I was supposed to give a talk on reincarnation. Ida had promised me that many, many people would come. But nobody came. She was the only listener. I gave my talk to the walls.
I remembered that one of Sri Ramakrishna's dearest disciples, Swami Brahmananda, once gave a talk and nobody came. He said that he was so happy because he got such receptivity. He said, "The walls did not argue with me. At other times when I give talks, people ask such rubbish questions. "
In my case also, I gave my talk. Ida sat by the door the entire time with the hope that somebody would come. But nobody came.
