What Ravi learned

BOISE -- Ravi Gupta is one of the chosen few meeting with Pope Benedict during his U.S. visit.  Ravi was raised in Boise, the son of a Hare Krishna leader.

The 26-year-old joined an interfaith contingent for today's meeting with the pope during his highly publicized trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City.

"It's very important for religious leaders to come together, that they stand together for peace and dialogue," said Ravi Gupta.

The topic among leaders from various religions was strengthening interfaith relationships.

Ravi is a Hare Krishna, a sect of the Hindu faith.

He has been in the news before.  When he was only 12 years old, he attended Boise State University, where he doubled majored.

At 17, he was getting his PhD at Oxford.  Now, he's a theology teacher in Kentucky.

Today, we put our NBC affiliate in touch with Ravi and they were able to talk to him before he loaded the bus that took a number of religious leaders to their meeting with the pope.

Ravi represented not only his faith, but also his generation and their quest for interfaith relationships.

Ravi gave the pope an incense burner from his temple.  He also wore the traditional Hare Krishna dress.

The Catholic Diocese in Washington, D.C. picked Ravi after he spoke at an interfaith event about the Hare Krishna movement.

"I think it's very important to remember that there are not just three religious in the world and religious diversity is very, very vast, and Hinduism is a very diverse religion," said Ravi Gupta.

We also spoke with Ravi's father Arun.

He took us through the temple where Ravi was educated and humbly talked about his son's accomplishments.