Page 23 - MMOSP (English)
P. 23
My Memories of Çréla Prabhupäda
Nevertheless, as was typical for Çréla Prabhupäda, his visit was
marked with several significant events. I was a fledgling member
of the devotee community, so was not invited to participate
in or attend those events, but simply heard about them
afterward from senior devotees. I was rather impressed that
Çréla Prabhupäda had given an interview to a journalist from
the highbrow Observer newspaper, but less so on hearing that
George Harrison was coming to meet Çréla Prabhupäda. I had
no interest in music icons and considered that the enthusiasm
some devotees had for George was simply a hangover from their
pre-devotional lives. In fact, when a certain devotee excitedly
informed some of us of George’s arrival, it seemed that he
expected us to join him in rushing to try to catch a glimpse of
that great star—so I deliberately went in another direction. I
might have better respected George had I known how much
affection Çréla Prabhupäda had for him.
During this visit by Çréla Prabhupäda, I was able to go on a
morning walk with him—the only one I ever attended. About
thirty devotees were present, since most of the others had been
uninformed of the walk or told not to attend, to prevent too
large a crowd. When several others and myself unexpectedly
saw Çréla Prabhupäda leaving the Manor, we scrambled to follow,
but Bhaja Hari Prabhu, who had been the temple president until
just recently, forbade us. However, when I noticed a godbrother
going along anyway, I did too, and no one objected. During this
walk, Çréla Prabhupäda hardly spoke, apart from his continuous
chanting of japa, in which the accompanying devotees joined
him. I was at the back of the group, just trying to get a glimpse
of Çréla Prabhupäda. Since he was surrounded by many senior
devotees, I couldn’t hear anything he said.
I attended both of the public darçanas that Çréla Prabhupäda
gave during that visit, by squeezing into the largest room of
his quarters with about a hundred other eager godsiblings.
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