Perth June 2007
Recently a friend directed me to some images of Srila Prabhupada they’d found on a website. Some photographs included a young woman they thought to be me. I looked them up, and sure enough, there I was.
For a long time I stared at the screen, first at this happy young girl, and then at Srila Prabhupada.I downloaded, and once more found myself staring at these pictures, trying to recall the moments when they were taken.
It was June or July 1970, when I suddenly moved into the Los Angeles temple. Making such a radical life change was quite difficult. More or less, everyday I would swing between counting my blessings and crying.it was such a huge contrast in every way. I was so new and clumsy.
I had been pursuing a career as an actress before first meeting devotees in Australia, where I was born. There, the Sunday feasts with exotic Indian cuisine and a hippie crowd, were appealing. As I was travelling soon to America, I agreed to carry the gift of a pen for Srila Prabhupada.
That decision was about to change my life.
When I arrived in America, I looked for a way to enter the “scene”. I was getting some clues, when I decided to drop off that pen. Visiting the temple, I found an atmosphere I really liked. My intuition told me to stay a short while and try out this lifestyle. So I stayed.
We were all “bussed” to San Francisco and Prabhupada came by plane. An excitement filled the airport as we all assembled to greet him. Enthusiastic young devotees trying to get as close as possible, to catch a glance or smile. Somehow, I was fortunate to come very near, clutching a brass water sprinkler in my hands.
Prabhuapada drove to the temple, where preparations for the parade were underway. Then news of some disturbances caused him to request everyone to learn a new mantra to be chanted for the pleasure of Lord Nsrimhadeva.
The parade began with excited hippies and devotees joining in kirtan before the three rath carts. Thrilled by the chanting and dancing I joined in by pulling the carts through Golden Gate Park towards the sea. Srila Prabhupad arrived in a car, alighted, and offered respects to Lord Jagannatha. Then the kirtan really soared!! Again, I was able to come close enough to see him clearly.
The festival ended in the evening, with lots of prasadam by the ocean, and then a really intense exciting kirtan in the large auditorium known as the Family Dog.
Srila Prabhupada began by noting how so many young people had become frustrated with their upbringing. He advised them to take spiritual guidance, to avoid more disappointment. he spoke for a short time explaining the meaning of the festival to a packed house.
That evening, the first volumes of Krishna Book suddenly arrived, and Srila Prabhupada autographed them, then “auctioned” them off the highest bidders before the eager crowd. He was so expert and charming.
( I just found an old letter from 1970. Srila Prabhupada comments:
"Brahmananda has gone to Japan to complete the KRSNA book. Everything is going alright. A few copies will be ready by the Rathayatra, and I have advised him to send you 25 copies to begin the sales from Rathayatra auspicious date.")
After the Rathayatra we returned to Los Angeles by bus, and he returned by plane. Some months later Srila Prabhupada departed for Japan and India. I continued to remain in the Los Angeles temple until the end of the year, when I travelled to Hong Kong.
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