(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami – Melbourne, Australia – SB 1.8.45)
21 May 2012
There was one person who was seeing the devotees at a distance in 1967, in San Francisco. He saw that old man, he saw his followers and he saw how much they changed. And he was afraid and was thinking: I’ll keep a safe distance! So, he observed Prabhupada from a safe distance but not safe enough because even though he never came close to Prabhupada, he developed faith. And later, because he developed faith, later it fructified and he became a devotee anyway.
It is not possible to just stay at a distance because even from a distance, one is purified and develops faith. It is because of this faith that we have in Srila Prabhupada that makes us do all these things otherwise why would we be here… why would we be so different?
I’m used to it now that people are always looking and staring. I mean, why would you wear clothes that are so strange? So many times I was walking somewhere and I hear the kids asking: Mummy, why is he wearing such a strange dress? Why would you do that to yourself… why would you be so weird… why would you have such a funny haircut?
Why would you do all these funny things, unless you had faith in Srila Prabhupada who actually pointed out: Now they actually look like Vaikunta men. When Prabhupada said it, it made sense because Vaikunta men and women are completely normal.
