With Prabhupada - Early days - Satsvarupa dasa Goswami 2008 He had no money or men

[JayaPrabhupada]

Prabhupada was so accessible then. He just started in <st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place>, and I was fortunate to come at that time. So he was my personal, first teacher. He had no money or men, but somehow or other he had the faith that <st1:place w:st="on">Krishna</st1:place> would send him enough that he could continue in his little storefront. He was located in the Lower East Side of New York, which at that time was like a slum. But also hippies from around the country had come to live there; they were trying to experience spiritual life by taking drugs. So somehow or other we came to him. I had a job in the welfare office, and every day I used to pass the storefront where he would later have his temple. It used to be a store called Matchless Gifts. One day I walked by and saw that the storefront was empty, and then a little later I walked by and there was a little note taped to the window. It said, “Classes in Bhagavad Gita Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Transcendental Sound Vibration.” I was already interested in Eastern religion, and so I went in there and saw him for the first time. It was in the summer. He was dressed with just a lungi or dhoti and a sannyasa toppiece with no kurta. To me he looked like Lord Buddha. I was very impressed by him. I couldn’t understand perfectly what he was saying because of his accent, but I liked the chanting very much. He led the Hare Krishna kirtana for half an hour, and then he lectured for about half an hour, and then he chanted again for half an hour. He had such faith in this kirtana process that it was his main way to present Krishna consciousness to the so-called sophisticated people of <st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place>.

Prabhupadadesh, Italy, October 11, 2008 - by Satsvarupa das Goswami

http://www.sdgonline.org/prabhupada/prabhupada_early_iskcon_days.html