Then, in one letter, I wrote back to Srila Prabhupada and I said,
“If you want me to work with black people; I will. But if you do not; I do not have any attachment. I will do whatever you say.”
Nevertheless, Wow! This is what he wrote back in the letter;
“Go and preach to the black community.”
I was really kind of shocked. Very shocked. But I was very happy as well because it made me feel very good. Srila Prabhupada was always very, very nice to me. I just do not know what else to say. Srila Prabhupada was very, very nice and ISKCON authorities were very, very, terrible to me; simply terrible.
I never had experiences in my life like I had with ISKCON authorities. Thrown out of temples with no money, in strange cities. After I called them and asked the temple president if I could come and they said “yes”; they invited me. Yet I was still thrown out.
I was invited to go to Montreal temple by the president. I heard that Brahmananda said, that I should never live in an ISKCON temple for the rest of my life. He said I was not qualified. So I inquired why did he say that? Maybe for some reason he did say it. Yes, I concluded that he said
I was just not fit to live in a temple. So I thought maybe I am not.
So I said,
“I will come up to your temple and help if Brahmananda agrees. Please talk to Brahmananda because I just wanted to see why he said that.”
I called the Montreal temple back, and they said no; do not come up here. I asked why; and they said we just do not want you here. So I do not know what Brahmananda said. Nevertheless, they do not want me for some reason they believe in. I could never understand that kind of dealing then: and to this day, I still do not.
However, now I know why they do it. I could not believe that devotees were like that; that holy people were like that. Now I understand; but it really put me through a lot of changes. I did not think that devotees were just bums off the street. I thought devotees were special. Anyways, they are now becoming a little special.
But I always tell them that as far as I am concerned, they are nothing. I am nothing, they are nothing. We are bums and Prabhupada gave us a little potency and we get puffed-up immediately, because we are conditioned souls. I just do not see anybody as fantastic except Srila Prabhupada.