April 27. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Difficulty Living With Carl.
Yet for Carl and Eva, Prabhupada’s simple presence created difficulty. Never before during his whole stay in America had he been a more inconvenient or unwanted guest. Carl’s studio was arranged for him and his wife to live in alone, using the bedroom, kitchen and living-room any way they liked. If they wanted to smoke marijuana or eat meat or whatever, that was their prerogative, this was Carl’s home; he lived here with his wife Eva and their dogs and cats. But now they had to share it with the Swami.
Almost at once the situation became intolerable for Eva. She resented the Swami’s presence in her home. She was a feminist, a liberated white woman with a black husband and a good job. She didn’t like the Swami’s views on women. She hadn’t read his books or attended his classes, but she had heard that he was opposed to sexual intercourse except for conceiving children, and that in his view, a woman was supposed to be shy and chaste and help her husband in spiritual life. She knew about the Swami’s four rules – no meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication or gambling – and she definitely did not want Carl’s swami trying to change their ways to suit his. And he had better not expect her to wait on him as his servant. She sensed the Swami objecting to almost everything she did. If she were to seek his advice he would probably ask her to stop taking drugs, get rid of the cats and dogs, stop drinking and stop contraceptive sex. If the Swami had his way, they would probably eat only at certain times and only certain foods. Eva was a heavy smoker, so he probably wouldn’t like being around her. She was ready for a confrontation.
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