Hare Krishna, Dear Antony,
Thanks for saying you would have felt insecure too... the thing was, this was not the first time He did this.
He also did it when I first saw Him, which was this same time, but before the kirtan and lecture in the park. I think it was the previous day....
He was giving the lecture, in the temple room, it was the Gainesville, Florida temple, a very small house, as most temples where in those days.
I came into the hallway, after He had already started speaking. There were devotees filling the tiny living room, and people packed in the small foyer, and lining up the staircase.
I walked in and stood there in the hallway looking at Him. I couldn't believe my eyes... He was so small in stature, just this tiny little Indian man, but so powerful.
The energy coming from Him was overwhelming totally.
I stared crying, tears just pouring down my cheeks without any ability to control it. There was no sobbing, like when you are upset, just this overwhelming feeling of intense emotion, and the tears, just pouring.
In my mind, I was trying to make the tears stop because I was very embarrassed (remember I was a very shy 14 year old girl) and this thing of crying this way was totally unacceptable to me.
So, I said over and over in my mind "why are you crying, He's just a man, He's just a man"..... but, no matter how many times I said it, the tears would not stop.
He was speaking then, and looking around the room as He did, like a glance, over the room of devotees, and other people.... like in a semi-circle, and He looked at me, and continued on....
Then, He stopped, and turned His head right back again, and just stared at me..... I was stunned.
There I was, with my long hair down, my pants on, my big brother's over-sized shirt, and I'm standing there with tears streaming down my cheeks, and Prabhupad is just looking at me.
I knew in that moment that I had found Home. Eternally. Prabhupad looking at me was no where near the same feeling as any other person who has ever looked at me in my entire life.
Hare Krishna.... :)
About the dancing....
In those days it was very simple, just the Swami step, like Prabhupad taught us, one foot (well you moved your entire leg) in front of the other, then the other foot... like you can see the devotees doing in some of the old videos here on connect.
That's the only way devotees danced in those days, there were no spins, circles, all that stuff, it all came later on.
Just the Swami step.
So, there weren't that many of us, about a handful of women, and that many men also, I think, because not all the devotees got to go to the park that day.... and there were very few to begin with...
Then, there were also a lot of college students, they were chanting and dancing, some of them.... but in their own way.
Prabhupad, He was just there, on this little wooden sort of stage that the devotees had built for Him, on a small Vyasasana, and He was leading the Kirtan.... playing Kartals.... I always loved to watch Him play Kartals... it's magic..... the way He wraps the strings around His fingers, and of course the way He plays is incomparable.
So, that's was how it was.....
All Glories To Srila Prabhupad!
Love,
Navasi devi dasi