Doing service vs Engaging in service

Sarvamangala Dasi: The next time I saw Srila Prabhupada after he went to Africa, and I had his letter, was when he came back through London. Well, my first service was buying flowers for the Deities and is still my favorite service. So I made a banner hanging up outside the temple, which was near the British Museum in Bury Place. I made a banner with flowers saying, 'Jai Srila Prabhupada' and he looked up and he saw it.

We saw Prabhupada; his room was right next to the ladies' rooms in the ladies' ashrama, which was this very small room. So we'd sit outside just hoping we'd see Prabhupada. But he had; he was using our bathroom. We had to share the bathroom with the men upstairs, so we were sitting there. We were so naive and innocent really. We're sitting there waiting for him to go to the bathroom, so we could catch a glimpse of him. 

He came out in his gamcha, and we'd pay our obeisances. He was so kind like a father. He wasn't kind of saying, "Why are you sitting there? This isn't proper." He never did that. He just treated us like his daughters. It was Lord Chaitanya's army, but it wasn't like being in an ordinary army where you had to always get corrected, and told what you were doing was wrong, and what you should be doing.

Prabhupada had a way of encouraging everyone whatever you could do. He was expert in engaging people. It wasn't about doing things, it was about engaging. There's a big difference between doing, just doing service because you're supposed to do service and being engaged. That was Prabhupada. When he looked at you, you felt totally purified, and everything you were worried about or afraid of, just fell away. He's just infinitely encouraging.