Never be shy in business or in accepting prasadam

Uttamasloka: Our temple president, Dharmaraj, was artificially austere. To make us austere he didn't give us enough to eat, so we were always in anxiety and would pig out at the feast. We wwere addicted to halwa. There was something about halwa that was irresistible. Once, on yet another day that we hadn't eaten enough, we were going to Detroit. Dharmaraj was bringing a huge amount of halwa, but he wouldn't let us have any. All the way, there I was, in total anxiety, trying to steal some halwa and eat it. Then I thought, 'Here I am going to see the spiritual master, a pure devotee, but I'm thinking of halwa' and I was ashamed. Finally we got there, and we were told, 'We need some volunteers to clean the house where Prabhupada will be staying'. Nobody volunteered. I told myself, 'Volunteer, you stupid idiot, don't be a sourpuss'. My service at the temple had been cleaning the bathroom. I surrendered, got into it, and did it well. I accepted that I was a toilet cleaner. I thought about the Gita when I cleaned, so I made a lot of spiritual advancement in the bathroom. When I went to the house that day, they said, 'We need somebody to clean the bathroom'. I said, 'Me'. I was in ecstasy cleaning the bathroom. I felt as if I had been trained for this. When Prabhupada finally came he was offered a huge plate of fruit. We sat down with Prabhupada, and he said, "Have some." We were picking at it, and Prabhupada said, "Never be shy in business or in accepting prasadam." So we ate. I never forgot that instruction, and from that time on I have never been shy in business or prasadam.