Alfred Ford, the great-grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, paid a visit to Ermelo recently as a guest of Isckon Mpumalanga .
The 67-year-old Alfred Brush Ford, a Hare Krishna devotee who goes by the name of Ambarish das, was in South Africa to promote the temple of the Vedic Planetarium currently being built in West Bengal, India. When completed it will be the largest Hindu temple in the world.
He also visited Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Botswana.
In an exclusive interview with the Highvelder, he said he was originally of the Episcopalian faith before converting to Krishna Consciousness in 1974 at the age of 24.
He took initiation at the age of 25 when he became a disciple. He is an initiated disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada).
“Many friends and family members were a little dismayed that I had become a Hare Krishnan, because back in those days there was a lot of labeling and Hare Krishnan was seen as cult.
There were a lot of cults in those days. There were also many anti-cult movements or deprogrammers who would capture devotees and people who were members of cults and try and “de-program” them. So my parents were afraid that I had joined a cult and I would be targeted. But I told them that Krishna Consciousness was actually a very ancient religion and is not a cult.”
He added that Krishna Consciousness had changed him significantly, since he was a Hippie before becoming a Hare Krishna devotee.
“I was doing all the things Hippies did, like taking drugs and things like that. But I was always searching, looking for something bigger outside of business and money, so when I found Krishna Consciousness it answered many of my questions. It certainly changed my life.”
Although carrying the Ford name, Alfred Ford said his interests lay in the Ford charities which funded institutions such as the Ford Hospital, and on a personal level, helping to establish and build temples in Detroit and Hawaii.
He is married to Sharmila Ford (Svaha dasi), a doctor from India whom he met in Australia.
They have two daughters, of whom one is married and the other has just graduated from the University of Chicago.
