Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

IN AND OUT OF SNOW Sunday, January 22rd, 2023Ottawa, Ontario Morning meditation began at the ISKCON centre at 212 Somerset E. located in the heart of student land for Ottawa U. Included in these contemplations and mantras was a discussion over a Bhaga…

GENDER BLENDER Friday, January 20th, 2023Brampton, Ontario Nanda took Nikhil and I for a walk at Chinguacousy Park in Brampton. Also, I went to the dentist. The not-good-news is the bridge of my teeth is cracked and needs replacing. The following i…

THE HUMAN, THE MONK, AND THE MODES Thursday, January 19th, 2023243 Avenue Road, Toronto “Rsabhadeva told his sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should…

UNITY AND DIVERSITY Wednesday, January 18th, 2023Yorkville, Toronto UNITY AND DIVERSITY A letter was dispatched in 1973Meant for leaders, the you and mePenned by our dear His Divine GraceOf the concept he willed us to embraceIt was 50 years ago that h…

THREE INTERRUPTIONS Monday, January 16th, 2023Yorkville, Toronto Nikil became my walking partner in 0° weather. I mentioned to him on the is four kilometre walk that I will focus mainly on chanting japa apart from moving the legs. During our short l…

SLEEP IS NEEDED Sunday, January 15th, 2023Niagara Falls, Ontario Sometime people ask me how I do it, whether it be a long walk or busy at flying from country to country. My usual answer is something like, “The mercy of the Creator.” I had to question…

INSTALLING WISDOM Saturday, January 14th, 2023Oakville, Ontario When I asked members of the Bhakti Academy to join me at a house program for kirtan, they jumped for the opportunity. So we set sail (or rather by wheel) for Oakville, westbound. This ho…

THE TROPICS BEHIND Friday, January 13th, 2023Suriname/Miami/Toronto It takes a good hour to drive to Suriname’s principal airport, the Johan Adolf Pengel, from Paramaribo. I was touched by the accompaniment of devotees who ‘came for the ride’ which m…

TO THE DA-KABOERA Thursday, January 12th, 2023Suriname After a lively morning program, twenty or so of us, young and old, were bound to a beautiful resort run the Amerindian community. It was south, in the bush more towards the Amazon. Our intent–a …

ANOTHER LAND Wednesday, January 11th, 2023Paramaribo, Suriname Ram Lila and I were to take a flight at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport, a very modest-sized facility, to destination, Suriname. It’s another country just east of Guyana. The …

HOME VISIT Tuesday, January 10th, 2023Georgetown, Guyana Temperatures are ranging from the low of 20 degrees Celsius to the highs of 30 degrees, which is high for me. When that sun comes out and humidity on top of it, I hide in my hole. As expressed …

UP HIGH Monday, January 9th, 2023Good Hope, Guyana I find the weather to be reather wild and wonderful. Just one kilometre from our location at the Iskcon Centre is the seawall that bars the ocean, so you have these favourable breezes coming at you w…

GUYANA AGAIN Sunday, January 8th, 2023Georgetown, Guyana Things are changing in Guyana. When I took American Airlines from Trinidad to Guyana, a mere one-hour flight, I noticed passengers who were in unmistakably Latino. Apparently, people from trou…

FOLLOW A DISCIPLINE Saturday, January 7th, 2023Longdenville, Trinidad When facilitating a “Kirtan Standards Workshop” like the one we conducted for thirty or so people, the two themes I like to emphasize are “Prabhupada’s standards” and “inclusiveness…

TEMPLE – BEACH – TEMPLE Friday, January 6th, 2023Longdenville, Trinidad “Now, how am I going to scale that formidable gate? It looks like someone forgot to leave me a key for that safety lock that I see before me.” These were my thoughts. I gave a s…

CHECK IN Thursday, January 5th, 2023 Miami/Trinidad Toronto was full of fog and a challenge occurred when the lights at the airport’s runway needed cleaning (so they say). This delayed our departure somewhat and we arrived in Miami a bit later than a…

APPRECIATION PRODUCES GOOD VIBES Wednesday, January 4th, 2023243 Avenue Road, Toronto A fabulous chicory drink, chow mein, Gauranga potatoes (a delicious ISKCON favourite), and kulfi were the special features of an appreciation dinner for the cast and…

OAKS, SHOES, AND AN ATTEMPTED THEFT Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023Oakville, Ontario A river by the name of Sixteen Mile and a quaint downtown where oak trees are known to have had a past and a present were two of our destination points for the day. Madha…

GOING WEST WITH THE GITA Monday, January 2nd, 2023Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is an Ojibwe word which means ‘river of many mouths’. To reach Mississauga in a most practical way is by automobile going west of Toronto, not nearly as romantic or ad…

FAVOURITE LINES Sunday, January 1st, 2023Yorkville, Toronto Our play, Big Fish Little Fish was a smashing success, a real crowd-pleaser. Congrats to the actors and technical people. Some of my favourite lines in the play are as follows: Little Fish …

 BETTER THAN EVER Saturday, December 31st, 2022City Hall, Toronto Our annual kirtan, perhaps the best of the year in terms of participation and intensity, was something we were all geared up for. We huddled in the ashram’s temple at 243 Avenue Ra…

 A PROJECT OF JOY Friday, December 30th, 2022243 Avenue Road, Toronto I am very encouraged by the crew we have to help me in my services to guru and God. Cooperation, humility, good listening, good advising, good intelligence are some of the ingr…

Stouffville, Ontario Art to Give You a Start There they were, like kids in a candy shop. The Bhakti Academy crew joined me for a visit to a household in Stouffville. The proprietor, Ajay, handed me a copy of the Krsna Art Book, which I passed on fo…

The Annex, Toronto    Positive Good Feeling    During the two years of COVID, much paraphernalia piles up; some of it is worthy to trash, some of it needs keeping. For sure some of it needs restationing into other storage areas. T…

Yorkville, Toronto. Coming Up Being setting up the stage for our upcoming drama, “Big Fish, Little Fish.” January 1st is the date for its presentation., 5:30 PM. It’s a story about the journey. In the life of a soul who falls from grace, you can say….

Oakville, Ontario Looking Back and Ahead I asked the group at “I Gita” if 2022 was a good year and I received mixed responses. One person responded with an ambivalent tone. Others expressed optimism. I simply asked this as a lead to have the folks …

Caledon, Ontario What to Do With Christmas? Okay! So, it’s Christmas Eve and what might a believer in Krishna do on such a day, a day when Christians celebrate Christs’ birth? One of our members of the Greater Toronto Area, Vishal, runs a successf…

243 Ave. Rd., Toronto Don’t You Close Down Schools are closed. Shops are closed. Businesses are closed. Some roads – shut down. It is not the weekend. It is not Christmas yet. Winter solstice, Gita Jayanti and Hanukkah have been celebrated already,…

Burnaby/Vancouver/Toronto A Friend In the Air Every once in a while, I meet a real nice person as a passenger on the plane next to me. The timing on the flight between Vancouver and Toronto couldn’t be better for dodging storms. Vancouver got clobb…

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. Scoring in a Lockdown Roads have been quiet. Silent night was early. People preferred to stay at home. Snow had accumulated to levels that made it restrictive to travel. Snow plows were doing their best to clear bu…

Nanaimo, British Columbia Norm A snowstorm hit Vancouver Island just as it did on the mainland. All night long – isn’t that a song? Anyway, here’s a poem about Norm:   I met a man by the name, Norm At the time of a big snow storm He is 66 and h…

Somenos, British Columbia Meeting Norm To get to this lovely town, located on Vancouver Island, you take a ferry from the mainland and sail to Nanaimo, then drive for 30 minutes. The arctic factor appears to have hit the island with snow flurries f…

Burnaby, British Columbia Unique It’s not so usual to be receiving the white stuff we call snow in the Vancouver area. This area is more rain prone. This morning it came down in abundance. It left a blanket of pureness. Pretty for sure. The unique …

Burnaby, British Columbia Two Types The night kicked-in and that was the sign for me to take a walk down by the perfect black and flat soil, where houses and green bushes are in abundance. It was also where a pair of coyotes meandered for food and fu…

Surrey, British Columbia Moving Along Things are moving along with the recording of the audiobook for The Saffron Path. I have completed forty-three chapters and I am well into walking the United States to reach the Elm tree at Tompkins Square, Park,…

Port Coquitlan, British Columbia. Days of Death and Life When I joined the Hare Krishna movement, I was 20. I was young and full of anticipation for an improved life. Well, that has happened. I am blessed. Now looking at fifty years later, my intenti…

Venables Valley, British Columbia Where Snow is Liberating It is no exaggeration when I say that it is liberating when you take a trip to the farm. To be more specific, current and personal, I had the pleasure to hit Highway-1 with Jay Govinda, Hari …

Port Coquitlan, British Columbia Cool/Warm It gets fairly interesting when the boiler breaks down and you sit in a frigid space. I’m talking about our temple hall in Burnaby, where I’m staying. In sacred places like Vrindavan, India, you just don’t…

Toronto/Vancouver Another Set of Beads Enroute to Vancouver, and I’m waiting at the Toronto Airport, Gate 34 for Air Canada Flight 111. A Middle-Eastern fellow came to sit across from where I was sitting. The first thing he did after settling down, w…

Hamilton, Ontario Shall We Dance? I fail to understand why some folks just don’t dance when the drums are beating. I know it can be early for some at 4:30 am when we, the temple residents, attend the chanting session for what we call mangal-arati. Th…