Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto Bhakti Infused   At noon I had some special guests, a couple who are married, yogis, devotional and mature. We met and spent an hour or more in Govinda’s for a meal. Their journey began at the Sivananda institution, beco…

Toronto General West Hospital Day of Some Accomplishment   Kevin is on holiday so another physiotherapist tended to a session with me. Her response to the exercises and stretches are rendered was like Kevin’s reaction; most positive. Some new m…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto, Ontario Dear Mind   Some days you are a friend Some days you are foe You swing moods up You swing them low I can’t always trust You’re not in one place You respond well to lust Big dose or a trace You lead me to g…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto Delights It was a delight delivering a class, over Zoom to Vancouver, this morning about the pastime of Krishna being charged by all his young friends for eating mridam (dirt). His buddies, including his older brother, Balar…

Gage Park, Hamilton Quiet in the Park It was time to get out of the city for a change and so Chris and Nick orchestrated a kirtan gathering (first for this year) at a park in Hamilton. Hamilton is a one-hour drive from Toronto, has a population of …

Kew Gardens, Toronto Slowly Getting Back It was liberating to get back to giving a Bhagavatam class and also to leading a kirtan at noon in the temple room. Varun came from Ottawa to participate, so did Krishna Chandra, our local yoga instructor. P…

Burke Book, Toronto   Getting Out Means Meeting People   “Hi!” Greeted the gentleman, who, along with his wife, were walking down the same trail as Paramahamsa and I. We were sitting on a stone for me to catch my breath while also catching …

Scarborough Bluffs, Toronto   By the Bluffs   It was our determination to go somewhere where the wind is your friend and the water motion hits rhythmic notes when it meets the beach. Paramahamsa brought me to the Bluffs, where the cliffs ar…

Evergreen Bricksworks, Toronto   All Good Stuff   We have such a great philosophy. I am not this body. I am spirit soul. I am here to serve. All good stuff.   When this body receives pain, the pain is eased because you tell yourself, “…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Results Will Come   “You’re one of the top five,” said the therapist at Toronto West General Hospital.   “Meaning?” I asked.   “Of the five years I’ve looked at knee replacement patients you’re in the top…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Moments of Liberation   The items of bhakti that I’m missing these days leave me in a mood of separation. Although healing, my replaced knee is still restricting my movements. Tomorrow I get the chance to feel a qu…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   WLL   A whole lotta love came my way today. I gave one of those Zoom classes on the topic of gossip — once again. Giving me the opportunity to speak about an adversary to spiritual life translates into giving me so…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Leading to the Latte   Since the early hours of the day, they were forecasting a rain storm and I was encouraging the boys, including those who came to ‘Monk for a Weekend’, to get out there before the raging rain…

243 Avenue Rd.   Accepting Visitors   I am accepting visitors, masked of course, and one of them was a pleasant Dr. Juta who happened to be my family physician. He rather surprised me when he told me he moves between nursing homes and that,…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Smallness is Greatness   Bhagavad-Gita 10.7 and 10.8 offer a strong message of realizing our true position in this world; I am small and everything else collectively (God) is big. The moment this thought awakens in …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto My Cute Little Phone   Can’t seem to live without that phone. Even though I am incapacitated, or at least physically impaired, with my new knee trying to get comfortable in a foreign leg, which is right now restricting m…

Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto Two Colours   Nanda was kind to drive me to Mount Sinai for the knee replacement. The reason for this surgery is quite obvious. To get around we need our knees. But as we were driving to the location in the fine ea…

University Ave., Toronto Bhakti This Bhakti Bath   My day was split in half. The first half involved thoughts about my knees, especially the left one. Yes, a competent mechanic (surgeon really) is going to replace it. My lefty along with a part…

North York/Brampton   Day 2   I began today publicly, with a Zoom class to Mauritius on the topic of “Gossip — Me and My Big Mouth.” People find it an interesting conversation piece. The practice of gossip is subtle but very toxic. As point…

South, East and North, Toronto   The 49th   This year’s 49th annual Ratha festival, like 2020, was a modified version; all because of Covid. We are still not allowed to have major gatherings where participants can be close and, besides that…

The Beaches, Toronto   Turned Red   Recently a couple and their mother moved to Toronto, settling in the east and in Pickering. Anuttama and Sveta purchased a house there and are now settled in the area and ready for service. Anuttama’s spe…

University Ave., Toronto   Touching On Gossip   To be more accurate I spent three and a half hours at Mount Sinai hospital, located on University Ave. That was done to meet various medical and social workers to prepare me for the coming lef…

Christie Pits, Toronto   Some Bad News   It’s a bit of bad news coming from South Africa. As I understand it, some action, based in racism, is going on; a lot of looting and more. Sad really. At our Durban temple most of the residents there…

Woodbine Beach, Toronto It’s All About the Service   From the Introduction of Bhagavad-Gita:   We can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living…

Shanty Bay, Ontario   Water and Me   I really wish I could do this every day. I’m talking about taking a dip in the natural freshwater that the Creator has provided; an actual swim. It is so good for me as a refresher, and the bodily joints…

Bracebridge, Ontario   Moving About   The soccer game between Italy and England occupied many earthlings today, which doesn’t exclude our own devotees in the community. That may account for the lower-than-expected attendance at our temple a…

Hyde Park and Trinity bells, Toronto   Parks, the Sun and People   This was the first non-rainy day in some time and the weather forecast indicated that clouds and showers will rain for the coming days. What’s happening?   Regardless, …

Alexander Muir Park, Toronto   The World We Want   I’ve walked by the above-mentioned park (actually it’s more like a sunken garden) several times off Yonge St. I never ventured inside. There are flowerbeds, trees of all kinds (northern bre…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Essence is Love & Kindness   We are receiving much rain, but as long as it ceases for a time for me to stroll, then it’s okay. Stroll I did, through the park and up Yonge St. I realized one thing about myself and…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   I Shall Act   I want to thank Paramahamsa, from Guelph, who came to do some physio work on me today. I’m also grateful to Jhorom, who came as a special guest when I hosted him in the sitting quarters of our guru, Pra…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Busy in Bhakti   We have gone back, steadily, to our older program of stairway kirtan. Neighbours who pass by love it. As long as we don’t perform with symbols, drum, harmonium “in-their-face,” so to speak. Gentle, …

Yorkville, Toronto   Let’s Get Good at Planning   “Perhaps you’re one of the few centres that’s really taking care of older Vaishnava men,” remarked an observer, a friend, the other day. Mind you, we do have younger men as residents in addi…

Montreal, Quebec The Knot is Tied   While the US is celebrating its birthday, on this beautiful day and weekend in remote Canada — actually Montreal — the Krishna community and I are seeing to a marriage. Samuel and Nandini Radha, tied the knot…

Montreal, Quebec   A Kind of Freedom   Karuna Sindhu is a safe driver behind the wheel and so I was his passenger, safely seated as we moved along eastward bound. It was momentous because this morning marked my first time beyond the Ontario…

Yorkville, Ontario   Looking at People   All went fairly smooth, for the day, with indoor services involving services to our resident monks, classes and meetings on the phone as periodical sun rays shafted through windows, broken up by inte…

Etobicoke/Scarborough   West End, East End   Nothing major but I was feeling a bit woozy from the vaccine I received yesterday, nevertheless I wanted to keep busy. In that regard priestly duties were put to motion. It started with a visitat…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Through the Tranquility   I’ve known Devananda for many years. He grew up in London, Canada, area. I know little about his Jewish descent, but he adopted to eastern ways like I did. Pursuing life in India; living lik…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Congratulations   Our maintenance guy, who hails from Croatia, placed his phone close to my face and with a beaming face said, “Look Maharaja, at the message that just came to me.”   So, I read the message that …

Niagara Falls, Ontario   An Affirmation of K. Consciousness   Last night, when I walked in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto, an Asian woman standing in front of her residence, a high-rise building, noticed me and instantly asked her question…

High Park, Toronto   Groove in the Green   High Park is actually a beautiful space, but like most natural settings they have their drawbacks. This park is appealing, but there is a slight problem with the gypsy moth caterpillars. I’ve never…