Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Room at 243, Toronto   New Dawn, New Donor   Kind donor, I thought, and that was my last thought (to my recollection) before shut-eye and saying goodbye to the day. A good sleep.   Our Vancouver centre received a nice donation from one…

Room at 243, Toronto   Can and Cannot View   Calls continued to come from well-wishers. Thank you!   I spent a good chunk of the day reviewing the draft manuscript for “The Saffron Road,” which details my walking experiences throughout…

Room at 243, Toronto   RAM   On the 21st of this month we will celebrate the birthday of Ram. This is my latest poetical rendering. It is in his honour.   RAM   Ram possesses all the qualities of a superhero Royal traits of ultim…

Room at 243, Toronto   Sunny Spots   I’m receiving a lot of sympathy calls and mail. How sweet it is! Thank you all!   My peers do the same! Some of it’s fun, like the message I received from Devamrita Swami, regarding recovery:  …

Room at 243, Toronto   Another Positive   One other member of our ashram tested Covid positive. Dakshin is in his early 70’s. Generally, he’s strong as a bull in some respects. I don’t have a way to really communicate with him, with both of…

Room at 243, Toronto   I’m Covid+ But Positive   The results came back from the University Health Network (UHN), a collaboration of one’s health records, and I’ve tested COVID-19 positive. Therefore, another 10-day quarantine is required for…

Room at 243, Toronto   My Turn   This was my turn — a test for COVID-19 at an assessment center. Bathurst and Bloor was the location. The queue was there but it moved fast. Once you get into a cubicle you are swabbed in each nostril and the…

Room at 243, Toronto   To Get a Call   It’s nice to get a call, like the following, once in a while (it’s paraphrased).   “Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself. I am Jorge. I live up north, have a family, work at a factory. Right now,…

Room at 243, Toronto   Dates   I’m going on close to one week since starting my two-week quarantine. It’s relatively an easy one to tackle. For members I also want to acknowledge that this year marks 125 years since the birth of His Divine…

Room at 243, Toronto   Changes   One of my dear friends from the area, Mr. Prasher, gave me good news. In India, Vrindavan and Varanasi, two sacred places in the state of Uttar Pradesh, are going back to old ways. Restrictions on animal sla…

Room at 243, Toronto   Gaura Hari   Not the best weather for walking. It’s rather damp. The rain came periodically. Drizzle. Regardless, I’m not getting a piece of that action. I’m inside but I can view it so well. The trees are happy, I’m…

Room at 243, Toronto   Colour   I want to wish everyone a happy Gaura Purnima for tomorrow, and may the magic of that day wear on. It is the birthday of Sri Chaitanya, great philosopher, pragmatist and idealist; the Supreme in many ways. Hi…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Restrictions in a Moving Movement   My area of movement is restricted. Walking around outside is taboo for the time being. My one meal a day is placed outside the door of my quarters. I pack my laundry into a garba…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Valuing Distance   Our virtual Thursday afternoon Gita sessions have been very stimulating for me and if I gauge properly, others on the call are also having a great time. After a sweet time in the park, pulling in t…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   More at the Bench   When you frequent a place, people of that area get to know you. This is the case for me, at the park, as well as David, who resides with us. He spends more time than me, enough to see the things I…

Brampton, Ontario   Chaitanya’s Versus   With the coming birthday of Sri Chaitanya on Sunday, the 28th, I wanted to share this poem; a sort of rewrite of His eight verses known as sikshastakam.   Chaitanya’s Versus   Victory to th…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Went Again   I walked again, to the park, for the purpose to light a little spark. I’m not the only one. There are many who come to lay out a blanket and then lay themselves out on it. Tennis balls are flying from wi…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Park Shelter   I was sitting at the park bench thinking of an urban park that is like Noah’s ark. It offers shelter to loads of people. With pandemic restrictions in full swing people are most eager for an outlet of …

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Spring’s First Day   “It’s a beautiful day,” said the bespectacled middle-age man with his smart elbow padded sport suit.   I agreed. “We really didn’t have much of a winter.”   “That’s true,” he said reass…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Reaching Out   Every time I receive a copy of “Bruce Trail Magazine” in the mail I get mixed feelings. I’m eager to look at its cover, which is always inspiring and puts one in touch with nature and I get excited u…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Moving   A good massage brings on the agility I need for getting the legs to operate better. Thanks Cameron. And shingles are slowly faded, for now. I feel great.   I was speaking with another one of my monk g…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   Day of Coming Green   Hey! I made it to the park, but on crutches. David, who lives in the ashram with us, accompanied me. I couldn’t have done it without him. We sat at a bench bathing in the sun. People walked by, …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   From 1 km We Build up   A bit of a mile stone for me: I managed to walk fairly straight along the not so trustworthy balcony, without crutches. Yahoo! Perhaps Jayho! Which means pretty much the same thing. A sigh o…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Productivity   The Lotus Foundation is an initiative of learning about basic principles of dharma. As one of the directors, I was asked to promote the initiative, which has been up and running for its third year no…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Today   Zoom-ing began at 11 a.m., when the sun became very strong; lighting up the room with the arched window. It was Cleveland that was on the other end of my call and I was at their end. It was good connecting …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   If We Were Prisoners   Some folks know how to spend time during the lockdown. One real nice Punjabi family forwarded me their little kirtan, rendered with keyboard, mrdunga drum and voices to the maha mantra. It’s …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   A Clean Chaitanya   Yesterday the temperature reached an all-time high for Ontario at 16° C for March 11th. The mercy of Shiva. Today, however, it turned a bit nippier, which deterred my trip to the park. I am on …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Remembering Shiva   I was told that today marks the anniversary of when the spread of the Corona-virus was declared a pandemic. This is not a day to celebrate, to have a toast over, or to hold a pizza party as a tr…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Blessed   Cameron, who comes over to check on me quite regularly, took a lotus position and within that safe six foot distance, mentioned to me, “This room has a powerful energy.”   I agreed. “Why sure. This i…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Life in the Building   Our roofer, Victor, did make it up above me. I could hear his clumping on the flat roof overhead, the very place where squirrels race back-and-forth; never on a schedule. It’s just frivolous,…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Spent Some Hours   I spent some hours on this day assembling a PowerPoint presentation for Sunday’s class on the qualities of Shiva. That kept me busy, along with the help of Sarthak, who is just a great assistant …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   No Miler, Getting Smiles   I am sorry but I won’t be able to report any kilometres (or miles) these days. I’m off my feet. My mind still races, though, and in merely a flash, I’ll be in Mayapura, India, hurriedly m…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Ties   March 6th is one of those days on the calendar that mentally registers with me since childhood. I have a sister, Connie, and it’s her birthday today. Although I’m a monk who doesn’t often mingle in all kinds…

243 Avenue Rd.   SATI SHIVA SAGA   PART ONE   It was in the Puranic era When so much excitement was in the air For a great event was underway A sacrifice with so much on display With ingredients–ghee, grain, and fire Intent to please …

243 Avenue Rd,   The Crawl   The Crawl A poem sent and written by an anonymous follower   Walking has ceased Reduced to a crawl Services change That benefit all A sacrifice made Traversing great lands Causing tide’s change From feet to…

243 Avenue Rd.   Value the Company You Have   It was a day of pain. The right leg, from hip to toe, was aggravated. I managed to be on call for administrative duties at 6:30 a.m. but after that I prescribed to laying down and keeping cool. …

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   Garbage We Are   Tuesday is garbage day. Some days I feel like garbage, with refuse streaming through the mind. I have a long way to becoming pavitramor pure. Fortunately, I have a mantra to work on my internal con…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   New Arrival   It was Cameron’s first day of service at the temple ashram. It involved pot washing, floor mopping, window cleaning and of course, there’s the listening and chanting. He attended three services called…

Ramsden Park, Toronto   A Stroll Is a Day’s Closure   It had been a busy day. Some of that busyness had to do with the fact that our Govinda’s Dining Room, open only for takeout, is under the same roof as our temple/ashram. People are comin…

243 Avenue Rd., Toronto   This Day   Temperatures were mild. There was a thaw. My ceiling told me so. A slow leak of brown water was coming through. It’s interesting how it travels from the roof. Clumps of snow and ice meet the sun and hence…