Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Toronto, Ontario   Thematic Parallel   These evenings, when not shooting footage for “Rolling the Dice” I’m enwrapped in compiling either one of two books. The Saffron Road is a publication that I’m hoping to have materialized soon. It’s an…

Toronto, Ontario   Balarama’s Back   Balarama’s brother was a back passenger in a car wherein a serious accident occurred, leaving the driver in a coma and his brother with 11 broken ribs. So Balarama is a bit shaken up, and it’s been the …

Toronto, Ontario   Urdhva Mulam   We worked at it until we got it right. Before I took to a nighttime walk, our film crew went on a marathon, from 11 AM to 9 PM, just to knock down scene 1. It was a filming session that included a 20 minut…

Brampton, Ontario   Ladhoo Exchange   I hadn’t met Juhi’s parents before and I was honoured to participate in her pre-engagement program. Nice folks she has, from Punjab originally.   Her fiancé is Rishab, whom I’ve known since he was a…

Don Valley Brickworks, Toronto   Let’s Get Rolling   The Brickworks is a big draw, especially with today’s temperatures at 22°C, or within the region of 71°F. Being a Friday afternoon, you could feel the joy for all the browsers in their hav…

Brampton, Ontario   To Where the Land is Flat   Stephen drove me to Brampton, to an expansive recreation park called Sesquicentennial. There is not a more flat expense of parkland that I’ve seen, except for Saskatchewan. The place is green,…

Christie Pitts, Toronto   October Day   It was a typical October day, I mean to say, perfect for walking. The wind, a cloud and the sun were above and around, not only me but everyone. I was walking west on Dupont and at one crossroad, at D…

University of Toronto, Toronto   Roll Out the Dice   I walked to “Theatrics Plus” and the friendly clerk found for me what I came for, a prop for the virtual drama that a group of us are putting together. “Rolling the Dice” is the name of t…

Yorkville, Toronto   Let the Rain Come Down   Drizzle! Drizzle! That is the sum and substance of weather conditions today and tonight. My encounter with it was in the evening. I didn’t mind. My full day was indoors, where it was rather dry….

Toronto, Ontario   Packed Day, Good   It was 7 PM. I was in my room just wrapping up on a zoom call with Argentina when David came to my door.   “Are you coming?” David asked in anticipation of our nightly staircase kirtan.   “Yes…

The Annex, Toronto   Get Ready!   An older man with whitish hair and beard has seen me passing by before, at least twice.  Once he offered a quick exchange of words, with a cigarette in his mouth.   “Hi! How are yah!”   Toda…

Inglis Falls, Ontario   Gathering Histories   I take this project very seriously. “Krishna in the Mapleleaf” is a book project that details the earliest days of the birth and growth of Krishna Consciousness in Canada, during the period from…

Toronto, Ontario   Laudable Messages   Some strong messages came through today. From the sastras, texts of wisdom, voiced by the srutis, or Personified Vedas, Srimad Bhagavatam, 10.87.40 purport: “Even if a neophyte devotee falls from the s…

Rosedale, Toronto   Singing About Krishna   As part of the morning program in the ashram we sing a song to praise Krishna. There are many songs (bhajans) to choose from. We have an arrangement where we change up a select few on a weekly bas…

Cabbagetown, Toronto   New Sensation   It is rather a new sensation for Aisvarya—rustling through the fallen leaves. He’s a Trinidad boy, used to the tropical experience, but at this portion in his life he’s touching autumn for the first ti…

Lynden, Ontario   A Backtrack   Karuna and I traveled safely, in our temple car, to the location of my God brother, Girijadhava. He and I sat outside, safely in the backyard, not just to “shoot the breeze” and speak about the current socio-p…

Ramsden Park/Queen’s Park   Sunday Outdoors   Our drama crew executed a meaningful practice, for our upcoming production, in the park. Two filmmakers also came so we could explore theater-by-camera. The pandemic is forcing innovation so we …

Yorkville, Ontario   Hare   I was walking near the new Yorkville Mall when the threat of a rain storm compelled me to search for shelter. Well, there is such a place at a side entrance, a fair expanse. It was there that I met a fellow with …

Rosedale Valley Rd., Toronto   The Circle of the Thoughtful   I began my steps through Ramsden Park, which is particularly busy this late afternoon. People are lined-up on both sides of the tennis courts waiting for a spot. The playgrounds …

Yorkville, Toronto Tended to Their Hunt Two young guys scurried along as I came around the corner. There was no doubt that I frightened them. The maple tree came in most handy as they tucked away behind the trunk at a best attempt to conceal themse…

Toronto, Ontario   Did Not Get   I did not get much of a walk in today, just a wee number of indoor strides. My only outside touch of the elements was the stairway at the temple’s entrance. There our kirtancrew met with the night. The lamp-…

Clavering, Ontario   3 Hours North   David, who lives with us in the ashram, drove us north to the very base of the Bruce Peninsula, which divides the Georgian Bay from Lake Huron. It is quite the waterway, an amazing expanse of H2O, minus …

Yorkville, Brickworks   Birthday Bliss   Birthday wishes came flooding in. Thank you all, from across Canada, Africa, India, Florida and, of course, South America. It’s nice to know I have a big family that cares. I’m 68.   For starter…

Yorkville, Toronto   Bless and Bliss   As in the night before when Driti, Murli Manohara and the girls came to eat prasadam, blessed food, in Govinda’s, another clan, the Patel’s, came to honour and eat. I was lucky to sit near them and cha…

Yorkville, Toronto   From Mistrust to Trust   “We live in a period of mistrust” is just an understatement. Whomever you talk to these days you’ll see heads nod in agreement once the topic comes up.   Just before my walk through Yorkvil…

Queen’s Park, Toronto   People Venting   “Whew!” is what I realize when I hear some of the struggles people go through, whether online, on the phone or in person. You have to feel for these folks when you hear their sad stories. The stories…

Toronto, Ontario   Some Words   In the delivery of two classes that I gave today several words came up in the reading from Bhagavatamand Gita purports—words that you could say stand out as significant. For instance, such words as “doubt, fe…

Mississauga, Ontario   Chair Repair   Vishal Sharma’s van has enough space to lug an antique chair and myself to Raj’s place in Mississauga. The chair is in need of repair. It’s precious as it’s a piece of furniture and part of the décor in…

Jay McPherson Green, Toronto   A Rally   At 9:30 am people started to gather at the park behind our temple, just to the north of us. They were mostly neighbours, very respectable folks. And what was their purpose? To conduct a quiet rally, …

Toronto, Ontario   I Met Miles   I was at Queen’s Park, once again, sitting on a park bench facing a monumental statue of King Edward VII on horseback. I was chanting on my beads when a young man with a professional camera sat down on the s…

Toronto, Ontario   Sunday, Sunday   For several hours during the week I am bound by Zoom-style classes on bhakti. Sunday is no exception. The interest and practice of devotion is up on Sunday’s; compared to other days of the week. At least …

Toronto, Oakville   At Play, No Walk   There is this sunken area full of trees, green and red, and has a flat surface with grass. Located right next to the Rosedale subway station, it is tucked away and a secret space, which makes for a per…

Stratford/Saint Mary’s   Shakespeare Asleep   Jay Gopal, a resident of Stratford in Canada, pointed to the new $100 million theatre that just recently had to close up without ever opening its doors, because Covid-19 muscled its way in. This…

Toronto, Ontario   Guru   Here’s a poem about “guru” dedicated to Prabhupada written after a brief walk.   I was sitting in the room Made a call by way of Zoom Looked at verse 4:34 What a seeker’s looking for   Why is it so advise…

York, Toronto   Not Alone   I sleep in a very special room, the place where our guru, Prabhupada, laid down his divine body for slumber in June of 1976. Where my head is positioned on a captain-style bed I can see perfectly, framed by the r…

Rosedale, Toronto   This Is A Good One   The following is a knee-slapper sent by Bhakti Purusottama Swami from Orissa, India.   An Indian dies and goes to hell. There he finds that there is a different hell for each country. He goes f…

Queen’s Park, Toronto   Letting Go!   It always pays off. This walking I do, to a nearby park, in any direction, almost each day, gets attention by some individual and leads to a spontaneously established friendship.   Today I made my …

Toronto, Ontario   Night Tree of Colour   Despite cooler temperatures most trees in the area remain a rich green. Some, like the maple, are starting to show its true colour. At the end of the street from the temple/ashram you have got a maje…

Scarborough, Ontario   Big Small   A good friend of mine, a former schoolteacher, sent me images of the subject: “The Scale of Things,” featuring a seven-foot long leatherback sea-turtle at 2000 pounds, and a whole bunch of other astounding…

Queen’s Park, Toronto   Numerals   These days many numbers are thrown at us—stats about Covid. How many people are infected this very day? How many died from the virus? Stay at home and keep your number of people gathering down to ten. Outsi…