Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Barrie, Ontario Barrie and Bracebridge My flight back to Toronto was a blessed one because of some good fortune. I met someone special. His name is Nitai Ram, who was enroute to Toronto on Air Canada flight 126. Before boarding the redeye flight we…

Burnaby, British Columbia The Way It Is Every year on two consecutive days there is this praise in memory of two individuals. Gaudiya Vaishnavas of the ISKCON world celebrate the birth of Lord Sri Krishna, and on the following day do the same for His…

Burnaby, British Columbia Attention Given to Krishna So, the worship of Krishna went on in a very celebratory way, and, as usual, right up until midnight. Here in Burnaby the crowds were thicker than ever. The sweat was also thick and when entering…

Burnaby, British Columbia Krishna: His Birth and His Escape   There had never been a day like this, nor night Planets repositioned to create a heavenly sight Prominent was the star, Rohini, so bright A pervading peace kept at bay any tendency to …

Vancouver, British Columbia Excitement There is excitement in the air, not just here, in the Greater Vancouver area, but everywhere. Preparations are being made for the birthday of Krishna, and He is so important to us. That is what all the fuss is a…

Anchorage/Seattle Covid Years   An offering to Prabhupada, our guru:   In these last two years We felt a buildup of fears In a battle of usual peers We witnessed a shedding of tears   With large-scale character erosion Sadly there’s c…

Anchorage, Alaska Last Full Day Adam and I hiked one of the trails at Kincaid Park where a massive moose, a bull with crowning antlers, came into view. There he was chewing away at leaves from a little tree. He wasn’t shy in the least nor aggressiv…

Anchorage Alaska Full and Fun It was a day full and fun. Firstly, Krishnadas and I went for our morning walk. Then Sudevi had lined up a series of events that stretched throughout the day. A.T.O.M. (Ancient Teachings of Masters), our small Anchorag…

Eagle River, Alaska Trekking and Meeting There was the cry of a loon, which enthused Krsnadas and I to walk to its source, Sand Lake. Once we reached there, the loon was hard to spot. We did witness an osprey with deliberate determination to get br…

Anchorage, Alaska Peter   Recently a friend passed away. In homage is my poem to him.   Peter, it was always great When we talked on different matters It was not about sports, hockey or tennis Certainly not about baseball batters You did b…

Anchorage, Alaska Second Day in AA Down Raspberry Rd., Krishnadas and I did go, at 6 am, for a five-kilometre trek and back. It was on our way that we met moose, a very young one, but the new addition of wildlife to view in Alaska was a bald eagle …

Anchorage, Alaska North to Alaska My God siblings, Krishnadas, Paurnamasi and I landed at Anchorage Airport where we were happily greeted by residents Sudevi and Ryan, a sweet couple, whom we had never met but are connected to culturally. It is our…

Port Coquitlam, BC Two Good Books It is always a pleasure to give a message based on either book, the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-Gita. A Zoom call for the morning brought listeners to the world of Vrindavan where village and tribal women are drawn,…

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia Green Concern A kind Sarva Rasa from Vancouver and his friend, Bharat from California, scooped me up at Vancouver’s airport and delivered me to Port Coquitlam for some recording on a “Green” initiative that’s chalke…

Hamilton, Ontario In the Heat of the Day Temperatures are up. Early thirties Celsius. Lots of moisture in the air. My challenge for the morning was two interviews that require the AC unit to be off. Too much noise. During one hour I went through …

Welland, Ontario Visit As soon as I saw the edible wild plant, lambs quarters, also known in India as bathua, I pulled two of them, stems and all, out of the ground. There they were, waiting to be consumed, right in front of the Vimala’s home, a co…

Mississauga, Ontario Merging and Submerging I was asked to give the class to the members of the Bhakti Academy Toronto and with gladness I’ve delivered. The theme from the first canto of the Bhagavatam was on overcoming the ills of a dark age, refe…

Wasaga Beach, Ontario Preparing for MANtra What is really good news is the preparation for this year’s MANtra retreat. Behind us all are the virtual sessions of 2022 and 2021. This exciting program, now back to physical interactive-ness, carrying t…

Christie Pits, Toronto Passing of Atul Krishna When I flew in to the Toronto airport yesterday, Tuesday, my always kind Nanda Maharaj Das from Brampton picked me up and drove me to nearby Mississauga, to the house of Atul Krishna. He and his wife, …

Barrie, Ontario To Barrie Sunny (also Srivatsa) is a cool 73 years old man from Guyana who drove me to the north destination, Barrie, Ontario and Lake Simcoe. There we converged with other practitioners of bhaktiyoga at Minet’s Point Park, to be mo…

Edmonton/Toronto The Monk   Do bless the order Of the saffron man Who owns no home No burrow or tree   Who speaks of life It’s unending circle And the option To move beyond   He is poor by choice All that’s his is A staff, a pot …

Edmonton, Alberta Last Full Day in Edmonton I was struggling with finding an appropriate Sanskrit name for a new initiate because he already has a perfect name, Partha Sarathi. This is a name of Krishna referring to His excellent driving skills as …

Edmonton, Alberta Chariot Pride The first people that I met at the Radha Govinda Cultural Centre, as preparations were underway, was a group of volunteers from the Jesus Christ Seventh Day Adventist. Sweet folks they are. They were made security pa…

Edmonton, Alberta Reflect on the Past There is never a day that goes by that I don’t feel intense gratitude to guru and God. Had Prabhupada, my beloved spiritual master, not picked me up from a period of confusion, I might have ended up like many o…

Slyvan Lake, Alberta By and After the Lake Getting into Lake water for a dip and swim is always good for the joints in addition to loosening muscles. The combination of sand and water is great as a cleanser and aids in ridding oneself of dead skin …

Red Deer, Alberta A lesson in Discipline We had a sweet conversation with Sveta on our evening walk. The topic of discipline came up. The dusk hour in summer invokes mosquitoes. We just began swatting them when Sveta spoke about discipline and aske…

Calgary, Alberta At a Prairie Suburban House It was quite awesome to see the number of people come in the evening for prasadam and to hear about “Tales from Trails.” Radha Madhava and Svasti hosted the dozens of families in their home on the north ea…

Banff/Lake Louise, Alberta Adventure in Alberta Four of us set out to step in the mountainous woods of the Rocky Mountains. Even for a Monday, because it is summer after all, the big draw to nature is one. My companions, Radha Madhava, Nanda Gopal,…

Calgary, Alberta Landing for the Lord At security in the Saskatoon airport, just behind me, was a tall man of medium-large frame and his son in the line up. I admit I immediately judged him (the father) as a prejudiced cowboy. However, when I sat dow…

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Sweet Saskatoon Two and a half hours north (by car and not on foot) is the city of Saskatoon. I made it in time for the Chariot Fest managed by a gracious couple, Vivek and Amee. They receive a lot of help from their friends…

Regina, Saskatchewan Now After Three Years White City, with a population of approximately 4,000 people, and growing, is an upper middle-class type of town. Many trees have been planted here and the urban green trails are plentiful. Poplar trees are…

White City, Saskatchewan Neat Exchanges I was sitting next to Gil on the Air Canada flight to Regina. He explained that he and his buddies from Hamilton are off to a Metis fest to play their music. “It’s rock, Creedence Clearwater Revival music. We…

Ramsden Park, Toronto The Rain Came It works quite well for me when Gabriel takes the lead on his guitar. There were seven of us sitting on top of the mound in the park, poised to begin kirtan, when I asked him to strum away. Out of that spontaneou…

Cherry Beach, Toronto Getting Around We were on our way to the Tommy Thompson Park, a shaded-in-spots trail where cyclists and pedestrians share the space, when a man on a bicycle stopped to ask if we had any drugs. His articulation was weak and so…

Rosedale, Toronto The Group “Do you believe in the same God as I do?” asked one of the visitors out of the “Encounter World Religions” with Brian Carwana. Naturally I said to the individual that there is one God for all, just as there is one sun th…

Centre Island, Toronto Swimming and Walking Through It was my second swim-in-the-lake for this year – a personal milestone. And with me was Brihat Mrdanga and his associate, Arjuna. Their purpose was to scrape off, with water and sand, the caked-on…

Yonge St. & Centre Island, Toronto From Hiccups to Tears We had hiccups. The sound systems weren’t working for the procession at the three chariots, however some of our young men visiting from other parts of North America compensated for this b…

Centre Island, Toronto Chain of Joy “Now, let’s go for sharp, clean and crisp moves,” I said, directing the actors during our rehearsal. We had secured the unique location, a park, a fifteen-minute walk from the ashram, for the practice. I’m dealin…

Ramsden Park, Toronto Getting Ready People are beginning to flow in like rivers to a sea. The big attraction is the 12 Hour Kirtan being held tomorrow at the temple/ashram on 243 Avenue Road. Gopi has a massive following in chanting circles. Her hu…

Don Valley Bridge, Toronto The Bhakti Buzz   I have been receiving much correspondence from afar wishing me a “Happy Guru Purnima,” to annually remember one’s teacher on this particular day. Of course, every day is the day to revere one’s mento…