Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Monday, February 22nd, 2016
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Monday, February 22nd, 2016                                       
Mayapur, India

Some Items                   

A whole group of tourists from Australia came to the sacred grounds of Mayapur.  I was the fortunate one to meet with them.

“How do you like this place?”

“Very interesting!  It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” remarked one of the folks.

“It’s still growing.”

“And where are you from?”

“Canada! I said.  You’ve been?”

“Oh yeah, we went to the Falls (Niagara)”.

From a social perspective they were keen to learn but the spiritual component did not seem to concern them so much, so I wasn’t about to push it.  It was great that they came.

Meetings for our AGM have begun and the greatest relief after the meeting was to get over to Uttam’s place, which is a fruit vendor spot.  There I get my dose of cold freshly squeezed banana-pineapple juice.

The air was less musty today.  When the sky is clear then the date-ras drink is also clean, with the least amount of fermentation.  That drink also fuels you.

The brightest spot in the day appears to be the moments when Tulasi puja takes place.  Tulasi is the holy plant that Krishna devotees revere.  I’m often asked to lead the chant in her honour.  I do believe that by this worship we are making the ultimate green statement.  The other most important feature is to connect with each other.  Most people require the human/devotional factor.

Not to be neglected!

May the source be with you!

8Km

Sunday, February 21st, 2016
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Sunday, February 21st, 2016                             
Mayapur, India

Suds in the Ganges           

A small contingent of us from Canada met with Mother Ganga (the river of course), to enjoy the cooling effects of her holy waters and to pay homage at the same time.  Every year when you go for her darshan (sacred viewing) you will notice a slight shift in her course.  The main concern for us as we approached her eastern bank was, “Will she be safe?”

Every year a person is losing their life to the Ganges; her water are swift.  Eddies swirl in any direction. The incredible silty mud underneath can pull you in and cause you to sink into its depths, leaving you unable to pull away.

Fortunately there is a designated “safe” area.  Other bathers were there.  My good friend, Ghosh Thakur, from British Columbia, and I observed that the world is there.  We met people from Brazil, Argentina, Europe, America, Russia, Australia, and of course locals.  Despite the signage giving clear directions not to “soap up” in the sacred waters, people do it anyways.  This became a cause for concern and irritation.

“No soap! No soap!”  I cautioned two middle-age men who lathered up from waist to head.  “Big aparadha!”  Aparadha means offence.  I pointed to the Brazilians who had smeared themselves with mud as they were standing by the shore.  “This is the way.  No chemicals.  Ganga Mata doesn’t want.”

To manufacturers of smelly formulas for a so-called cleanse, all I can say is “look what you’ve done. You’ve convinced simple people that this is a standard.  When will you become environmentally responsible?”

May the Source be with you!

7Km

Saturday, February 20th, 2016
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Saturday, February 20th, 2016                                      
Mayapur, India

News from Mayapur 

Nityananda, long-time associate of Chaitanaya, was born in the late 15th century in the village of Ekachakra, some distance from Mayapur.  Today was His birth anniversary.

Amongst a host of credits, Nityananda was a great teacher of Hari-Nama, the chanting of the name of the Divine.  On this half-day fast, a gathering of the majority of the town of Mayapurassembled at the Pancha Tattva Hall for a ritual of Abhisekha, which is a bathing ceremony to honour Nityananda in His brass deity form.  At that time a lead singer said something before he began the song.  “Everyone sit down!”

Now, that didn’t seem right to me. “Sitting down during a chanting session?” was my personal query, ‘on the day of Nityananda, the explosive dancer?  What are we coming to?”  Some hours later I heard that three swamis (monks) in our order were all recovering from surgery– from cancer or some other ailment. Their names are Jayapataka, Gunagrahi and Kadambha Kanana Swamis– all dear friends.  To hear especially about my Dutch friend Kadambha was news.

One more piece of information that was new to me was hearing of the population of Mayapur.  From a mere almost zero population about 50 years ago to the present there’s a blossoming of 5,000 people.

May the source be with you!

10 Km

Friday, February 19th, 2016
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Friday, February 19th, 2016                                                                          
Mayapur, India

Deliberate 

I had a set plan for walking once we arrived at the Mayapur retreat, an annual retreat which includes pilgrim trips to the regional area, kirtan sessions, drama presentations, and AGM meetings.  The walk got cancelled in place of an emergency – meeting-something which occurs from time to time.  The call of duty comes first.

Once freed from dutiful tasks one gravitates to one’s love.  In my case it’s assembling young folks and engaging them in theatrical practice.  The samadhi auditorium, where we practice, practically becomes a gym.  We were engaged in stretching and loosening up limbs all in preparation for an action-filled, high-energy performance.

But before all this physical stuff was set in motion I did spend my time in brahminical moments.  It was Vaisesika, friend and motivational speaker (no less a devotional one), who gained a captive audience in the outdoor grounds of the householders’ district.  There he spoke about key words that have everything to do with a person’s spiritual advancement.

For instance both the noun and the verb “deliberate” have substantial relevance to a devotee’s life. To be “deliberate” in our intentions is to have strong conviction. To “deliberate” is to be analytical and to be introspective, a rather necessary probing into oneself.  Both words appear to have some co-relation.

After deliberating on a matter you should become deliberate in what needs doing.  And what needs doing is to get serious about our Krishna Consciousness.

May the Source be with you!

0 Km

Wednesday, February 17th, 2016
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Wednesday, February 17th, 2016                         
Toronto, Ontario

Surya is From Siberia                      

Surya is from Siberia and he totally understands winter dynamics.  So I took him along down to the ravine where trudging through snow is a fun reality.  Your pace is slowed down somewhat and the calves of your legs strain a bit more than usual.  It’s all okay because the snow is bright and today brighter still, from the sun’s powerful presence.

Surya and I did minimal talking, but lips did move as we made our daily commitment to chanting with the aid of our beads.  It is a personal and perhaps private engagement with the sacred power that exists within and without us.  Shastra, the sacred Vedic texts, reveal to us that there is a holy presence of Krishna as paramatma in the heart, while another aspect of His divinity is present in the elements.

I do not find it difficult to perceive the sacredness in this environment, where the crisp and the clean of all the naturalness on the trail cannot conceal itself, even if it tried.  This place, where we tread, is a real escape from urban madness.  Both Surya and I felt at peace.

The only annoyance was the cell phone in my pocket, as it would vibrate and light up at times. It’s understandable.  In a matter of minutes I’ll leave for India.  Yes, it’s hours away before the doors open at the KolkataAirport to the musty airs.  There’ll be no more snow but for brisk air, for the first few days in February, there will still be an evening coolness.  And there, in Mayapur, we will dance up a storm in the temples of delight.
 

May the Source be with you!

7 Km

Tuesday, February 16th, 2016
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Tuesday, February 16th, 2016                           
Toronto, Ontario

Tuesday in Three Parts                 

I recall as a kid growing up when Dad or Mom would put the coffee on.  I never cared for the smell in the air, but it was kind of fun hearing and seeing the substance percolate.

Life at the temple/ashram is like a coffee percolator.  It gets really lively.  There is a buzz.  It sometimes comes in spurts depending on the time of the day.  When you plug in things start happening.

Steve Davies brought his students over.  This is an ongoing visit from the boy’s school from Cresant High up the road.  These are quality students and they give life.  They showed up in the morning.

The evening blossomed also with a visit from cross-Canada walker, Michael Oesch, and his partner Saskis.  He’s working on a documentary about what you learn from foot travel.  He also showed me a new book “Born to Walk: The Transformative Power of a Pedestrian Act” by Dan Rubinstein.

Michael always brings on enthusiasm to an atmosphere.  He’s a spiritual person, so whatever already is considered enthusing in the atmosphere of the temple becomes further ignited.

Now, about Tuesday afternoon.  I couldn’t help recalling the lyrics from the Moody blues on the song

“The Afternoon/Forever Afternoon”

                                            Tuesday, afternoon,

                                         I’m just beginning to see,
                                          It doesn’t matter to me,
                                          Chasing the clouds away.

                                           Something, calls to me,
                                    The trees are drawing me near,
                                           I’ve got to find out why
                                         Those gentle voices I hear
                                            Explain it all with a sigh.

                           I’m looking at myself, reflections of my mind
                            It’s just the kind of day leave myself behind,
                          So gently swaying thru the fairly-land of love,
                        If you’ll just come with me and see the beauty of

                                                 Tuesday afternoon.

                                                 Tuesday afternoon.

May the Source be with you!

3 Km

Monday, February 15th, 2016
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Monday, February 15th, 2016                                 
Scarborough, Ontairo

The Yays and Nays                 

 I like trains.  At least modern trains offer leg room space.  There’s no traffic jams.  You are close to the ground.  The scenery is Tops.

My train ride on VIA from Montreal was all of those things.  Still, my conclusion on the best mode of  travel is with the feet on the ground.  After hours of uploading community theatre on YouTube (look up THE WALKING MONK DRAMAS) I took that much needed trek in the silence of night.

“Silence,” I thought, “while walking is sacred.”  As much as I like trains I also like silence at times.  And here are some quotes:

“We will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”                                                         

             – Martin Luther King

“A True Friend’s Silence hurts more than an Enemy’s Rough Words.”               

                                                       
“Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than the silence.”

“Silence is the most powerful scream.”

“SPEAK only when you feel that your words are better than your SILENCE.”

“To hear, one must be silent.”                                          

         – Ursula K. LeGuim

“Silence speaks WHEN words can’t.”

“Your silence doesn’t mean that you quit. It simply means that you don’t want argue with people who just don’t want to understand.”

“Having the maturity to know sometimes silence is more powerful than having the last word.”

         – Thema Davis
 

May the Source be with you!

Sunday, Feb.14/2016
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Sunday, Feb.14/2016                      
Montreal, Quebec

Adwaita Valentine                  

Last Sunday it was below the average attendance at the Sunday Open House because of the Super Bowl on TV.  For some, the Super bowl becomes more important than “Haribol!”

This Sunday the attendance was a bit down due to the lower than average temperatures outside.  With the wind chill factor at 35 below Celsius, it became discouraging for some regulars.

Still, with about 150 guests I’m not complaining; I’m the person giving the presentation.  It was part slide-show, part-speaking about one of our luminaries in the lineage of bhakti, Adwaita by name.  The slide-show featured events and experiences along the walking way.  I was relaying to the crowd the touching moments of last autumn’s walk though New England, New York, and New Jersey.  Well received.

Since it was the birth anniversary of Adwaita, a contemporary of Sri Chaitanya, it was appropriate to speak about him.  He was largely responsible for invoking the presence of Chaitanya to the world by the power of his desire, his heart. 

It was rather an interesting observation, that in my earlier on reading of the book “Chaitanya Charitamrta” in a morning class, the word “heart” appeared multiple times.  Coincidental, you might say, as today is also Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!
 
May the Source be with you!

0 Km

Tuesday, March 8th, 2016
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Tuesday, March 8th, 2016                         
Mayapur, India

Getting Frail and Strong                

My dear friend, Agnidev, fainted at Govinda’s Restaurant last night evening after a successful lead of chanting at the Kirtan Mela.  So, the rumour has it.  It’s unknown to some of us the cause for this beautiful singer’s collapse.  Exhaustion?  Dehydration?  I hope he’s alright.

One thing is for sure-the body is frail.  I had the pleasure to conduct a sanga for senior devotees, some who are under care and are ‘wheel-chaired.’  Where our discussion went to was ails from trails.  I told of our blissful encounter with seniors of “Golden Pond” in Massachusettslast fall and how they were doing their version of aerobics.  The instructor wondered if I could do some mentoring in that department, we ended up doing “the Swami Swerve”, a fun concoction of moves.

The lending with these devotional folks who were listening to the tales and mantras was very real.  It was a presentation of a slower nature.  Because of age and some impaired hearing, I spoke with volume up, slower and enhanced articulation.

A planned trip across the JalanghiRiverdid fructify just before the sun downed itself.  The group of us from Canadaand those from Polandto guide us, took to the village streets with kirtan.

Maha Shringha is the name of the devotee who led us through the modes homesteads.  He is so much loved by the rural Bengalis of the area.  For twenty years now he has connected with the locals through food, fun and friendship.  He knows an astounding number of people, all rather simple and sweet.  It is equally impressive that he knows the townsfolk, so many by their individual names.

After zig-zagging through the streets with our mantra, a drum player, and singers on foot, we ended the kirtan at the home of Bhakti Devi who worked a fabulous meal at her home.

Great people! Great hospitality! Great day! Great night!

May the Source be with you!

6 Km

Monday, March 7th, 2016
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Monday, March 7th, 2016                                                 
Mayapur, India

He Would Be Pleased

Life in the dham is pure.  Not all who contact the dham (holy place) however, benefit.  There’s pickpockets and people of greed, and ulterior motives.  After all, there’s lots of money to be made at pilgrim sites, where people converge from all around the world.

You hear at announcement time the loss of a passport, a wallet, or someone’s precious chanting beads. Fortunately the beads are easily replaceable.  There are some developers in the area that are exploiting tenants but not delivering full expectations.  We hear of buildings not up to code, or built in too tight to each other.

This may sound depressing and unspiritual but that may be an aspect of the ‘dark-side’ of Mayapur. There is a lot more reason to sound conches and gongs over the pluses.  Pilgrims are not fools.  At least they should not be naive.  This is the material world and blessed we are to have wonderful areas of retreat and refuge in which to charge the spiritual batteries.

I see happy faces here.  People of different shades engaged in the same thing.  At the Kirtan Mela there are Chinese, African, as well as South and North American participants.  You have Aussies and Europeans enthralled in song.  It is as the great luminary Bhaktivinode predicted.  Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, must be pleased.  When you think about it, in a mere 50 years since the inception of this branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, So much growth, along with growing pains, has taken place.

May the Source be with you!

5 Km

Sunday, March 6th, 2016
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Sunday, March 6th, 2016                                                   
Mayapur, India

Focus Tradition

Yesterday I had been marvelling at the excellent work of Sesha.  It was the last day of our AGM and he wrapped-up our session of discussion with an ability I hadn’t seen before.  I happened to be sitting next to him at an angle where I could see his profile. He resembled, with poise, the power and penetration of a hawk. He was focused on the subject matters on the table.  Perhaps he is mastering time management skills.  Being a lawyer, he is sharp and direct, and gets to conciseness.  He would stay on topic and not allow for endless comments to enter the circle.  At the same time he made everyone in the room feel that they were sufficiently heard.

There’s a gift in all of this.

Kirtan  Mela has begun.  It is a festival of the Mantra.  By good fortune I had a time slot to lead for half an hour.  As was done last year, when the mic was given to me I addressed all the people in the Pancha Tattva Hall.

“We are going to do this in the traditional way.”

So I encouraged all to rise and get up on their feet and “Dance to the music” (Sly and the Family Stone).

The smiles were oceanic.  The moves were animated.  The sound was loud, and for a few moments of truth to set in, as expressed in the words of Shivaram Swami during the morning class “the name of the Lord is more beautiful than the form of the Lord.”

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Friday, March 4th, 2016
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Friday, March 4th, 2016                                                       
Mayapur, India

Not Always Rosy

 

I had met Jaya Vijay at a festival in the Berkley area some years ago and had marvelled at his working efforts.  He was a padayatra (Pilgrim) leader for 10 years from 1986 to 1996.  He is indeed inspiring. I wanted to include him in this blog about the purifying nature of walking.  An article appeared in the recent issue of Padayatra: Worldwide:

 

     “When you watch a Padayatra India slideshow everything seems rosy, but in fact it
      was very difficult.  Walking the highways in Indiais no place for a lady or gentleman.
      Some of the truck drivers are very rough – sometimes they go off the road or hit the
      oxen.  We got malaria and dysentery.  When the devotees get ill, it’s difficult to
      recover and keep moving at the same time.  They have to stay on the tractor. They
      don’t have a private room.  Maybe once or twice a month we might get a private
      room.  Usually we stayed in open schools, where there was no privacy at all.  People
      watched you when you took your bath or passed stool. Sadhu means “open book” – it
      is another definition of a sadhu – there is nothing to hide.  You have to learn to sit
      down on your mat and be in your own mental world and do your own thing. 
      Sometimes it’s hard to do it because you’re tired and you have people looking at you,
      laughing at you, joking about you.  It’s a place to learn tolerance; it is not a joke.  I
      have seen many devotees blow it or hit each other, not out of contempt but because
      they’d just had enough.  I have seen lots of sannyasis go crazy with the kids.  It is very
      difficult.  Some devotees got injured.  There were broken wrists and ankles, one
      devotee was hit by a truck, and another from Finlanddied when he fell under the
      tractor in South India.  Sometimes we present the rosy side of padayatra, but to pick
      the roses there are many thorns, and sometimes you get pricked.  It’s not a piece of
      cake.  In the long run it’s very purifying – the most purifying program in our whole
      ISKCON society.”

      (The Most Purifying Programs, by Jaya Vijaya dasa, Padayatra Newsletter, 2016)

 

May the Source be with you!

6 Km

Tuesday March 1st, 2016
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Tuesday March 1st, 2016
Mayapur, India

Worry for Gain

I’m going to wear my theatre cap right now.  It is a remarkable challenge in dealing with local Bengalis (all nice people) who have been given technical responsibility to set up the stage arrangements.  Is working with them a challenge?  Challenge #1 They know no English. Challenge #2 is their old equipment, worked into the ground – so to speak.  Challenge #3 is that they may get things done; on their own time (Perhaps that has something to do with hot weather).  Challenge #4 is that they are used to doing things in their own way.  Our dress rehearsal was disastrous from the technical side.

These hurdles caused a bit of rough sleep last night.  I was anxious, to say the least, right up to the last moment before show-time.

It becomes an impetus to develop your faith in the Sublime.  You convince yourself that you did the best you could.  So what happened is the technical crew actually felt our sense of urgency, and that we were going to settle for nothing less than pakha (perfect) arrangements.

The lights went up for the stage.  The lights were lowered for the green rooms.  My hands-on technical personnel, Nick and Mandala, were moving things along.  Actors for the play, ‘Krishna Is’ were ready.  Manoram, the magician opened the show and all went as pakha as it could possibly be.

The crowd of one-thousand-plus was very pleased.  The worry paid off.  I say that because the opposite extreme – over-confidence – never helps you win the game.

Trust in Krishna does!

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Monday Feb 29th, 2016
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Monday Feb 29th, 2016
Mayapur, India

Love Trails

“Every path hath its own personality,” I mentioned to Abhay as we reached a juncture, turned a corner, and allowed our feet to feel all the different stones.  Our eyes were excited by the blackness of those stones.

“Unique from the rest of the trails,” I added.

“They are going to put tar on the surface,” said Abhay.

“Don’t tell me!”

“That’s the plan,” said Abhay, a resident of Mayapur.

“To accommodate hardware,” I thought; hardware (meaning cars and scooters) and less software (meaning feet).

I wish I could love Krishnaas much as people love their vehicles.

On one of the trails nearby the local elephants do tread.  They, the two females, Visnupriya and Laksmipriya, have their daily strolls just like us.  They have their personalities too.  Vishnupriya, the slightly smaller, is feisty.  News got around that one time, while walking by, a woman (a pilgrim I suppose) just got too close to the giant mammal.  Vishnupriya picked her up at the waist with her powerful nose and tossed the lady in the ditch.  She ‘ditched’ her.

My sympathies go out to the woman who was thrown.  I am not aware of any serious injuries.  May the presiding deities of Krishna, in the name of Radha Madhava, give protection to all, as well as to the trails that connect people to each other, and to opportunities.  Each trail is unique and it carries with it the weight of trucks, people, and elephants.

May the Source be with you!

8 km

Sunday, February 28th, 2016
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Sunday, February 28th, 2016
Mayapur, India

Fate is Hard

He wasn’t a puppy, exactly, but still too young to call him an adolescent.  He was by his own, perhaps disowned by his mother. He may never have had and may never will have a master. He is too sickly to be wanted.  Like many of his type you might call him a ‘mutt.’  He is a stray dog; like so many in India.

We were walking a trail eastbound and there he lies part cuddled, part up.  He was flee-infected and was working with his snout to his leg, addressing the disease of itch.  
He was patchy– bald in places– and we felt sorry for him.

After the evening’s fresh rainfall he had made the moist path his residence for the night.  Now that traffic picked up, like us trekkers, he would most likely move on, forever miserable in his existence.  He was ugly, and being that he was so young I personally wondered what chance he had for any kind of real life.

If he should live to puberty he may look for a mate.  Food will certainly be a priority.  He’ll get sleep.  I assume he’ll have some fights but hopefully the packs of jackals will be leaving him unnoticed.

Again, I felt for him.  I or we left him with a mantra as we passed by him on this quiet and sometimes harsh trail.  Fate is hard.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Saturday, February 27th, 2016
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Saturday, February 27th, 2016
Mayapur, India

A Change

It was a nice change.  I had been sitting in seminars and sinking in my chair during

administrative meetings.  The seminars were stimulating.  Lokanath Swami and Hari Bhakti led one on proper Sanskrit pronunciation and traditional melodies.  I had dreamt that such an arrangement would materialize.

Well it has!

Also, my friend from the UK, Krpamoya, led a seminar ‘The Guru and How Spiritual Teachers Fit or do Not Fit into an Institution.’  Gurus can be quite independent unless guided and blessed by their peers.  That’s where the topic became interesting.  When John Lennon spoke to our guru, Prabhupada, about spiritual masters – the conversation led to ‘what makes a guru bona fide?’ and one of the best tests to ensure authenticity is that he talks and lives every moment for the Supreme.

What really made me feel that I was a bit off-the-grid, of hearing and listening at seminars and meetings, was giving a presentation myself.  At the courtyard of a condo block I was invited by Noam from Israelto chant, speak, and take some great middle-eastern food.

For openers we chanted and then read theatrically from the book, ‘Krishna.’  The evening was stirring with winds picking up as we sat in the courtyard.  It simply added to the dramatic effects.

After so many hours of hearing you feel rather driven to deliver, hence we have the program of shravanam (hearing) and then kirtanam (delivery).

May the Source be with you!

9 km

Friday, Feb 26th 2016
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Friday, Feb 26th 2016
Mayapur, India

Human Need

Jananivas is a dedicated priest in Mayapur.  When a samskar, or a ritual, needs to be executed he’ll be only too happy to deploy himself.  Now when I say dedicated it is no joke.  He and his identical twin joined Iskcon many years ago and have lived in Mayapur for forty years.

An extraordinary monk!

I had an obligation to fulfill and I needed Jananivas’ help.  A friend from Canada, Danapati, had lost his wife.  She had perished before the year ended in 2015 and I was asked to carry those ashes to merge with the GangesRiver.

Jananivas made use of kusha as an ingredient, along with honey, panchagavya (five substances from the cow), and some grains.  The ashes were placed in a clump of Ganges silt along with the ingredients.  The clump was shaped to accommodate those ingredients and then more mud was placed over top to cover everything.

This procedure was also repeated by two other participants.  A father of 55, Arjuna, placed his 21 year old son’s ashes in the same way.  This was the son who tried to stop thieves from entering their home when he was shot to death.  Tragic! Giri-Gopal from Guyana also partook with his Mum’s ashes.  She had been struggling with illness for years.

The mantras used were a final send-off and a communication with Vishnu while all three sets of ashes were made to float until merging.  Jananivas directed us to take a full bath in the sacred river.  I moved on more to the current of the water to meet another monk and friend, Jayadwaita Swami.  The three of us participants then returned to our schedules.

A closure was put to a human need.

May the Source be with you!

8 km

Thursday Feb 25th, 2016
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Thursday Feb 25th, 2016
Mayapur, India

Heavy Rains

Heavy rains had come the night before leaving pools, puddles, and minor flooding.  You had to watch where to walk.  An outdoor shopping mall with devotional paraphernalia could not be accessed.  It was one big mud river, so it seemed.  The mall was set up as a tempting maze. It was the route to the food.

The food – oh yes – the food.  It comes across as delicious each time.  During the ABM an extra 1300 people need to be fed.  The prasadam (sanctified food) draws the crowds twice a day.  I get the chance to walk from table to table and connect with the South Americans, Chinese, Africans, Europeans, Indians, and even the Americans.

I enjoyed the seminars on rural living and how to get there, as well as a seminar on

guru/discipleship.  I also received, from the maze I was talking about, a copy of the annual Padayatra news.  From a booth, Gaurangi, from Francehanded me the glossy journal.

Overseeing this publication is Lokanath Swami, a monk from India.  He is credited for

conducting padayatras (walking festivals) in Indiaand around the world.  There’s a forty-year history of these events which usually includes a bullock cart and a party of walking chanters.

It was Lokanath who told me of the Padayatra journal featuring this humble servant on the cover. Actually he told me, “You are left, right, and centre.”  The main story is the feature of my walk in the north-east of the USA last fall.

What an honour this is!

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016
Mayapur, India

Coming Together

The local dentist, Keshava, who resides for some time with us in Canada, arranged a get-together for bhakti-yogis from Canada.  It’s an annual reunion.  It bonds us as a unit in a small segment of the globe.

 

We know that the ultimate end our true identity is one of being a spirit soul.  ‘I am not this body.’ I ultimately have no ties with race, gender, creed, or nationality.  Still at the same time while we roam through this world, in this body, there is an identity related to the land in which we are born.

It is hoped that every individual contributes to the land in which we live.  There is an expectation to fulfill some obligation; whether one is a spiritual seeker or not.  The relative practical reality is that we have a body which is conditioned in some way.

So here we are, a few people who came together– people who are karmically linked– to do some spiritual things in union. We ate prasadam together. We chanted together.
We chatted. We had a good time.

The Russians do it, the Bengalis do it.  The Chinese do it, etc.  Why shouldn’t those from the land of the maple leaf come together?

We all look for reinforcements in life.  Even those on the spiritual path require
encouragement. You do not advance on just your own strength.

When walking this morning I was considering the mechanics of my body, especially the legs, and how that part of my anatomy has so many components, each component assisting another. Even my eyes have to be somewhat watching what’s ahead.  If there’s a depression or a pothole on the way, when I see it coming I will connect with the brain and hence make adjustments in the mechanical operation of things.  These are all helpers.

Comradery is essential in achieving a surge of inspiration.  Assistants or helpers are there for us to take advantage of.

May the Source be with you!

7 km

Saturday, February 13th, 2016
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Saturday, February 13th, 2016

Montreal, Quebec

Underground Sound

The pace back and forth inside Govinda’s restaurant with chairs and tables to the side was very well warranted.  For two reasons I felt it so.  Number one is that my good friends, Parama, Mathieu, and the chief/chef of the place, Shankar did the same- pacing up and down while chanting meditatively.  I rarely see them and, hence, felt that precious moments are hard to come by.  I couldn’t see myself going out for a trek alone.

The number two reason was that it was extremely frigid outside.  Skies were clear.  The sun shone.  The cold spell is on at -40 degrees Celsius including the wind factor.

Before leaving this Ottawaregion we took some snap shots of the Parliament Buildings outdoors.  The buildings are handsome, but the weather– too cold.

It was smart that the devotees in Montreal planned for us to have an all-out kirtan session in the heated underground Metro, the city’s transit system.  Indeed it was warm- too warm.  About twenty of us made it to the depths of heat at the Snowdon station.  For the passersby we provided a perky sound, one that some might like to sprint to.  Ultimately the sound is meant to be a serenade to Krishna.

Ah, yes, if only we could truly be in love with God!

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Friday, February 12th, 2016
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Friday, February 12th, 2016

Nepean, Ontario

In the Freezer

“Winter’s finally set in,” said the dog sitters who took that break for her squatting puppy.  Of course she was speaking to me, although you’ll catch a lot of pet owners to have long conversations with their animals.

Another dog walker braved the powers of winter along this same trail.  Unaffected in spirit, he broke into a smile and noting the wind’s direction he remarked, “It’s great to have the wind on your back, isn’t it?”

I concurred.

I had this dire need to be out in the thick of the cold dynamic, being cooped up inside for some hours.  “Do not be intimidated,” is my motto.  The forces of weather can be fierce.  The beauty of it is that you can take it in a very spiritual way.  It can make the man meek.

As today’s sun fell, so did additional snow.  It did deter some people from coming to the evening’s sanga held in the home of Surendra. Those who turned up were happy for the occasion because this evening we were destined to have fun.

I read from the story of Arjuna’s kidnapping Subhadra.  This would make a stupendous drama.  When I read it I realized I have to be sensitive to some of the audience as these tales are new to their ears and the stories details may fly over their heads. For example, a question may arise such as “How can one approve of kidnapping?”  In actuality Subhadra, the princess, was totally consensual to the relationship with Arjuna, while some family members couldn’t agree- at least in the beginning.

The pastimes of Krishna and His friends require some clarification like most any subject matter. That then should serve to end confusion.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Thursday, February 11th, 2016
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Thursday, February 11th, 2016

Nepean, Ontario

Some Rail, Some Trail

Via Rail has these new trains and I was a fortunate passenger to board one of them, destined for Fallowfield, one stop before Ottawa, the nation’s capital city.  Surendra, my host, was there to meet me at the station after a super comfortable ride.

At his home I was treated by him and his good spouse, Sushma, to a great meal featuring bindi (okra).  Their young daughter, Yashira, had gone to school to watch the student’s performance of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

I was committed to at least an hour’s walk which I accomplished, always, by the mercy of guru and Krishna.  It felt like minus 15 Celsius but we Canadians are used to that at this time of year, eh!

Such conditions can be very conducive for concentration on the maha-mantra.  The trail and the night were of an ultimate quiet, all but for one pedestrian near Longfield station.  There were no other people.  I may have said this before, that prescribing to chanting in an indoor environment can be a temptation to talk about whatever.

Today’s most enthusing moment arose from a reading and discussion from the Bhagavatam 2.1.6. It sets the goal for us all.

“The highest perfection of human life, achieved wither by complete knowledge of matter and spirit, by practice of mystic powers, or by perfect discharge of occupational duty, is to remember the Personality of Godhead.

The objective in life is to meditate on the Absolute.  How you achieve this is through the system of being a jnani, or yogi, or karmi but “the finishing touch” as put by author, Srila Prabhupada, is to make contact with strong devotional person.

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Wednesday, February 10th, 2016
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Wednesday, February 10th, 2016

Toronto, Ontario

A Source of Happiness

I did considerable soft-pounding on the snowy forest-trail.  The images before me were leafless trees that reveal more bark than anything outside of their height and width.  Millions of footprints, both human and canine, are hard to distinguish unless close-up.  You see, it is all one soft and wonderful white surface before you.  It is something that bears its own beauty.

I had gone solo on the late afternoon period.  It allowed for some low-volume chanting and brisk walking.  I couldn’t say that I missed traffic as I relished the time in the ravine.  And I can admit that spotting that low blue spruce bush struck my fancy.  Clumps of the white stuff clung to its needled branches.  Only browned brittle leaves fallen from deciduous trees remained trapped in an interspersed.  It’s actually gorgeous.

For some people a two hour foot-journey in the nippy cold would be an austerity.  For me, I thrive on this kind of thing.  It’s voluntary and not even sacrifice.

So for as sacrifice is concerned I like something I read from the Gita today which should

possibly ring as truth to the ears of many.  Bhagavad-gita 4:31 “O best of the Kuru Dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next?” Happiness is something we all chose to have.  It doesn’t always come naturally.  You do have to make some endeavour.

May the Source be with you!

7 km

Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2016

Toronto, Ontario

No Thanks, I’m…

Anne Lise, who co-ordinates chanting sessions for Bhakti Lounge, had offered to stop by with Uber Taxi to give Uttama and I a lift to the venue.  The venue was at

569 Spadina Ave.

with TorontoU., at the Multi-Faith Centre.

“Anne Lise,” I said, “thank you for the offer but I really need to walk every day.  “This is my opportunity.”  So Uttama, with mrdunga drum strapped around him with care, and I took to the halk-hour trek there and back.  Common mantra for the past has been, “No thanks, I’m walking!”

Now if I may correct myself, if maya, the personification of illusion, was to be a true vixen with me I would use the mantra, “No thanks, I’m chanting.”  I would not blurt it out but mentally I would refuse to indulge in things perceived as adharmic, unprincipled.

The turn-out for the event was small.  Chris and Elizabeth showed up, and so did Kathamrta as well as Anne Lise. With Uttama and I, that makes six.  Together we did chant and together, in a circle we did dance.  That was clearly the direction we were going in.  We were making what you could say sattvic body movements, all motivated by the chant.

We got our work-out in.  We were a six-pack.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2016

Toronto, Ontario

No Thanks, I’m…

Anne Lise, who co-ordinates chanting sessions for Bhakti Lounge, had offered to stop by with Uber Taxi to give Uttama and I a lift to the venue.  The venue was at

569 Spadina Ave.

with TorontoU., at the Multi-Faith Centre.

“Anne Lise,” I said, “thank you for the offer but I really need to walk every day.  “This is my opportunity.”  So Uttama, with mrdunga drum strapped around him with care, and I took to the halk-hour trek there and back.  Common mantra for the past has been, “No thanks, I’m walking!”

Now if I may correct myself, if maya, the personification of illusion, was to be a true vixen with me I would use the mantra, “No thanks, I’m chanting.”  I would not blurt it out but mentally I would refuse to indulge in things perceived as adharmic, unprincipled.

The turn-out for the event was small.  Chris and Elizabeth showed up, and so did Kathamrta as well as Anne Lise. With Uttama and I, that makes six.  Together we did chant and together, in a circle we did dance.  That was clearly the direction we were going in.  We were making what you could say sattvic body movements, all motivated by the chant.

We got our work-out in.  We were a six-pack.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

 

Monday, February 8th, 2016
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Monday, February 8th, 2016                                           
Toronto, Ontario

Death For Sure

A yaksha is usually described in the Vedic literatures as a nature-spirit who oversees some hidden treasure of the earth like a tree or a body of water.  In the epic tale of the “Mahabharata,” pious king Yudristhira had met a yaksha in the forest.  This yakshawas a guardian of a lake and at that lake the king was forbidden to drink from this its water until the yaksha could have some questions answered.

His questions were of a philosophical nature and the king answered each question masterfully.  One question asked was “What to you is the most amazing thing?”  To which king Yudhisthira responded by saying, “the most amazing thing in existence is that everywhere we see death taking place but one believes that he/she will not die.”

Eventually the king was permitted to drink and all was well.  It did strike me in the course of today’s walk through residential Rosedale that death is all around.  I received information that a young man– we met at his father’s birthday ten days prior– had been shot to death at his home in Guyana.  Thieves were attempting to break in.

On that same day I received an e-mail stating how one of my travelling partners in my earlier monk years, Subal by name, got hit by a tractor-trailer while cycling in Vancouver.  He didn’t make it to the hospital.

As painful as it is to be the recipient of such bad news on the topic of a sudden passing, we must be convinced that this feature of death is inevitable for all of us.  We might consider that ego allows us to believe in a false sense of immortality.  Perhaps we can conclude that the atma itself (the soul) is truly resident.  Bear in mind that the body is not.
 
My respects go to Chaitanya and Subal.

May the Source be with you!

7Km

Sunday, February 7th , 2016
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Sunday, February 7th , 2016


Scarborough/Toronto

To Walk

I was compelled to walk my last hours away

After speaking at three venues all in one day


And conjuring up what was appropriate to say


To listeners in helping them on in some way

I went for the stroll to put any closure

To this day, to give balance and utter composure


But I look around me at a world in a seizure


That is so much removed from proper procedure

Left-over Christmas, now Valentine hearts
The doors are all closed to all shopping marts

Until they do open when a new day starts


When breakfast is served with pancakes and tarts

I was compelled to walk my last hours away

After we sang a chant making us all feel okay


Away from a world we do say ‘No way Jose’


It is here at the temple we feel we’re at play

May the Source be with you!

6 km

Saturday, February 6th, 2016
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Saturday, February 6th, 2016


Toronto, Ontario

Eating Like You Should

My good friend, Akhilananda, drove up from Salem, Ohio to spend a day in a devotional environment. We did trek the Yorkville neighbourhood. He liked it until some slight pain hit him in the hips.

We did then go for some delicious Krishna food called prasadam at Govinda’s. Eating time is perhaps time-out for feeling gratitude. I was reminded of some excerpt from the book “The Higher Taste”.

“Walking through a supermarket, people may forget a very basic fact of nature- it ‘s not mom but God who makes food. There’s something mystical about the way food grows. You put a tiny seed in the ground. It sprouts, and by the mysterious life force within it a food factory arises – a tomato plant producing dozens of tasty red tomatoes, an apple tree producing bushels of sweet apples. No team of scientists anywhere has yet invented anything as amazing as the simplest green creation of God.”

On the menu was a squash soup; a lovely lentil dish called sambara; kofta, a veggie ball set in tomato sauce; aloo gobi, which is an unforgettable potoato/cauliflower curry; matar paneer, a cheese and pea combinations; basmati rice; veggie fritters known as pakora; and a flat bread called chapatti as well as other items.

It all went down well before the stomach got a chance to hurt.

Not too much of anything right?

Let’s familiarize ourselves with the well-known verse from the Gita, “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.”

May the Source be with you!

8 km

Saturday, February 6th, 2016
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Saturday, February 6th, 2016


Toronto, Ontario

Eating Like You Should

My good friend, Akhilananda, drove up from Salem, Ohio to spend a day in a devotional environment. We did trek the Yorkville neighbourhood. He liked it until some slight pain hit him in the hips.

We did then go for some delicious Krishna food called prasadam at Govinda’s. Eating time is perhaps time-out for feeling gratitude. I was reminded of some excerpt from the book “The Higher Taste”.

“Walking through a supermarket, people may forget a very basic fact of nature- it ‘s not mom but God who makes food. There’s something mystical about the way food grows. You put a tiny seed in the ground. It sprouts, and by the mysterious life force within it a food factory arises – a tomato plant producing dozens of tasty red tomatoes, an apple tree producing bushels of sweet apples. No team of scientists anywhere has yet invented anything as amazing as the simplest green creation of God.”

On the menu was a squash soup; a lovely lentil dish called sambara; kofta, a veggie ball set in tomato sauce; aloo gobi, which is an unforgettable potoato/cauliflower curry; matar paneer, a cheese and pea combinations; basmati rice; veggie fritters known as pakora; and a flat bread called chapatti as well as other items.

It all went down well before the stomach got a chance to hurt.

Not too much of anything right?

Let’s familiarize ourselves with the well-known verse from the Gita, “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.”

May the Source be with you!

 

8 km

Friday, February 5th, 2016
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Friday, February 5th, 2016                                                     

Toronto, Ontario

Revealing

You always find something fresh, new and revealing on a walk especially when it is outdoors as opposed to walking on the basement treadmill.  Because of the ever-changing nature of nature itself, whether it be weather or just the wear-and-tear that occurs from aging, each season unfolds a new growth and new death.  It’s never the same.

At the Brickworks, a repurposing space had begun when an old brick could have been

demolished.  Some wise and sensitive people decided that the quarry, untouched for years, had value.

Nick, Mandala and I roamed the grounds that were reintroduced to indigenous vegetation.  At one appealing spot at the bottom of the dug-out area an aesthetic blend of colour captured our eyes, with green algae water in the pond reflecting snow-cycles under a fallen, haunting tree, which held by its roots a massive clump of dirt.

At the quarry’s north cliff an ancient beaver skull was more recently found, its size being like that of a black bear, a relic left from the former ice age.

Every time I come here it’s a new face and there’s new information of a world worth viewing and reviewing.  Walking through the features of nature always fascinates and leaves you feeling reincarnated like nothing that our concrete jungle can provide.

May the Source be with you!

8 Km

Thursday, February 4th, 2016
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Thursday, February 4th, 2016                          


Toronto, Ontario

Re-Membering

When peers get together  magical things happen.  For instance one of my god brothers helped another one to get back on track to chanting his prescribed amount of japa meditation.  The fellow had fallen short of his vow to his guru in this regard for some time. So it took his buddy (a roommate) just a little coaching and hence the derailing is now history.

The person who had fallen from grace (so to speak) is now a happy chappy.  It was four of us god brothers who took to part 2 of going down memory lane.  Our additional person was Danapati who has this photographic memory about the past.  We visited our old temple, an impressive Victorian home on 187 Gerrard.  Currently an accounting firm occupies the space.  Around the corner on

109 Pembroke St.

is a three story apartment building which accommodated our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in 1975. This then has sentimental value to us.

We also ventured over to AllanGardens, one of the oldest parks in the city with an indoor botanical garden.  It was in this facility that Krishnadevotees would sit amidst banana and papaya trees and do their japa chanting- meditation.  It was in those days, the early seventies, that a lotus flower just might have gone missing from this horticultural centre and would have made its way to our temple across the street, to find itself on the altar.

But I don’t think it was Gods doing.  In general I would say we were a family.  Yes the four of us were members of a family.  We were re-membering.

May the Source be with you!

5km

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016                                   


Toronto, Ontario

By Surprise

It took us by surprise when a woman walking behind us, hearing us talk about the seventy-plus storey high-rise, began to speak to us to clarify a point.

“Yes, it was from this building that, during its construction, a massive piece of glass fell from an incredible height that came crashing down onto the street level.”


We weren’t sure if the accident occurred from this building or another one.  She went on though.

 “It’s a condo building.  You have to watch it when you walk in the area, especially at 7AM when everyone in the building wakes up for work, flushes their toilets at the same time.  Can you imagine all those people creating all the sewage at once?!”

To that remark we had a good laugh.  It was my dear friends Drupada, Garuda, Kevala and I who took this walk down memory lane.  Yorkville was the place, the haven for hippies in Canada. Garuda was one of those who lived here in the late sixties.

Someone said if Haight-Ashbury is the centre of the American hippie world, then Yorkville was Canada’s hippie heartland.  I recall coming to this street in ’71 and it was a big tourist attraction.  It was packed with people.  Many musicians started their career here.  Now, it has become a high-end posh neighbourhood.  Garuda also relayed to us where he first met Krishna monks, at the Colonnade on Bloor St. Drupada met monks at RyersonU. just a few blocks away.  And it was the corner of Bloor that I did pioneer with Hiranyagarbha, now Professor Jan Brazinski, the Krishnaconsciousness movement, armed with incense and books.  It is endearing to remember these places and events.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

4Km

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016                                                                   


Brampton, Ontario

Mild Winter

Mild winter – but grey skies

Walking in the burbs with little surprise


I thought, “If blind, but somehow wise


I could see with such special eyes.”


 

Ravine, with ducks in the creek

Happy and quacking from their own beak


Having each other in their own clique


On one’s own one is very weak.

Walking with Nanda and his big dog

By the reeds and that odd log


Now less grey, absolutely no fog


Our pace is a walk, no chance it’s a jog.



The pic on the plague shows “this is a newt


Swamp sparrow”, oh so cute


If not for birds the world is mute


Until the world can hear that flute.


 


The icy pond, not safe to tread


It would be safer to stay in bed
The first step taken could be “your dead!”


That’s what nature has always said.



The trek was too short to really enjoy


For Nanda, the dog and this old boy


But at least we engaged the legs to employ


They are our tools, they are our toys.

May the Source be with you!

 

5km

Monday, Febuary 1st, 2016
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Monday, Febuary 1st, 2016                                                                           


Georgetown/Port of Spain

Comparing Notes

Since I’ve stayed in Guyana for a few days and previously in Trinidad, it was natural to compare notes about the two places and then draw an opinion.  Even without me trying to do so, people from either territory would offer theirs.  You can always view and observe the best when on foot.  Walking the neighbourhood tells all about a place. Here’s my two cents worth in a nutshell:

Trinidad is the more prosperous place, at least up until now, with oil being pumped out.  The public reaps some benefit from this commodity.  At the same time it is more of the self-indulgent place, materialistic.

Guyana, on the other hand, rich in resources, doesn’t have much to show for itself.  I mean to say that public needs are lacking.  Here in Guyana life is less hectic and perhaps less sophisticated.

Prabhupadeva, one of our prominent leaders in Guyanaalso confirmed my conclusion by saying, “that’s to our advantage.”  He was saying the Guyanese are easy to take to the spiritual side of life.

I’ve been coming to these two countries for a few years and I enjoy my time immeasurably. Yesterday I took personal time with a host of people in Georgetown, so much so that I had no room for the most meager trek.  I’m also observing that the three storey buildings going up the “Nimai Pandit Study Centre” including temple, commercial kitchen for mass food distribution, monk living quarters, and restaurant, are a sign of piety that the Guyanese display.  Funds are still needed (and they are coming) to complete this glorious facility for this year, which is to open in July in honour of the 50 years since the birth of the Hare Krishna movement. 
It looks good for Guyana this year.

May the Source be with you!

5km

Sunday, January 31st, 2016
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Sunday, January 31st, 2016                                 


Georgetown, Guyana

Dry

Guyana is becoming dry like a bone, so the locals tell me.  I heard the same while in Trinidad. Little or no rain has happened for days.  Another piece of information that I find interesting is that a huge oil reserve has been found and the next-door-nation, Venezuela, is claiming a portion of Guyanaas theirs.  The issue went all the way up to the United Nations.

Sounds like the face of greed rearing its ugly head.  For one’s sustenance what’s more important water or oil?  We have problems, some nature-imposed and some people-imposed.  There’s no escaping the problems of life. Still one try’s to alleviate as many problems as possible.  It’s the natural thing to do.

It might be an idea to identify the ultimate problem.  What our dear guru, Srila Prabhupada, had us acknowledge is losing our sense of real purpose.  Somewhere along the line in time we lost touch with the great Creator and came to the position of self-service.  By “missing the point” we obtain a material body wherein we attempt to play the role of God and thus live a pretentious life thinking that we will make out okay on our own.

Illusion always produces problems.  The Gita informs us that from the highest sphere to the lowest (including earth) there are problems.  Now to jump to a positive note, one young man, Satyananda, a medical student came forward today to accept Vaishnav diksha spiritual initiation. His new name is, Saci Suta, a name for Sri Chaitanya, the master of mantras.

Blessings came from all.  The Nimai Pandit Study Centre, where he has been studying our theological traditions alongside with his secular studies, was a packed house to hold the ceremony.

May the source be with you!

0km