Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Mayapur, India The More Dark Side of a Mass Pilgrimage There is something very embarrassing about the culture which I adopted and it has to do with when you are not able to walk through the crowds.  To have ten thousand people descend on a…

Mayapur, India

Remind Yourself

Today was the first day of some illness.  Nothing major.  Some tummy problems.  I hear some residents of India call it “the Delhi belly”

Like anything in the mundane world it is just temporary.  This is the consolation.  By mid-day, operations were back to normal.

I have written before how tough it is to move from one building to the next without being greeted by admirers of monks.  In Indian culture people adore their swamis, even if you are not born in this mother land.  At least in this Mayapur setting where the Vaishnav culture is in full swing, anyone wearing that saffron with the pleat-free-in-the-back dhoti and perhaps carry that staff (danda) – regardless of your skin colour – will attract attention.

The usual routine is that when a pilgrim spots a sannyasi he/she may halt walking, slip out of the shoes and offer dandavats (where you flatten yourself on the ground or bow with head to ground), all out of reverence.  Some pilgrims while cycling will stop and do the same.

Personally I feel these gestures, sincere as they are, are a little bit overkill.  They are whole-heartedly executed but at least from my side there is an inconvenience when crowds require a flow of movement.  It is one of several austerities that a monastic person has to undertake.  You can’t avoid the celebrity stature.

The question is, “How do you deal with all the attention and not let it all go to your head?”  What comes to mind is the early morning conscientious internal effort made to remind yourself that, “I am a tiny spark of life with a dimension of one ten-thousandth the tip of a hair.  There are trillions of such sparks existing in the world and I am just one of them.  I am small.  I am humble.”  Sometimes a little illness is the best reminder.

May the Source be with you!

4 KM

Mayapur, India

You Can Get Bitten

I do anticipate that anything can happen at any time.  Down any trail, danger can lurk.  What if along the trail of dust, a cobra confronts me and he strikes?  I might have an hour to live.

The last few evenings, just to get away from the crowds, I’ve taken to the path.  I premeditate as to what to do should a fateful event like a snake injecting his venom ever occur.

As I embarked on what’s now a brick-lain trail before it turns to raw soil, I perceived a towering figure who stepped into my shadow.  I turned around to see who it was.  A stranger to me, but in traditional attire, dhoti and kurta – was this tall blonde-haired stocky Russian.

I beckoned him to join.  His English is poor.  My Russian is awful.  We decided to penetrate through the dark together and not talk but chant japa.  I had the trail chalked out. He trusted my turns when they came.

We walked on and on in the quiet of the night.  Only in the distance could we hear a little pop music from across the Jalanghi river.  We weren’t bitten by a cobra, only by that sound which is not congruous to the local spiritual atmosphere.  “Never mind!”  I thought.  Change what you can, not what you can’t.  Focus on the sound that falls off your tongue and your lips.  “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”.

The Russian-walking comrade goes by the name of Vedaguhya.  It turns out he’s an expert massage therapist.  He offered to massage my legs, feeling an obligation I suppose.  In returning the favour, I offered a newly-acquired lota (a container for water).

In the dham (spiritual abode) everyone tries to resign to exchanges of giving.  It heals.

May the Source be with you!

4 KM

Mayapur, India They Snarled They snarled and growled.  I’m referring to dogs.  Then they, only two or three, would have a biting fight which would last as long as you could say, “Lassi!” Stray dogs do enter the dham (sac…

Mayapur, India

I Was Dozing

I was dozing during a meeting.  It’s not that the topic was boring, in fact, it was a discussion group that went up to the front of our conference room to address the milk controversy – ahimsa milk, which is milk from a non violent source, versus store bought milk.  The topic should be interesting.

Physically, psychologically, I struggle with long sit down sessions.  I need to move.  I get antsy.  One of my monastic brothers came to save me from the embarrassment of being noticed in my drowsiness.

Lokanath Swami needed someone to join him in a ceremony honouring an anniversary of 25 years of padayatra pilgrimage throughout India involving bullock cart, deities, and people on foot.  He got the permission, green light, for me to have an hour leave of absence granted by the conveners of the meeting.  It’s nice to know that the cause of kirtan(chanting) in procession with pilgrims is so much supported by the powers that be.  Once I descended down the stairs, I got my feet to the ground and to the starting point of a chanting session.  Traffic was halted, some of which were buses, cars, scooters, and even tractors.  Finally, our procession moved on and traffic was freed up.  It was a one kilometre long procession, and it was given priority.  I took the lead on singing while eager young men danced and pranced to the sound of mantra.   It was a resounding sound.  Sound speakers were plenty.  Drums, mridangasand djembes, were in full force.  Karatalas (hand cymbals) were clanging in full volume.

I was awake, very much so.  I took a dose of the ultimate panacea, chanting and walking, and it did the trick once again.  The dose got me out of the doze. 

May the Source be with you!

5 KM

Mayapur, India

Bizarre Dream

One of my female students came up to me and said, “Guru Maharaja, I had a strange dream last night.  It was about you and I was in it.”

“What did you dream?” 

“Well, in the dream, you asked me to be a sacrifice for a dragon, so I was offered to the fiery mouth of the beast.”

I was humoured by this ethereal scenario, and I guess, touched by the fact that she, the dreamer, would be so candid to tell me about this.  She did not ask for an interpretation of the dream or an inner meaning, yet I decided I would offer some comment. 

We both agreed it was rather a silly conjuration.  First of all, I had expressed that we are of the passive kind.  I would in real life never suggest the gesture of human sacrifice.  And entering into the flames of a dragon’s mouth?  That would be out of the question.  As devotional people, we offer ourselves into the fire of devotional service. 

In general, you can’t take dreams too seriously as they are merely a conglomerate of impressions that may not normally be related to one another.  Life is but a dream, and I would say most emphatically, “The only reality is service.”  I can say what isn’t reality, and that is the world in which we live.  This world is dream like, but we mistake it for truth. 

When I became a monk back in the spring of ’73, I cut myself off from gross sense gratification.  I made a commitment, I’ll not go back to that illusion.  I will confess to some day dreaming at times, and those dreams can be outrageously nonsensical.  So I reiterate, “Reality lies in service to others.”  And this is when our hearts are the softest, when our brain is sharpest, and mind is cleanest. 

The big reality for me today was service to Krishna in the form of uttering his name on that quiet trail running along the Jalungi River.  It was absolutely relishable. 

May the Source be with you!

6 KM

Cow patties are an excellent source of fuel.  They are there for the taking, free of charge.  The generous cow or bull leaves her or his earthy feces on the ground for people to do something smart with.  You have to be a little daring though.  It’s a hands on situation, and some patience is required to allow for drying time.  Somebody is doing a good job at gathering the stuff around here.  I can’t find fresh plops even if I were to take up the mission to secure even one. 

Praveen looked disheveled.  His dentures are deteriorated, stained yellow and brown.  In the past when I would meet him on the Tarumpura Road, I would give him an embrace, but I could see he was not in the mood to receive.  He looked intoxicated.  Being pious, believing in God, and what is generally dharmic(moral), he felt rather guilty being in our presence.  He knows what it means to greet or be greeted by a monk.  It is a deeply engrained element in the psyche of people who hail from the land of dharma, India.  That’s why he spoke with an outburst, “Maharaja,” he said out of reverence.

Mayapur, India A Walk, A SongA Russian, an Argentinian, a Quebecois, and Paramatma (the Divine in the heart) became my companions on short trails today.One of those strolls took us to the Kirtan Mela, ‘Festival of Chanting.’  …

Mayapur, India The More Dark Side of a Mass PilgrimageThere is something very embarrassing about the culture which I adopted and it has to do with when you are not able to walk through the crowds.  To have ten thousand people descend on a small t…

Mayapur, India They SnarledThey snarled and growled.  I’m referring to dogs.  Then they, only two or three, would have a biting fight which would last as long as you could say, “Lassi!” Stray dogs do enter the dham (sacred space), p…

Mayapura, India

The Finnish To Begin

Today was the final day for a glorious ingenious program, it’s the second time around for the ISKCON Leaders Sanga.

Sanga means association or gathering of saintly persons.  What our leaders just went through was a harmonious infusion of the Spirit. This involved seminars and workshops on seminars along the line of Devotee Care, Empathic Listening, Strengthening family life, etc.  Practical items were the bulk of the stuff.

It got me thinking, “How can I put together a seminar on walking?” and expressing and informing about its benefits on all levels.

I was honoured to lead the chant at the beginning of the final gathering.

Our group was informed by convenors, Gopala Bhatta, of something quite helpful presented in motivational terms— “The 8 Steps to Create Change”.

1.       Understand and/or create the elements of urgency (the example given here is of how our guru, Srila Prabhupada, used to say that the entire world is suffering).
2.       Collaborate to establish performance and accountability.
3.       Reflect on overall vision and strategy.
4.       Refresh our understanding and commitment to the change vision.
5.       Obtain total “buy-in” from all stakeholders.
6.       Generate short-term success.
7.       Consolidate gains and produce more success.
8.       Anchor the new energy.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

 Mayapura, India

Places of Real Sound

In the mornings, there is a mist that people walk through on their way to the temples.  As early as 4 AM you have pilgrims in stride moving to one of three outlets for chanting—at the samadhi of our guru, Srila Prabhupada, the kutir, or meditative hut, where he first resided in the early seventies when there was only an open plot of land, and finally, the main mandir, or temple, which accommodates thousands.

It is definitely a busy beehive at predawn.  Now, being Saturday, pilgrims pour into the Mayapura area from the city of Kolkata and other surrounding areas.  Busses of people park in the wide expanse of future development areas, buses with screeching horns of prolonged sounds.  Once you step out of the ISKCON compound, you are sure to be in the throes of passion with traffic and noise.

While in the haven of the dhama (sacred place), the atmosphere becomes more relaxed, but not without excitement.  By 5 PM there is a hati (elephant) procession on the grounds.  Drummers, cymbals, turbaned players, priests, and of course, the large mammals themselves, decorated with draped cloth and coloured pigments, circle the area of thruway, transforming it into much more than Disney could offer.

Teachers of the bhakti school say that wherever there is reverential love, that is the spiritual realm.  And that holds true, they say, especially where the ether is surcharged with sound, mantra, from another world.

When the sun meets the Ganges in Mayapura, only a few metres away from my accommodation (five minutes only), a repeat of the morning fog dynamic occurs.  The number of pilgrims has quadrupled and the option for places to hear kirtan and release karma are also increased.  It’s all so much devotion.

I will declare that I am not missing the mundane sounds of the West, not even the East when it has no connection to the parama dhama, the supreme abode.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Mayapura, IndiaFabric of the GodsAnywhere that you roam in India, village or city, you are like to see cloth blowing in the wind.  It could be on someone’s person, a woman’s sari’s end flapping in the wind or even a man traditionally dressed in …

Mayapura, IndiaThe Innovative MonkHe was very strict with himself.  It was his birth anniversary today.  Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati is the guru of our guru and had been celibate all his life, that would make him a life long monk. This mo…

Two Gals!Mayapura, India Lakshmipriya ! and Vishnupriya !  These are two names of two elephants that have their own campus complete with several acres of space which include a variety of trees.  They have their own tank for a bath and lo…

PackedMayapura, India I share a small room with two other people 20 and 35 years my junior. We get along.  We are working together on the drama project, so there some commonality there.  One of the follows is married.  The other is …

Where It Started               Mayapura, India Srivas Angan is the birth place of kirtan in the modern age. The home of someone by the name of Srivas Thakur is the location w…

New Delhi, India

Missing But FoundNew Delhi, IndiaIts always an honour to speak about walking icons.  Before me were dozens of resident brahmacharis (monks), I talked about this young prince who actually ran away from home, perhaps walked.  He felt some negle…

To the HillVrndavan IndiaThe sun hadn’t yet met Vrndavan until late. The six of us who took that popular pilgrimage around the celebratory and sacred hill, Goverdhan, were rather okay with that. Given the time of the year (days are short) in the northe…

Noida/Delhi, IndiaMinimal Enjoyment                 Walking today was once again at a minimum due to circumstances.   A cold rain hit the area.  I have neither the clothing nor the footwear appropr…

Nodia, India

Walking/Flying

As out little drama troupe was in the midst of our practice for the Hindi version of “Gita: Concise”, an interviewer came, a Ms. Singh from the Delhi Times was informed about my being in town and that a story about  “The Walking Monk” might be interesting; she was gracious.

The usual questions came about why, where and what’s next?  To put it briefly I told her about the value of pilgrimages, about the countries I’ve ventured through on foot and about doing Route 66 in the U.S. as a major undertaking from New York to San Fransisco.  I also told her of the many visits to elementary schools this last summer while walking through the Canadian prairies along with Daruka, my associate, and a parrot.  The teachers loved the notion of getting away from computers and games to see a bigger world, a bigger picture.

After the interview and drama practice I enjoyed some down-time reading through the pages of a new book by Lokanath Swami, “In Conversation With Srila Prabhupada”.  I’m sure that my admired monk friend, the author, doesn’t mind me pulling out an excerpt that got my attention.  It’s to do with a walk he was on with our Guru, Srila Prabhupada on November 13/1975 Bombay/India:

“As Srila Prabhupada quickened his steps and we hurried along behind him, we glanced upwards to the clear Juhu beach sky and observed a flock of geese flying through the air in complete synergy with each other. Srila Prabhupada stopped, dug his cane steadily into the ground and commented,”’Yes… fast, these birds.  Airplane cannot do that.’

I inquired, ‘How do the birds determine the direction of their movement without clashing into each other?’

Srila Prabhupada responded, Informing me, ‘Yes, they have got intelligence.  You are thinking they have no intelligence. They have got complete intelligence.’

I acknowledged Srila Prabhupada’s explanation and pushed the discussion further.  ‘How do they all decide together to turn either right or left without clashing?’

Srila Prabhupada replied with authority, “That is intelligence.  You do not know that if you are given airplane, so many… immediately, at least half a dozen will be finished. That means you are less intelligent then the birds, at least in the matter of flying.’

Those who were there to hear the remarks… were highly amused.”
 
May The Source Be With You!
 
0 KM

Noida, India                 
 
What Needs Doing                  

One journalist, G.S. Tripathi writes, “The second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is a primary source of eternal knowledge. Bewildered by the challenges before him,  Arjuna seeks Krishna’s intervention in removing his ignorance and leading him on the path of righteousness.  In response, Krishna talks about the immortality of the soul, knowledge of eternity and the transient, supremacy of action bereft of desire for it fruits and the necessity of being equipoised under the spell of the duality’s of life.” 

While so many reverential and celebratory activities are going on with the opening of a new temple, and this eventful day of saint/avatar Nityananda, our drama troupe is focused for our evening performance of  “Gita:  Concise”.  I had the privilege to partake in the ancient abhishek rights for installing murtis (beautiful images of Krishna).  The balance of the time, however, was with the guys in our troupe who committed to the full eighteen chapters presented in a nut shell. 

While introducing the drama to a crowd of hundreds, I confessed to giving not much time to the puja, or the rituals. My puja has been to the members of the troupe, who are my deities, in a sense. 

Mukunda, who is a new fellow for me to work with and who plays the role of Arjuna, told me between practices, “I’m really getting absorbed in the part and trying to comprehend my characters dilemma”.  Maha Mantra, who has got the dance steps down in the production, is like the pillar of knowledge of props and costumes and just how to “rhythm it”  on the stage.  Fil had manifested as the details person.  Goura is the dependable person Krishna, and Kish is my co-voiceover person.  Manoj is perfectly cast a Ganesh.  We have all become inter dependent in the endeavor, learning from Krishna’s message that a warrior-type focus is necessary in the discharge of duty. 

While our Aussie sound man, Damodara Pundit, Kish and I are on the side-lines to do our job. Our stage boys wowed the crowd when finally our turn came for a marvelous cultural show. 

Pulling a production together in India at an outdoor pandal (marquee) program isn’t often an easy task.  Only if you “focus focus focus ” are you likely to succeed at anything.  Still, the Gita teaches, “Do not be attached to the fruit of the work, but to paying attention to the execution of what needs doing.”
 
May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM

Noida, India 
 
Dusty Street  
         

While I had a chance, I went for a stroll on a dusty street and made friends with a cow.  I made enemies with dogs.  I tried to follow the old and wise directive, “Let sleeping dogs lie”.  I was trying to do just that, but one of the mutts was awoken by my foot steps, and that was it. They blasted out their barking.

I also tried to connect with a pedestrian youth by saying, “Hare Krishna!” as it’s common enough in India, but he remained resolute in his purpose.  He noticed me for sure, but he had been plugged in with a white i-pod, so I didn’t matter. 

I did befriend a Chaukidhar, a security person with uniform and stick, near someone’s lot.

You will sometimes succeed in friend making, other times not. 

The big news in India is about a tigress out in the wilderness who claimed her eighth human victim in a rural area. The last one was a 78 year old man where remains were found by locals. “Gruesome!”  “Sad karma!” were my thoughts.

I was chanting japa during this time of the short stroll and mentally addressing or taking note of all the interactions both repelling and attracting which were all very real. Then a moment of truth gripped me in the course of the walk, in the course of the chant – “I have so much cleaning to do.”  Nothing in this was to do with laundry but only to do with the internal cleanse.  It hit me like a ton of bricks. 

There is all kinds of trash within all of us that needs nullification. The individual endeavour to “clean house”,  so to speak,  the human obligation.  I can’t fault a pack of dogs for barking or a hungry tiger on the prowl, or even judge a youth for being in his own little world.  Even when petting the cow at the flabby neck her response wasn’t 100% courteous.  I have got my own inebriety to work on.

So, absorb myself in the mantra as best I can and carry on. 

May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM

Noida, India           
 
Temperature Getting Us Close         

At this time of year in India,  at least in this more northern region, everyone gets bitten. Not by dogs. Not by mosquitoes. By a chill.

In the soon to be inaugurated temple in Noida, all those present are wrapped  up in or under dhotis or saris with long johns, coats, chadars, toques and hoodies. There is no central heating so you live off the warmth of your own body heat.

Us Canadians, that is Maha Mantra, Fil and I, have a better immunity to winterism. Thank God! The other members of our theater troop for instance our two guys from Florida, Kish and Mukunda are a little more sensitive to the nippiness.  Finally, Godruma Goura from Pennsylvania can handle it alright.  Actually he could probably pass for a polar bear in terms of relishing the coolness. 

Apparently we have been all accommodated for our practices of drama, “Gita: Concise” , in a tight and relatively warm space.  The room is approximately a 12X12 space, ridiculously small.

I’m not really complaining.  I told the crew, “For starters, this space is and needs to be like an incubator.  In this snug area as actors we can develop the abhinaya facial expressions, the actual emotional side.”  As the director I get the opportunity to see more close up projected feelings.  Once we get that down then we move to a more spacious facility which permits more unrestricted physical movement. 

Busy we are with drama preparations for the opening night of the inauguration.  I see less chance for walking with time restraints and also lack of pedestrian friendly walkways.  Maybe we are in the wrong part of town where our guest rooms are located, but up to this point, it’s a hard place to figure out, although on some kind of grid system. The settlement of the city of Noida is a progressive, expansive place.  Too much of a car city for me.  As a redeemer though, I’ll give the place a 8.5 out of 10 for the people being so nice.  To be truly introspective though,  I have a ways to go to match that kindness I can be cold at heart.

May the Source be with you!
 
3 KM