Hare Krishna! Praise for the Highest Mercy Gour Govinda Swami:…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! Praise for the Highest Mercy
Gour Govinda Swami: Conditioned souls, being victims of illusion and the repetition of the cycle of birth and death, are prone to commit errors. The material world created by the Lord is our testing place. Here at every step we are continually being tested by maya. To pass this test one has to hear the devotional message spoken by mahajanas like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Bhaktivinoda’s teachings should be preached more and more. If the leaders of present-day society sincerely desire the welfare of humanity, they should deeply cultivate and introspectively reflect upon these teachings. Please practice these teachings in your life and teach them to the world. This will surely bring auspiciousness and the unlimited blessings of Thakura Bhaktivinoda.
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20028

Work in progress
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2015, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture)

Madhava_MayapurYou cannot just love like that. First, love is in practice. We can say, love-under-construction just as in work-in-progress. So called love-at-first-sight does not go so deep. Love at first sight may be the initial attraction but how deep does it go?

Love for Krsna develops by finding out more and more about Krsna: who he is, what he does, what he says, what he likes… And then, if we begin to act in such a way that is pleasing to Krsna, then gradually everything becomes favourable.

Then we begin to slowly develop our love for Krsna because Krsna is wonderful and by acting in a way that is pleasing to him, we too will become pleased, because Krsna’s directions are perfect, full of depth and wisdom, and whoever dedicates his life to that, will see that his life will become perfect…

Hare Krishna! Donor Spotlight: Jaysri Radhe (Dr. Jayshri…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! Donor Spotlight: Jaysri Radhe (Dr. Jayshri Chasmawala)
Nrtya Kisori Dasi: Even after my dear friend and neighbor, Jaysri Radhe, mentioned her plans to give a donation to TKG Academy on Janmastami, I wasn’t prepared for what was coming. When she handed me the envelope, a big surprise was in store: $2900. And that is not all! She also informed me of her joining our school’s monthly donor program. Her generosity deeply touched my heart and I wanted to share her story. Jaysri with fatherJaysri Chasmawala’s family is from India. She was born in Boston, and growing up she remembers her father as a devout practitioner of the Ramanuja Sampradaya who provided her first spiritual inspiration. (Later in life, two weeks before leaving his body, he accepted initiation from H.H. Giriraj Swami).
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20023

Vraj Padayatra
→ simple thoughts

Share

Dear Devotees,
Hare Krishna,
Kartik starts on the 27th October.

Vraj Padayatra from Food For All on Vimeo.

It is a special time for spiritual advancement, service performed in Kartik gives 100 times more reward and in Vraj again is another 100 times more reward. And as we know the distribution of Books, Prasad (spiritual food) and the Holy Name are the backbone of the Yuga Dharma.

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We are printing 50,000 small books and we can distribute them in your name , one book costs 5 pence, that means for £100 you can have 2,000 books distributed in your name

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Prasad distribution for the month costs £3,000 for the month and that is £100 a day.

https://www.justgiving.com/foodforalluk

Your servant
Parasuram das

Hare Krishna! “Touching the Feet of the Gods” Indradyumna Swami:…
→ Dandavats.com



Hare Krishna! “Touching the Feet of the Gods”
Indradyumna Swami: Inside the tent, a young teenage girl carrying a plate of prasadam came up to me. “I’ve always wanted to thank you for how you changed my life,” she said. “Five years ago I came with my parents to your festival. I put on a sari in the fashion tent, and when I came out you were standing there. You said I looked like an angel. I was just a child then, but I was touched by your words, and I decided I should actually become like an angel. I started going to church more, and every night I prayed to God. “Then last year I found a Bhagavad-gita in our house. My parents had bought it at your festival. I started reading it and found many instructions about how I could become the angel you saw in me. I even became a vegetarian and I started learning English so that if I ever met you again I could thank you and learn more about your way of life.”
Read the entire article here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20020

Free Speech
→ Tattva - See inside out

We live in an overcommunicated world. The prevailing culture insists we reply to all text messages within 10 minutes, be mindful of the mountain of emails building up in our inbox, and religiously return random ‘missed calls’ on our phones. Don’t forget to regularly post something witty on Facebook, follow your best friends on twitter and utilise all the free airtime minutes on your contract! It is, after all, good to talk. But what is the net result of this web of exchange? Does it foster a greater sense of relationship and community? Is it a case of more connected, but further apart?

Silence, it’s said, is the art of conversation. You may have noticed how we struggle with a quiet moment. When it does arise, most will instinctively grab their smartphone in a desperate attempt to engage their mind. Think about the last time you saw someone, under the age of 30, sitting down and doing absolutely nothing. Rare indeed! Even more unusual is to be with another person and not utter a word. It feels awkward and uneasy. Alien and unnerving. Yet silence is imperative – it forces us to understand, assimilate, reflect and think deeply about what is actually going on. Often times, however, in order to frantically fill those vacant moments, we end up generating substandard content to share with the world: meaningless, inconsiderate and shoddy communication.

Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely room for chitchat, niceties, and light-hearted exchange between humans. It would be unnatural to jump to the other extreme of strictly regulating our every word. The Bhagavad-gita, however, offers the over-arching model to guide speech. Words, Krishna recommends, should be truthful, pleasing and beneficial. How much of our written and verbal communication would make it through this filter? Along with freedom of speech, it may be worthwhile to remind people of their longstanding right to freedom of thought. Think once before you act, twice before you speak, and three times before you post something on facebook.

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something” (Plato)

More about Mantra and Meaning…
→ The Enquirer

I recently made a post about the importance of understanding the meaning of a mantra. Among the repies I got these inquiries…

I think mantra is not what we vibrate with our mouth because that is purelly a mechanic activity. And hearing a mantra is not about receiving sound waves with eardrums, another mechanic interaction from the outside.

This is very dualistic – as if the “inside” has nothing to do with the “outside.” If you take that out, and add the word “just” or “only” then  your conclusion makes more sense to me. I would say it like this: “Mantra is not just what we vibrate with our mouths or hear with our eardrums…”

I think the “sound” itself is not understood with mechanic vibrations of the air but the sound is the words which we create in our counsciousness.

The most important part of the mantra is the meaning you receive from the sound, but the sound itself is also important because it symbolically carries the meaning.

The sound waves are symbols carrying meaning/understanding, like the wind carries a breeze. Words don’t need to be audible. They can be written or simply pronounced by the mental voice to the mental ear.

But “the mind” is also a brain or a subtle body, so it is also an external thing.

Yes! That’s why the dualism of “external/internal” is not realistic. The external is a projection of what is internal. Therefore the external and internal are inter-related and affect one another. Thus an external sense perception, or a mental recollection of it, affects the internal state of consciousness and ultimately can be witnessed/experienced by the ātma itself.

Hari nāma is a  state of consciousness where you want to chant the hari nāma.

It is not just a state of consciousness. It is actually a word, a name. But this word-name cannot be heard or chanted perfectly without a perfect state of consciousness. Hari nāma is a transcendental entity, so it cannot be produced by an ignorant tongue, nor heard by an ignorant ear. Only the absolutely pure ātmā drenched in śuddha-sattva can hear or enunciate the real names of Krishna.

The endeavor to hear and chant this word-name, however, purifies the consciousness gradually. So the method for eventually hearing and speaking the true spiritual names of Krishna is to practice hearing and speaking the external approximations of those names.

I have heared that the chanting of a pure devotee can set everyone who hears it free of material desires.

A pure soul would be able to chant the true name of Krishna, so this would have a profound effect. Just like if you hear someone explain something they really understand, it is more profound and you can understand it more easily then when someone who doesn’t really grasp the subject tries to explain it.

Hearing the name enunciated by a pure soul would make a very profound impact on us, making us really desire strongly to understand what that person experiences. This would propel us in bhakti-yoga very strongly by giving a very, very strong śraddha (conviction in the value and worth of Krishna).

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com


Tagged: Mantra, meaning, words

More about Mantra and Meaning…
→ The Enquirer

I recently made a post about the importance of understanding the meaning of a mantra. Among the repies I got these inquiries…

I think mantra is not what we vibrate with our mouth because that is purelly a mechanic activity. And hearing a mantra is not about receiving sound waves with eardrums, another mechanic interaction from the outside.

This is very dualistic – as if the “inside” has nothing to do with the “outside.” If you take that out, and add the word “just” or “only” then  your conclusion makes more sense to me. I would say it like this: “Mantra is not just what we vibrate with our mouths or hear with our eardrums…”

I think the “sound” itself is not understood with mechanic vibrations of the air but the sound is the words which we create in our counsciousness.

The most important part of the mantra is the meaning you receive from the sound, but the sound itself is also important because it symbolically carries the meaning.

The sound waves are symbols carrying meaning/understanding, like the wind carries a breeze. Words don’t need to be audible. They can be written or simply pronounced by the mental voice to the mental ear.

But “the mind” is also a brain or a subtle body, so it is also an external thing.

Yes! That’s why the dualism of “external/internal” is not realistic. The external is a projection of what is internal. Therefore the external and internal are inter-related and affect one another. Thus an external sense perception, or a mental recollection of it, affects the internal state of consciousness and ultimately can be witnessed/experienced by the ātma itself.

Hari nāma is a  state of consciousness where you want to chant the hari nāma.

It is not just a state of consciousness. It is actually a word, a name. But this word-name cannot be heard or chanted perfectly without a perfect state of consciousness. Hari nāma is a transcendental entity, so it cannot be produced by an ignorant tongue, nor heard by an ignorant ear. Only the absolutely pure ātmā drenched in śuddha-sattva can hear or enunciate the real names of Krishna.

The endeavor to hear and chant this word-name, however, purifies the consciousness gradually. So the method for eventually hearing and speaking the true spiritual names of Krishna is to practice hearing and speaking the external approximations of those names.

I have heared that the chanting of a pure devotee can set everyone who hears it free of material desires.

A pure soul would be able to chant the true name of Krishna, so this would have a profound effect. Just like if you hear someone explain something they really understand, it is more profound and you can understand it more easily then when someone who doesn’t really grasp the subject tries to explain it.

Hearing the name enunciated by a pure soul would make a very profound impact on us, making us really desire strongly to understand what that person experiences. This would propel us in bhakti-yoga very strongly by giving a very, very strong śraddha (conviction in the value and worth of Krishna).

Vraja Kishor

www.vrajakishor.com


Tagged: Mantra, meaning, words

A Great Adventure
→ travelingmonk.com

Two days ago we ventured 500 kilometers from the capital of Mongolia to Erdenet. The 9-hour drive on rough roads took us through some of the most breath taking scenery in the country. We are visiting all these towns and villages for the first time. Previously our movement didn’t have permission to do harinam and [...]

How to Rule a Kingdom
→ The Enquirer

To greet their king, the citizens decorated each part of his city with strands of pearls and flowers, draped cloth from its golden gateways, and flooded the air with the most wondrously fragrant incense. They washed the roads, squares, and lanes with water infused by sandalwood and agarwood, decorated them with flowers, whole fruits, shoots of grains, and lamps, and lined them with clean young betel trees and banana trees in fruit and flower. Strands of young mango leaves decorated everything.

The citizens greeted the king with limitless lamps shining auspiciously. More brilliant than the lamps were the shining young maidens with glistening jewelry who came forward to welcome him.

He entered his palace to the sound of priests singing the Veda while drums and conch shells boomed. He had no vanity, in spite of being the object of so much adoration and respect. Indeed he, the object of so much worship, turned to worship each one of his citizens, from the famous and important nobles down to the common workers. He gave each one what they needed or wanted. Fully satisfied, they all overflowed with good wishes towards their king.

Thus began his reign over the earth, marked by constant magnanimous welfare work, which made him history’s most famous ruler, greater than any other great person and elevating him to the transcendent position.

– Excerpt from an early draft of Part 4 of
Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive
A translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s fourth canto [4.21.1-7]
By Vraja Kishor
Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive
are available at VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: city decorations, famous rulers, kingdoms, kings, prithu, prthu, rulers

How to Rule a Kingdom
→ The Enquirer

To greet their king, the citizens decorated each part of his city with strands of pearls and flowers, draped cloth from its golden gateways, and flooded the air with the most wondrously fragrant incense. They washed the roads, squares, and lanes with water infused by sandalwood and agarwood, decorated them with flowers, whole fruits, shoots of grains, and lamps, and lined them with clean young betel trees and banana trees in fruit and flower. Strands of young mango leaves decorated everything.

The citizens greeted the king with limitless lamps shining auspiciously. More brilliant than the lamps were the shining young maidens with glistening jewelry who came forward to welcome him.

He entered his palace to the sound of priests singing the Veda while drums and conch shells boomed. He had no vanity, in spite of being the object of so much adoration and respect. Indeed he, the object of so much worship, turned to worship each one of his citizens, from the famous and important nobles down to the common workers. He gave each one what they needed or wanted. Fully satisfied, they all overflowed with good wishes towards their king.

Thus began his reign over the earth, marked by constant magnanimous welfare work, which made him history’s most famous ruler, greater than any other great person and elevating him to the transcendent position.

– Excerpt from an early draft of Part 4 of
Beautiful Tales of the All-Attractive
A translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam’s fourth canto [4.21.1-7]
By Vraja Kishor
Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Beautiful Tales of the All Attractive
are available at VrajaKishor.com

Tagged: city decorations, famous rulers, kingdoms, kings, prithu, prthu, rulers

You’re Happy And Content
→ Japa Group

You’re chanting on cruise with no
impediments in sight. You’re happy and
content for a decent performance.
You try to catch up on your delayed
quota and don’t go very deep into
contemplation. But you’re satisfied,
not guilty, to be cruising down the road
of bhakti marga in japa high gear.
May the Lord accept me without
giving me a speeding ticket and
help me improve the balance of the quota

Taken from Bhajan Kutir #258
by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Monday, September 21st, 2015
→ The Walking Monk

Monday, September 21st, 2015
Hopkinton, Massachusetts

A Full Day

Off to a great start. Three of us, Karuna, Pradyumna, and I, walk in the dark, westbound. At 5:25 AM we hit the pavement as our driver, Vivasvan, pulls ahead three miles to park and heads back on foot until we meet. He then continues to move forward with us until we reach the vehicle. That's our system until the passions of the morning come to their zenith.

By 9 AM we all needed some downtime. We chose a park in Hopkinton to lie down on the grass under one of its great trees. Before doing so, we noted a bronze statue of a man with a Hitchcockian physique holding a gun in his right hand above his head. Curious, we decided to read the plaque at its base and lo and behold we discovered that this is the starting point of the famous Boston Marathon Run initiated in 1905. Wow!

I napped, as did Pradyumna, and was poised to continue to trek, when I saw a man and woman setting up chairs by the park's gazebo. Seniors, some with the aid of walkers, moved towards those chairs. I asked one of the boys if we could somehow participate in what they were going to do and Jennifer, the woman, introduced herself to me and said I could help. Rachel, a yoga/dance/stretch instructor then led the group of seniors into easy stretches. When asked what I could offer, the folks were seated. I knew I couldn't ask them to do our usual 'Swami Step' to music so I came up with a sit-down version, the 'Swami Swerve', which requires arms in the air, swaying, and twisting at the waist. We all enjoyed moving to the recording of Willie Nelson's rendition of 'Blue Skies' and Steve Miller's Band doing 'I Could Fly Like An Eagle.' Our crew was also enjoying the stretches to address our stiff limbs. Great fun!

Then Jennifer invited us for lunch at the Golden Pond Assisted Living & Memory Care Facility. It was something we couldn't refuse. "No onions and garlic if you don't mind," I asked. She wanted to know why the restrictions but asked unchallengingly. Also she was curious about our meditation beads and the marking on our forehead. Kelsey, from the Bahamas, was the chef and provided us with a gourmet-standard meal catered to our diet. Emma served. They were both darlings.

Onward we went and discovered the most outstanding wild grapes. The greatest discovery of the day, however, was finding Ganesh at the base of a lake's edge. Our men were parked at Pratt Pond and were looking at a promising swimming spot when they spotted a clay-based colourful object submerged in fresh water - the adorable Ganesh. Voila! What a find!

Karuna pulled him out of the water and I pronounced that he join us for our walk as a passenger in our SUV. This deity is known to remove obstacles on the path of devotion. We seated him in the middle of the second row of seats and he appeared like a prince.

The last of this day's installments of joy was time spent at the Hartford centre for ISKCON. There we honored a day for Radha. As I mentioned to Rachel earlier, "We did a half-day fast in dedication to the Goddess." There it ended. I was united with godbrothers like Niranjan Swami, a fine example of a monk!
 

May the Source be with you!

37 km/23 miles

 

“No scarcity of acarya…”
→ The Vaishnava Voice

SP 9

I have written several times of the need in society for an increased numbers of volunteers to provide good spiritual teaching, pastoral care, encouragement and guidance. Essentially the need for gurus, by whatever nomenclature or sub-category we might wish to call them.

In this clip from 1975, the founder-acarya of the Hare Krishna movement requests his followers to create an organisation of many thousands of such ‘acaryas.’


Radhastami Pearl Festival, September 2, Bhakti Center, New York City
Giriraj Swami

09.22.15_02.NYC“Radha means the embodiment of wanting to please. In various sastras they describe that the essence of Her reality is that she wants to please. She is non-different than Krishna. It’s like if you have a rose with fragrance and color and the various potencies of the rose—Radha is the color, Radha is the fragrance, Radha is the potency. Radha is the potency of God. She is what makes God beautiful—which is happiness and His love. Radha is that expression of love to the highest degree.”

—Dhanudhara Swami

09.22.15_01.NYC09.22.15_04.NYC09.22.15_03.NYC09.22.15_05.NYC—————————–
Dhanudhar Swami Bhakti Centre, NYC
Radhanatha Swami Bhakti Centre, NYC
Giriraj Swami Bhakti Centre, NYC

Sunday, September 20th, 2015
→ The Walking Monk

Sunday, September 20th, 2015
Boston/Natick, Massachusetts

Champions Never Go to Sleep

From 72 Commonwealth in Boston at the ISKCON centre, Vivasvan and I set foot on the pathway of the Boulevard and headed west embarking on the first of many steps to cover about six states. On Facebook our pilgrimage project can be viewed under the heading, 'Walking For Our Teachers.' More broadly, this walk is significant in that we pay homage to the people who help us see and do what we could not before. More personally, we take to the road to recognize our own guru's work as he reached out and touched our hearts so that we can see the world by a different light.

We trekked along Beacon St, bore left to reach Centre St.moving through various communities. When our GPS guided us to Highway 9 it looked a bit gloomy. Although there was a sidewalk, it was crooked and broken up because of under usage. "You mean we are going to walk along a fast highway for days?"

Fortunately, at Wellesley we spotted a parallel road and switched. This was more like it. A gentleman sitting at a park bench with newspaper in hand who was kind and expressed he's deep into Zen recommended the new road that would take us to our final steps - to the Town Hall of Natick.

Vivasvan stuck by me all along up to this point before Vicky came to pick us up. Interaction with people was mostly with a swift, "Hi!" but the most precious remark came from a young chap who was climbing into a car with his two companions after an all-nighter. Being the last to get in, he noticed the two of us, raised his arms and said, "Champions never go to sleep!" It was about 6:30 AM and my thought was that Arjuna, the famed warrior of the epic "Mahabharat", was addressed by Krishnaas Gudakesh (conqueror of sleep). Well, we had our sleep alright. We started early with our trekking because I believe heroes always rise early.

A second but public and official kick-start to the walking happened after 3 PM today. From the stage at Boston Commons, a send-off kirtan party led myself and others to Commonwealth Pier where the whole Hare Krishna thing unofficially started 50 years ago.
 

May the Source be with you!

27 km/17 miles

 

Saturday, September 19th, 2015
→ The Walking Monk

Saturday, September 19th, 2015
Boston, Massachusetts

It All Began in Boston

Pilgrims from the USA, Canada, Europe, and other destinations who were keen to be present for a unique historic event, converged at Commonwealth Pier where Srila Prabhupada landed at 5:30 AM on September 17th, 50 years ago.

We did not make a walking venture to commemorate his touching American soil for the first time but rather a three-hour cruise on the 900 person Provincetown II boat. The passengers, myself included, transcended (or tried to) the blistering sun beating on our heads as we immersed ourselves in reflecting on the significance of what would be to secular vision, a small brown monk from India landing in the USA in 1965 and what impact he had for those on board. Speakers went on further to say how perhaps he had impacted the world.

I was given the honour to lead the kirtan in what is called the 'Guru Vandanam' (Prayers to the Guru). This was followed by reflections from senior men and women, disciples of Srila Prabhupada. This was precious.

A second gathering of souls took place at historic Faneuil Hall with Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Graham M. Schweig. The guest speakers who spoke ranged from the political sector to the spiritual one. Now, this might all sound like a real formal experience but actually, it was flavoured by the presence of kirtan. Niranjan Swami sang. And it was Ambarish, the great grandson of Henry Ford, who spoke most endearingly about his ancestral past that captured my heart. What sticks out in my mind regarding what he said about his childhood was that at his Sunday school he demanded to know from his spiritual authorities who is God and how does He look? For this he was made to step out. Of his great grandfather, Henry Ford was known to have a Sufi saint come to his home. Plus to those whom he deemed receptive, he would present them with a pamphlet on reincarnation. Henry Ford was also a vegetarian.

 
May the Source be with you!

5 km




 

Friday, September 18th, 2015
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Friday, September 18th, 2015
Toronto/Boston

Long Leap

Yes, it was a long leap from Toronto to Boston by van. It was even a greater challenge for my driver, Vivasvan, who took a four hour drive from Detroit before arriving in Toronto to pick us up. All in all, it was 15 hours in transport for him and a little less for Vicky and I leaving from Toronto.

I enjoyed the company of the two comrades and even more the purpose or intent of our venture. We were off to participate in the 50th anniversary of our guru’s arrival to America. Furthermore, I was about to embark on my first marathon walk in the States beginning on the 20th. It will be a send off from Boston.

There was much anticipation in the air in the capsule of Vivasvan’s van. We drove most of the way with the rooftop open and the side windows at half mast. We were feeling the air alright and it was positive.

My legs were antsy, wanting to be mobile. Maybe one day they’ll make cars with treadmills in them. With no walking put in today due to the drive and adrenaline rushing up and down with great prospects ahead, it added interesting dimensions to the urges of the legs.

Our dialogue covered many things such as upcoming media, the walking route we would take, and so on. But the discussions and tales on the contributions our gurumade to the world and how he personally touched many lives to transformational levels, captivated us the most as we sailed down those highways to Boston.


May the Source be with you!

0 km

Thursday, September 17th, 2015
→ The Walking Monk

Thursday, September 17th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

I Was Walking

I was walking south on Jarvis Streetand came full stop at a street juncture. Also waiting for the lights to change was one other person, a young man, tall, bespectacled, and with a partial beard. I thought, “Let me open my mouth, let me try friendship.”

“The climate this evening is just perfect, isn’t it?”

“Agreed.”

“It doesn’t get better than these last few nights.” There’s a pause. “Are you from the city?” I asked.

“Most of my life I’ve lived here but frankly I moved about 30 times to different locations.”

“What? Were your parents with the Canadian Forces that they were assigned to different posts?”

“Not really,” said the young man, “my parents separated when I was young."

“How did you handle that? It must have been tough?”

“Yes, it was,” he admitted. “I eventually got over it. It took a lot of time.”

“Do you think you’ve learned from the experience? I mean to say, there comes a time when we reach the same juncture like what your parents went through, such as their likely disagreements which arose before they decided to part?”

“In time I learned to be very careful about everything,” he said and then he indicated with a smile that he had to take a right while I continued straight down Jarvis.

I was content to have an easy chat with someone I didn’t know and about something quite personal. “Very careful” is what lingered and in my mind I quite concur with the policy. On further deliberation though, I felt that even with prudence, mistakes, mishaps, and misdemeanors come about. It then becomes necessary to have some anchor in life, something to ground you, or else, you become an emotional wreck.

My simple answer on this subject would be that we must cultivate our love for the Divine, and then we can weather any storm.

 
May the Source be with you!

5 km

 

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015
→ The Walking Monk

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

Boston! Get Ready!

Praveen is a little jealous (I guess that's the word) when I told him of our one day adventure along the Don River the previous day. Surely he'll take a day off to acquiesce to an adventure such as ours when the opportunity avails itself.

Today I had to submit to going back to a grid. Indeed, Praveen and I did 90 degree turns in order to reach back to our starting point. It was the best loop we could fathom. I made a second installment of the stroll in the evening after some packing and preparation for the trip to Bostonon Friday. I wasn't sure if the Toronto International Film Festival was still underway. I don't keep up with such things. But it did cross my mind, "If I was to bump into one of those movie stars I might toss him/her a mantracard and hope they may catch on to something spiritual instead of themselves." Of course, you can't stereotype such artists. Some are genuine seekers of the truth and lead a fairly sattvic life, I'm sure.

Now back to the plan for Boston: it will take approximately forty-five days to make the journey from Bostonto Butler, Pennsylvania, and then to New York City. The send-off to this venture will be at 4 PM Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, September 20th. The theme of the walk is "Honour Our Teachers." After all, they are the ones who open the door to the world for us and to other worlds as well. I hope to remind us all of the debt we owe those who give us knowledge, especially knowledge about ourselves and life's potential.

So, I'm packing now.

 
May the Source be with you!

7km

 

What to do if the mind gets caught in the sector of disagreement between science and scripture?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast:


“Download by “right-click and save content”

The post What to do if the mind gets caught in the sector of disagreement between science and scripture? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

How do we differentiate between scriptural principle and detail?
→ The Spiritual Scientist

Answer Podcast:


“Download by “right-click and save content”

The post How do we differentiate between scriptural principle and detail? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

How to be selective in our association without becoming judgmental?
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Answer Podcast:


“Download by “right-click and save content”

The post How to be selective in our association without becoming judgmental? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Appreciating scripture’s perennial relevance
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Talk to students at Bhaktivedanta Academy, Alachua

Answer Podcast:


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How do we reconcile the mind’s coming from goodness with goodness giving rise to knowledge?
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Answer Podcast:


“Download by “right-click and save content”

The post How do we reconcile the mind’s coming from goodness with goodness giving rise to knowledge? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

How can we prevent the mind from obsessing over negative things that shouldn’t happen?
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The post How can we prevent the mind from obsessing over negative things that shouldn’t happen? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.