Unknown spiritual benefit
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2 January 2023, Vrndavana, India, Balarama Hall Q&A Program)

In the Caitanya-caritamrta, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has given us a verse which is an open invitation. He is saying that if you are interested in logic and arguments, then apply them to the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. By doing so, you will experience amazement in your heart. So that is the foundation of this movement that the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is flowing, and the topmost love of God is made available to the most fallen. That is what happened and what is still happening everyday and every moment in our spiritual life. We are seeing how people have no idea what we are doing but are somehow becoming touched by this movement. Not only are some becoming convinced by the arguments found in the books, but many are unknowingly engaging in some devotional service. That level of ajnata-sukriti of unknown spiritual benefit is tremendous. There is one example where in one lecture, Srila Prabhupada is speaking about the microphone and saying that, “We don’t need a microphone, but we use a microphone to purify the microphone-maker”. That is extraordinary, that the potency of this movement is benefitting the microphone-maker also! In this way, all things and people that are engaged in devotional service are sharing the benefits. The impact of the sankirtana movement is way beyond our imagination but just by such revelations, we can begin to think about the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and how far it extends, and how the entire world is changed by this movement. And then our life is also changed!

You can watch the full program on our YouTube channel or by clicking below:

The article " Unknown spiritual benefit " was published on KKSBlog.

TOVP Nrsimhadeva Wing ‘Doors of the Dhama’ Campaign
- TOVP.org

The TOVP Fundraising Department is pleased to announce the Doors of the Dhama Campaign to fund the production of sixteen doors surrounding the Nrsimhadeva altar. The entire Nrsimhadeva Wing and altar is scheduled to open in October, 2023.

Set within specially designed glass frames with decorative marble borders are sixteen 9’/3m x 11’/4m Burma teakwood doors in the Nrsimhadeva Hall opening to the walkway circling the interior of the TOVP. They have been exquisitely designed by Svaha and Rangavati prabhus, and work is currently going on to install the frames and borders.

Only sixteen doors are available for sponsorship. Go the Doors of the Dhama page and make your pledge today!

 

 

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Vedic Contributions in the Orient
→ Dandavats

By Sri Nandanandana dasa

This is for all of our preachers in the Far East. May it give them more preaching information to use in their location to help convince people of their connection with Vedic culture. Bharatvarsha’s beginnings go back to a very long way in time and it is almost certain that the results or influence that is seen today around the world, in the main, were not achieved by military expeditions or conquest, but by peaceful trading and religious teaching, and thereby all the more permanent. This is especially the case when it is generally seen that people who are forced to change cultures or religions often divert to something else as soon as the opportunity arises. Continue reading "Vedic Contributions in the Orient
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In Memoriam – Nara-Narayana Das
→ Dandavats

Honoring Nara-Narayana das through his memories of Srila Prabhupada Ramesvara Das: Dear Devotees Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! I am writing to describe a glimpse of the truly amazing glories of my eternal Godbrother and transcendental friend, Sriman Nara Narayan Prabhu. Many of us have heard of his
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Food For Life Hungary- Christmas Love Feast
→ ISKCON News

Christmas Love Feast – Thousands of families rely on help in the present times of crisis. Food for Life Hungary, the humanitarian aid arm of ISKCON Hungary has organised food distribution events all over the country on a daily basis for the last thirty years. Although the present difficult economic situation affects the content of […]

The post Food For Life Hungary- Christmas Love Feast appeared first on ISKCON News.

TOVP Now – Help Open The Lord’s Temple!
- TOVP.org

As we enter the year 2023, His Grace Braja Vilasa prabhu, TOVP Co-Chairman, gives an inspiring appeal to help complete the TOVP and reach the next milestones to achieve that goal.

In October, 2023 the completed Nrsimhadeva Wing and altar will open. The Grand Opening of the TOVP will be celebrated during a three-month-long festival from December, 2024 until Gaura Purnima, March, 2025 when our beloved Mayapur Deities will be relocated into Their long-awaited new home.

TOVP 2024 MARATHON KI JAYA! WE RUN, YOU WIN!

Go to the Give To Nrsimha 2023 Campaign page and sponsor a Nrsimha Brick or other seva option for the Grand Opening of the Nrsimha Hall in October, 2023. Your name will be inscribed on the Brick and it will be placed under the Lord’s altar.


 

 

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ISKCON Mayapur Wishes You A Pleasant New Year 2023!
→ Mayapur.com

Hare Krishna,Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada All glories to Sri Mayapur Dham.It has been a year of tremendous experience and fulfillment for us here at Mayapur Dham and we hope it has been a spiritually uplifting year for you and the family. As the holiday drift to an end, we […]

The post ISKCON Mayapur Wishes You A Pleasant New Year 2023! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srila Jagadisa Pandita Appearance
→ Ramai Swami

In Vraja there was a dancer named Candrahasa who was very expert in the tasting of rasa. In Chaitanya-lila, he became Jagadisa Pandit who also took great pleasure in dancing for the Lord.
(Gaura-ganoddesha-dipika 143)

Jagadisa Pandit is considered to be simultaneously both Nityananda-shakha and Chaitanya-shakha, a branch both of Chaitanya as well as Nityananda in the desire tree of devotion. He was born in the town of Gauhati (Pragjyotishpur) in modern Assam.

His father’s name was Kamalaksha Bhatta. Both of his parents were devotees of Vishnu. When they died, he came with his wife Duhkhini and his brother Hiranya to Mayapur on the shores of the Ganga where they built a home near that of Jagannath Mishra. Jagadisa Pandit became Jagannath Mishra’s very close friend.

Jagadisa and his wife Duhkhini had the same kind of parental affection for the little Nimai as Jagannath and Sachi themselves. Duhkhini was like a mother to Nimai and even sometimes acted as his wet-nurse. Nimai, the son of Sachi, is none other than the son of Yashoda, the supreme Lord Krishna incarnate. It is not possible for anyone but an eternal associate of the Lord to have the good fortune to treat him like a son in this way.

Just as Mahaprabhu was conquered by the devotion of Jagadisa Pandit, so too was his dearest companion Nityananda Prabhu who considered him to be one of his own intimate associates. Nityananda Prabhu was Jagadisa’s life and soul. Jagadisa was present in Panihati for the Chira-dadhi Mahotsava.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s Saligrama Sila, at ISKCON Mayapur
→ ISKCON News

On the 22nd of December 2022, the Sri Narasimha Saligrama Sila, worshipped by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur, was officially installed on the Narasimhadeva’s altar in ISKCON Mayapur. In 2018, per the direction of Jayapataka Swami, to restore and establish worship in various Sripats in Gaura Mandala, a team of devotees traveled throughout West Bengal and […]

The post Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s Saligrama Sila, at ISKCON Mayapur appeared first on ISKCON News.

ISKCON Leadership Sanga (ILS) 2023 at the TOVP
- TOVP.org

The TOVP management is pleased to announce that from February 12-16, 2023 the ISKCON Leadership Sanga (ILS) will have their annual seminars in the TOVP.

Braja Vilasa, TOVP Co-Chairman and ILS Committee Member stresses the importance of these meetings for ISKCON leaders, and invites all devotees with leadership positions to attend this important sanga and share ideas and experiences and garner new information to enhance their service to Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON.

Go to www.ilsglobal.org for more information and to register to attend this event.


 

 

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Sankirtan Stories
→ Dandavats

My first distribution of a set of Bhagavatam Posted on Dec 30, 2022 in Sankirtan Stories, Uncategorized During this year’s book marathon in Durban, I met many people who had a change of heart. Not heart transplantations but a transformation of consciousness. A Christian lady whom I spoke with was going through difficulties. I told
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The Hare Krishna movement in England
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From a recent article on the “Espresso” national newspapaper in Italy by Tiziano Fusella (Tulsi Das) https://espresso.repubblica.it/mondo/2022/12/19/news/hare_krishna-379068309/ The new British prime minister Rishi Sunak has brought a large community and their estate of Bhaktivedanta Manor near London back into the spotlight. The park is home to the headquarters of the Hindu cult in the West
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Thoughts for the New Year
Giriraj Swami

We are entering the New Year, 2023, and on such occasions we take stock of what and how we did in the previous year and what we want to do in the next. Studies have shown, and probably many of us have experienced, that most New Year’s resolutions are broken during the first week. Still more are broken in the first month, and almost all are broken within the first three months.

Why does this happen, and what can we do? We are creatures of habit. We have developed certain habits over however many years—perhaps lifetimes—and to change our habits requires sincere desire and determined effort. One study showed that when a person is trying to develop a new habit, he has to consistently, diligently strive to adhere to the new practice for at least thirty days. After thirty days, he is able to follow more easily but can be derailed by stress or changes in his life. After ninety days it becomes just as easy to follow the new habit as not, and after a year it is easier to follow the new habit than not.

So, what new habits do we want to develop in the next year? That depends on our goals. When I visited Pune some years ago, the Malhotra brothers arranged a program for me in the main hall, and at the end of the talk the general in charge of the Southern Command of the Indian Army asked an important question: “What is the aim for which we are born—what is the aim of our life? It certainly could not be to amass some wealth and ultimately die, or to make a building and then die, or to marry and procreate and then die. For our minor activities in life, we have the aims set first, before we get going to achieve them. When we train our people in the army, whatever they have to do, we first tell them what the aim is. And once they are clear what the aim is, then we decide what means to adopt to achieve it. And invariably we don’t go wrong. Now here it is—to my mind, my whole life is going to waste; I am still not very clear what is the aim of my life. Would you kindly enlighten us about the aim of life so that thereafter we can be very, very clear as to what we have to do to achieve that aim?”

Srila Sanatana Gosvami asked the same question of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

“‘ke ami’, ‘kene amaya jare tapa-traya’
iha nahi jani—kemane hita haya

“‘sadhya’-‘sadhana’-tattva puchite na jani
krpa kari’ saba tattva kaha ta’ apani”

“Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited? Actually I do not know how to inquire about the goal of life and the process for obtaining it. Being merciful upon me, please explain all these truths.” (Cc Madhya 20.102–103) He said, “In ordinary dealings people consider me to be a learned scholar (pandit), but I am so learned I do not even know who I am. So please tell me who I am and what is the goal of life.” And Lord Chaitanya replied, “By constitution you are an eternal servant of Krishna—jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’—and the goal of life is to be reinstated in your constitutional position as His loving servant.”

If someone understands that he is not the body, that he is the soul within the body, and that his real relationship is not with the body or things related to the body but that, as he is a spiritual soul, his real relationship is with the Supreme Soul, then he can adopt the methods that are suitable for reviving his eternal relationship with the Supreme Soul, Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness to give people this knowledge: We are not the body but the soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Soul. Our real relationship is with Him, and our duty and goal in life is to revive our eternal loving relationship with Him, with God, Krishna. The whole process of sadhana-bhakti is to help us to awaken that eternal love for God.

nitya-siddha krsna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

“Pure love for Krsna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Cc Madhya 22.107) That love is eternally there within the heart, just as fire is within a match. You just have to strike the match and the fire will come out. Similarly, we just have to strike the heart by chanting and hearing about Krishna and that love will come out.

The main process is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. We are in a Hare Krishna temple. We are part of the Hare Krishna movement, and we are known as Hare Krishna people. We are meant to chant Hare Krishna. And by our chanting Hare Krishna, the mirror of our minds can be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam), the blazing fire of material existence extinguished (bhava-maha-davagni-nirvapanam), and ultimately our dormant love for Krishna awakened. Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam.

But there is also the matter of the quality of the chanting. Queen Kunti prays to Lord Krishna,

janmaisvarya-sruta-sribhir
  edhamana-madah puman
naivarhaty abhidhatum vai
  tvam akincana-gocaram

“Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted. One who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education, and bodily beauty, cannot approach You with sincere feeling.” (SB 1.8.26) People on the path of material advancement want good birth (janma), material opulence (aisvarya), material learning (sruta), and physical beauty (sribhih). They cannot approach the Lord with feeling. And when we chant the holy name, we are trying to approach the Lord. The holy name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are the same.

nama cintamanih krsnas
  caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
  ’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.” (Padma Purana, Cc Madhya 17.133)

Commenting on Kunti’s prayer, Srila Prabhupada cites scripture, that by uttering the holy name of the Lord even once, one can destroy the reactions to more sins than one is able to commit. “Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually, the Lord’s holy name has such powerful potency.” We are all suffering because of sinful reactions. If we were freed from sinful reactions, we would no longer have to suffer. As Prabhupada explains, however, “there is a quality to such utterances also. It depends on the quality of feeling. A helpless man can feelingly utter the holy name of the Lord, whereas a man who utters the same holy name in great material satisfaction cannot be so sincere.” Lord Krishna is akincana-gocaram, easily approached by those who are akincana, who have no material possessions.

Now, these statements may give rise to some questions. This word akincana means “without material possessions,” or “without a sense of false proprietorship.” Of course, there should be no duplicity in the matter, but this principle allows us, for example, to have an opulent temple. We may have a beautiful property, but as long as we remember, “This is Krishna’s property. This is Srila Prabhupada’s property. It is not my property; I am here only to serve them and use this property in their service,” we can be free from false proprietorship, false prestige, and false designations. And in that mood we can chant the holy name with feeling, approach Krishna with feeling. Otherwise, there is a subtle rivalry going on between us and Krishna. We come into the material world out of envy of Krishna. In effect, we want to take His position. We want to be the proprietor and controller and enjoyer (isvaro ’ham aham bhogi), which is actually Krishna’s position. While chanting Krishna’s name, we may be thinking, “Why should I be chanting Krishna’s name? People should be chanting my name—‘Giriraj Maharaja ki jaya!’ ” That is our sorry plight. We don’t want Krishna to be the center; we want to be the center. So we chant the holy name with ourselves in the foreground and the holy name in the background. That is our tendency as conditioned souls.

The proper process is to chant with attention. We let go of all those thoughts about ourselves—“I” and “me” and “mine”—and focus on the holy name, on Krishna. Those other thoughts are irrelevant. They may come up, but we don’t pay them heed. We just focus our attention on Krishna, on the sound of Krishna’s holy name. And when we do that, we can actually feel His presence. We can appreciate that the holy name is Krishna Himself reciprocating with our sincere desires to serve Him.

This practice requires effort. We are habituated to think that we are the center of existence and that everything revolves around us. We see everything in terms of ourselves, not in terms of Krishna. But our habits can change. There is a saying that up to the age of twenty, you think that people are looking at you and like you, from the age of twenty to forty that they are looking at you and don’t like you, and then, after the age of forty, that they aren’t even looking at you or thinking of you. So, we have to reform this habit of thinking that we’re the center, always thinking about ourselves and that everyone else is thinking about us, too. We must know that Krishna is the center.

Once, when I was chanting my rounds at the beach in Carpinteria, I was sitting alone, chanting with attention—making a serious effort to be attentive—somehow thinking of different people who were close to me, and feeling how much they were suffering. I was actually feeling their pain. As I continued chanting, that sense of feeling for others expanded to people who weren’t so close to me, and then to the people on the beach, whom I didn’t even know. There weren’t many, but there were a few people surfing. And I was really feeling their suffering. Srila Prabhupada had joked that the surfers were actually “sufferers,” but I was actually feeling their suffering.

Then the feeling went beyond the human beings. There were pelicans at the beach. They fly very high and then suddenly zoom down and crash into the water. I understood that they were hovering high in the sky looking for prey and that when they saw some potential food they came straight down and crashed into the water. Ordinarily I would think, “Oh, how picturesque—flying so high and then diving into the ocean.” But now I was feeling, “They are in anxiety. They are hungry. They need food and are searching: ‘Where is food? Where is food?’ And when they see something and dive straight down and crash into the water, although they are birds, still, coming from that height at that velocity and crashing into the water is bound to be a shock to their system. And they don’t know whether they will actually get that fish or not. And whatever happens, after they come down, they go up and start the same process all over again. They are never satisfied—‘Now we can just relax.’ ” I was thinking, “What a life, full of anxiety, full of pain!”—and feeling it.

And the dolphins and the sandpipers and the seagulls—the same thing. I was feeling so much suffering on all sides. It was as if the illusion of material happiness and charm had been lifted, and this whole beautiful panorama became a horrible scene of intense suffering, which I was feeling. And I was just chanting, chanting, chanting. Then a little lady bug landed on my hand. Growing up, I thought that lady bugs were auspicious and cute. But this time I looked at the lady bug and thought, “This lady bug is suffering”—and, again, feeling it. Looking at the lady bug, I thought, “I don’t think I can take much more of this. I am feeling too much suffering; I am going to have a breakdown.” I wanted to help these creatures. I was feeling their suffering and desiring to help them, but it was getting to be too much.

Then I had the type of breakthrough that one gets when one chants with attention, with the effort to chant with attention. Suddenly I felt as if Krishna were speaking to me, revealing something to me. I got the intuition, or inspiration, in my heart that Krishna loves these creatures more than I do, more than I can even imagine. He loves them so much that He accompanies them as the Supersoul in whatever species of life they enter. And not only does He love them more than I can ever imagine, but He can actually do something to help them. I may feel for them and want to help them, but what is my capacity to help them? I may not even understand what’s troubling them. Parents sometimes experience that their baby is crying and they want to help but don’t know what the baby wants. They may think the baby is hungry, but the baby may be troubled by something completely different. Or even if they do understand what is causing the suffering, they may be unable to relieve it.

So, I was thinking, “Not only does Krishna love them, but He can actually do something to help them.” And then I came to the bottom of it. The problem was that I was trying to take the position of Krishna. In the Bhagavad-gita (5.29) Lord Krishna says,

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
  sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
  jnatva mam santim rcchati

“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

When one recognizes that Krishna is the enjoyer, Krishna is the proprietor, Krishna is the best friend, he attains peace. I thought of what Srila Prabhupada often said, so simple yet profound—that your best friend is not he or she who poses as your best friend but he or she who tells you that Krishna is your best friend. Suddenly this whole problem of how to help these suffering souls became very easy. I didn’t have to help them personally; I just had to direct them to Krishna, who could really help them. And it was such a relief.

So, this is our mission: to serve Krishna. And serving Krishna means doing what Krishna wants, and Krishna wants that we should bring other souls to Him. As He says at the end of the Bhagavad-gita (18.69), His dearmost servant is he who preaches the message of the Gita. Na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah/ bhavita na ca me tasmad anyah priyataro bhuvi: “There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also said, yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa: “Wherever you go, whomever you meet, just present the message of Krishna.” And that is something any of us can do. It is actually very easy. Any of us can do it.

When devotees, myself among them, first came to Bombay, two of Prabhupada’s early disciples, Shyamasundar and Malati, had a small daughter, Saraswati, who used to approach respectable gentlemen who visited our center. Although only three or four years old, she would approach them and say, “Do you know who is Krishna?” And then she would answer, “Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Srila Prabhupada commented, “That is preaching. She is repeating what she has heard from authorities, and even if she doesn’t have full realization, what she is saying is perfect, because she has heard it from authorities—Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” So, any of us can preach. We can simply repeat what we have heard from authorities—“Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” “Chant Hare Krishna and your life will be sublime.” “Come to the Hare Krishna temple.” And that will please Krishna.

In December now, I could feel the enthusiasm to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. I thought, “Srila Prabhupada is pleased. They have the spirit to distribute his books.” The books are as potent and effective now as ever. So many people I meet—when I ask them how they came to Krishna consciousness, it goes back to a book. They got a book. The formula that Srila Prabhupada gave us over fifty years ago still works. By giving them Prabhupada’s books, we are giving them Krishna and Prabhupada, the message of Krishna through Prabhupada, and that is enough to awaken their sense of Krishna consciousness and start them on the path. Many of us are here because of Srila Prabhupada’s books.

So, we should try to develop the habit of putting Krishna in the center, putting the holy name in the center, putting Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada and their mission in the center, and that will make all the difference. Our spouse can be there, our children can be there, our house can be there, our work can be there—everything can be there—but with Krishna in the center, everything will be beautiful and peaceful. And as long as we persist in habits that may have been with us for many lifetimes—thinking that we are the center, we are the lords, we are the enjoyers, we are the proprietors—there will be so many problems, and in the end whatever we have will be taken away from us anyway.

So, it is most auspicious that we are beginning the New Year in the association of devotees. My request is that we use this coming year, and this valuable human form of life, for their proper purpose, in Krishna consciousness, and that in this endeavor we help and support one another. We can’t do it alone. And I pray that I can always remain in the association of such wonderful devotees, because I am sure that in this association, hearing their instructions, I will be nudged along on the right path, back home, back to Godhead.

Hare Krishna.

[Adapted from a talk by Giriraj Swami, January 2, 2010, Bhaktivedanta Manor, England]

 

Wednesday, December 21, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Scoring in a Lockdown

Roads have been quiet. Silent night was early. People preferred to stay at home. Snow had accumulated to levels that made it restrictive to travel. Snow plows were doing their best to clear but it takes time. This area isn’t ready for such a dumping dynamic.

The sun shone through.

I had to cancel on delivering the class this morning. My right leg is in too much pain. I attribute it to a seizing of the leg muscles from the cold. The temples furnace broke down and the floor tiles have been rather frigid. My guess is that some spasm has hit me.

Despite the pain we were determined to get the recording completed of The Saffron Path, for the audiobook. Through pacing our times smartly in the studio, we were determined to get 10 chapters done. It was going to be a marathon before popping the cork of our sparkling apple juice. Vishnu, Mukunda Madhava and Nitai Priya saw to the incremental watching of the hours passing by. A breakdown occurred when the Siamese cats had to be fed. One of them is super shy, so it gave us the time to go out and move the limbs a bit. It became rather liberating when we were able to amble along in the isles of a No-Frills grocery store.

It sounds rather crazy, but, due to the weather restrictions, this is my third consecutive day for doing no trekking whatsoever. It’s a curse. On the other hand, we scored on numbers with the audiobook. All 50 chapters now done.

May the Source be with you!

0 km


 

 

Tuesday, December 20, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Nanaimo, British Columbia

Norm

A snowstorm hit Vancouver Island just as it did on the mainland. All night long – isn’t that a song? Anyway, here’s a poem about Norm:

 

I met a man by the name, Norm

At the time of a big snow storm

He is 66 and has no legs

But substitute bionic pegs

He is no scholar like Socrates/Plato

And explained he became a couch potato

He’d been clicking the one-eyed monster

Switching channels, faster and faster

His sedentary roll made him quite fat

With 380 pounds all under his hat

 One day he got electrocuted

A wake-up call that can’t be refuted

Said he had to change his direction

The mishap forced some inner reflection

For a turnaround, he adjusted his diet

An agitated mind became more quiet

Exercise reduced his weight to 200 pounds

Which is remarkable for a full rebound

He’s now involved in helping people

Offering rides and adoring the seagulls

For he lives on the Pacific coast side

And accepts God as his personal guide

Norm has the nature of being so kind

 Active, human, genuine, all combined

 

May the Source be with you!

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