The boiler in our building has some challenges; it’s leaving the interior rather cool in temperature. Govinda’s Restaurant, located inside, is warm, however, it’s being heated by a separate unit. I hung out here for a good portion of the day until it was time to go for my walk in the direction of Dhira Nitai’s home. It’s his birthday. He is sixty-nine today.
I made my way through Rosedale, then onto the Danforth to what is known as Greektown, and just before I entered a growing Islamic community, I was picked up by two devotees of the Scarborough temple. They took me to Dhira Nitai’s basement apartment. With a mini birthday cake, we celebrated this fine bhakti yogi of a man. About twenty of us fit into his modest-sized space.
I had to pardon myself for an hour to take some private time on a conference call. (We monks do have diverse responsibilities.) Once the call was completed, we swung our hearts into the Damodara song, and then offer a candle to the images of Baby Krishna and His mother, Yashoda. It has become a custom amongst some of us Krishna-ites to do a bit of house-hopping, sing the same song, and then offer candles in this month of Kartik.
What a nice bunch of people, and all with such good intentions. When Dhira Nitai blew out his birthday candle, I asked him to tell us his wish, and he said what the group wanted to hear: “That we will have a larger property with a larger building to accommodate more people.”
Of course he was talking about the current local ISKCON facility, and how he wishes to see an increased sharing of higher consciousness. He is thoughtful!
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