winter - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree | IDT2024-03-29T13:58:52Zhttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/winterWinter by Bhaktimarga Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/winter-by-bhaktimarga-swami2024-01-29T13:46:37.000Z2024-01-29T13:46:37.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12368011681,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="12368011681?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>When I told our Gita Chat Zoom Group that we were enjoying a climate of minus thirty to forty degrees Celsius, they were in awe. “How can anyone feel comfort during such a cold snap?” you ask. Well, in such conditions of extremeness, one is more or less forced to be a bear. Yes, you hibernate for a stretch. I was able to do that with three heart-warming indoor programs, since coming here to Calgary. It’s a nice city, but beware, it has its chill factor for a short time. Two very well-attended programs, and one gathering with students at the University of Calgary, kept me in the warmth. </p>
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<p id="viewer-k9n9w9498">Many of the folks on today’s Zoom were Floridians who comprehend the other extreme of snakes and ladders: the ups and downs of life.</p>
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<p id="viewer-87g6d3586">In my talk at the University, I conveyed several times how we all should seek to transcend, and that it’s a human birthright. I did speak about my walking adventures and how life is like a walking metaphor. We go through these “reverses” as our guru, Prabhupada, used to say, and learn to digest irregularities that the day poses. There is the saying: “Man proposes. God disposes.” What God proposes is what really counts. You weather the storm by adhering to duty—dharma.</p>
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<p id="viewer-4c4q23591">I was reminded how severe the weather was today when Atma Ram and Bal Govinda took us to this year’s alternative parade route for the Chariot Fest. It was relatively easy to visualize the coming summer of warmth and green, even when we stepped out of our vehicle to inspect the proposed park site. We trudged through snow and were hit by the frigid power of nature. How absolutely nice!</p>
<p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12368012066,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="300" alt="12368012066?profile=RESIZE_400x" /><br /> <strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/winter-for-sure">https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/winter-for-sure</a></p>
</div></div>Winter Blues, Winter Streets by Bhaktimarga Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/winter-blues-winter-streets-by-bhaktimarga-swami2021-02-10T10:40:16.000Z2021-02-10T10:40:16.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8537962461,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="350" alt="8537962461?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></p>
<p>When I say “our street” I mean the one that we live on as well as the back alley that runs parallel to it and let’s not forget the street parallel to it and then the one also parallel but on the other side of the tracks. This was my route for the night; with snow and ice all over its surface.</p>
<p>It is awfully peaceful at the hour of 9 to 10 p.m. This is no doubt conducive to a soft chant rolling off the lips.</p>
<p>The quiet, combined with space, also lends itself to thoughts of the day’s affairs. To backtrack, at 11 a.m. I heard teams of four in number reciting Bhagavad-Gita slokas (verses) over Zoom, by kids who are with GEL, Gita Ethics Learning. I was impressed with their sharpness of memory. I congratulated them. And then the questions rolled out. After their presentations I offered mine, after being introduced as a walker of lands. When questions do that — roll — you know there’s interest and curiosity. That’s life. Those kids are promising.</p>
<p>At noon I gave a class to Brampton folks on the topic, “How to Deal with the Winter Blues?” The message was on the same topic for Ottawa. Again, many questions came.</p>
<p>By the way, how do we see winter in a favorable light? Below are some winter dillies:</p>
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<li>A snowflake is Winters version of a butterfly.</li>
<li>Cold hand, warm heart, can’t lose.</li>
<li>Eat, drink and be cozy.</li>
<li>From Bhagavad-Gita: “Happiness and distress are like winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception and one should tolerate them without being disturbed.” 2.14.</li>
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<p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2021/02/sunday-january-31-2021.html">http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2021/02/sunday-january-31-2021.html</a></p></div>The Good About Winter by Bhaktimarga Swamihttps://iskcondesiretree.com/profiles/blogs/the-good-about-winter-by-bhaktimarga-swami2021-01-06T10:42:26.000Z2021-01-06T10:42:26.000ZISKCON Desire Treehttps://iskcondesiretree.com/members/iskcon_desire_tree<div><p><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8394245066,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="450" alt="8394245066?profile=RESIZE_584x" />I don’t do too well with complainers. Covid is fueling them big time these days. Another cause for the current griping is the weather. A lot of people just don’t like winter. Winter, with Covid slapped on top of it, makes it “the winter of our discontent.” That’s a quote from Richard the 3rd, by William Shakespeare. One of my very favourite literary geniuses is John Steinbeck who authored, “East of Eden,” “Grapes of Wrath” and “Of Mice and Men.” His last novel was titled after the famous line, “The Winter of Our Discontent.”</p>
<p>I delivered two classes today, by Zoom. One for Vancouver and another for Toronto, to counter the winter blues syndrome. We know the weather is frigid, the traffic is hazardous, the bills go high and income is lowest, but under the topic “The Good About Winter” we had a chance to have a second look at winter.</p>
<p>In India the four months of the rainy season is the time for inner reflection. Our winter, in the north, is introspective time. Travel is more restrictive. It really does draw a parallel, in a way. December to April Fools; it’s no joke.</p>
<p>Let’s take some quotes about winter:</p>
<p>“Winter is the season of recovery and preparation.” Paul Theroux</p>
<p>“The colour of springtime is the flowers. The colour of winter is in the imagination.” Terri Guillemets.</p>
<p>“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” William Blake</p>
<p>“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire; it is the time for home.” Edith Sitwell</p>
<p>“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”” Lewis Carrol</p>
<p>Be a winter optimist.</p>
<p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2021/01/sunday-january-3-2021.html">http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2021/01/sunday-january-3-2021.html</a></p></div>