Before Clare got lured away by the junkie, I shared with her a quote from W.C. Fields, whom I admired to some extent before I became a monk. She had a good laugh at it. Here it is. "Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.”
Now, that was yesterday at the park. Today was a rather moist day. Jaya and I drove to Wasaga to see a friend's new home. Jivan Mukta is a strict adherent to the Krishna lifestyle, although not in the monastic sense. He’s raised seven kids, all grown up now and all principled people.
From the comfort of his home, situated right at the awesome shoreline, we talked about disturbed and disturbing people. I recalled listening to a lecture from our guru, Prabhupada, in Los Angeles in '72. "Those who are disturbed will create disturbance." I was reminded of the junkie from the previous day. He was in misery, and as the saying goes: "misery loves company." Both Clare and the junkie are victims of a tainted society.
While Jivan was gone for a bit, tending to a domestic need, I took myself out on the veranda, took a deep breath and just envied the water and sky. I felt a sense of gratitude. When I was younger, I could have been summoned by the illusions of substances. I'm grateful to have not gone down that path. Gratitude is the cornerstone of the culture of bhakti. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Z-jJfAsSG/?igshid=urrpi5fryau4
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