By Brigid Beatty (Source: http://goo.gl/hel5gQ)
The walking monk kept to the narrow shoulder of Route 85 in Rayburn on Tuesday morning. Trucks roared by and curious motorists occasionally slowed to get a closer look at the 63-year-old man dressed in saffron robes.
Bhaktimarga Swami, a Canadian native and Hare Krishna monk, was headed toward Butler on a journey that began in Boston on Sept. 20. From Butler he plans to head back east to New York City.
“I’m walking for several purposes,” Swami said. “For personal and inner growth — to take it all in, the grueling hot days, the cold, the rain and snow and hail.”
It all helps with learning detachment from externals in order to go within and be happy, he said.
He joked that during his daily 20-mile stints through Amish country and busier neighborhoods he has had his fair share of dog encounters.
But he values the interactions he has had with people along the way. He’s chatted with Amish girls about the walnuts they were collecting and gave a blessing to a man suffering from kidney issues.
He said he is also dedicating his journey to teachers.
“These are the people who are often under appreciated, who help open us to opportunities in life,” he said. “And I’m walking for my own teacher.”
Swami said he is retracing the steps of his spiritual teacher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, who founded the Hare Krishna movement.
He stayed for a time in Butler after coming to America from India 50 years ago.
The Beatles were among those influenced by Srila Prabhupada’s spirituality, a monotheistic tradition within Hindu or Vedic culture.
While Swami walked, he snacked on an apple picked along the way. Although this is his first journey by foot in the U.S., he has walked across Canada four times, covering more than 17,000 miles.
He has also traveled on foot through Ireland, Israel, Trinidad and the Fiji Islands.
He said he often recites a mantra while walking, and finds the pace helps him pay attention to things that can often go unnoticed.
“Walking along the way, you feel the history, you breathe it,” he said. “You notice what’s dilapidated and what was thriving at one time and wonder: ‘why is it this way now?’”
Cultivating spirituality — no matter what religion people belong to — is a good thing and can increase happiness, he said.
Swami was raised a Christian and received initiation from Srila Prabhupada in 1973.
“I never felt I left (Christianity),” he said, “I just added to it.”
His spiritual way follows universal values, he said.
“The idea is to get as squeaky clean as you can,” he said, with a smile.
“I’ve got a long road to travel to get there.”
Source: Dandavats.com
Comments