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I had been receiving greetings of varying kinds. “Happy Birthday,” “Happy Hatchday,” and “Happy Vyasa Puja.” The last one is honourific by nature. Vyasa Puja is a term that either embarrasses or flatters. To consider that someone like me could represent Vyasadeva appropriately is an illusion. Vyasa is a very advanced soul. I would never be able to fit in his shoes as far as saintliness is concerned. I am grateful for all the warm, well wishes that came my way, regardless.

I do my usual Birthd

He turned 80, the senior most resident of our ashram. Jai Sri hails from St. Thomas, Ontario, joined the Krishna movement in Tennessee decades ago, and came back to Canada to spend years in Toronto’s branch to serve our deities. Whenever a pujari (priest) couldn’t make it for their scheduled service they would call Jai Sri, and in a very detached mode, would agree. “I’ll take care of it,” was his surrendered attitude. He is a bit frail these days and can’t ride a bike anymore. It would just be

I wrote this poem as my birthday is coming soon.

I’M 74

Forgetting names
Of people n’ places
A sure symptom
Of the aging process
I’m now 74
I made that score

It was sad to see Krishna Prema Rupa, a true monk, leaving us for his homeland, Switzerland. He had been a companion for a full month. Parting is always tough when you have been chumming with a real person. Farewell, dear friend, and come back to see us again.

A friend goes, but a new one can be made. Today, I was shopping, which is rare, but I was doing so for our deities. While walking off of Queen St. I heard a voice behind saying, “Haribol!” — a way of greeting a Vaishnava. I turned aroun

A number of us gathered at Aindra’s home to honour his son’s birthday. Dhruva turned 19 and is doing well in university. Also notable is Dhruva’s mom, Prema Gaurangi, who along with her team mates won the world championship, a gold medal for women’s boat rowing breast cancer patients. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of her while near the company of her devotee friends.

A havan (fire ceremony) was conducted by priest, Radha Gopinatha, to honour Dhruva’s birthday and I guess you could extend t

There is nothing like mantra meditation in a great environment. Members of the Bhakti Academy and I took to the Bluffs and the beach for a good sky, clean air, water and great company this morning. It’s good to get out of the box (even if it is a temple) and explore the out-of-doors. I am aware that in some places in the world heavenly-like atmospheres are somewhat hard to come by if you’re living in a mega-city or a neighbourhood with little green. At least in most places in North America ther

For years I had hosted guests to Toronto by taking them to one of the better urban locations. That meant taking them for a walk through some of the green space in one of the many ravines — the Brick Works. Once we pulled out of that natural comfort we came upon Chorley Park and then the beautiful residential area of Rosedale.

There at the edge of the park stood a sweet elderly white-haired woman. She stopped her walking as soon as she saw the three of us saffron-clad monks ambling along. She

Navin, Rsi and I decided to walk more or less in a straight line west on Bloor Street to everyone’s favourite park. From there we would Uber our way back to the temple ashram, our starting point.

What did we see along the way? Well, the city is all hyped-up about TIFF — Toronto International Film Festival, one of the largest and most influential publicly attended in the world. There is a buzz. By the way, as the sun was descending, Navin happened to spot a buzzard, not exactly a turkey vultur

These last few days have been a sweet wrap-up of the Labour Day weekend and in our Hare Krishna culture the calendar called for Krishna Jayanti, (meaning His birthday) followed by Prabhupada’s birth anniversary. It is all a hell of a time (meant in a good way). There is a catering to thousands of people and this is going on all over the world at this time of year.

For a change and some calmness Krishna Prema Rupa, Jagannatha, Monila and I drove to Woodbine Beaches before sunrise and took to t

James from Ottawa was my guy to take me back home — back to Toronto. I was intending to make the trip adventurous and with a pilgrimage quality to it. “Let’s break up this usual five hour drive,” I said to James. He was quite keen for a little recreation.

Through the perfect weather, rain overnight and sun, at a moderate temperature, was ideal for our car zipping through farm and rock country. At Silver Lake, off of a branch of the Trans Canada Highway was our stop over place. The water was h

Leo was kind enough to take me to the nation’s capital city, Ottawa, and that he did in careful speed. I struggled with sleep the night before but made up for the loss by slumber and his moving car. It was like magic. I stepped into his vehicle at 6:30 am and woke up 4 1/2 hours later, at our destination, Russell.

Those devotees gather each Sunday for spiritual nourishment at the Bhakta Prahlad Montessori School, a solid red brick building in the heart of town. I chose 8.9 from the Bhagavad-g

In less than 100 kilometres north of Toronto you have this town of 25,000 residents in the heart of potato country. Alliston happens to be the “spud” capital of the province of Ontario. With its rich sandy loam soil it easily becomes a hub for agricultural activities and this is what gets celebrated.

This very green area became obvious to Nityananda, Aaryan and I as we coasted along the flat-to-slight rolling terrain. Thank God we got out of the Friday night jammed traffic on Highway 400. We

The festivities go on to honour the origins of ISKCON, and Brooklyn is the place. 60 years ago the papers were signed to acknowledge the beginning of a revolution in consciousness.

I was slotted to act as Dance Master at Union Square. A half hour (we went overtime) of enthusiastic moves and grooves at the square ensued while Gaura Vani and later, Raghunath with his band "Shelter" gave delight to the street pedestrians. Monks, brahmacharis, took a corner of the space to serenade with mantra. I

We are party animals. I’m referring to the devotees who have just enjoyed a two-day festivity. To begin with Saturday brought colours to the lives of the Vancouver area devotees. Literally the colour throws went on at the Burnaby property. It drew new people, according to Vallabha Hari, the master of ceremony for the event.

I personally avoid when the colour powder is about set to go in the air, I happen to like my saffron colour and really don’t care of the tie-dye look. It just doesn’t work

For this morning our Calgary walking group decided to not walk the trail by the Bow River due to the fresh rainfall from overnight and the fog setting in. The conditions were just too conducive for mosquitoes. I believe in austerity but not torture! We stayed in the large house of Radha Madhava and just paced back and forth, getting my mantras in and footsteps as well. Walking indoors is never the same as an outdoor trek. It lacks adventure.

I’m able to keep up my Gita zoom calls along the wa

The picture is stunning with compassion in his eyes. Our guru, the one we are indebted to for turning lives around. How can one forget the person who actually gave us life, in that I mean a purpose.

What is the business where we merely attempt to survive? The animals are employed in that process 24/7. We have been there. No need to play such old reruns when you have purpose.

With purpose there are principles. You have solid ground. You have an anchor. Otherwise it is a case of “a rudderless

With my reconnection to the bus tour group I am happy to be of that regimen again. The drivers of the two buses and the passengers which I described earlier are from different countries and continents. The young men and women are kept engaged, setting up the Festival of India tents at Jean Mance Park, plus there’s kitchen work and a number of other tasks.

My job is of a different nature. It has some flavour of the clerical. While the heat wave persists I can keep somewhat busy in catching up

Look up at a gorgeous sky

Something for a curious eye

It’s so clear, so clean

Expansive and not lean

There’s nothing larger than this space

Holding countless entities in place

Planets, luminaries, each star

Galaxies suspended from so far

There’s no greater envelope

I think not – nope

When evil preys on the mind

A view of the sky makes one unwind

It’s comparable to a stream 

It purges, it’s so pristine

Let’s continue to wonder

What about that awesome colour

At nig