My flight to Trinidad and Tobago was with Caribbean Airlines, boarding in Toronto. The distinguishable hummingbird insignia, flying backwards and flapping at high speed, was my lead to the proper queue.
I was surprised that devotees who booked me put me on business class seat 1A. That was kind of them. When the flight attendant came around asking for a preferred breakfast, I made it clear, “No animals!” Anyways, she got it.
When I went through customs at Port Au Spain, I handed in my form.
I’m on a crystal thawing trail
At the state before snowmelt in Cedarvale
My footstep makes a splash in the slush
You just cannot trudge in a rush
I take careful baby steps moving in time
To avoid a slip and a fall and getting out of the rhyme
I’m accidentally creating some jazz music
Which could turn into some hopeful classic
With a crunch, crunch in snow, a swish, swish in slush
In the dreamy dark night everything is hushed
There is even some ominous fog setting in
I hear other footsteps which
It’s good to start young. Such is the case of a young six-month-old daughter of Gangadas and Rohini Shakti. Vrnda Hladini was receiving her first grains in a sacrament (samskara) called anna prasana. Friends and family came to support the ceremony which involves a fire or agni invocation. Nityananda, 23, officiated the program.
The family insisted that I spoon feed the little baby, and so I felt happily obliged. While the ceremony went on, I noticed Vasey, Laksmi, and their two girls ent
Hundreds of years ago, December 25th was the kickoff for a twelve-day celebration. There was no such thing as Boxing Day right after Christmas. Remember the song, “12 Days of Christmas?” Quite sweet!
To avoid the agitation of Boxing Day, Chirag and I took to a walk in a quiet corner, the region of Casa Loma, the much-visited castle in Toronto. We first ventured to the nearby Spadina Museum. There was a crowd there, but security checked us at the front.
“This is for paid tickets only!”
There was a new face in our downtown temple in Toronto. Temperatures had dropped suddenly to -16 Celsius. It was our first service for the day at 4:30 AM. He braved the weather at what a secular person would call a crazy hour.
Our guest introduced himself as Farrow. He sports a braid on each side of his head. He looks Indigenous and is tall, although he says he’s the shortest on his basketball team. He loves the game. He also loves the Krishna tradition and has been reading The Ramayan
On the first Wednesday of every month I have the privilege of being virtually with the Caribbean devotees for one of those Gita chats. I am on regular calls with people interested in the Gitas dynamism and what this great documented conversation has done for meaningful transformation. I relish each call. What a treasure it is to hear from the words of God and sharing it.
One thing I have noticed is how each group of people has its own personality. The devotees on todays call (we missed Wednes
With days being so short and darkness long, there’s little opportunity to see the solar body. Its day number 2 for our conference which is in a nice basement facility
A windowless situation it is, so you feel something missing.
6 am was our agreed upon starting point for a trek in an urban sprawl. Though gloomy we had the 8 of us had each other. We decided quite spontaneously to make the ISKCON temple the Radha Govinda Cultural Centre our destination. Sumeer was on foot on foot with us an ext
Our arrival at the Ramada Inn four hours later concluded a job well done! Shifting drivers is always a good idea in the wee hours of the m
I sat comfortably at Gate B14 for a West Jet flight to Grande Prairie when I reached into my navy blue suitcase to pull out my blog book to enter my thoughts of reflection from the day before. When I unzipped that compartment, I found the side pocket of the suitcase empty. Perhaps I misplaced it and put it on another pocket, but, no its not there either. I suddenly realized that at security I picked the wrong piece of luggage and that someone. Has mine. An innocent mistake, nevertheless, I had
He’s 24. He drove me around to places I needed to go such as Brampton and Uptown Toronto, and he didn’t say anything about it being his birthday. That’s humility, I would think. Moreover, he’s funny and always smiles. He has a keen love for kirtan and like to serve those in the mission. He has a respect for all, whether the men or the women in the Bhakti Academy. He also has a knack for distribution of the books published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
The above is a list
When three of our young men from Bhakti Academy came into Prabhupad’s quarters to do an interview with me, they were quite impressed. Not having been in this sitting quarters before when I was present, one of those men asked, “Is this your room?”
“No, this is our guru Prabhupad’s room. Then I showed the next room, the bedroom where His Divine Grace had his rest for three nights in June of ’76. “Is this your room?” came the question again.
“No, this is Pra
Thanks to AI assistance here’s the first of Chapter One, Bhagavad Gita, sounds like
#1 Dhrtarastra: Yo Sanjaya! So, my squad and the Pandu pulled up at Kurukshetra, ready to throw down. Whats the scoop?
#2 Sanjaya: Ayo, King! Duryodhana took a good look at the Pandu crew, and he sprinted over to his guru like, “Bro we gotta talk starategy”.
#3 Duryodhana: Teacher,check out this army! The Pandus are flexing hard, thanks to your genius disciple. I mean, Drupada’s son is a total vibe!
#4 D
No one can complain about weather and the spirit that moves in this section of the world - control Ontario by some gorgeous lakes. With Surya, the sun god, in our presence, and the most vibrant colours that autumn has to offer, we wheeled along on Highway 400 to destination, the city of Barrie, where devotees of that community rent a space at a United Church for kirtan, discourse and eats.
Verse 10.19 from the Gita was where I spoke from. The focus was on the opulences of God. I think it is e
It is an irresistible urge to get up and go on that myriad of sidewalks in the direction of my hosts this night. The route I chose going north (and only part way otherwise I would arrive late) was along the section of the Great Trail where our Indigenous folks traversed, by passing Casa Loma, the magnificent castle, over a bridge above a gorgeous ravine up to Eglinton Ave, a busy thoroughfare and then…. well, I got picked up by Shyama Dulal, my host.
He is a great cook and she, Satyabhama, a
This quite elderly couple in the Canadian Tire hardware store were looking at heating units like I was. In our browsing at the various choices the woman asked a simple and practical question, “Do you know which one of these heaters can plug into an old house that has outlets with only two prongs ?
I mentioned to the smiling couple that I don’t work here but that a supervisor to the store is just down the aisle, so I pointed in that direction. It appeared that they were not ready to shuffle th
When Gurudas recently came to visit, he gifted me with his latest book, “The Swami - Who Rocked the Worlds” which is a photographical essay presentation of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I wanted to share with you all on excerpt of this work entitled, “Morning Walks.”
Walking in the early morning with Swamiji was a special treat. He would share random subjects of wisdom, sometimes picking up on something that interested him in the environment.
Walking by his side, I felt secure. He w
At a tiny hamlet, Echo Bay
As I ambled along the way
Out of a shallow ditch
Emerged a man, not rich
Appearing a trite unkempt
Tarnished teeth, but of good intent
He wanted to share a fine message
Something I had come to cherish
The gist is what he had to say
“When I wake up I speak to the day
Like a person I know
It gives me energy to go
‘Day! Whatever you have for me
I beg for the strength to be
In the arms of your adventure
And anything you may render
Help me to go through the hours
When m
There’s a first time for everything - your first time to receiving mother’s milk, your first footsteps, first day at school, first time at a job, first love etc.
For our Bhakti Academy group one of our graduates, Nityananda, performed his first havan, or fire ceremony and it was done as a first amongst the group. I am personally very proud of him. I believe it to be a beginning of a new phase where, more yajnas or sacrifices will be executed by a younger generation. I perceive a new wave of g
There we sat, the three of us, on those comfy outdoor Muskoka chairs, waiting, for a fourth member, Partha, of today’s strolling crew. Vrndavan, Nityananda and I were committed to a loop walk which included a stretch of the Trans Canada Trail. Our waiting location on Main Street was quite central to the numerous murals on building walls of the iconic Group of Seven artwork. As a team of experts in “Impressionistic” work of nature scenes defined the art of Canadian mastery. Check out the work of
