Chris from Hamilton had come. “I’m dropping off some kids, including my son, at Wonderland and that gives me some time at the temple. I’m up for service.”
Such a wholesome attitude, is what I thought as I expressed the nature of helpfulness to our maintenance guy from Croatia, Vallabha Hari. Help is always needed around the ashram and the temple. So, Chris came to pitch in, with cleaning mostly. We appreciate his spirit.
The mind is at ease when all is clean and orderly and the spirit is right.
British Columbia is on fire, so is Greece. I have a formula for decent weather — three consecutive days of sunshine and then the fourth, a good rain shower. The wish is fairly futile because nature in the end does what it wants. Weather is the turbulent, unsteady thrill of nature where elements unite and collide. If you walk vast tracts of land you’ll certainly experience these freaks of nature. There is adventure in it.
In any event, three days of brightness did come our way in central Canada
I’ve really relished watching Indrayumna Swami talk about the transformation of one chap that was unkept, hygienically-alien and rather drugged/high on something in Paris. He lived in the bushes with some newspaper foundation. He was nicknamed “Pig Pen” and was practically untouchable. However, by some kind of merciful act of Prabhupada, who was with us at the time, Pig Pen became transformed. He credits the ISKCON founder for changing directions for him. With a madman’s tone, “Prabhupada saved
Good folks came to visit me today. Lobsang and family delivered some special prasadam — wholesome, tasty wraps.
Then Abhay arrived with his wife and two energetic kids. As he walked into the room, in what we call Prabhupada’s quarters, it brought him back to his childhood.
“I remember this room. I was really young and there was a cup of cayenne and I blew into it sending the powder especially into my eyes. One devotee, Dharmaprana, grabbed me, took me to the tub in the next room to try to clear
It was a delight delivering a class, over Zoom to Vancouver, this morning about the pastime of Krishna being charged by all his young friends for eating mridam (dirt). His buddies, including his older brother, Balarama, were building up a case against Him, which would lead to a chastisement from His mother. This conflict does from time to time arise in the spiritual realm. Then, what to speak of the hostilities of this mundane world?
The notion that no aggravation exists in the holy dham (place
“Hi!” Greeted the gentleman, who, along with his wife, were walking down the same trail as Paramahamsa and I. We were sitting on a stone for me to catch my breath while also catching some sun. He continued, “Do you need some help?”
Maybe I looked a little helpless? I had my crutches leaning against the boulder stone and left leg pant rolled up to expose my surgical knee for receiving sun rays.
“No! I’m fine. Recently I had a knee replacement. Just doing some Physio right now.”
“Oh! I had my hip
We have such a great philosophy. I am not this body. I am spirit soul. I am here to serve. All good stuff.
When this body receives pain, the pain is eased because you tell yourself, “That is not me. It may be connected to me but it is not me.” I have to convince myself of this reality from time to time. One of those times is now. Weaning off painkillers and accepting some uneasiness. That’s the way to go through the healing of my left leg.
It was so generous of my friend, Paramahamsa, to drive
“You’re one of the top five,” said the therapist at Toronto West General Hospital.
“Meaning?” I asked.
“Of the five years I’ve looked at knee replacement patients you’re in the top five for recovery.”
Well, that certainly made me feel good. I had mentioned I’m a monk, a walking one, and I wore down my cartilage. The reaction to the marathon walks I’ve done astounded the physiotherapist, as did the Vietnamese doctor and a local assistant from Canada. Yes, I had three guys look at the leg and giv
Bhagavad-Gita 10.7 and 10.8 offer a strong message of realizing our true position in this world; I am small and everything else collectively (God) is big. The moment this thought awakens in us then we are big — MAHATMA. This understanding of my smallness, compared to the greatness of all else, compels me to act in humility and devotion.
There’s something very attractive about humility. It means you are willing to learn, be on an adventure and ultimately crush the ego.
I would like to say that i
From the Introduction of Bhagavad-Gita:
We can easily see that every living being is constantly engaged in rendering service to another living being. A living being serves other living beings in various capacities. By doing so, the living entity enjoys life. The lower animals serve human beings as servants serve their master. A serves B master, B serves C master, and C serves D master and so on. Under these circumstances, we can see that one friend serves another friend, the mother serves the s
I’ve walked by the above-mentioned park (actually it’s more like a sunken garden) several times off Yonge St. I never ventured inside. There are flowerbeds, trees of all kinds (northern breeds), perfect sod-lain sections for lawn bowling, tennis courts and then there is a grassy area perfect for kirtan. This very special place is tucked away from the world and is ideal for groups singing and dancing. That’s just what we did — a bunch of us — Russians, Indians, Canadians — whatever that means.
U
I want to thank Paramahamsa, from Guelph, who came to do some physio work on me today. I’m also grateful to Jhorom, who came as a special guest when I hosted him in the sitting quarters of our guru, Prabhupada, who spent a few days there in June of 1976.
Jhorom is loving the Bhagavad-Gita, As It Is, and since reading this exceptional text he’s been asking me questions. He is just intrigued with the conversation based on a fratricidal misunderstanding.
“Most misunderstandings, if not all, have t
We have gone back, steadily, to our older program of stairway kirtan. Neighbours who pass by love it. As long as we don’t perform with symbols, drum, harmonium “in-their-face,” so to speak. Gentle, sweet and melodious is the way to go. Actually, the weather is conducive for outdoor kirtan and our group’s intent is to gain as much mileage with this presentation as possible.
In addition to the kirtan, which is now regular at night, 7 pm punctual, the morning and noon chants are also steady. I can
“Perhaps you’re one of the few centres that’s really taking care of older Vaishnava men,” remarked an observer, a friend, the other day. Mind you, we do have younger men as residents in addition to the five who are average 71 years of age. Yes, I am one of those golden boys who joined monkhood in the 70’s. I’m in that age bracket, naturally.
We scheduled a meeting in our new seminar room and called it a “Seniors Meeting” to delve into the conditions of our remaining lives for the coming years.
I’ve known Devananda for many years. He grew up in London, Canada, area. I know little about his Jewish descent, but he adopted to eastern ways like I did. Pursuing life in India; living like a yogi/sadhu of sorts was his calling. He’s been active in China and India and teaches shiatsu and massage therapy.
It’s great when he comes around, being about the same age we have something to share about experience in the yoga field, although my chosen approach has been more in the bhakti line. There is
When I walked in the Cabbagetown area of Toronto, an Asian woman standing in front of her residence, a high-rise building, noticed me and instantly asked her question.
“What religion?”
“Hare Krishna!”
“Oh! From India!” she concluded. We chatted.
My answer was simple; there’s a lot included in those two words, “Hare Krishna.” There’s a whole culture, philosophy and way of being. Today, I came to affirm what that means in a practical way.
Madhava, Govinda, Sarthak and I headed for Niagara Falls.
It is quite the achievement, first of all, that there is a leadership college that trains men and women to be just that – leaders in a spiritual organization. I was invited to the GBC College Graduation and here’s a message from our graduate from Canada. His name is Anuttama. He sent me a letter tonight.
“Hare Krishna Maharaja (that’s me) and Prabhus (other blessers),
I wanted to inform you that I graduated from the GBC College leadership for Zonal Supervisor today. It was a longer journey than
So, it’s the first day of summer but I was reminded of one other aspect of today. It’s Father’s Day. I spent the night with a family in Bracebridge. They have a gorgeous shrine in their front room. At 7 a.m., we all came together for chanting, puja, and a discussion on the Bhagavad-gita, 14.4, referencing Krishna on the topic of fatherhood, where He claims, as God, to be the ultimate Dad.
We drove south to Toronto and on very short notice I was requested to give a class for our Vancouver Centre
It’s a long day for sun endurance. Yes, we are approaching summer solstice. I enjoyed the bench and stretched my neck back to just catch some rain drops the size of tiny ants. The nostrils couldn’t help the perfumes projected from trees surrounding me. And there were people all around. I’ve never seen picnicking on the scale it is these days.
There’s so much to be grateful for. That is the way I’m viewing the chanting I’m doing. The japa technique is soft and I like to say with it “Thank you a
Last year my brother, Jerry, popped by to drop off vintage photographs of our biological family.
They came in two cardboard boxes with one of them labelled “Brownies,” which my sisters were members of. Likely that box contained Brownies chocolate bars or cookies, which were fundraisers for the organization. That one box, still kicking around with old pics in it, has been around for 55 years. The box itself is vintage.
In any event, I’m copying some of these photos for posterity’s sake and I’m h
