It is clearly sandal weather. Only the evening is enticing for the outdoors so I hibernated inside most of the day engaged in chanting, delivering classes, reading, poetry writing, eating (and napping after that). Several initiatives took up a portion of the day such as preparation for the next MANtra retreat (for November 12, 13, 14) and planning for this year’s garden/farm conference.
The evening reading was from the Chaitanya Charitamrta (the CC) and the story was about the interaction betwe
I had a great picnic with Parama, Rukmini and their young 19-month-old darling who was totally mesmerized by people, the dogs and the trees. It’s not that she hasn’t been to a park before. This one, Ramsden, according to her parents, is new and full of activity; something different.
The heat was on. That may account for the smaller than usual turn-out of people. Attendance did pick up in the evening, which was my second visit to the green space. At this point Nimai and Vishal joined me on the g
It’s been a while since I met cousin Corry and our young Muslim friend, Victor, so we decided to meet again, as we used to before the dawn of winter and the Covid lockdown. A third person also came along; much to my surprise it was a distant relative, Jeanette. She’s not just an ordinary Jeanette. She’s “ScubaJeanette” and, as the name implies, she loves the water and has spent many seasons in clear and salty water exploring. She also has a shark scar bite on her left leg to prove her escapades
I was so happy to receive another submission from a godsister in Los Angeles. She had given her story of the early days in the movement in Canada, to add to the compilation of our upcoming book Krishna in the Maple Leaf. Her spiritual journey began at the young age of fifteen, when she heard about the Bhagavat philosophy. Interesting it is that the guidance counselor at her school encouraged her in her spiritual pursuit.
For myself it was just a pleasure to deliver two classes virtually for two
It happens frequently enough — poor Wi-Fi reception. Every Thursday I conduct a class hosted by a sweet couple in Florida. Practically every week, over the course of my call, which is actually a Bhagavad-Gita class, I get disconnected and end up disappointing both those on the call and myself. This is a managerial problem that must be solved. The class unfortunately had to terminate, so far as my delivery was concerned. However, two people on the call, Murari Gupta from Florida and Gaurachandra
It was our fourth time together. You may have heard of Vande Arts, an arts initiative driven to create a camaraderie among bhakti artists. Well, you might say that this next reincarnation of that direction is called BhaktiArt Hub S.O.S. Shaping Our Soul is a piece of our vision statement.
Through Zoom our group of a few, for starters, is comprised of Gaura Vani, the bhajan singer, a sweet couple from San Antonio, Texas by the names Bhagavan Narada and Naradi, Govinda Gopal from Jersey City, Par
I managed to keep a proper social distance from moose, bear and cougar while in the north country for the day. My companion, Jivan Mukta, and I escaped from the big city for a three-hour venture to a marvelous 200-acre property he just purchased, near Algonquin Park, for a potential yoga retreat site. En route we did witness a mishap. A young moose did get killed by a motorist. Sad news, but this is a reality when the world of modernity comes face to face with the natural world.
But back to ple
I was trying to make a point by abruptly striking just one branch of a spruce tree. Suddenly, hidden in that limb of the tree, with all its sub-branches and twigs, came a cloud of golden pollen.
My dear friend and godbrother, Ugresh, was astounded to see that pollen, appearing as a light powder, suddenly manifest. “Stay away then, if you have allergies,” I recommended. Indeed, he does have that, acting up from time to time. Now is one of those times.
That gust I brought on to create that cloud
An elderly woman came to where I was sitting. It looked like she had something to say, however, I started the conversation.
“How are you today?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Well, I’m a bit upset. The telephone company I’m with has not been giving service for five days.”
Now I don’t dress in a uniform from a phone company. I’ve donned my kurta (my upper garment), my dhoti (lower garment) and my uttariya (the third swami piece), so I don’t qualify for being a service man. I do, however, feel oblig
Is it not the most divine form of communication
A way of expression, a marvelous supplication
An urge from the heart due to a hurt or a wound
A cry so desperate from feeling so ruined
A call for help as if lost in dense jungle
Seeking signs for a way out of the tangle
Prayer can be a request for strength, hope, courage
It certainly transcends any mundane verbiage
But special requests do not alone constitute prayer
Prayer should not only refer to events of despair
Not just reserved when life app
We had a lively Zoom group, our usual Thursday gathering. Discussions were on chapter 9, verse 32 of The Gita. In Ranchor Prime’s translation of the verse it goes like this, “All those who seek my shelter, whatever their birth, gender, cast or status, attain the supreme destination.” It was a lively discussion.
Before that, I was soaking in the sun and, fortunate for me, people in the park were stopping to talk. One fellow goes back-and-forth on a jog for an hour each day. Today he stopped to o
We are keeping it up. Every day Dharma Prana and I attend the noon services, called Bhoga Arati where I play the mrdunga drum and sing in a type of serenade to entertain the deities of Krishna on the balcony or altar.
My beating that drum becomes a kind of needed work-out. Also, for the Tuesday night garbage pick up, the trash must be ready for bringing out to the street. To prepare for that I saw the opportunity to crush the accumulation of cardboard boxes. Our produce arrives in those boxes w
In the morning the sun shot out to bless the sky and earth. By noon clouds closed the doors to a usually welcome sun.
But the sun did shine on my day in the form of three Zoom talks; the first on the topic of Vedic hero, Bhishma. Truly, he is one of my favourites. Moments for honoring him was possible by the request of Kirtan Vancouver, although I expected that the request for my conducting a discussion would probably be on the Mother’s Day theme. Bhishma was one of those noble men who looked a
Before Zoom classes began I took advantage of the beckoning sun. I was sure this was not a singular thought. Sure enough the craving for sun, green-ness and crisp air was apparent. My favourite bench was available and only good things I could see. Hither and thither: walkers. A dog park replete with happy humans and canines. Men, women and children; black, white and brown. Not one person with a cigarette. Kids playing. Adults talking.
A relatively young dad was carrying a bundle of the gathered
It was quite the humid day; cool to the feel. The wind was up and trees were dancing with their upper bodies while their trunks, as usual, were anchored stiff.
When my services were completed for the day, which included a Zoom chat with our Halifax crew and another on plans for our next film production, I took the opportunity to walk a stretch. It wasn’t long but it was…
The other day when I did a walk the length of Ramsden Park, I took a gayatri mantra break right next to the tennis courts. I
I walked to a different park bench, plopped myself down and began chanting with the aid of my beads when a neighbor walked by and stopped. He has seen me around. Hugh Smiley is his name.
“So, you’re chanting? I chant sometimes. I learned it from the Park Avenue bowling alley in Montreal. It became a Krishna Centre.”
“Nice to meet you, Hugh!” I said this to the nice guy who became a Baha’i teacher living in South America for seven years on that mission. Hugh never forgot the pranam mantra to our
The sun captivated everyone. Motorists rolled down their windows to take in the good air as they moved along slowly; as is usual on a Friday afternoon. I had my window down also. I could hear pedestrians and music blaring from the autos.
One guy did it deliberately — had his music pumped up and loud — as he coasted along near our temple. It was “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by George Harrison and the boys, the Beatles. I was actually having my lunch at the time and I had an additional tantalize
The day was gloomy, chili, overcast but necessary as a part of a cycle. Rain came. It’s needed. The night came in with a waxing crescent moon just as it has been some nights before in the cycle. Then we love our seasons. “Of seasons I am flower-bearing spring,” states Krishna in The Gita. This welcoming season has come full circle. There’s a pattern also with the sun. “Here Comes the Sun” (the Beatle’s song). Visible and not visible.
Then we have “The Circle of Life” (Lion King). Yes, we have o
I would devote the day in my service to guru’s mission with a stride in the park. It was dark and some young men from the neighborhood just completed shooting basketball. I was on a bench fingering on my meditation beads and, as they walked by, they very respectfully nodded or made remarks such as, “Hi!” Or “Good night!” I was impressed. Decent people do exist.
In one conversation with a member of our community he expressed that people are having it tough, even amongst the devotional types, bein
Kind donor, I thought, and that was my last thought (to my recollection) before shut-eye and saying goodbye to the day. A good sleep.
Our Vancouver centre received a nice donation from one admirer (anonymous) to the tune of just less than a quarter million. That’s super kind. So, I was informed. Good heart, I thought. More hearts like that are needed. Our project in the centre of the Greater Vancouver Area is in Burnaby; a great location. A new facility needs to go up and will cost 15 million.
