Roman and I parked right outside of the high rise that Ajamil lives in. The only thing is that we parked right behind a police car that had just arrived – a police car that wheeled over the curb and partially onto the sidewalk. Our parking right behind them aroused some suspicion in the two occupants of the police car, and so they immediately came over to correct us about our irregular parking. They were nice about it, especially when they saw a monk (me) and Ajamil struggling to get his harmon
bhaktimarga swami (539)
I went to see the second part of The Mahabharata called “Dharma.” This time I was accompanied by 14 people. We made good use of our time. In addition to viewing live theatre, we decided to also see nature's wonder, Niagara Falls, which is always inspiring.
When one follows Niagara River, you can explore trails for cycling or walking. Time was restricting, but we did stop by near the whirlpool where the river suddenly bends, for a great picnic. It was a fresh break from what's sometimes spicy an
Ram possesses all the qualities of a superhero
Royal traits of ultimate prince, monarch, or pharaoh
Reverent to all, eager to help and listen
With a service attitude acting on what's given
His build is admirable, countenance grave
Tasks he tackles meant only for the brave
He never moves suddenly at a reckless whim
No wonder his father, the emperor, adores him
Ram is the heartthrob for many a woman
He also has a striking brother, his name, Lakshman
Of all ladies, lovely Sita won Ram in a tourna
You can feel spring in the air with the sun bright and any hints of snow now on a slow melt. When I step out the door, I know I have choices whether to turn left or right. Today’s choices turn right toward the Annex, the university (U of T), or just plain old Bloor Street, a favourite pedestrian-friendly avenue.
Once I got to the corner of Robert, a man by the name of Dan, 68, saw me and asked a common question, “Are you a monk?”
“Yes, I am. A Krishna monk.”
“I had a friend who worked with me i
Ruslan is my steady walking partner these days. He is from Ukraine. His English is practically nil, so when we go for our daily trek, we communicate through his phone by translation. It's fun. We mostly chant on our beads and resign ourselves to not talking much, but to sound meditation.
While descending along the iron switch back at Ramsden Park, just in front of us was a senior woman who carried with her a state-of-the-art camera. I noticed the yellow-toned snow, and pondered how it got that
Queen’s Park has become one of the most popular spots to go for kirtan, meeting people and doing book sales. Why? The legislative building for the province of Ontario is just South of the park, and the greenspace (now snow white) is at the core of the nation's largest university, U of T. Thoughtful people come here. They walk through the multi tread area to go from classroom to classroom. One other advantage to this destination is that it is a mere one and a half kilometres from our ashram.
It
One of the things I like to do most is to give a class on bhakti. Today was my turn to deliver the message from the Bhagavatam, Canto five, which addresses the complexities of cosmology from the Vedic perspective. The verse was technical presenting the measurements or distances between our planets, beginning with Chandra, the moon.
The task in delivering some inspiration from the more technical side of things is to motivate th listeners towards devotion. It becomes obvious that one can become a
When people’s yards are snowbound like these days (‘jaya’ to the gradual meltdown), and the sidewalks, although cleared, are quite narrow. Pedestrians get challenged. I have to think twice as to which side of the sidewalk to walk on when seeing an oncoming walker. God knows I just came from India, and the general rule there is ‘stay to the left’, whereas here in North America, you ‘stay to the right.’
Let me clarify one point – when the British ran India, they were rigid about being to the left
Acclimating to the cold is fairly easy for me. Apparently, several centimetres were to land on surfaces in all directions on this day. Sure enough, a storm hit delivering generous amounts of the white magic. It came down quite fiercely. It’s humbling.
I am looking forward to some walking once it clears somewhat.
I was so touched that members of our Bhakti Academy are alternating at giving classes for the Bhagavatam session. In my absence, the program has been going on. Today’s presenter was Leo
The road to the Delhi Airport was quite smooth. I asked our driver what the name of the road was, but there’s a language barrier. Shame on me. I should know some Hindi by now. There were the shortcuts. They were rough.
Parama Karuna, the professional dancer who was part of our drama troupe, left for Paris from here. The rest of us – Chris, Anya, Dhruva, Kunti, Vya, and I – waited at our gate for Lufthansa Airlines for a stop at Frankfurt before proceeding back to Canada.
Reflections of India
This morning after my sadhana, spiritual exercise, I put some attention to my machinery. I’m speaking more particularly about the bridge of my upper teeth. Keshava, our dear friend from Malaysia and former ISKCON Toronto temple president, is also a dentist. It took some time to break the old bridge that was cracked. One main reason for the crack is my excess grinding which I apparently do during sleep. My night guard is something I used to be proactive at using for protection and dental care, b
“Shut the door, the mosquitoes are getting in!” That’s a common remark coming from anyone of us who have a room in the Gada building and are trying to keep it bug-free when someone comes to visit. No one is trying to be mean here, just realistic. Have some courtesy and keep the pests out.
The pesky little ones known all over the world are making their mark in the holy dham. It happens every year at this time. It’s a given as soon as the western pilgrims show up. It seems like there is rich bloo
Our theatrical warmup practices look something like this:
Participants stand in a circle and chant the pranam mantras to our guru, Srila Prabhupada. Then mantras to the five features of the Absolute. Then mantras to the divine female and divine male, Radha and Krishna
Voice projection then involves the mantra, om namo bhaghavate vasudevaya.
Mouth muscle exercise with vowels A-E-I-O-U.
Surya namaskar, salutations to the sun – yoga stretches with Kunti from Canada.
Further body stretche
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Off we go! Six of us on the way to Mother India where Father Dharma rules, or at least did so at one time. Who are we? Chris, Anya, Dhruva, Vya, Kunti, and I go up, up, and away in Air Canada for a stopover in Heathrow, bound for Mumbai and finally Kolkata.
2020 was my last visit to the place of the essence (dharma). I am blessed to have this company that I’m in. At our waiting gate our crew of six grabbed a final bit to eat and then engaged in our reading of the script “Witness Gopal,” a way t
What a blessing today was, like all days! I say that because I receive an affirmation almost every day. Today was no exception. My stomach confirmed that beet root and I just don’t get along. I love the flavour and the colour, but tummy-wise, it doesn’t work. The truth is simply underscored.
In preparation for my India trip which begins tomorrow, I was urged on to do some shopping. Another truth about myself is that I’m not fond of going out for selecting a purchase. But when it comes to acquir
By now, you must be aware that I am a sucker for three dimensional objects – sculptures. Before becoming a monk, I was preoccupied in various visual art forms. Recently when I made a visit at the dentist’s office, I saw a piece of metallic curvature sculpture which reminded me of something I assembled in college in ’73 when I walked away from several pieces of artwork to take to my current vocation. When seeing that sculpture in the patients’ waiting room, I had that nostalgic moment.
Now back