Kushal Mehra is host to a regular podcast from India who found out about me as a Canadian monastic and marathon walker. It was this morning that he arranged for a recording on the Charvaka Project.
Our guru, Prabhupada, used to bring to our attention a person by the name of Charvaka Muni, whos philosophy propounded that you beg, borrow or steal ghee and enjoy life. Ghee, clarified butter, was a symbol of wealth, so the message was to be the mundane enjoyer. Nothing else matters too much. There’
It was quite awesome to see the number of people come in the evening for prasadam and to hear about “Tales from Trails.” Radha Madhava and Svasti hosted the dozens of families in their home on the north east end of town.
I was just completing my weekly “Gita Chat” on Zoom, as we delved into chapter 3, verse 10, talking all about yajna (sacrifice) and its prevalence. Then I shifted gears to get on another Zoom call with my siblings as we usually do when there’s a birthday among us. Today it was
White City, with a population of approximately 4,000 people, and growing, is an upper middle-class type of town. Many trees have been planted here and the urban green trails are plentiful. Poplar trees are indigenous to the area, as were prairie grasses and tiger lilies until European farmers cleared these areas. There are spots where you can sit, wait ’til the deer come, and enjoy some shanti (peace) as if you are plopped in the middle of tranquil Vrndavana.
It was in Regina at Retallack Stree
I was sitting next to Gil on the Air Canada flight to Regina. He explained that he and his buddies from Hamilton are off to a Metis fest to play their music. “It’s rock, Creedence Clearwater Revival music. We go all around.” Gil pointed to his t-shirt with a logo which reads, “Mystic River,” the name of their band.
Gil was just a great dude to talk to although the chat was brief, only after we landed. The flight was tough – poor movement of air as we were in the back corner and with masks on th
After delivering some classes on the Gita for the evening, to accommodate families that work during the day, Vallabha Hari and I took that stroll through Yorkville. The weather was just perfect. It hit twenty-three degrees Celsius. Every fragrant flower, bush, or tree is in full bloom. Lit evening lampposts reveal every colour that foliage provides.
“I am flower-bearing spring,” the Lord describes in the Gita.
People, too, are very much alive. It’s Friday. The work week is over. There are lots
At the Montessori school in Russell, some chipper remarks came my way from the young students. One of the young boys said, “We made you,” and what he was referring to is that before my arrival, for quite some time, the kids became familiar with “The Walking Monk” through a children’s book of the same name. I guess you could say I was the special guest in three classrooms. What the boy was referring to was that the staff had the students colour Walking Monk cut-outs from paper and attached them
The Stouffville group is great; very attentive to the message based on verses 8 and 9 of Chapter Five (Bhgavad Gita). The theme established was what is good separation and what is bad separation?
First of all, Krishna addresses, through the channel of sankhya philosophy, that the body must be seen as separate from the self. For instance, He mentions that merely talking, sleeping, breathing, and even evacuating – all actions of the body – are to be perceived as aloof from the person, the soul. E
My right knee is healing well, so I put it to the test. It was approaching midnight. I was restless and, in a way, to execute some physio therapy, I thought to go down two flights of stairs and look around to the last round of renovations being completed. I’m personally excited about having those renos done. I’m counting the days when we cut the ribbon for this new training area called “Bhakti Academy.”
I descended the stairs with my ice pack on the bad knee, the left one. I looked around and c
It was dark but the night was still fairly young when Vallabha and I were strolling through a pedestrian lane in Rosedale, when three young women, arm in arm, were oncoming. One of the girls took notice of my saffron and just lit up. “I love it!” she blurted out.
And then a young man carrying his disassembled bike also noted my monastic duds and asked, “Are you a Hare Krishna monk?” And, “Indeed!” I clarified. I was happy he didn’t deliver the usual line, “Are you Buddhist?” Afterall, Buddhists
It was back in 1968 that Hare Krishna devotees first appeared on Canadian soil, at Phillips Square. The popular world Expo, which began the year before at Canada’s 100 year celebration, was extended over from ’67. Well, faithfully you will still see the Krishnas at that corner, the juncture of Sainte-Catherine and Union. Due to renovations, the Square is blocked off, hence our lively chanting troupe of today went kitty-corner in front of a heritage church.
What is really appealing about recent
Shortly after my father passed away in 2008, I wrote a poem in his honour, a way of saying “Thanks!” It will be his birthday on the 1st of February. He was born in the Netherlands, the place of tulips, in 1919. As a member of the Vaishnava tradition, bhakti yoga, we have a natural obligation to feel for our parents who did so much for us. Here’s my poem:
About Dad
Dear Creator
You struck a good balance
When you linked the leaf and petal
Came a man of heart and muscle
Smooth as silk, hard as me
Nature did us a wonderful favour when she dumped tons of snow on the ground, on rooftops, trucks and automobiles as well as on snow. Yes, snow upon snow. It engulfed the north-eastern front of the continent. Perhaps for the first time in months the public had a break from hearing about covid and omicron. What came more in the minds of motorists, in particular, was, “Will I get home safe in this storm?”
From my window, I could see people stuck in deep snow and others with tires spinning, but the
I learned about a couple that survived a 4-month walk from Mexico to Canada along the Continental Divide. In 2017, I crossed the Divide in Colorado and it was at that location that a journalist caught up with me and said, “You’re on the highest point at this watershed. If you pee here, half of the fluid will go to the Atlantic and the other will flow to the Pacific.”
In any event, the American couple trekking this heroic trail exercised true social distancing with their backpacking. Their names
Video: Clcik here
Erin Centre Trail had a surface of slush on it but that didn’t discourage this walking monk. The trail is flat and the area is peaceful. Only when it approaches the open fields do I hear the call of the coyote community. Of course, at this predawn hour, they clear their throats, causing a howling and marking the time.
I was grateful to Dharma and Manasi Ganga, whose home is a minute’s walk from the south end of the trail. My two-day stay was pleasant. It ended at noon when Dha
Some geese just do not fly south for the winter. Here, at least, some prefer to stay. As long as green grasses linger and temperatures remain mild enough, they just might stick around.
Karan and Sukshi are a marvelous couple, who more recently sprung upon consciousness of Krishna, and they joined me on my walk along Willard Ave., by the Asian farms. A flock of geese decided to munch away next to our walking street. I suppose the geese do contribute their dung to the farmer’s field by way of fert
I’ve been in touch with Neil who’s a sculptor from Ontario and who forwarded me some pics of his new wood sculpting assignment. This is a project we’ve been speaking about since the summer last. The pics show the select maple wood he’s going to use for rendering two pieces – one of a flute-playing life-size Krishna and another of a Radha who will pose with a blessing from the hand, also life-size.
These two exciting pieces will adorn the future project for Huntsville. Neil is most excited about
It was the first sunny bright day in weeks, so a number of us took full advantage. We took to De Boville Slough, which has a dyke running along to one side and then edges along Pitt River. Bears do frequent the area.
We strolled for two-and-a-half kilometres and then returned, making it a five kilometre stretch of glory-walk. We talk as we walk, and sometimes get silly. It is a component of my daily reality to get down to dealing with grave matters, but I have found it necessary for equilibrium
Jaya Govinda, Deepak, and I did some serious walking on 1st and 2nd Ave. near the Science Centre, just to see if the park sites and nearby streets could be a possible new area for next year’s Chariot Fest. Wewill make proposals to the City Council. The situation is that the former route, along English bay at Sunset and Third Beach, will no longer be available for our parade and, hence, a new pathway has to be chalked out.
It was also a nice walk along Stanley Park. I was really taken by the cran
He’s loved by the young ones. Benevolently, he works hard to please the kids at this time of year; operating in the North Pole in great preparation for the snow season. His beard, if big and white, like his snowy surroundings. The red outfit stands out. He’s chubby, jolly, and upbeat. He’s kind to all and keeps, as companions, a slew of reindeer that render him a great service. Without them he couldn’t get around. Affectionately he’s known as Santa Claus.
Historically, Santa was morphed out of S
There are places in Sudbury I just had to revisit as part of my personal “memory lane.” First of all Ramsey Lake, a sixty-five feet deep and eight kilometre-long body of water within the city limits; a place I would gravitate to fourty-nine years ago.
Damodara, my host in the city, drove a few of us to Cambrian College, where I attended as a fine arts student. Two boys accompanying us are current students in the computer science field. The campus has expanded since my time.
Finally, I just had t
