blogs - Blog - ISKCON Desire Tree

See All As A Test by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 26, 2019 at 5:02pm

I had mentioned to the group that Ray Charles, the musical genius, sang a song called “Georgia On My Mind.” "He had the right idea about being absorbed in something someone but our approach is to have Krishna on our mind." I even did a short impersonation of Ray. It got a laugh. The whole group of listeners in the Bhagavatam class knew who I was talking about.

The verse of the day was from Canto Six. Vrtrasura, who had been made out to be bad guy, was speaking some divine wisdom to the heave

Hadai Dropped Me Off at the Vancouver Airport by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 24, 2019 at 3:36pm

When Hadai dropped me off at the Vancouver Airport, he joined me in the queue to get my boarding passes. I expressed my gratitude and a point of realization. "In life, we are always standing in some queue for a ticket, a coffee death." It seemed an impetus for reflection.

We kept talking, and one issue raised was how he had to deal with cockroaches in former residences. "Our building also had bed bugs," he said, unceremoniously.

One more epiphany surfaced. "There will always be a

To Remember by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 22, 2019 at 4:04pm

Before I took to my American Airlines flight to Los Angeles, and then on to Argentina, I just had to get some footsteps in at 3:00 a.m. I ventured off to the Chinese farm enclave near the ISKCON temple in Burnaby. It was quiet for sure, favourable for stepping out and mantra meditating.

I turned at Willard Street, and just about landed on some roadkill. It was an ‘oops moment’. Missed it. It was hard to determine what kind of species it was. A muskrat perhaps? In any case, it brought to

Interesting Points About the Valley by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 21, 2019 at 3:34pm

The final wrap-up to our weekend discussions came in the form of a walk through the valley with those who had not left for their respective homes. A couple from Athabasca, a mother and son from the village in Saranagati, devotees from major cities, and Ramnath from the end of the valley were with me. Off we strolled.

“Ramnath, can you tell us the types of trees we are seeing on both sides of the trail? Some of us know models of cars, but we don’t know our trees.”

Ramnath was happy to resp

Some of What Went On by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 20, 2019 at 9:05am

There is a slippery dynamic to the roads which run through the village of Saranagati. Ride offers were given by motorists but I insisted on using my legs. The few destinations I reached were ridiculously short in distance, in any case. I do love this village of residents who are all bhakti yogis, but if I would offer one criticism, people here should do more trekking between their homes. These rural homes are not set particularly close to each other, yet they are close enough that walking be

The Importance of Good Marriage by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 19, 2019 at 6:30pm

It was a long day of inspirational presentations, and the first item on the agenda was a walk through a portion of the valley. I was not alone. Five other ISKCON leaders, all from the city, joined me in the tranquil experience.

Bears are now hibernating in their dens. They were very active during the late summer. Of course, this is their territory. Ravens are also not around. Rattlesnakes they are asleep at this time of year. So, there is ultimate quiet.

The walk culminated in our arrival a

Going West with Others by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 18, 2019 at 5:46pm

I traveled with four other spiritual leaders by plane. We were enroute to our Canadian leaders’ meeting, to be held in Venables Valley, British Columbia. It was a prolonged travel, which included missing a connecting flight. It was too bad. However, we had each other, sparing the five of us from stress. I did take the time for a few minutes to read an article from the West Jet Flight magazine, about the topic of ‘loneliness’. I’ll share some of the info.

Dr. Ami Pokach, a clinical psychologis

Enthusiasm by Kadamba Kanana Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 17, 2019 at 4:02pm

Transcendental sound is echoing around the world. The world which is egg-shaped and hollow inside, consists of several layers. All these universes clustering together are flowing from the pores of Mahavishnu. Srila Prabhupada explains creation. Krsna expands himself in the form of Mahavishnu from whose breathing an innumerable number of universes emanate. In each of these universes, Mahavishnu enters as Garbodhakasayi Vishnu who lies on Sesa Naga on the Garbha Ocean. From his navel, Bramha is b

Chastened and Humbled by Giriraj Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 16, 2019 at 2:42pm

Listening to Srila Prabhupada’s talk on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.35, given in Bombay on December 4, 1974, I felt chastened and humbled by his description of surrender and pure devotion, as exemplified by Sri Prahlada:

“Krishna says (Gita 18.66),

sarva-dharman parityajya
mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
moksayisyami ma sucah

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.] The qualification is: unless one is s

Seeing Krsna by Kadamba Kanana Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 15, 2019 at 3:13pm

Everybody close your eyes and take a deep breath – breath in and then breath out. Now, in your mind, go to your favourite place, wherever that is. Now in that place, try your best to see Krsna. Do you see Krsna? Maybe, maybe not. This is difficult. What we see is usually a picture of Krsna that we may have seen of Krsna, maybe even in the form of His deity. That is what we try to remember when we see Krsna. So we have this mental image of Krsna, but can we actually see Him? Can we see His face

Let The Failing Body Not Fail You by Achyut Gopal Das

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 15, 2019 at 3:01pm

Life's Tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late." - Benjamin Franklin

As I carefully see the mirror and observe my face, I notice a few strands of white hair in my chin area. Time has passing is a known fact but never expected it to pass so soon. It appears that I recently passed out of college and entered my youth but I now realize that I am almost 36 years old and a grown up adult, at least physiologically. I also realize that there is a long way to go till I become a psycholog

Meeting Tony by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 14, 2019 at 6:13pm

Achuta is a young father originally from Tamil Nadu, who is now living in Qatar. He is exploring Canada as a place to move to. He happily accepted my proposal for a one hour walk. We did so in a drizzle, in a nearby neighbourhood of the temple/ashram. We both chatted and compared notes, so to speak, on the differences between the three cultures of India, the Middle East and Canada. Our conclusion was that while there are variant ways to do things, in the end, everyone is often quite the s

A Birthday by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 12, 2019 at 3:21pm

The boiler in our building has some challenges; it’s leaving the interior rather cool in temperature. Govinda’s Restaurant, located inside, is warm, however, it’s being heated by a separate unit. I hung out here for a good portion of the day until it was time to go for my walk in the direction of Dhira Nitai’s home. It’s his birthday. He is sixty-nine today.

I made my way through Rosedale, then onto the Danforth to what is known as Greektown, and just before I entered a growing Islamic comm

To Embracing Madness by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 10, 2019 at 1:27pm

"The Great Trail is the longest recreational trail in the world,” reads the plaque, "spanning 24,000 kilometres from coast to coast (in Canada) and connecting over 15,000 communities. “

What is significant, to Marshall and I, is we managed to be there at the start of this "Great Trail" and it wasn't my first time. Marshall remarked it has the feel, when you're here at its beginning, that you just want to travel on it forever. I guess he was saying there's a feeling of infinity. We came u

Visit to Newfoundland by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 9, 2019 at 3:18pm

I had the good fortune to get onto the East Coast Trail. It's rugged and rocky. You have to watch your step. There's a cold ocean next to you, way down.

Marshall and I had spent a brief time at Memorial U., in the food court. It's astounding how many students are from India. They favourably responded to our harmonium and mrdunga playing. They are respectful and warm. My advice to them is: "Don't sacrifice what you know spiritually over your studies. Gain that balance."

I think it's a

High Winds by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on November 8, 2019 at 5:10pm

The winds were high but warm, and coming from the south. It was 18 degrees Celsius in the evening when we did our session at the Shambala Centre. That is warm, for this time of year. The windows were wide open during the whole session, and we were loving it. Sarah, yoga instructor and Friday night coordinator, arranged it that way.

The reason for open windows was that my conducting of the chanting and dancing heated everyone up. It was a good sweat. Justin and Lorna, in particular, were

Strike Before The Lightning Strikes by Achyut Gopal Das

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on October 21, 2019 at 3:08pm

"Life is fragile - handle with prayer."

A few days back in Goa, while raining it thundered so loud that it literally scared many people. I was inside our ashram staring at the sky through the window and imagining what would happen if the lightning entered in the room being attracted by the mobile next to me. I then brushed off this possibility as rare and continued my work. Just a few hours later, one of my friend came to meet me. In the course of our discussion, he told me that a few weeks ago

Austere by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on October 18, 2019 at 12:37pm

This is about the most austere practice that I have to go through. Perhaps I can speak for some of my peers as well. It is not the 33 degrees Celsius heat, which feels like 40, that has become the challenge. The snacks and juices at meeting sessions are satisfactory. The company itself is beyond any heavenly requests and I’m in the midst of the best saints. What really poses a difficulty are the long sit-down sessions.

The topics of the meetings are important, for sure. I just crave f

Great Article on Walking Research by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on October 17, 2019 at 4:38pm

Pragosh, from Ireland, forwarded the following article: “Slow Walking at 45, a Sign of Faster Aging” by Philippa Roxby-Health Reporter, BBC News

“How fast people walk in their 40s is a sign of how much their brains, as well as their bodies, are ageing, scientists have suggested. Using a simple test of gait speed, researchers were able to measure the ageing process. Not only were slower walkers' bodies ageing more quickly - their faces looked older and they had smaller brains. The internatio

On the Trail of Spirits by Bhaktimarga Swami

Posted by ISKCON Desire Tree on October 12, 2019 at 5:51pm

I asked a resident, and my host, Amie, how to get to the nearest trail. We stood in front of her home on this gorgeous clear-sky morning while she gave us directions. The location is one of those swirly-street neighbourhoods in the suburbs.

"Turn right, then left, then right..." she said, with a ‘this’ and a ‘that’ added on. It got complicated. A crow flew over our heads.

"How about I follow that crow?"

"Follow the snow," she said half-assertively and half-humorously.

So I follow

blogs (484)

See All As A Test by Bhaktimarga Swami

Hadai Dropped Me Off at the Vancouver Airport by Bhaktimarga Swami

To Remember by Bhaktimarga Swami

Interesting Points About the Valley by Bhaktimarga Swami

Some of What Went On by Bhaktimarga Swami

The Importance of Good Marriage by Bhaktimarga Swami

Going West with Others by Bhaktimarga Swami

Enthusiasm by Kadamba Kanana Swami

Chastened and Humbled by Giriraj Swami

Seeing Krsna by Kadamba Kanana Swami

Let The Failing Body Not Fail You by Achyut Gopal Das

Meeting Tony by Bhaktimarga Swami

A Birthday by Bhaktimarga Swami

To Embracing Madness by Bhaktimarga Swami

Visit to Newfoundland by Bhaktimarga Swami

High Winds by Bhaktimarga Swami

Strike Before The Lightning Strikes by Achyut Gopal Das

Austere by Bhaktimarga Swami

Great Article on Walking Research by Bhaktimarga Swami

On the Trail of Spirits by Bhaktimarga Swami

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