Our visiting monk from Florida, Brhat Mrdanga, showed me the notes he took from my class involving the theme of shifting gears in life, or altering one’s career and what people often call paradigm shifting. The focus in the class was based on a Canto Nine avatar, Parasurama, who was born a brahmin (priest), but took on the disposition of a ksatriya (warrior). He felt he did the needful due to oppressive force from unruly kings. In other words, he demonstrated how, in certain circumstances, o
the walking monk (485)
IT'S IMPORTANT TO RESPECT AND HONOUR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ON CANADA DAY IN THE SPIRIT OF RECONCILIATION.
The drive to the capital city, Ottawa, population 1,000,000, is five hours, and in the early section of this national holiday, Canada’s birthday, was quiet and road friendly. No roads are necessarily friendly for a pedestrian. There’s always some kind of road rage. In general, it is the happiest day of the year for Canucks (an affectionate term for ‘Canadians’). I was able to fit in 8,000 p
Srimal and I were climbing up the stairs by the beach at Lake Erie to return to his vehicle when we met halfway two men who were tourists. They looked like they were from the middle east.
“Good morning! How are you?” I asked. It was they who were curious and who asked where we are from.
“I’m from Canada, and he (Srimala) is from here. How about you?”
They replied spontaneously, “Jordan.”
“That’s nice.” In a subtle way they indicated that the dialogue was over, as brief as it was, a
People in our community aren’t always punctual. The standard joke is, “We follow IST,” translated as Indian Standard Time or ISKCON Standard Time. Seriously, I don’t laugh at it anymore. Shobam is in his twenties, and he joined our walking team which agreed to meet at 8 AM for the start of the trek. When the topic came up about the chronic lateness, I said to Shobam, “Can your generation change that?”
“I’m going to try,” he said.
The Ledges Trails at Cuyahoga National Park is just idea
I’m a firm believer that everyone should take a break from the man-made world, even if just for a few minutes every day. For the sake of sanity, the connection is essential. I recall from my visit to Sparta last year, at this time there is a nearby body of water, Lake Sparta. A walk around it is 1.12 kilometres. Notable are the natural elements. No wonder people have made their homes here. Luckily for walkers like me, no homes are built on the lake’s edge, and plentiful gaps of nature bet
Fifty years ago, I was arrested along with two companions for distributing or selling religious books without a permit. It was standard for brahmacharis (monks) to end up so in the early day s of ISKCON in the US. The three of us spent a night behind bars. We went to court. The judge through the charge out thought it ridiculous and we were set free after a colourful night and day in prison in a town in North Carolina.
At the US customs in the Ottawa Airport enroute to New Jersey, I had to
I expressed to Pradeep, my driver, that my preferred route to Ottawa is Highway 7, which is a branch of the Trans-Canada Highway. It is quiet, scenic, and only two lanes. On our way, we came upon Sharbot Lake and parked the car and embarked upon a trail for pedestrians and cyclists called KNP. There, we saw to both sides of the trail, spring growth, predominantly green. Ferns, grasses, and trilliums are all awoken. For sound it was birds-a-plenty including a woodpecker’s drilling.
May
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
I delivered a mini Kirtan Standards course to the devotees of Deland. Some helpful hints in the matter of conscious kirtan can’t go wrong in steering chanters in the right direction. I saw the hard copy of Jayadwaita Swami’s book on the subject on the stand for sale. I grabbed it and used the text as a reference for selling the content’s concepts to the attendees. Afterall, the objective is to follow in the footsteps of the previous teachers. It was appreciated.
Speaking of footsteps, I’
I have never seen such a large pool of blood within the confines of our walls at 243 Avenue Road. Our head priest (pujari), Brahma, entered the temple at 3:40 AM, and when he reached the bottom of the stairs, a blood vessel burst at the base of his leg.
Fortunately, our young men of the Bhakti Academy assisted him, cleaned him, and hurried him to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment and advice. Brahma then returned when the Academy head, Visahka, and her husband, Punya, drove him back home.
Thoughts of the wildfire in Los Angeles are reeling in my mind as I walk the dark early hours. My mantras are prayers of concern and help for the many victims. It is a very troubled world.
Meanwhile, the world is quiet here on Kwatta Street going westbound. The occasional car comes by. There is no honking or any agitation from motorists who are viewing the four of us in dhotis on a narrow two-lane in single file. Dogs barking is occasional. Once the sun hints at rising, we see Indian co
Nice to be in a place where roses have scent
Food is fresh and with hummingbirds present
The accent of the Trinis becomes a treat
A Creole mix, different, awesomely shweet
The steel band music encourages movement
Its genre is the standard level of amusement
Lest we forget, it is the birthplace of limbo
Where you shimmy under a bar that lies low
The terrain is flat with added mountain beauty
People are nice whether on-or-off duty
You have cricket madness, part
My flight to Trinidad and Tobago was with Caribbean Airlines, boarding in Toronto. The distinguishable hummingbird insignia, flying backwards and flapping at high speed, was my lead to the proper queue.
I was surprised that devotees who booked me put me on business class seat 1A. That was kind of them. When the flight attendant came around asking for a preferred breakfast, I made it clear, “No animals!” Anyways, she got it.
When I went through customs at Port Au Spain, I handed in my form.
I’m on a crystal thawing trail
At the state before snowmelt in Cedarvale
My footstep makes a splash in the slush
You just cannot trudge in a rush
I take careful baby steps moving in time
To avoid a slip and a fall and getting out of the rhyme
I’m accidentally creating some jazz music
Which could turn into some hopeful classic
With a crunch, crunch in snow, a swish, swish in slush
In the dreamy dark night everything is hushed
There is even some ominous fog setting in
I hear other footsteps which
There’s a first time for everything - your first time to receiving mother’s milk, your first footsteps, first day at school, first time at a job, first love etc.
For our Bhakti Academy group one of our graduates, Nityananda, performed his first havan, or fire ceremony and it was done as a first amongst the group. I am personally very proud of him. I believe it to be a beginning of a new phase where, more yajnas or sacrifices will be executed by a younger generation. I perceive a new wave of g
A kind Brhat Mrdunga, a Dutch Canadian farmer boy, took me down a familiar road, a trail I've blazed more than once - Highway 1, all way to Burnaby before launching off to Toronto. This route is always scenic and yet the scenery makes changes. There are the mighty rivers, the Thompson and the Fraser narrowed within mountains.
Since my last trek down this lane erosion has shifted soil bringing down rocks and trees. Some of the buildings, the Alexandria Lodge are deteriorating, as well the group
The Maritime pilgrimage goes on. Three cities covered today.
It started in Fredericton on the north side. My travel companion, Nityananda and I, hit a new trail which led us to the location where dozens and dozens of boys were at baseball practice, and at 8 in the morning. Not bad for sleep-in Sunday morning. These kids weren’t exactly attending church, but you could see they were serious about something of value – better than doing games on their devices.
They weren’t sure what to make of
Off to the east we go. Nityananda and I embarked on a flight to Fredericton and then a car ride, compliments of Vyas. It was a year ago that this man of good company took diksha or initiation and he is doing well as the co-ordinator for the local Krishna community. He drove us to the city of St. John and the Irving Nature Park for a 7 kilometre coastline trail walk.
As soon as we hit that lovely trail our nostrils were aroused with effervescent fragrances of soft wood trees and wild flowers. Wh
My final step before turning back to home, back to ashram, was on a park bench at the park, when a young man, James sat next to me.
"I'm just waiting for some buddies," he informed me. "Your day is full?" he asked.
"Yes, quite. I'm Bhaktimarga Swami. Swami for short."
"I'm James Ensley." We shook hands and it didn't end there. Like most people, meeting a monk is a first, let alone a walking monk.
I had a similar exchange just a few minutes before. I was sitting down to chant my gayatri ma
The Bluffs, situated at the west coast of Lake Ontario, are a real gem to visit. The cliffs and accompanying what appears like huge ant hills are a sight to see, so for our Tuesday morning outing, our local Bhakti Academy students and I went for some hours to explore. The beach is clean, so is the water, the trails and trees are a paradise. The peninsulas formed (by man) are pleasant parks and to some degree protect the bluffs from erosion. The natural beauty and the human implementation are a
