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"Are you excited about your debut?"  asked one of the many attendees at the Mayapura retreat, referring to our first performance of "Grandsire".

"It's in good hands," I said, meaning that our cast has put in a lot of hard work to the best of their abilities.  Cronje—who is now Karuna Avatar (initiated name)—is the lead actor.  It's a big job for him—lots of lines to memorize and blocking to remember.  He's also involved in numerous martial arts scenes in this production.  He and the other play

I had a marvelous time at the Scarborough ISKCON Centre enjoying both the soup and the company.  This should not be mistaken for a soup kitchen, (even though at meal time, a soup extraordinaire is, in fact, on the menu), but a centre of spiritual power, where people come together to hear about themselves through the message of the Gita

 

The folks here are reading and discussing the Gita's Chapter 11 which resembles, in some way, a freak of nature.  Awesome images of multi-headed forms fill the

For a third consecutive day, our Govinda's Restaurant was put to good use.  It catered two hundred guests at the YMCA on Thursday.  Last evening, we held an appreciation dinner for our drama troops of the January 1st  "The Gita” production.  That was nice.  And then today, I sat with members of the wedding party for Narayani and Kent, feasting like crazy after marrying them.  Govinda's keeps busy.

 

Now, about the wedding, held in the temple room—it was simple and sweet.  Narayani and her famil

One of the most foundational principles in the science of bhakti is expressed in a verse from the Adi Purana.  Here's the Sanskrit with Roman Transliteration then the translation.

 

na me bhaktās ca te janāh

mad bhaktānām ca ye bhaktās

te me bhaktatamāh matāh

 

“One who claims to be my devotee is not my devotee, but one who is a devotee of my devotee is actually my devotee.” 

The above verse from the text, is God speaking—the actual words of Sri Krishna.  The verse

I still catch myself addressing people I meet with a "Happy New Year!”  Soon, in two days only, the calendar flips a page to reveal another month, making New Year's totally irrelevant.  But you're not going to get me to say, "Happy Valentines Day."  It's just not the thing monks say to anyone.

 

To compensate for this great lack of etiquette, I can say to my fellow colleagues and community members, "Happy Nityananda's Day" or "Happy Shiva Ratri" in reference to saints in our lineage.  "Happy Ga

Corrado and I are preparing for the India trip, and before we do so, we are needing to pick up a few things.  Yes, things like bows and arrows, and swords, and perhaps some other weaponry.  Nothing too lethal, mind you.  It's more like goods made of rubber and synthetics for a scene of conflict in our up-and-coming drama, "Grandsire."  The Vedic texts that I draw my script from demonstrate colourful battle scenes.  The story will be about Grandsire Bhisma.  We will stage it, film it, and then t

A popular basketball player, Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter and several family friends, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday.  The gentleman sitting next to me in the Caribbean Airlines showed me the footage.  Sad!  I'm also warned about this new coronavirus going around.  At the airport in both Guyana and Toronto, people were donning masks for protection.  Expect trouble ahead as it is the nature of our dual world.

On the brighter side, I'm home.  I'm with my spiritual family, drinking

I am happy to know that in Guyana the hunting and killing of jaguars is unlawful.  The jaguar is the national animal of the country and so it is with pride that conservationists keep a vigilant watch over this beautiful creature.  Now, in all my visits to Guyana, I've never come fact to face with this wild cat in the wilderness, and I certainly hope to keep it that way.  Even when I walked Guyana's coastline, I never really found myself in the thickets of the interior for the opportunity.  The

Every time I visit Guyana, I get treated to an all-exotic meal by Paramatma.  Well, he does the planting and harvesting of the organic veggies and fruits.  His good wife cooks them, or in the case of fruit, prepares it with flair.  The year I walked Guyana, they hosted me to an unforgettable dinner.  Last year he brought me to his farm and showed me his yield.  Just this evening, after a lively padayatra procession in the streets, Paramatma told me of an incident in his orchard. 

"I was using

 

When three of us arrived at the major Suriname Airport, the official looked at my legal name which is Vis, with its origins in the Netherlands.  Because Dutch is the official language here, the official burst into a big smile.  "So you're a Vis?"  he asked. 

I responded, "Yes, I'm a fish.  I love the water." 

He chuckled. 

Santosh, who is an anthropology/archaeology student, took us to these amazing black-water springs.  Here I proved I was a fish, as my name translates.  Nearby, Santosh t

Time to move on.  I had a great brunch with dear friend, Guru Prasad Swami.  He was also on the move.  After he left, I was left with a queue of people, each of whom just wanted to have a few minutes with me, in private.  Some advice.  Some direction.  Some blessing.

 

I could see the talent in the community.  But now, it was time to go.  Off to Port of Spain Airport where I gathered a few more souls for a few last minutes.  And as I was giving attention, I could see out of the corner of my eye

After a good catching-up rest at the Longdenville ISKCON Centre, I, along with a good number of devotees, hopped into another one of those colourful Chariot Fest events in the downtown of nearby Chaguanas.  My dear Godbrother, Guru Prasad Swami, and I were whisked into a devotee-owned warehouse and office for quick, simultaneous interviews by two TV stations.  Another one followed after our parade.

 

It was a hot one - both the weather and kirtan.  Somehow in Trinidad, overcast conditions had p

The flight to Port of Spain was early, and  got me landed in plenty of time for some fun happenings within the range of devotional yoga.  I’m looking forward to the next ten days which will include a quick trip to Tobago.  We have been contemplating for years on doing a visit to this touristy island.  Also, on the list, is my second journey to Suriname where everyone speaks Dutch.

 

Google tells me that the first permanent settlement of Europeans in Suriname was established by a group of Briti

I picked up a few sayings which very much resonated with me.  

 

Sayings such as:

“You may not always be called upon to be successful, but you will always be called upon to be trustworthy.”  Mother Teresa.

 

Another very reflective one:

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” Norman Vincent Peale.

 

I take a special liking to this one:

“You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do.”  Henry Ford.

 

Corrado and I went for

I rather surprised myself, on this second consecutive day, with a nighttime walk.  Corrado has now moved into the ashram with us, and he and I set a spontaneous faster-than-usual pace.  Both times I returned from a spritely trek in the neighbourhood, feeling no joint issues, especially with my knees.

 

What certainly contributed to the uninterrupted speed was the no-ice factor.  We have been running on above-freezing temperatures, and I'm not complaining.  Mind you, I am a bit of a sucker for t

 Back from the U.S.  Back to work.  Back to play.

 

My day began with the chant, a look at sastra, and then a breakfast.  Some leftovers do not intimidate me.  Warm them up, as Uttamananda did, and they can be tastier than the day before.  Then jet lag got the better of me.

 

I went for a much needed nap, and as I was about to doze off, images of the infamous New York City blackout entered my mind.  I had seen the documentary by the name "Black Out" on the plane last night.  Quite devastating!

Included in our morning sadhana, at Rockwood Manor, was a line-up of chairs, and seated upon them were the direct students of Srila Prabhupada, our Guru Maharaja.  There were six of us. We were given three questions to answer, from our personal perspective, and were obliged to deliver to the thirty or so listeners, our experiences.

 

Question One:  What encourages you to stay (in devotional life) and to keep going?

Question Two:  What fears do you encounter about the future, and also what hope

This is not what I do in the higher echelons of our mission.  Our twice a year meetings for the Govern

The meals are light at Rockwood Manor, especially when you show up late like I did.  I had to catch a nap during this retreat workshop.  I'm exhausted from insomnia three nights in a row.  And when breakfast is not to my liking (there are uttapams) I'm more inclined to forgo.  I'm not complaining.  Just stating facts about the way of the world.  Nothing's perfect with these bodies. 

 

But, oh how I’m enjoying the meetings.  There are lots of young representatives from across the U.S. and Canada

From Canto 11 of the book, Bhagavatam, I spoke on the Chapter ‘Aila Gita’, which details the teachings and realizations coming to an affluent king, Pururava.  Oh, how in love he was with his lady, Urvasi, a heavenly beauty!  At one point in the relationship, deciding to terminate it all, Urvasi left him, and the separation for him was too much.  Time lapsed and he realized just how attached he was to this world and to his body, a mass of marrow, bones, sinew, blood, etc.  "This body," he reflec