I was told by a number of folks, the ones we met at Radhadesh, Den Haag, and Naalwijk, that we were very lucky in regards to the weather during our trekking in Holland. “You had practically no rain – unusual for this time of year.”
I consider myself blessed on many counts. Our first nine hours were spent at Radhadesh’s castle. The class I delivered was on the topic of renunciation. I told the listeners of how my dad, while I was in the tub and he was shaving in the washroom, out of nowhere, he said, “John, don’t get married.” I didn’t ask him why, but that remark planted the seed for the road to renunciation, I guess.
In Den Haag, after a long drive, we arrived just on time at the nations capital in the downtown core to partake in a kirtan for Diwali (the New Year for a lot of people). I had the honour to lead the the chanting behind a cart wherein there were installed murtis of Sita Ram, Laksman, and Hanuman. The public loved the drums and the enthusiams they created. The media came out to cover the story on our version of Saturday Night Fever.
From that downtown setting, in the joy of it all, another relative of mine, Harry, came to take me to Naalwijk, along with Robin, to his home where he and wife Marge had a living room full of more cousins and relations. What a thrill it was to see and speak with them. We had questions for each other. They knew I now have bionic knees, and that a grizzly bear was after me on one of the Canada walks. Photos were laid out on the table of the family-past dating back to over a hundred years ago boosting our prowess, “If yah ain’t Dutch, yah ain’t much!” Of course, you can’t let that get to your head.
Source: https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/lucky-monk
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