The fellow at the Air Canada agents desk took my flight documents so I could secure my boarding pass that would take me to Washington, D.C. He was curious.
“If you don't mind my asking, are you one of those martial arts masters?”
“I'm a monk, a Krishna monk.”
“That's what I meant to say, ‘monk’. That's interesting. Great!”
Another passenger in line before customs asked, “are you a Tibetan monk?”
“A Krishna monk.”
“Oh, I’m a Christian, too!”
“A Hare Krishna!” Said his wife in correcting him. From here on I kept bumping into him at the terminal.
I sat down at the prescribed gate, and sitting across was a dignified person who asked, “Are you The Walking Monk?”
“You guessed right. We've met before?”
“I met you at the Festival of India in Sudbury. I’m the Catholic bishop representing Northern Ontario.”
We continued the conversation until it was announced our flight was cancelled. Rebook I did. It wasn't easy. I made it to the Sunday Open House at ISKCON Ottawa on Somerset. I spoke from chapter 7.2 of the Gita. It was the topic of knowing. “You see in this day and age, due to advanced technology, we know so many things. We are well informed, but we are not enlightened. As humans, we have that birthright…”
My unexpected cancellation opened up new options, so Sreyas, Priyam, and I decided to go for a walk at Britannia Beach where The Great Trail runs by its edge. It's phenomenal how good people are on a holiday weekend at the beach. I'm still a monk at the airport or on the trail.
Source: https://www.thewalkingmonk.net/post/still-a-monk
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