By Bhaktimarga Swami
It was my second swim-in-the-lake for this year – a personal milestone. And with me was Brihat Mrdanga and his associate, Arjuna. Their purpose was to scrape off, with water and sand, the caked-on-make-up from the play. I was submerging for the chill of it all. It’s been a long two days on Centre Island, and the quiet time is needed. When you are a swami, there are many demands from the public. Just by sitting at one spot, person after person comes to you.
In my teens, I worked in orchards and fields; harvesting. It is a little like that. After pulling tomatoes off the plants, you just see a new batch and they just keep coming wave after wave.
While walking from the south-end beach on Centre Island with the boys, we witnessed only fun things such as a grandmother swinging on a child’s swing (as if I didn’t do that). Then we saw a group of turbaned Sikhs hurling a football to catch as they went on back and forth, back and forth. I was also amazed at the number of people I saw with the traditional tilak marks on the foreheads, demarcating their identity as Vaishnavas, and yet I had never met them before.
Yes, this Festival of Chariots/Festival of India is drawing in the crowds. This weekend was the best ever in spirit and in numbers. I wanted to congratulate Sylvio who has been coming to our temple since 1984. He got initiated and has the name Satvik. Pretty good for a 72-year-old. We dedicated our drama in honour of my Godsister, Urvasi, one of the first lady pioneers at ISKCON Toronto. She passed away.
Source: http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/2022/07/sunday-july-17-2022.html
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