Sunday, February 17, 2008

Sun. Feb. 17, 2008 - Ujjain, India





Today was another introspective day with respect to spiritual leadership. Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, had explained that there is sometime casualty on the royal road meaning that when one is on the journey of spiritual evolution there can be a weakness that sets in and effect the practioner to the point of disinvolving himself or herself. Indeed the soul can have its dark hour. This may also be the case for someone who has reached the height of being a leader.
It has been emphasized in the seminar the notion of retaining the servant attitude. One has an obligation to oneself first to see to it that spiritual health is intact. On a plane they advise that you take the oxygen mask before applying to your child or dependent. Similarly if you have students or followers you are expected to be fixed and fit in devotion and then they will benefit.
It is of paramount importance that we are up for self-assessment and that is one of the reason for being part of an initiative that allows for introspection. We also discussed the need for a buddy system, in a way that is conducive to spiritual health.
In the morning I was asked to lead Kirtan chanting but in the process drums were too many, khar-taals as well so midway through I stopped the kirtan and begged to reduce "the noise level". So we started again.
6 km