Sunday 2 March 2008

Monday, February 18, 2008

Mon. Feb 18, 2008 - INDORE, INDIA
My walking and chanting commenced at 2:15am. On this last day it became so evident that monk bonding was one of the strong benefits to our stay in Ujjain. The group was of a size (20-25) that was reasonable. There is no greater achievement than having such good reinforcing company. The facilitators Rasamandala, Anuttama and Braja Bihari, all did excellent work.
Thanks to our founder Srila Prabhupada that we have such fine people, both the facilitators and the students, of which I was one.
The full five days of association was a self-assessment experience, something that people of our order, whether renunciant monks or married brahmanas should never be exempt from. By observing our lives through an introspective process we become more aware of blind-spots and can then work to correct bad habits. There is always the need to establish integrity and then to re-affirm.
My journey back to Indore Airport was by way of a rented van full of young monks who became somehow inspired by the chanting sessions I had the privilege to lead. We passed by wheat fields, soya fields, guava groves, and periodically appearing was the Ksipra River which is seasonally dry as it is now. I pray to not dry up (devotionally) like the river.
6 KM.

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