Wed. July 17/08 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I’m back at home base for several days. And it’s busy! The Toronto Festival of Chariots which is what everyone here is preparing for is one of the largest in North America. One of the attractive features in the city is the excellent processional route, Yonge Street. Guiness calls it the world’s longest street at 1,800 kilometers long. The procession only occupies about six kilometers from Yonge & Bloor southbound to Lake Ontario’s water.
Secondly the participants then hop onto a ferry for a breezy ride to Toronto Island. There the two-day festival takes place under generous shady trees and upon soft well-maintained grass.
My role is to mingle with all participants; to be that saffron-clad monk wishing people well and be prepared to answer practical and personal questions. What really occupies my time, especially today, is rallying enough actors for a drama to be presented on the island. Unfortunately all the talented people appear to be occupied and so I prayed for another little miracle. The organizers are depending on me to produce.
Believing in optimism as the drawing card in a situation makes everything auspicious; one by one the candidates for acting came forward to indulge in our play ‘Vamana.’ My morning walk was up University Ave and passed the park where our guru, Srila Prabhupada visited. The spot is Queen’s Park just behind the provincial government building. The more monks that walk on political soil the better chance the world has at tempering the extreme passion of man.
9 km.
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