CAN SOMBBODY PUT A STOP TO THIS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE?

(A comical article on Bhaktimarga Swami's walk of Ireland)
By Praghosa Dasa
We are now in serious danger of ruining our long practiced and much cherished reputation of our 21st century sannyasi!

What are we talking about? Well a couple of weeks ago a certain member of the sannyasa order all but snuck into the emerald isle unnoticed. Usually a visiting sannyasi’s arrival is known well in advance and there is at least a modest welcoming party to greet him. However not this time, rather it was a very humble entrance at a regional port and from there, almost immediately into a walking tour of the country. This is where things really began to deteriorate, you see walking in and of itself is quite a sattvic activity, not least because it is so environmentally friendly and of course healthy to boot. It is also an excellent way to focus on the concept of simple living and high thinking, what to speak of developing tolerance due to the constant battle against the elements, particularly the wind and rain.

But that is only the beginning, this Swami then had the audacity to stay over at various persons homes along the way, encouraging them in their spiritual life, taking a little prasadam and then leaving at the crack of dawn the next day and never staying over in any one home for more that one night! There is little doubt that a little prasadam in the evening is hardly going to sustain you for the duration of an eight hour, forty kilometre daily walk right? So what does our trend-setting Swami decide to do? Struth, he only goes and starts eating the fruits and berries growing on the wild bushes along the roadside! That really was the straw that threatens to break the back of the 21st century sannyasa dharma. Hence my rallying cry to all right minded thinking devotees out there who care passionately about protecting and preserving the unique sannyasa dharma we have developed over the last few decades – stop this man by hook or by crook before his odd behaviour catches on and we become a laughing stock!

You can help by sending him a cell phone, the latest laptop computer, an electronic personal organiser, a blueberry, the latest digital camcorder, an ipod or all of the above! You could also write to him at the below address impressing upon him that you get no financial benefit from ‘walking miles’ and then introduce him to the wonderful world of ‘air miles’ and all the perks that flow from them. His address is:
The walking Swami,
The Shack,
Bally-go-backwards,
The Back of Beyond,
Planet Earth

Ps Physician heal thyself! I guess I’ll send him some of my own electronic collection first :-)