Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Thurs. Oct 23, 2008 - Mumbai, India

It is in keeping with the Vaishnava Culture to accept gifts as tokens of love and appreciation even if you are a member of the renounced order who is accustomed to not accumulate “things”. The item which I received from a kind soul, a well-wisher, was a framed picture of the Supreme Monk, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Before my jaunt to the beach I became taken by the artist’s rendering of Chaitanya who is God as a monk. The piece had captured the compassion and soft-heartedness of a great luminary from the time of India’s middle ages. Chanting on beads & meditating on soft-sounding mantras while gazing at such a sublime form I could predict that it is a day’s high point although 2:30 am. In any event it is a great gift. It won’t spoil me.

To join me on the oceanfront were Ashok and Kiran. As everyday the waves of wetness with their light roaring sound vibrations seem to get my full attention. As a Great Lakes kid from North America I used to lie down by the lake’s edge under the sun usually with family, siblings and friends and listen to the transistor radio which would blare out something like “It’s My Party.” In those late teens I would give more attention to the sound of the waves. You couldn’t help it but be attentive. I would wonder what message the waves were delivering. I always considered that they were more than just liquid rhythm rolling.

But now while capturing the image of folding water and the accompanying sound and marrying that vision to the one of Chaitanya in the picture I felt most content to merge the two. Chaitanya in his free spirit of love and wonder allowed himself to be drawn in and carried by the ocean waves. In one instance His water journey pulled him a good forty kilometers from Puri to near a famous sun temple at Konark. Chaitanya was a special mendicant, one who was loved by people and animals. He was all attractive.

It came to our attention that one of our senior monks, Jayapataka Swami, was brought by ambulance to a local hospital today. He is suffering from a serious stroke and is in a coma. Please pray!