Sat. Nov 1/08 - Repentigny, Quebec, Canada
At 3AM there were still a fair number of residual party goers staggering back to their homes from Hallowe’en fests at the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve portion of Montreal City. While I was set for serious chanting on Ste-Catherine street which is two blocks from our ISKCON Centre, those evening fun goers seemed delighted in my original costume, my robes comprised of a dhoti, kurta and a chaddar, which is a warm shawl to wrap around my upper body. Some thought I was part of the fun, unaware that the apparel is worn year-round. One woman in a silly hat and who rode on a bicycle let off a hysterical laugh upon seeing the robes and shouted loudly, “Gandhi! Gandhi!”! For myself, monks and members of the Krishna culture worldwide a sober vibe resonated in our hearts. While today’s day is recognized as “All Saints Day” it had turned out by some divine arrangement that this was the day by lunar calculation that our guru Srila Prabhupada passed away thirty one years ago. An anniversary function was held at the Pie-IX centre and a gathering of sincere devotees made good of the memorial ceremony.
The evening portion of the day had in store for some residents of Repentigny a bedroom community for Montreal, a presentation “9 façons d’exprimer sa devotion”, that is, 9 processes of devotion. In a martial arts centre a healthy turn out of 40 people came to learn about and participate in easy-to-adopt ego-crushing ways to make life more spiritually progressive. While I facilitated, a super-nice francophone devotee Anubhava translated into French the ways of sweet surrender. It seems all attendees had a good and awakening time.
9 Km
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