Toronto, Ontario
I was so happy to meet at my bedside a young man who recently came to join the ranks of monks. Jeffrey is a young twenty-year old from southern Ontario with a farming background who joined our boys in Halifax. He’s come to Toronto to greet my dear friend Indradyumna Swami, an inspiring senior monk in our society. Jeff is a promising human being, good-natured and well mannered. It gives me hope in the world when I see people of his calibre who decide to be a part of a monastic vocation.
Jeff may decide to become a family man in the future and that is his choice. He comes from a conservative Dutch Reform Church and all that high-moral-family-stuff has paid off in the end to mold a good person out of him.
When a quality person enters into the realm of an ashram seeking knowledge, strength and direction it usually boosts the morale of the resident monks as well. It’s encouraging when young blood comes to mix with the old. Energy plus experience blend well together.
It’s comforting for me to see that not just second generation Vaishnavas (devotees) are demonstrating great enthusiasm but that new recruits are also trickling in through our doors. It means that as a group we have what’s called “staying power”. Dr. E. Burke Rockford Jr., a sociologist, has said of the Hare Krishna society that we have passed some kind of endurance test. “ISKCON has lasted well beyond the average life expectancy of such (surging) organizations. It has without a doubt shown its ability to endure.”
So for Jeff, he carries this big smile and sports the Hare Krishna signature look of shaven head and tuft of hair in the back and above all chants, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare - Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
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