Sacred Outing
Petroglyphs Park, Ontario
Petroglyphs refers to teaching rocks. It is the greatest concentration of ancient engravings set in marble stone in all of North America. Images of the turtle, thunderbird, serpent and more were carved in the crystalline rock hundreds of years ago by indigenous people who are telling stories.
To respect the spirit of the teaching rocks you are not allowed to take pictures or bring your dog into the forested sacred area. In the visitors centre I took note of a quote at one display:” To walk in beauty is to dream and dance in this road of the heart.”
Here’s another inspiring message from an elder:
What we are told as children is that people
when they walk on the land,
leave their breath wherever they go.
So whenever we walk
That particular spot on the earth
Never forgets us.
When we go back to these places we know
That the people who lived there
Are in some way still there,
And that we can partake
Of their breath and
Of their spirit.
I took some of the monk’s for a day’s outing to the teaching rocks to get out of the city, breed some clean air, swim in a pristine lake and touch this new but ancient realm of sacredness at the Petroglyphs.
In the evening we stopped at the home of a vaisnava family near Peterborogh. Our boys had a sportive time playing soccer. What followed was a great meal and a reading from “Krishna” Book (my contribution).
It was a day of minimal walking but, maximum bonding.
4 KM
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