Friday, January 1st, 2010

Feeling At Home

North York, Ontario

Well, family came together. My sister Pauline hosted us. It was a two brother and three sister sibling reunion. Her twin, Paul, is way out west in Vancouver Island and did not attend. When you have led the monastic life you end up being a bit of a misfit amongst kith and kin unless of course, they ask questions to do with spirituality. In our case that doesn’t happen. They prefer to keep everything fairly family oriented and secular. I’m fine with that for twenty minutes or so. Then I start aching for kirtan (chanting) or engaging in philosophical discussion.

I like my family. They are great. Our bond is strong yet at the same time they and I are planets apart. The cultural differences are obvious. Pauline was kind enough to keep her great meal strictly vegetarian. That was thoughtful. My brother-in-law Jim is vegetarian and his partner, my sister is almost there. Out of eight adults at the dinner table you have got one quarter to one third of us who don’t eat body parts. It’s not a terribly bad percentage. And, after all, most people on a carnivorous diet do consume veggies and grains. That makes them part vegetarian.

The meal Pauline assembled had us all hitting some common ground yet still I felt to be in my own universe. When I am at the home of a devotee family there is a sense of oneness because everything is quite Krishna-centric. Still I feel the simultaneous black sheep or ugly duckling syndrome. I guess it’s because I’m single and a swami. There’s not many of us in the world. We are a rare breed. We move from temple to temple. We hold the same interests and are very mission oriented. We get together (Monks in Mass) and enjoy each others company at festival times. There was even a retreat organized for us swamis and gurus in Uttar Pradesh, in the city of Ujjain last fall. That association was just sweet, well beyond sweet.

It’s because I’m hooked on the swami lifestyle, very nomadic and very other worldly, that I’ve found a comfort zone. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this.

Where I do get satisfaction is seeing individuals become inspired to move forward in their spiritual life. I see people wanting more of this higher consciousness and it’s very, very gratifying.

Yes, I do feel at home.

4 Km