Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Decent Event

Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship Centre was the perfect venue and location for a presentation on the Nine Easy Steps of Devotion: The Yoga of Love. The space was rented in the morning for a class on Buddhism. The afternoon was our turn. Dr. Jani and his wife, Sneha, organized the program and food. The space filled up quickly.

Our opener was the chant, “Hare Krishna”, first hearing the mantra then response. From there I facilitated an interactive walk through of the 7 additional steps. I admitted to the group about the number 9 being a lie.

“There’s the 10th one – dancing.” The music stirred up people. The dance was spontaneous. And so people enjoyed and for the most part understood the best things in life are simple.

My introductory words were, “What we are about to present in walking you through 9 steps is not alien.” Life doesn’t have to be so complicated. It seemed to me that during the sessions, the word ‘service’ struck sensitive nerves. Aristotle wrote about serving as the fruit of wisdom.

A woman raised her hand saying that friends often criticize when she goes out of her way to provide volunteer service or to help someone. “Why are you being such a martyr?” they challenge.

If you believe in the physical law of karma, action with subsequent reaction, then let us take note of good responses that follow good reactions. Sacrifice is good and the world needs saints. Let dogs bark. My answer came off a bit more sophisticated, but there was the gist of it.

Several university professors came, including Prof. Berg, yoga teachers, philosophy students and people of various backgrounds. There was a good buzz in the atmosphere and the special topping on the cake, the prasad, blessed food, made the event so much more memorable.

Yes, at the crown of Lake Superior, said to be the largest fresh water body in the world, is the modest city of Thunder Bay. We always have a good time here.

8 Km