Clearing the Smoke
Brampton, Ontario
The man puffed out dancing smoke from his mystic stick; the cloud rose to merge with his salt and pepper beard and blurred the view from his bi-speckled eyes. I don’t think he is proud of his habit. There is no look of glamour there.
The glamour is to be found in the ravine just off of Yonge St. a bit east. The day was clear. I could see my winter breath. It didn’t come out as casual as the smoking man’s special effects. I thank guru for sparing me of what I could have been doing. Could I have become a cig addict?
Descending the metal staircase to the ravine’s depth, I took to the day’s getting lost – lost in thoughts which were mostly positive to do with devotional service. When I found the end of the rigorous trail I turned back and prepared for an evening satsang in Brampton. The family host was thrilled. Ajamil, a bhajan buddie, accompanied me. I was amazed at the turnout for a Wednesday, the next to the worst day of the week, Tuesday. Actually, in devotional life there is never a dull moment, although it’s not out of human range to make something exciting look pale.
Life is a blast in the spiritual lane and a road of misery otherwise.
When the satsang ended, I put a book, “Journey of Self Discovery”, authored by Prabhupada, into the hands of a gracious seeking recipient. That was a good feeling. Another good feeling came. Earlier, while I trekked that rigorous trail east of Yonge, a person came to mind from two years ago. The person sought counseling and expressed the struggling desire to get out of a bad relationship. I gave my spiritual advice about surrender to dharma. I wondered what happened to that entangled soul from two years before? Will I ever see this person again?
Lo and behold, that soul was sitting in the crowd at the satsang. That soul smiled. I asked “Is everything alright now?” during a more private time.
“Yes” was the reply while the spouse and kids stood by all in smiles too. It seemed that the smoke had cleared.
I can’t think of anything more mystical. It’s all His doing. It can’t be coincidence.
6 Km
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