Bye to Israel!
Mumbai, India
It's hard to leave a place because of the relationships built up over the time of a visit. As usual my hosts were terrific. Israel has been no exception in that regard. Each night here the community came together. We lit deeyas (ghee wicks) to honor God as a baby. It is a set custom during the month of Damodara to do so. I was asked to say some words. Mantras were chanted. Each early morning the Mediterranean shore-line was explored for the first time, I assume, with people chanting mantras. About 80 Kilometers of it was covered.
It's not over. That was confirmed by the voices and hearts of the devotee community there. "You have to come back- soon!"
"Yes, I'll have to finish walking the rest of the country."
You know I got attracted to those waves, the current of Krishna and the breeze- His breath. I especially developed an affinity for my companions even though sometimes the talking amongst each other was often in Hebrew or Russian. Those times were windows to open for thoughts outside of Israel, for my home and areas that I frequent and the people within those domains.
The sun was soon to sink to the welcome of directions west when I arrived at Mumbai. Crammed and crawling cars played a part in the transporting of people to locations of Chat-puja, a festival that Mumbai is rather passionate about.
ISKCON Juhu, my stop over place for the night had a new welcoming of friends. They found a spot in the temple program for me to lead the chant before the deities of Radha and Krishna. It was awesome seeing the participation from all. Those smiling faces were my last vision before retiring for the night. It was like, to put it more in a middle-eastern context, reaching out for the olive branch.
0 KM
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