Thinking Ahead
Mayapura, India
Being the weekend many pilgrims have arrived from the city of Kolkata and the local vicinity. Hotels, hostels, retreat centers and outside temple facilities of the area are fully capacitated. It is remarkable that so many of these visitors will leave their comfortable cots to go for darshan (deity viewing) at the ISKCON temple of Radha Madhava. People filter into the door as early as 4AM rushing to get a decent spot for catching a glimpse of the beautiful deity of Krishna.
This kind of enthusiasm says so much about Indian culture and its piety.
As I rushed to the Prabhupada Samadhi with Prem Vikas, a young South African monk, pilgrims poured into the main temple after passing us and going in the opposite direction. My choice for early morning worship is the Samadhi. We noticed that people walk with a gusto - people of all ages including those who carry toddlers in their arms.
There were powerful images of people walking. They were my first images for the day. By mid-day another image of taking to foot entered into my mind, an impression of a future projection.
I was asked along with four other peers, to begin a brainstorm on how to honor the up coming 50th Anniversary of the Hare Krishna movement. It is not too early to plan for the year 2016 and the months prior, a significant landmark date when our founder, Srila Prabhupada, landed at the harbor of Boston in ' 65 and which then led to the incorporation of his movement in the following year.
Our panel of five in our discussion came up with ideas for the event and noted that Kolkata, our guru's birthplace, Boston and New York could be key cities or destination places for celebrations. And in my mind I thought of a walk I could conduct from Boston to New York and beyond, maybe L.A.
What do the blog readers think about that idea?
7 KM
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