Turns His Back
The Canadian Shield, Ontario
In his book, "Miracle On Second Avenue" Makunda Goswami quotes Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" :
... "Tis a common proof,
That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
Where to the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then onto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend."
This description of Mukunda's past of "turning his back... Scorning the base degrees" is very much the story of everyone's life who joined the Swami, Srila Prabhupada, in his Mission in the late sixties and seventies, myself included. In deliberation of past errors I personally feel very relieved to put sin behind and feel no compulsion to revisit it outside the occasional mental perusal.
As our drama/kirtan group drove back home via the Trans Canada Highway through some real vistas of splendour, of lakes, forests, and the most ancient rocks in the world I dwelt on the point Mukunda made. He shunned yesterday's illusions and looked to tomorrow's realities. Actually I have always admired Mukunda as an outstanding monk and devotee. Come to think of it, I have so many "cool" brothers and sisters. They are such savvy saints.
5 Km
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