Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Where it Shines

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

I landed at the John Diefenbaker Airport in Saskatoon, the city that shines. Indeed, it does. The sun is strong as far as brightness is concerned. Temperature, well.... It was a one hour or less pleasant flight from Calgary. The fellow next to me smelled like a brewery. Somehow, though, he was also pleasant enough to talk to.

Every day that passes, it's all about people. Once arrived at my host's home, Kasyapa and Panchami's, I was taken to the house of a doctor team, a South African husband and wife, for lunch. We had these knockout wraps for a meal. Our conversation circled around the topic of veg vs. the non veg lifestyle. They admitted they were not there yet, in terms of prescribing to ahimsa, non violence. But, "getting there". I did what I could to express the benefits of not eating anything that has a face. After returning to my hosts I received an email from a Peter Kim who reads this blog. He informed me of his website www.onlineassociatesdegree.com/eat-meat-die "Check this out!" was his message, "and please share it!"

The message about leaving the animals alone spilled over into the evening. At the apartment of a young Gujrati fellow, we dwelt somewhat on the same topic. It was great because he invited his connections. Hence, we had 25 youthful new arrivals from Gurjurat who heard about the hazards of flesh eating. This does become an issue when new immigrants who have a veggie background and fall prey, if I might say, to contributing to the slaughter culture. In truth, the thrust of my talk to the group was more to encourage devotional life based on 18.66 from the Gita.

Here is what put additional light on the day. Walking with Kasyapa's family at the edge of Avant pond. A man around 60 walked his dog and asked, "Are you Buddhist?" When I told him I was a Hare Krishna devotee, he lit up and said, "I do chant that mantra regularly. I used to see you guys back in the day."

7 Km