Toronto, Ontario
I received this most blissful call. Jambavan, a rather orthodox Vedic
Hare Krishna priest, told me he just finished walking a two day trek across the
city of "The Big D", Detroit, known to 60's music lovers and vintage
cars as Motown. Actually, just his trekking like that proves he may not be so
orthodox after all. I mean, who really gets out of their set of wheels for a dharmic
cause.
Jambavan, with his white dhoti, kurtan and his associate Yugala
from Kansas City, was in his usual saffron attire, when they began from
Brightmore on Detroit's west end and finished at Gold Coast near Belle Isle.
"People thought we were Muslims," said Jambavan. One lady
expressed gratitude to meet two nice guys instead of the usual drug dealers of
the neighbourhood. "People were receptive," said Jambavan.
"We stopped by at a famous Christian Monastery at Father Casey
Solamus", a deceased but renowned man of miracles. After two days their 20
mile trek was completed while stopping by just to do the mendicant thing
meeting people.
I asked Jambavan why he did this. "At first I was thinking to go
out and do some fund raising for a new outreach centre but that soon
changed," he told me. He felt as if he was part of an exploratory
committee and discover the various moods of different neighbourhoods. He
thoroughly enjoyed the grassroots one-on-one approach and said he would
do it again.
"In a temple everyone's nice to you but when you're out you do
encounter some harsh things. It was austere as much as fun." He also said
it was for internal development and visiting humility.
So, Jambavan, may you inspire others to do the same. Actually, Americans
are open and curious. Jambavan is trail blazing and challenging stereotypical
priests who tend to spend the bulk of their time in the rectory.
10 Km
No comments:
Post a Comment