Tuesday, 29 May 2012

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

Provocative but Nice
Sackville,New Brunswick

“Well, how are you kids doing?” addressed the jovial fellow.  He was talking about Matt, who’s 20 and me, who is almost 60.  The two of us were walking west on quiet highway 106 through Dorchester when this fellow, in his late 60’s, was doing some maintenance work in his front yard.

I explained about the 4th walk and he warmly but provocatively questioned, “how do I know it’s your 4th or that you’ve done any walks at all?”  In mild defense I told him I write a daily journal of my experiences, that I have my walking companions and support person as witnesses and various reps from media that have come out on the road to report. I could have gone on to show calluses on my feet and let him feel the IT band or stiff lumps on my thighs but I chose not to get personal.

“Why are you walking?” he queried.

“Lots of marathons go on, running, cycling especially, and mostly they are conducted for causes of disease awareness.  My walk is of a different nature.  It’s to address the disease called ego.”

With that he quipped, “I’ve got an ego.  I’m a politician in this area of Dorchester.”

I asked him if he considered politics and ego synonymous to  one another.

“Sure.  Politics is about moving things and making noise.”

“What a character!” I thought, but he was basically nice and was a communicator.

In Sackville, the brahmacari monks and I were scheduled to present the topic of meditation.  The focus was on sound vibration.  We decided to select a Gita verse and activate that portion of the brain connected to memory.  The verse that all attendees learned was from chapter 6, dhyana yoga.  It goes as such:

“As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist whose mind is controlled remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent Self.” (6.19)

27 Km

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