Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Travel and Serve

Riviere Rouge, Quebec

There are few airports you can go to in the world where you can roll your baggage from the doorstep of your home and wheel it right to the departure entrance. I almost succeeded in doing so in Toronto's downtown Billy Bishop Airport, but running a little late after 5 kilometres, I decided to flag down a cab.

The cab driver, a Muslim by faith, was surprised that I had wheeled my luggage all the way from our well-known ashram on Avenue Road. Since it was pre-dawn, the driver mentioned how prophet Mohammed encouraged night time travel. That makes sense. I would vie for traveling under the stars in a desert instead of a grueling trek over sand and under the sun. But the driver said more. "The Prophet explained that the earth is squeezed at night making distances shorter. He advised that everyone travel in the evening."

As the driver relayed this within the short window of opportunity, we quickly pulled up at departures. I thought then, as I climbed out of the cab, that probably I could have wheeled my way right to the door, been on time and saved some money. But no! The meeting between myself and my friend was meant to be. At least there's a confirmation for trekking at night during the hot season. Just prior to shutting the door I uttered the words, "Praises to Mohammed, to Allah and to Krishna!" to which he gave a nod and a smile.

The flight to Montreal was brief and then a longer ride took me to the Laurentian Mountains, the ski resort area, and then to Riviere Rouge where I was hosted by Mahajana and wife Madurya Rasa. You can't get sweeter than this couple. Here, we ended up doing the most monk-like endeavour. It's simply called FOCUS! Chapter Six of the Gita fairly well sums up how we applied a sound recording, or voice-over, to a drama script, "Krishna, the 8th Boy." The mission was accomplished.

Sometimes we need to lock ourselves up in a sound room, a cage or a cave in order to achieve, before we can go for a hearty walk.

5 Km