I Found Myself
Washington D.C.
I found myself in the company of one of the most outstanding monks among my peers. Jayadvaita Swami, who hails from the New Jersey/New York area, came into devotional service, having met our guru, Srila Prabhupada, in the late sixties. He went into monastic life for the long haul, and has remained staunch and steady all this time. We shared the morning sadhana together, with five brahmacaris who are based out of Kansas city, and are basically travelling the US and Canada on the mission of sharing the message of Sri Caitanya. Sri Caitanya is a total initiator of what is now the popular practice of kirtan, chanting. I'm blessed to be in such company.
One thing that is for sure, spiritually, we all have no true designations except for being spiritual servants. When it comes to our physical existence, we generally affiliate ourselves with a town, a province, and a nation. But we are falsely Americans, Canadians, whatever. Yet we cannot deny that we have a physical connection to our birth place. With July the 4th being America's birthday, devotees of Krishna participate in the celebration of their land. The Independence Day Parade has accommodated our annual float, a temple on wheels, as the last feature of the event. I, along with Gaura Vani, led the group pulling the float in singing the maha-mantra. This is our contribution to the parade and the nation. As citizens, we feel of an obligation to return to the nation the best we have to offer. It is a beautiful option to beer and hamburgers. More kirtan went on prior to the evening fireworks. At least I felt that the chanting has more boost power than the temporary sparks in the sky. Hare Krishna.
4 Km
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