Saturday, December 15th, 2012

Wild To Mild

 

New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

The world is a stormy place. A troubled 20 year old Sandy Lanza, shot and killed innocent elementary kids while at school in a quiet Connecticut community. It’s earth shattering news for sure. We are looking at a person with a very disturbed mind. Don’t we all have our own individual turbulence within – turbulence of varying degrees?

I had trekked a proud 11 KM along the Saint John River headed south in a pre-storm and pre-dawn condition. An owl hooted in the distance. My footsteps were crispy sounding over dry snow and ice. All seemed peaceful though. The water was tranquil; behaved. But that can change at the snap of a finger by those dictating the elements. Waters can turn rough, winds can be abruptly sweeping, and suddenly travelling in it can be tense.

Mukunda and I were caught in the midst of a mediocre blizzard after I hopped into his car. We were destination bound for the New Glasgow library. When we arrived, the personnel was more than pleasant.

“Oh, so you brought the snow with you!” said the man at the desk. He had the biggest most welcoming smile.

Before taking a seat at the conference room, two reporters from two different papers calmly questioned me about the pilgrimage achievements I’ve made. I’m not in the middle of a marathon at the moment. Still, the story of a monk had enough human interest for it to become news worthy. Also, given the fact that the nation had been plodded 3 ½ times by yours truly.

My responses were recorded and photos were taken. I was set now to speak about pilgrimage, Vedic philosophy and to conduct mantra meditation. I was impressed that 20 people braved the storm to come to listen. The mantra we chanted,“Hare Krishna”, won hearts as was intended. The mantra always calms the deranged and stormy mind. After the program was completed, the friendly guy at the desk remarked, “Hey, everyone that came out of that room seemed so happy, what did you do?”

“It’s not my doing, credit goes to the chanting.” Mukunda and I left the building and entered into a calm and cool outside.

11 KM