Friday, February 15th, 2013

Wrapping It Up in Guyana

 

Georgetown, Guyana

 

Any trekking executed today was done inside the Nimai Pandit Study Centre in the shelter of overhead cooling fan blades going at high speed. Just to remind you, I’m near the equator. It was a back and forth pacing.

I was not alone. In my company were resident members of the centre doing the same. I believe that my chanting and pacing became somewhat inspirational for those younger members here. The whole idea is to be an example by visibly engaging in sadhana, which is an actual mental (and with pacing, physical) workout.

Unless the younger folks see us seasoned bhakti yogis demonstrating the prescribed sadhana, they will not follow. Those of us who have been around for sometime must take the lead. Then those that follow will become natural future leaders. Leaders can only lead if they follow the standard procedures. There is no room for a double standard. There is a science to all this self realization, and it needs to simply be followed in order for some personal revelation and transformation to take place. I personally become enthused when I see the younger crop of people believe in and practice the lead that I take in this regard. It gives me hope for the future.

It was time to pack up today and to bid farewell to this wonderful group of people. They were a cooperative bunch in assisting me in the outreach programs that we participated in. Frankly, not so many Swamis come around to the various centres we run in Guyana, it’s a bit of an isolated place. And having a very tiny airport, this jewel of a place does not receive much traffic. But I’ll definitely be coming back next year.

On the return flight, I was asked by the nice elderly lady sitting next to me if I could fill out her customs form. I was glad to. And when I arrived after Canada customs duties and waited for my ride, an elderly man asked if I could dial the phone for him on long distance. Here, again, I was only too happy to do so. These acts of assisting others is expressed by our guru, Srila Prabhupada, as a way of practicing austerity of the mind (Gita 17.16).

If one is to be a leader, it really means that you take a servant role. It gives the greatest pleasure.

5 KM