Saturday, February 16th, 2013

Into The Icebox

Toronto, Ontario

 

I went from Guyana to Toronto. In other words, from the frying pan into the icebox, climate wise. From equator to ice and snow.

“Never be too intimidated by the elements in front of you, however extreme they may be,” is what I believe. At the same time we must be wise. One beautiful thing I’ve learned from walking throughout the various phases of the day is that your body can easily adjust to climate change. I believe that one of the disservices we’ve done to accommodate ourselves is to make our environment so comfortable and so controlled that when we meet the‘outside’ it becomes a shock to our system. When I arrived back in Canada I decided to hit the freshness of a mid February outdoor breeze of below zero and leave cozy indoor temperatures. I would say, ‘warm up to nature and be like a chameleon.’

As I was about to don a coat for meeting the outdoors, my dear Godbrother, Apurva, visiting from North Carolina, looked at me with some question as to why I needed to brave the cold. The answer is to be as hearty as can be. Who could argue with that? It’s my desire to be in a healthy condition in order to serve others for as long as possible.

And so I go for it. Down Yonge Street, which is part sleazy, part classy, part very ordinary.

My evening kept me grounded. Who would not want to be in the company of 100+ serious bhakti yogis for “An Evening of Bhakti”? Our devotees put on a marvelous show of devotional songs in English with acoustic guitar, and then switched onto bass, sitar, and even Sanskrit. As the sound trailed on into the evening, bodies rose from the asana position (no, they didn’t levitate) and chaired guests ascended from their seats to take to ecstasy dance.

I addressed the group midway through, but only enough to insert a Swami’s message of appealing to the sound of deliverance and to install it into your every day affair.

All was good. Hare Krishna!

7 KM