Sunday, March 24th, 2013

Last half day

Mayapura, West Bengal

Ivan from Moscow and Diana from California wanted to go on japa trek with me. How could I refuse?

​It was going to be the last day in Mayapur. I wanted to make the most of it. After a beautiful Arati ceremony in The Samadhi, we ventured off East on the Elephant Trail, to the Torampura Road and then West along the Jalangi River. It is a new trail for them, not me. The tree tapping season finished some days ago with the weather soaring in temperature. Today reached forty degrees Celsius.

My two companions remarked that they liked the focused walking. The rule was “no talking”. “Only walk and chant!”.

At 08:00 I scheduled a second initiation for Julan Yatra of Cuba. The host (Maha Srngha) for the event asked which chair I would care to sit on for this samskara (sacrament). “My dear Maha, which chair I am given doesn’t matter. It is really just a question of how many fans can be turned on to counteract the heat, if that is okay with you?”.

Julan and a small number of invitees along with our Canadian crew of monks filled up Maha Shringa’s living room. We chanted and then spoke from the First Canto from the book Bhagavatam, relaying the story of the five sleeping sons of Draupadi who were murdered in the night by bramha-bhandhu. A brahma-bhandu is a derogatory term to indicate someone who has fallen from grace from the status of brahmana, twice-born. The grueling story is an extreme case of what a Brahman (second initiate) does not do.

A true Brahman is a person who understands “Brahman” what is spirit. He or she, is broad-minded, is inclusive and disseminates knowledge of the self, being the ultimate teacher. Furthermore a brahmana demonstrates great behavior, setting great example by words and by deeds. He gives guidance and does counseling provided he or she is trained.

It is a great responsibility that Julan is taking on. Prior to leaving, a small send off party came to the room of Maha Mantra and myself (Daruka, our initial travel mate, has left for Vrindavan, India). The send off party was the combination of brahmacari monks and our drama troop. It was kirtan that was appropriate for this so that’s how we engaged ourselves. Then at least three other monks offered me a thanks for creating an environment where our artists feel safe. Of course, I was touched, very much so. We taxied our way to the Calcutta airport at 14:00 and bid farewell to the Dhama. The pilgrims place.

9 KM