Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Gifted

 

Mississauga/Burlington/Hamilton

 

Lately the Bruce Trail has captured my interest.  Among the visitations made today, one was the stop over to see a spiritual brother of mine, Visvakarma, who resides in Hamilton.  Over the phone with the visit in-planning, I suggested, “Can we walk and talk somewhere?”

 

“Yeah, the Bruce Trail is a two minute walk from my place,” said Visvakarma. 

 

“Oh!  Great!”

 

It just so happened that Visvakarma had guests over and also had a meal prepared.  The meal part is always an austerity.  Before coming I just had a full on rich and tasty Punjabi lunch at a Mississauga household.  And now, another indulgence?  Where’s the room in the stomach?  And there’s another meal to follow at the home of a Kashmiri family.  It doesn’t sound like the simple life of a monk, does it? 

 

But burn off some calories we did in Hamilton, on the country’s oldest footpath, the Bruce Trail.  The trail takes you along an escarpment.  To access it we crossed railroad tracks, which you could get fined for.  Visvakarma, Gaura, Ralph a scientist/botanist, and Gary an accomplished guitarist, and I went on that trail, identifying the wild plant life we know. 

 

A cave on the side of the cliff really caught Ralph’s attention.  Ralph, who’s got to be in his 60’s really got close.  A climb was okay, but the descent was danger/hilarious.  He slid down something mean, and eventually plopped with his back cheeks in the mud.  What a landing that was.  And all for the sake of checking out what could be his future home. 

 

The cave actually reminded me of the cave I sat in in the Himalayan foot hills in Daradun, India – a cavity in the mountain side where the warrior Dhronacharya meditated so many thousands of years ago. 

 

Ralph’s fall didn’t faze him in the least.  He kept going and teaching us about the plant life and also the birds.  Without seeing them and merely hearing them, he had the species pegged down.  His wisdom was enviable. 

 

When you meet someone who’s gifted, you automatically consider that there is divinity there. 

 

5 KM