Monday, December 23rd, 2013

Burnaby, British Columbia

Presents

We all hear that Christmas is the time of giving.  That’s nice!  From the Vedic perspective (directions east) we can also say it is a charitable time because it was in December that Krishna gave His message of truth to the world.  When this truth was spoken some distance north of the ancient city Hastinapur (current Delhi), millennia ago, the subsequent events and struggle for power ensued for 18 days which would terminate at the corresponding date of December 30^th, 2013.  That’s when you can mark the end of the war.  The dust of turmoil settled and peace prevailed.

Whenever truth is told, it often caused commotion.  Expect some calm after the storm.  Silent Night.

When the realities of The Gita, Krishna’s message, were told to me, my world had turned around.  That was back in December of ’72, right at Christmas time.  It was the present I ever received.  I am grateful to those five monks that did the delivery.   Their names I have not forgotten – Visvakarma, Ayodhya Pati, Satyahit, Drupada, and Dustadhura.  They had peculiar names (in Sanskrit) and like the early pages of The Gita where names of warriors are identified, I found the names of my new friends to be odd, yet exotic.

The gift of the Gita, which in ’72 was five dollars hardbound, was the greatest treasure.  I actually bought it for myself out of my student loan money.  It was the best life investment ever.  I see and respond to the world differently since I received this gift.

To Padyavali, my dear godsister, whom I’ve been visiting in her seniors’ home every Monday since I’ve been in Vancouver, I asked her the standard questions.  She’s struggling with her Parkinson’s.  “How are you doing?”  She looks me straight in the eyes with a stern look and says, “Don’t ask.”  It’s with a cheerful response that I say, “You’ll be alright.”

This very morning, she handed me a gift, it was in a plastic bag, the contents were lightweight.  I opened that bag and in it was a chaddar, shawl, from India.  It has markings of Devanagari script and bears images of cows and footprints of great divinity.

It really was thoughtful of her.  Come to think of it, the best gifts are my friends who are devotional.  How can I repay Krishna for these presents that are undeserving to me?

May the Source be with you!

8 KM