Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

Georgetown, Guyana

 

Push Through

 

One of the persons to care for me in Guyana is Ram Lila. After a decent overnight rest I awoke for a simplified morning sadhana (spiritual workout) which mainly involved chanting japa at the home of Khemraj and Marsi.

 

Monsoons are in full swing, creating another version of nature's harshness. Ram Lila, a native of Guyana, now spends a good amount of time in Canada as a successful accountant . After a successful outdoor Pada - Yatra which culminated at a rice mill yard in the town Cane Grove, Ram Lila and I walked back to our place of rest. While dodging incredible pot-holes in the dark he told me his story.

 

His dad died when he was young.  Being the oldest of the three siblings he took on the responsibility to maintain the household. At 8 he went to the creek before school to catch fish to be sold. This was a bare-hand, bare foot, underwear-only ordeal. It meant feeling your way to the reeds where the fish often hang out. It also entailed a full submergence in water frequented by huge crabs. After the catch, sales went door-to-door and sometimes to the market.

 

Ram Lila was a smart kid and he skipped a couple of grades. In between the fish catching days, becoming a bookkeeping expert and then onto opening his own accounting firm in Toronto, he squeezed in sometime as a monk. Devotees nurtured him in the ashram and the studies formed a moral basis for his life.

 

Personally I was fascinated at his rags-to-riches story. With "rich" I mean his implication and spiritual depths. Some people push through anything to achieve their goals. I had been watching these yellow birds, what they call kiskadie, as well as white cranes, sit through heavy rain and wind as they were perched on fence or cable. Some people are like that. Some people transcend.
 

This, we must aspire towards.

May the Source be with you!

7 KM