Brampton, Ontario
Steps Through Food
Hiten and I had taken a few steps along Williams Parkway
before his dad would pick us up for the drive to the ISKCON Centre in downtown
Brampton. I had spent the night at the
family’s home. I assumed, he is 14 and
raised in Canada, to be a supporter of the local hockey team. I had noticed the wallpaper in his room with
Toronto Maple Leafs as the border trim.
It seemed to make a clear statement.
“You’re a hockey fan?”
“I’m not following it too much,” he admitted.
I know that he’s a fan of computers. That’s pretty normal.
He loves food. Who wouldn’t, at that age? He also is fond of Krishna,
which is a
plus. His parents tell me that he and
his sister, Edha, take pleasure in bringing the tray of bhoga (food not yet offered to Krishna) up the stairs and then into their home’s temple room. The tray of
fruit, almonds, and rich cooked parathas
is placed on the shrine before the deity of Krishna.
The standard practice is that you present for the
pleasure of Krishna, represented by a deity, food that’s prepared with love and
devotion. You chant some mantras before
the deity as a way to say, “Please accept this humble offering of food as a
token of gratitude. This is all your
mercy.” After the few mantras are
recited, one may take the tray of food, which is now consecrated, and is called
prasadam.
This blessed food is then distributed to those in the proximity of the
offering place or the home.
In the household where Hiten lives, he and his sister
bring the tray of prasadam from the
upstairs temple room down to the kitchen, and then eat with enthusiasm the
shared prasadam.
This ancient practice of prasadam disbursement has gone on for thousands of years in India,
especially involving the temples of Krishna.
This practice is also kept alive in places like the ISKCON Centre in
Brampton, where really tasty yogic
food meets the tongue such as mine.
Hiten and Edha found the vegetarian feast that was held there to be
absolutely delicious. The feast was held
after a moving ceremony of diksa. Two people received initiation. Nikhil’s new name is Nimai Nitai, and his
wife, Manakshi, has a new Sanskrit name, Moksha Lila. Congratulations to them.
May the Source be with you!
7 KM
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