Alachua, Florida
It Started With A Cardinal
I spotted a cardinal bird, which is a sign of spring.
“It’s a female,” said Manorama, who’s quite the outdoorsy type. He knows his wildlife and his herbs. “The male’s colour is more intense,” he explained more. “The cardinal is a very aggressive bird, it’s been known to hop on to your rear view mirror and poke at it when seeing his reflection. He takes that mirror image as a competitor, and so he pecks away at it very hard, at the mirrored object, to the point where he hurts himself and gets all bloody.”
Manorama was giving a mild lesson on this red bird’s dynamics in the midst of our discussing this summer’s youth bus tour. “Great lesson about nature,” I thought. Nature is harsh.
My hosts in this district of Alachua are Ananta Sesa and Vaishnavi, both of South Indian origin. They reside with their two sons, Aravind and Gopal. They had arranged a picnic in the town’s park which has a typical Floridian forest trail. Jagannatha, Vaikuntha, and son, Dhira, along with one of the very few monks in the area, Janudwipa, took to the trail with me, at least a small portion of it. Conversations began about large temple constructions going on in various places in the world. We were talking about the expansion of Krishna Consciousness in places like India, Russia, Eastern Europe, pockets of South America and Africa, where there is exponential growth. North America seems to be lagging behind a little bit in terms of growth.
When we look at a response in North America from the public, it is rather good. People are either curious or just downright friendly, but not always so committal. One thing to admit to is that our marketing approach needs some adjustment. I’ve seen it work in places like Gainesville where young people are joining what we call, Krishna House.
Our evening wrap up occurred at the very home where I’m staying. A host of people from various backgrounds, including some neighbours, showed up. After kirtan, we discussed the nature of the mind, since that is what we all contend with on a daily basis.
I opened up the discussion to all. This is food for thought.
The mind:
1) The centre of the senses.
2) The sixth sense.
3) The subtle sense.
4) It is fickle.
5) It is like a switch.
6) It’s either a friend or a foe.
7) It possesses a good and bad side.
8) It’s a storage unit of thoughts.
9) A river of thought.
10) It can elevate you when controlled and degrade you when it controls you.
11) It can enslave you.
12) It is a connector.
13) It is the reigns of the wild horses (senses) pulled by the driver (intelligence) of the chariot (the body) and bewilders the passenger (the soul).
14) It’s a rascal, a monkey, a clown.
15) It’s like money, here today, gone tomorrow.
16) Befriend it and it works in your favour.
May the Source be with you!
5 KM
No comments:
Post a Comment