Wednesday 5 November 2014

Monday, October 27th, 2014

Alachua, Florida

It Dawned on Me


It dawned on me.  There are two things that I like to have near me, at least two.

A road under my feet and a microphone at my mouth.

I get a charge out of the sand at the side road enroute to the Krishna Balaram temple.  It’s a faint worth doing with the softness underneath.  I was on my way to this particular destination when I dwelt on the prospect of saying a few things, perhaps anecdotes, about the guru on the anniversary of his passing.  By lunar calculations, Srila Prabhupada passed on this day back in 1977.  I was slotted to say a few words, not many, because I was at the head of a queue (being the guest) while others were anxious to say something too.

I did get the mic, by the way, but I ended up over-extending myself.  There is always much to say in appreciation of the person who’s done so much to improve your life.  When I think about the multiple benefits one word comes to mind that I’ve achieved and which I’m grateful towards.  The word would be “confidence.”

When I was in my last year in my teens and I met the monks that represented him (our guru) I was a jittering, nervous person.  I was shaking like a leaf but I knew if I spent enough time with them I might evolve as a stout tree trunk, ready to accept a challenging world.

The world that I knew before and after taking up the simplicity of a monastic are really two different universes. I’m grateful to be where I am but anticipating greater gains of spiritual maturity.  It is necessary to penetrate deeper into the realms of bhakti.  More focus and concentration is required.  As one martial artist, an acquaintance, put it, “It’s better to dig deep one hole instead of jumping to numerous shallow holes.”

May the Source be with you!

5 KM

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