Wednesday May 6th, 2015

Wednesday May 6th, 2015
Etobicoke, Ontario

Are We Man Enough To Take It?


After the crack of dawn I went by foot from Kipling to Rexdale heading west, then along Derry Rd. which seems to be a path to eternity. This takes me along Pearson Airport and finally to a crossroads where my host for the evening, Nimai, picks me up for the balance of the journey to the dental clinic to meet my appointment. I was going for a cleaning.

The dental assistant gave me an assessment that was pretty good as to my own personal maintenance of teeth. I even felt good having heard her compliments. But you know, there’s another level of diagnosis. When my dentist came to look into my mouth he was sterner in his assessment, which I guess was great for subduing the ego.

“Your brushing is still too aggressive.” And that he said with a truthful tone.

“Oh Krishna!” I thought. “Just when I thought I was doing rather well with regular brushing and flossing.” The photos taken of my inside reveal some increased recession of gums. You can’t argue with the camera unless there are some special effects being employed here. The dental assistant then gave me the advice (which has been done before) that I use my left hand for brushing as it will be executed with more caution. Good advice should always be taken as it is based on experience.

Now for life’s direction, the good suggestions, recommendations, whatever, are out there. It comes in form of what guru has to say. There’s also guru within, sometimes referred to as paramatma. We also have sastra, directions given in the form of ancient wisdom in textual format.

Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, has given us the mandate to avoid the consumption of meat, intoxicants, gambling and casual sex. All this is to provide protection from the influence of allurements which coax us to darker alleys of life.

Good advice is worth millions. You can’t put a price tag on it, to be factual. Generally it comes our way in its multiple forms, but are we man enough to take it? Bad and old habits die hard. May death be the sentence on such habits.

May the Source be with you!

14 km