Friday, June 10th,
2016
West of South Bend,
Indiana
In Around South Bend
Dave is a teacher
from Buchanan, Michigan. He teaches
science in middle school. We met while
he was on his run, and me on my walk.
“Tell me about Hare
Krishna. I remember you guys in the
movies at airports.”
“Well, we’re on the
road now,” I said jokingly.
Motorists were
responding to today’s article in the South Bend Tribune. Under the heading “Monk Crossing USA on Foot”
and sub-heading, “He touts meditative lifestyle by walking.”
The article is by
Selena Ponio, and here we have it:
A distance
of about 3,000 miles lies between New York City and San Francisco. People
tackle this distance daily with planes or cars, but one man's goal is to savor
every mile and meticulously chip away at it by using a different method of
transportation — his Crocs.
Bhaktimarga
Swami, fondly known as "The Walking Monk," passed through Mishawaka
and South Bend on Thursday on his journey from New York City to San Francisco.
Swami is completing this trip over two summers and is currently in its second
phase. He walks 20 miles a day, all with the purpose of promoting a more
introspective and ecologically friendly lifestyle.
Garnered
in bright orange robes, Swami, a Hare Krishna monk, was anything but subtle as
he walked west along Jefferson Boulevard, having departed from Elkhart earlier
in the day. He said he believes walking solves a multitude of problems related
to both physical and mental health and provides vital down-time dedicated to
introspection.
"Your
appreciation is enhanced and you're humbled by what you see because you're
going through the elements," Swami said. "You develop a tougher skin
when you're walking and at the same time your heart softens."
Born in
Ontario, Canada, Swami has walked the entire length of Canada four times. He
has also walked through other countries such as Ireland, Trinidad and Israel.
Swami
occasionally has a support person with him or followers who join him briefly,
but for the most part he walks alone. However, he said, from a spiritual
perspective he never feels alone.
Swami said
walking is important for its meditative qualities and also to allow time for an
individual to reprocess a day's information. Speaking in front of the Basilica
of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame, he related his advice to
students, and said that learning should not just be an absorption of
information, but a reiteration of it.
"Take
a little time for exhalation, and that comes best in the form of walk,"
Swami said. "Before you're put in the world of action, before you lay it
all before you ... reiterate what you've learned."
May the
Source be with you!
21 miles
21 miles
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