Saturday,
July 9th, 2016
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
More
News
Taking
another one of those breaks became another reality today, as my trusted team,
including Gopal and Uttama, drove north to Minneapolis for a speaking
engagement on “Tales from Trails.” Seventy
to eighty people showed up. These talks
also assist us financially towards the walking cause. Donations came our way.
Before
it becomes forgotten, I will happily report another newspaper reporting, this
time from the Chicago Tribune News, author Urvashi Verma.
Chicago, Il:
Bhaktimarga Swami, a 63 year old Canadian born monk has embarked on a
transnational walk of 3,000 miles across the United States from New York City
to San Francisco to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the coming of the Hare
Krishna Tradition to the West and to promote a more green style of living in
America.
Swami who has arrived
in Chicago, IL on June 11 has traversed open plains, highways, and landmarks.
For the general public, Bhaktimarga Swami is best known as "the walking
monk". To share his message of
peace and gratitude he has already crossed Canada four times covering over
17,000 miles on foot.
The Swami is walking
to draw attention to the contributions of his own spiritual teacher, or guru,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.
Prabhupada arrived in the USA 50 years ago, on September 17, 1965. He came practically penniless from India at
the age of 70 on the order of his teacher to promote God consciousness, or
devotional bhakti-yoga, to the English-speaking world.
"In the broader
sense I'm walking to honor all our teachers," Swami says. "Our teachers open the doors to the
world for us, and to other worlds as well.
I hope to remind us all how grateful we should be to those who give us
knowledge, especially knowledge about our inner potential,” he says.
Each day Swami,
donned in monastic orange garb and his favorite crocs he walks 20 miles each
day along path chartered by his companion assistant Gopala and returns to the
same spot where he left the next day to complete another 20 miles.
"Generally it
takes about 10 to 12 hours to complete the days walk, because often we have to start
from the same spot where we left last day, and many times we get up by 3:30 AM
to be able to back to the location where we left off. On the way we find accommodation is spiritual
places and often have meetings with others on the path of spirituality. The time it takes to complete the 20 miles is
not important what is important is make sure that you take every step,"
shared Swami in an interview with Desi Talk Chicago.
(Bhaktimarga) Swami,
whose name coincidentally means the "path of devotion," took up the
monastic lifestyle at the young age of 20 and since then has dedicated his life
to teaching of spiritual knowledge and devotional arts and theater.
“I knew was meant for
sanyaas, (monastic life) even at a
very young age, and I always knew deep inside that I had already fulfilled my
worldly commitments in my past life and that for me this life was supposed to
spiritual," said Swami.
Swami who has
traversed more than 1,000 miles in the US so far made his first walk across
Canada in 1996. Since then he has walked
across the world's second largest country four times going both east to west,
and west to east and has also trekked across Ireland, the Fiji Islands,
Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, Israel, and other countries.
"More relevant
that the distances covered are the people I encountered," Swami says. He reflects on his experiences and adventures
in his daily blog, which he calls "Tales from Trails." Sometimes we meet the kindest people who
provide us food and shelter, we have enlightening conversations about Krishna
consciousness, and most are very intrigued for the reasons of the walk."
Traveling on foot is
a common practice in various spiritual traditions, and the walking monk
believes that it's an effective way to reach out and communicate the importance
of morality and ethical priorities.
Swami says that when
you walk, "You learn to take it all in. The heat, the wind, the rain, the traffic, the
cold, the black flies, the mosquitoes, the public attention or none. With all of that you learn detachment from
externals and how to go within to be happy."
Thank you, Urvashi,
for the article.
May the Source be
with you!
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