Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016
Elmwood, Nebraska
For “Walking Monk” a Long, Hot Trek
Mandala and I decided, or rather the fireball (the
sun) decided, that we would tackle night hours again. The evening breeze was enlivening as we left
the Omaha area and headed towards Lincoln, Nebraska.
Local radio had covered our story and so did the Omaha
World Herald Newspaper. Under the title
above, Maggie O’Brien wrote:
“The Walking Monk”
made a stop in Omaha on Tuesday as part of his journey across America to
celebrate his faith and promote an active, healthy lifestyle.
“It’s about going
back to the basics,” Bhaktimarga Swami said. “Like Gandhi said, a simple life, high
thinking. I see this as doing both of those things.”
Swami, 63, is a Hindu
monk from Canada. He is walking from New York to San Francisco to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the Hare Krishna religious movement, which emphasizes
spiritual well-being and clean, simple living.
Swami changed his
name from John Peter Vis when he became a monk in 1973. He wears an orange robe
and black Crocs on his feet.
He considers walking
an ideal form of exercise, he said, because anyone can do it, and it allows
time for self-reflection.
This tour is broken
into three parts. He started last fall
in Boston, went to New York, then into Pennsylvania. The second leg started again in Pennsylvania
over Mother’s Day weekend and took him to Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and
Nebraska. He arrived in Omaha on Tuesday.
Next up is Grand
Island on Wednesday, where he’ll stop his journey before completing the third
leg of the trip next summer.
Swami, who also
practices yoga, said he started walking long distances to get away from the
chaos of the world.
He has walked across
Canada four times. He’s also trekked
through Ireland (he said it was wet), Israel (dry), Ghana (hot) and Trinidad
(humid).
It hasn’t been easy
walking through the Midwest, he said. Swami
usually gets up at 4 a.m. to beat the heat and averages about 20 miles a day.
“It’s been a hot,
sweaty summer,” he said.
May the Source be
with you!
19 miles
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