Monday,
September 5th, 2016
Montreal,
Quebec
Memory
Walk
Major
walking today constituted more of a slower sway while moving forward. I wasn’t alone. I was on a schedule to conduct a chanting
party with all who could attend, in order that, as we say in Krishna parlance,
“We get the mercy.”
A
group of about forty of us converged at the Bay Shopping Centre to move along
to Place Des Arts, and then finally to 420 Prince Arthur Street, the actual
address where our guru, Srila Prabhupada, stayed for some weeks to train-up
some of his students in the art of bhajan,
before they set off to the U.K. to bring the mission there.
In
’68, he came to Canada to address the extension of his visa, and while here not
only engaged in teaching the songs we now know, but also taught the art of archana seva, honouring the deities of
Radha-Krishna. With a small set of brass
deities, a kind donation from a New Yorker, Srila Prabhupada demonstrated the
art of worship. These small, charming
deities that go by the name “Radha-Krishna” made their way to the Toronto
ISKCON shrine on Avenue Road, where they
have now been looked after for close to half a century.
Once
we arrived in Place Des Arts, that open space friendly to pedestrians, we
formed a circle for dancing. A second
circle was formed by tourist spectators.
What
can I say? Everyone had a jolly good
time, including Gurudas, who was with our Guru, Srila Prabhupada, during that
time so many years ago.
We
had stepped into the past and become very present enjoying each other’s
company.
May
the Source be with you!
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