Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Ocean of Mercy
“To my dear godbrother and friend,
Bhaktimarga Swami.” Bhakti Caru Swami
autographed this on the inside cover of his book Ocean of Mercy. The book was
a kind gift, one that I started reading on the plane to Saskatoon.
Here is a provocative excerpt from the
book, of an incident which occurred before he became a monk.
“One Sunday
during the summer, when the whole group was sitting together in a restaurant
near the harbor, Chuck asked me in a rather condescending tone how many people
died of starvation in India each year.
His disrespect was insulting, but I tried to control my anger. Many people in the West had that
misconception, but no one had ever put it so bluntly.
“Although I was
born and brought up in India,” I said, “I have never seen anyone die of
starvation.”
“Oh, come on,”
he persisted. “Everyone knows that. You don’t have to defend your country’s
honor. After all, a fact is a fact…”
“India is not
poor,” I protested. “She may not be so
advanced or affluent materially, but she is not poor. If she were, why would Columbus have ventured
so far to find her? Why was she
considered the crown jewel of the British Empire?”
“You may claim
whatever you want,” he argued, “but everybody knows India’s poverty-stricken
condition.”
“India is not
interested in material prosperity,” I countered, “but in developing her
spiritual riches.”
“What are your
so-called spiritual riches?”
“That the real
goal of life is to achieve emancipation—elevation to a higher consciousness.”
“By smoking
pot?”
“No, by
performing austerities—negating the demons of the body.”
“That’s just
the excuse of useless bums.”
When the others
saw that the argument was spiraling out of control, they suggested we stop … That
argument led me to probe deeper into my country’s spiritual culture.”
May the Source be with you!
5 km
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