Tuesday, 7 February 2017

Monday, January 30th, 2017

Hamilton, Ontario

Cannot Repay

You can never repay those who enthused you in your early devotional life.  To offer a token to an inspirationalist, Visvakarma by name, I spent a good four hours with him in his home in Hamilton as a way to say “thanks.”  Oh, we went over plenty of territory as far as topics to discuss are concerned.  For me, I felt an indebtedness to him, the man who took the time at the college I attended to introduce me to bhakti concepts.

You have to ask yourself, “Where would I be if someone didn’t show the interest and tell me I’m not the body, that my true identity is one of being a spiritual spark of life?  Where would I be if I was not informed of the form, personality and qualities of God?  Where would I be if I was not taught the ways of seva, service which was a new focus on a way of doing things?”

To such introductions and know-hows, I was given some direction as a twenty year old.  Tender moments they were.  Four other monks accompanied Visvakarma at that time of my encountering the Hare Krishnas.  There were Drupada, Dustadhura, Satyahit and Ayodhyapati, now known as Bhakti Brngha Govinda Swami.

It was on a Saturday evening near Christmas in 1972, when I came upon those strange but curious-to-me creatures with their unusual names from the Sanskrit language.  My impression was they were radical but happy.  And if my memory serves me well, it was during a stroll I took, that those five persons became a major component to my day’s discovery.  That meeting with them, changed my life forever.

May the Source be with you!


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