Friday, 17 November 2017

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017

Toronto, Ontario

Fresh New Body

Kaustuba from Ohio sent me a comic image of two monks.  One is the student, the other the master.

Student says humbly, “O Master, is it proper for a monk to use e-mail?”

Master answers, “Sure…as long as there are no attachments!”

I shared this laugh with the others in our room where we hold the morning class.  Today’s was a recording of our guru, Prabhupada, speaking from the Bhagavad-gita, 2.14, giving emphasis to the fundamentals of wisdom.

“The ultimate check is death,” he said in regard to the verse.  What is to be considered is the lengthy journey all souls traverse through, from one body to the next, until making good of life.  The verse is one of the strongest endorsements of the soul’s transmigration.

I recall in the summer of ’73, some months after I joined the ranks of monks in Toronto, how a few of my hometown friends sought me out in our humble abode at 187 Gerrard Road, in a rented house.  Bill Wicken was one.  He was one grade my junior in high school.  He was super curious to find out about life’s mysteries.  There was also Ted Van Grinsvan, a family friend, also eager to know what direction to take with this existence.

In both cases, I was making the point from this verse—the word of Krishna—that the embodied soul continually passes from childhood, to youth, to old age.  At death, the process continues.  The atma, soul, moves on into a fresh new body.

I don’t know if I convinced Bill and Ted of these concepts.  I wonder where they are now?

May the Source be with you!

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