Sunday, February 17th, 2019

Edmonton, Alberta

Don’t Quit a Good Thing

Madhava, age fourteen, came to the temple with his soccer uniform on.  No problem for me regarding dress code.  I’m glad he turned up for the tail-end of the program, which was in honour of Lord Nityananda’s birthday.  It was along the same theme as yesterday—take care of your physical self in order to serve others better and for a longer period of time.  So, Soccer Boy, keep up the good work!

Madhava did mention that their team had lost every game, yet he didn’t feel defeated or discouraged.  He’ll go out there and play again.  That was in Calgary.

I also met Ben who came to the Festival for Nityananda.  He explained to me his dark past—heroin and a victim of  abuse on several levels.  He has gone through re-hab and is now in a good space.  In other words, he didn’t give up.  He struggled but fought to win.  He also really enjoyed the program, the food, the chanting and my talk.

Also in the morning, I met Ella, who came to Edmonton’s version of the Festival.  I’m always concerned when a newcomer visits because they can sometimes experience culture shock, due to a certain style of worship, and the oddities that arise from traditional behaviour. Also everyone trying to help a newcomer by over-helping and sometimes not doing anything at all can be off-putting.  Well, Ella passed the test of our sometimes dysfunctional abilities in the greeting department.  She had a nice time, I’m told, And she said she’ll come back.  She won’t quit and is not a defeatist, hopefully.

By the way, Nityananda was a great spiritual luminary in 15^thcentury India.

May the Source be with you!

3 km