Toronto/Markham
A Birthday
The boiler
in our building has some challenges; it’s leaving the interior rather cool in
temperature. Govinda’s Restaurant, located inside, is warm, however, it’s being
heated by a separate unit. I hung out here for a good portion of the day until
it was time to go for my walk in the direction of Dhira Nitai’s home. It’s his
birthday. He is sixty-nine today.
I made my
way through Rosedale, then onto the Danforth to what is known as Greektown, and
just before I entered a growing Islamic community, I was picked up by two
devotees of the Scarborough temple. They took me to Dhira Nitai’s basement
apartment. With a mini birthday cake, we celebrated this fine bhakti yogi
of a man. About twenty of us fit into his modest-sized space.
I had to
pardon myself for an hour to take some private time on a conference call. (We
monks do have diverse responsibilities.) Once the call was completed, we swung
our hearts into the Damodara song, and then offer a candle to the images of
Baby Krishna and His mother, Yashoda. It has become a custom amongst some of us
Krishna-ites to do a bit of house-hopping, sing the same song, and then offer
candles in this month of Kartik.
What a nice
bunch of people, and all with such good intentions. When Dhira Nitai blew out
his birthday candle, I asked him to tell us his wish, and he said what the
group wanted to hear: “That we will have a larger property with a larger
building to accommodate more people.”
Of course
he was talking about the current local ISKCON facility, and how he wishes to
see an increased sharing of higher consciousness. He is thoughtful!
May the
Source be with you!
5 km
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