Thursday 26 March 2020

Friday, March 20th, 2020


Toronto, Ontario

To Go Inside

Today is 20:2020. And it is not an ordinary day.

I announced to our small crew of monks that as of tomorrow, there will be a shutdown of the temple, due to the coronavirus. “Oh yes, the duty service will go on, the cooking and business as usual, but we will not be able to welcome people, even the regular pujari’s (priests).

These words did not meet ears with surprise. Our resident monks saw something like this coming, what with all that’s around us shutting down. “The Ford auto plant in Oakville is closed. In Oshawa, General Motors is closed,“ said one of our congregants. And he added, “All parking in Toronto is free, but parking for what?“

Wow! What a surreal world we are living in. Extra-ordinary times.

This mandatory carefulness is to last for two weeks—our temple/ashram closing. The decision was not mine alone, but a group of elders, medical professionals and temple leaders who had that conference call and arrived at this point.

So, for most of us who reside in the ashram, we have the freedom to get out, or to go outside. Dharma and Dakshin walk every day. So does Gaurachandra, while Jai Sri cycles—all seniors.

Dwarkanath, our young cook, routinely runs. Corrado and I walk.  I’ll get cabin fever, if I don’t. They ordered these days as “stay at home, work from home.“ But I’ve got to go outside, and when I do, I go ‘inside’ with my fingers on my beads and the mantra to the heart.

We walked to the edge of a cliff by a ravine and just sat there “to go inside.“



May the Source be with you!
5 km




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