Tuesday 29 December 2020

Saturday, December 26th, 2020

Yorkville, Toronto

 

Be Practical

 

We have often heard our guru, Prabhupada, define jnanam as knowledge and vijnanam as applied knowledge. The first word is theoretical and the second is practical.

 

Practical application, even common sense, is the way I tried to best steer my presentation tonight, to devotees in Kazakstan and surrounding areas; known as Central Asia. The topic title was “When I Rains, Use an Umbrella,” with subtitle “Be Practical.” I’m quite passionate about the theme of not allowing sentiment to inhibit one’s spiritual growth. Permit discernment to have some say. We call bhakti-yoga­, buddhi-yoga at times—uniting with the Supreme with heart and intelligence. Buddhi refers to intelligence.

 

Those listening from far away seemed to enjoy the talk, followed by a question session. They also enjoyed the opening four minutes and sixteen seconds of the excerpt from the musical, “Singing in the Rain,” where Gene Kelly is strutting his stuff, dancing in a downpour. In this perfectly choreographed piece, he is seen with his umbrella opened up. Then he decides to draw it closed and takes in the rain, almost as if to transcend the wetness. It certainly was a creative way to open up a class or discussion on Krishna Consciousness.

 

What a great feeling it was, communicating and seeing these great souls from the other side of the world. I also had the pleasure of connecting with the Oakville crew. With them we are going over the Gita’s Chapter 16, reviewing the dark side of the soul.

 

May the Source be with you!

3 km


 

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