Ramsden Park, Toronto
An Uninvited Guest
A living creature couldn’t make it in the crawlspace between the two floors of our temple. Our renovation workers spotted an oily leak through the ceiling drywall. They felt obligated to open up the ceiling and, lo and behold, what was exposed was the remains of a raccoon. He was fairly decayed and dried up from time. The skull was intact as it was a good set of jaws staring right out at you as you look up. There was no use in asking him if his jiva (soul) was still there. He was gone for sure.
One thing to consider is that the raccoon ended up being positioned right beneath their Lordships, the deities of Radha-Krishna. Not a bad spot. Such mercy!
On that same evening I caught a few minutes with three other young men working on the renovations. They were about to retire for the day. I popped my head in to see the condition of the work and take a chance for a quick “hello” and “goodbye.” “Goodnight,” was more like it, coming from them.
Actually, I was getting ready for my night walk, I am a walker — someone who’s trekked Canada four times, the US once and a few other countries. I’ve done it to promote the walking culture; a chance to meet people. It’s the type of thing monks do.
One of the fellows asked, “Where do you train to be a monk?”
“Right here!” I replied. “Right in this building. That’s the reason for the new rooms — for learning and training. When the renovations are done will conduct programs like “Monk for a weekend.” Give it some thought!”
It looked as if they were thinking about it as they were wrapping up.
May the source be with you!
2 km
Please view our new film, Rolling the Dice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3legHdMgI
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