Thursday 16 June 2022

Saturday, June 11, 2022

Lorett, Manitoba

To A Great Flatness

Lat week my travels led me to Quebec and before that the Maritimes, where all those places are mountainous, at least hilly, but today, after a good flight to the Prairies, I landed on ultra-flat terrain. A nice change. In fact, levelness reminds me of where I was born and raised, in southwestern Ontario.

With the fine arrangements of Vrnda and Visvambhar my greeting party at Winnipeg’s Airport brought me to the countryside in the town of Lorett, population 5000. Members of our Winnipeg community converged at the two-acre property of Amit. What a great bunch of people.

This occasion was Amit’s house warming. This is a new place for the family and, to celebrate, he wanted a devotional group with guest, The Walking Monk. It was sit-down and relax time. He asked for a class, a kirtan and then a mini Chariot Fest at the front lane.

Kirtan chanting went on, then I asked for a book. He put in my hands the Bhagavatam and I started to flip through the pages randomly when my fingers stopped at a verse. My eyes landed on verse 1.19.33. I read it for my own perusal and it was as if Krishna guided my finger. It reads as such:

 “Simply by our remembering you, our houses become instantly sanctified. And what to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a seat in our home?” The purport by our guru, Prabhupada, is particularly powerful.

I spoke and then we conducted our mini version of Ratha Yatra. All went well. By the time of retiring for the night I looked at my phone. A Gita student of mine from Hamilton called. We spoke and he was concerned why Toronto’s parade is cancelled. “If the pride parade happens, why can’t ours?” “Good point!”

May the source be with you!

1 Km


 

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