Krishna and the Rains
Mississauga, Ontario
The rains were welcome. Summer sun and humidity were becoming burdensome. I put to good use a full blown golf umbrella, a gift from a tattoo artist. The umbrella’s broad expanse got some attention today in addition to the robes underneath. The rain got me thinking of how it usually gets wet in India on the day of Janmastami, Krishna’s birthday. It was a good thought, thinking of India, especially anything to do with the spiritual side of India. I’ve never been there at this time of year during Krishna’s birth anniversary, but I’ve been told on this auspicious day the clouds usually burst with some water.
Going along Lakeshore Boulevard (also Highway 2) and after the dampness that fell stopped, a couple came out of their home to check out the sky and to take in the goodness of the freshness the rain left. I was on the other side of the road when one of them waved and the other (if I’m not mistaken) threw the index and middle finger to reveal a peace sign. I took it as a cue to run across and share my good feeling being that it’s Krishna’s Janmastami.
“Hi!” I said, “I just wanted to share the message that today’s special. It’s when Krishna was born.”
“Oh, yeah!” said the fellow, “We didn’t know, “ as if they should have known. The fellow was not new to our look. He said, “I used to interact with the Krishnas on Yonge Street.” He ran excitedly into the house and then brought to me a piece of material, colourful and Oriental. “Who’s this?” he asked, pointing to Buddha, so I told him who it was.
“He’s one of ten avatars, according to the ancient book.”
The couple was pleased to hear this. I continued, “According to one text, Krishna is the source of all avatars.” It seemed this couple really appreciated the Krishna vibes in the air. I moved on, but by car, through rain, visiting our Brampton centre and then the Toronto centre, witnessing hundreds of people coming to honour the day. Some observed the full day fast until the strike of midnight when Krishna was born.
22 Km
B L O G S P O T
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Friday, 10 August 2012
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
Moving Along
Scarborough, Ontario
You sometimes have to let remarks that are pejorative run down and off your back, like beads of sweat that sometimes do.
In the predawn of the trek in Scarborough, some fellow remarked about my strange hairdo, which practically doesn’t exist at all. As he sped by I raised my left arm as in a proud champion gesture of my culture, and he lashed back with a comment that sounded bleak as it merged into the distance. “Weirdo!” he remarked to my punch in the air.
“Let it run down, Bhaktimarga Swami, let it run down and off your back,” I convinced myself.
Minutes later an elderly man stopped at a stop sign ready to turn. He recognized my beads and said while in the dark, “Are you praying this early?”
“Yes,” and I peered over into his car window and I acknowledged a white bearded man of the Muslim faith. “God bless,” we mutually expressed. I gave him a mantra card which he graciously accepted. That was a nice positive after receiving a negative.
I thank Satya, Gajendra and Chaitanya Dasi for their kind help, hospitality and food the previous evening. And I thank Vrindavan for his help in taking the last few steps with me for the day on Bloor Street. Actually it was Archie who was the one who walked with me right into my home temple in Toronto. A sun shower hit us and this is supposed to be an auspicious sign.
There is one more thing that we should let run down our back and flick off, and it’s a bad habit. I had a swim at the Scarborough bluffs and the maintenance fellow I spoke to admitted his weakness for nicotine.
“It’s willpower,” I said to him.
“That I don’t have, man.” He sounded defeated.
My remark was, “In the right kind of encouraging company, you can change.” He admitted to that. I showed him the mantra card and the chant that I always chant. I explained how you can use your fingers and mouth with this mantra, they are the same instruments as smokers use. I hope he catches on and starts chanting.
36 Km
Scarborough, Ontario
You sometimes have to let remarks that are pejorative run down and off your back, like beads of sweat that sometimes do.
In the predawn of the trek in Scarborough, some fellow remarked about my strange hairdo, which practically doesn’t exist at all. As he sped by I raised my left arm as in a proud champion gesture of my culture, and he lashed back with a comment that sounded bleak as it merged into the distance. “Weirdo!” he remarked to my punch in the air.
“Let it run down, Bhaktimarga Swami, let it run down and off your back,” I convinced myself.
Minutes later an elderly man stopped at a stop sign ready to turn. He recognized my beads and said while in the dark, “Are you praying this early?”
“Yes,” and I peered over into his car window and I acknowledged a white bearded man of the Muslim faith. “God bless,” we mutually expressed. I gave him a mantra card which he graciously accepted. That was a nice positive after receiving a negative.
I thank Satya, Gajendra and Chaitanya Dasi for their kind help, hospitality and food the previous evening. And I thank Vrindavan for his help in taking the last few steps with me for the day on Bloor Street. Actually it was Archie who was the one who walked with me right into my home temple in Toronto. A sun shower hit us and this is supposed to be an auspicious sign.
There is one more thing that we should let run down our back and flick off, and it’s a bad habit. I had a swim at the Scarborough bluffs and the maintenance fellow I spoke to admitted his weakness for nicotine.
“It’s willpower,” I said to him.
“That I don’t have, man.” He sounded defeated.
My remark was, “In the right kind of encouraging company, you can change.” He admitted to that. I showed him the mantra card and the chant that I always chant. I explained how you can use your fingers and mouth with this mantra, they are the same instruments as smokers use. I hope he catches on and starts chanting.
36 Km
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Tuesday, August 7th, 2012
Shopping Cart Folks
Oshawa, Ontario
“I’m 62… I’m a boomer. I never became a hippy but my husband was.” Ena went on. “I was working for a law firm but I got laid off two years ago. A lot of people got laid off since General Motors started cutting back. But the town, Oshawa, still keeps going on…”
Ena was pushing her shopping cart for several blocks with determination and destination being the grocery store. “We used to see Hare Krishna’s on the street singing away.”
Ena typified the friendly nature of the people I met today. All along through the towns of Bowmanville, Courtice, Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering, I believe people were responding to the summer sun. Ena sticks out amongst the encounters, perhaps because it was the longest exchange. We were walking together for several blocks. The wheels of her cart needed some realignment as they were giving her some trouble staying on track. She gave me a bottle of frozen water which I carried until I saw a homeless man laid out flat in sleep maybe on alcohol. Let him be in slumber I thought, when he awakens, he’ll see a cold diluted drink next to him.
I felt like I was moving with the usual ebb and flow. Highway 2 here has much traffic. Some movers are pedestrians on the go, to work no doubt. I witnessed a man who appeared to move at a turtle’s pace.
He was not going to work. He was across the road. He was fully clothed, almost in denial of the heat, which is at a rising 31 degrees Celsius. For his paraphernalia there was a shopping cart full of bags loaded to the hilt. I would say he was 1/6th the mass size of his baggage which accounts for his tardy movement. He reciprocated from 6 lanes across.
What is this? Shopping cart day, I wondered. You wouldn’t see so many people walking in ratio to the motorists. By the time I reached Ajax, the town, not the detergent, I was seeing once again that the majority of us are auto bound. It would perhaps be below to push empty, half empty, or old shopping carts around.
After 6 hours on the road of madness, Daruka transferred me to the waterfront trail. At the finish point, which happened to be at a nuclear plant, Chris from Snap Magazine came to hear about my shopping cart people, and about the various baggages we all carry. My message to him was also travel light, walk, reduce pounds, chant, reduce karma.
33 Km
Oshawa, Ontario
“I’m 62… I’m a boomer. I never became a hippy but my husband was.” Ena went on. “I was working for a law firm but I got laid off two years ago. A lot of people got laid off since General Motors started cutting back. But the town, Oshawa, still keeps going on…”
Ena was pushing her shopping cart for several blocks with determination and destination being the grocery store. “We used to see Hare Krishna’s on the street singing away.”
Ena typified the friendly nature of the people I met today. All along through the towns of Bowmanville, Courtice, Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering, I believe people were responding to the summer sun. Ena sticks out amongst the encounters, perhaps because it was the longest exchange. We were walking together for several blocks. The wheels of her cart needed some realignment as they were giving her some trouble staying on track. She gave me a bottle of frozen water which I carried until I saw a homeless man laid out flat in sleep maybe on alcohol. Let him be in slumber I thought, when he awakens, he’ll see a cold diluted drink next to him.
I felt like I was moving with the usual ebb and flow. Highway 2 here has much traffic. Some movers are pedestrians on the go, to work no doubt. I witnessed a man who appeared to move at a turtle’s pace.
He was not going to work. He was across the road. He was fully clothed, almost in denial of the heat, which is at a rising 31 degrees Celsius. For his paraphernalia there was a shopping cart full of bags loaded to the hilt. I would say he was 1/6th the mass size of his baggage which accounts for his tardy movement. He reciprocated from 6 lanes across.
What is this? Shopping cart day, I wondered. You wouldn’t see so many people walking in ratio to the motorists. By the time I reached Ajax, the town, not the detergent, I was seeing once again that the majority of us are auto bound. It would perhaps be below to push empty, half empty, or old shopping carts around.
After 6 hours on the road of madness, Daruka transferred me to the waterfront trail. At the finish point, which happened to be at a nuclear plant, Chris from Snap Magazine came to hear about my shopping cart people, and about the various baggages we all carry. My message to him was also travel light, walk, reduce pounds, chant, reduce karma.
33 Km
Monday, August 6th, 2012
Roger and Patel
Bowmanville, Ontario
We had the good fortune to rest at a Patel motel. Mr. Patel who’s a proprietor of this motel took to 5 Kms with me alongside the Trent River the previous night. He asked me a common enough question while apologizing for his imperfect English.
“How should I deal with the interruptions? I am doing my bhakti (devotion) and I am concentrating, and then the interruptions come.”
“You mean desires?” I asked him.
“Yes.”
“Let us look at what the Gita tells us. You control your lower self by your higher self, states Sri Krishna. The lower self constitutes the senses and the mind. The higher self is fine intelligence and the soul. Here’s another thing to consider; the same speaker of the Gita, Krishna, suggests to a student, Arjuna, that wherever and whenever the mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the self (intelligence and soul). The mind by nature is wayward. Keep your eye on it. Be a parent to the mind.”
Mr. Patel was content to walk and content to talk. The other person I met today who was content to speak with me was Roger. Roger is an elderly farmer. He was sitting on his front porch in the countryside. When he saw me pass by he got curious. Traffic was whizzing by on Highway 2 when he began to speak. It was faint what he was saying to me, so I went over to him. He had personally seen Terry Fox (a young runner who went across Canada on one real and one artificial leg). Roger had also seen Rick Hansen who had wheelchaired himself across the world. He had also seen a fellow drag a crucifix across the country and witnessed him coming along the road in front of his front porch. Now I had come, a true oddity. He showed me his hospitality. He offered me a choice, whisky or water. I accepted the water and told him of my vows of no intoxicants and no meat eating.
“Holy!” he implied. I sat there for a while in communication with him and handed him a mantra card explaining this is what I do for the most part while trekking. It actually helps to control the mind.
“I could never pronounce this,” Roger declared. Roger called for his wife, Joanne, to come out and meet the person who he found moving in front of the house. She was also delighted. Roger declared himself Protestant but not abiding very much. I left them after some minutes letting them know I’ll come to see them on the next pilgrimage I make across the country.
30 Km
Bowmanville, Ontario
We had the good fortune to rest at a Patel motel. Mr. Patel who’s a proprietor of this motel took to 5 Kms with me alongside the Trent River the previous night. He asked me a common enough question while apologizing for his imperfect English.
“How should I deal with the interruptions? I am doing my bhakti (devotion) and I am concentrating, and then the interruptions come.”
“You mean desires?” I asked him.
“Yes.”
“Let us look at what the Gita tells us. You control your lower self by your higher self, states Sri Krishna. The lower self constitutes the senses and the mind. The higher self is fine intelligence and the soul. Here’s another thing to consider; the same speaker of the Gita, Krishna, suggests to a student, Arjuna, that wherever and whenever the mind wanders, bring it back under the control of the self (intelligence and soul). The mind by nature is wayward. Keep your eye on it. Be a parent to the mind.”
Mr. Patel was content to walk and content to talk. The other person I met today who was content to speak with me was Roger. Roger is an elderly farmer. He was sitting on his front porch in the countryside. When he saw me pass by he got curious. Traffic was whizzing by on Highway 2 when he began to speak. It was faint what he was saying to me, so I went over to him. He had personally seen Terry Fox (a young runner who went across Canada on one real and one artificial leg). Roger had also seen Rick Hansen who had wheelchaired himself across the world. He had also seen a fellow drag a crucifix across the country and witnessed him coming along the road in front of his front porch. Now I had come, a true oddity. He showed me his hospitality. He offered me a choice, whisky or water. I accepted the water and told him of my vows of no intoxicants and no meat eating.
“Holy!” he implied. I sat there for a while in communication with him and handed him a mantra card explaining this is what I do for the most part while trekking. It actually helps to control the mind.
“I could never pronounce this,” Roger declared. Roger called for his wife, Joanne, to come out and meet the person who he found moving in front of the house. She was also delighted. Roger declared himself Protestant but not abiding very much. I left them after some minutes letting them know I’ll come to see them on the next pilgrimage I make across the country.
30 Km
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Pic from the Road
Leaving Quebec entering Ontario
Walking in the rain
Radio interview with Mai in Cornwall
Camping in the Long Sault Parkway, Ontario
Upper Canada Village-1
Upper Canada Village-2
Brockville Healing Arts Centre gathering
9 Devotions workshop in Brockville
Chanting in Kingston with Scott + Rina
With news director Joanna at Queen's U. radio station
Night Light, a christian drop-in centre
Bilingual STOP sign - Mohawk Territory
Daruka and Billie go for a dip
Meeting Pilgrim George by Trenton Air Force base
Sunset at Sand Banks Beach
Sand Banks Beach by
Picton
Walking into Brighton
Meeting police officer on highway near Colborne
Sharon + Bruce's house/ Art Gallery
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Sunday, August 5th, 2012
For Balance
Cobourg, Ontario
I feel like I’m in Europe, zipping through one town after another. There’s Brighton, Salem, Colborne, Wicklow, Grafton, Cobourg, all fairly closely spaced apart. In most of Canada there’s endless space. A country so vast with a mere 33 million residents (that’s the same number as demigods in the heavenly planets). My first encounter was a man who was extremely kind, he brought me juice. The dichotomy was that he couldn’t acknowledge a living God. It hurt the ears to hear him say cynically, “There is no God, no God ever did anything for anyone.” He was receptive though to a Buddhist mantra that he had learned and candidly he uttered it on the side of the road where we were both standing. I handed him a card reading the maha mantra, “Hare Krishna… “ He very much got fueled from seeing this saying, “The Beatles sang this!” I kept going down the road and time passed. A police officer by the name of Shawn pulled over. I was with Daruka at the time in Northumberland County when Officer Shawn thought it novel to get his picture with us which includes Daruka’s blue front Amazon bird, Billie Jean. We also thought it a cool idea. It’s great to have the Forces behind you.
Now here’s where good follow through pays off. Keeping contact with those you’ve met gives so much return. On a former trip to a destination, Daruka met an artist couple from the area, kept their name and number, knowing he and I would be going through their neighbourhood on Highway 2. The fruition to this simple and thoughtful anticipation matured. We paid our visit to the country home of Bruce, Sharon and family. Lovely people they are. Eileen, a friend of the family has been going through much internal pain since her son has been missing with no sign or trace. We chanted all together for his and the world’s overall well being. They are now our friends and we intend to keep connected.
Karen met Daruka and I at Victoria Park in Colborne for the local newspaper. “Why the walk?” is always the natural question. Answer: to encourage a more back to basics lifestyle; to encourage balance, it takes two feet to move in balance with each other.
To apply some TLC, tender loving care, to the body, Daruka and I adventurously left for Presqu’il Beach. We were under the sharp rain pellet while standing against the aggressive waves, both providing a therapeutic massage well needed. Speaking of Daruka, he appears to be the victim of circumstances again. This time when doing some work on his laptop outside, a swarm of wasps came on the attack targeting both knees. At least they were going for balance.
30 Km
Cobourg, Ontario
I feel like I’m in Europe, zipping through one town after another. There’s Brighton, Salem, Colborne, Wicklow, Grafton, Cobourg, all fairly closely spaced apart. In most of Canada there’s endless space. A country so vast with a mere 33 million residents (that’s the same number as demigods in the heavenly planets). My first encounter was a man who was extremely kind, he brought me juice. The dichotomy was that he couldn’t acknowledge a living God. It hurt the ears to hear him say cynically, “There is no God, no God ever did anything for anyone.” He was receptive though to a Buddhist mantra that he had learned and candidly he uttered it on the side of the road where we were both standing. I handed him a card reading the maha mantra, “Hare Krishna… “ He very much got fueled from seeing this saying, “The Beatles sang this!” I kept going down the road and time passed. A police officer by the name of Shawn pulled over. I was with Daruka at the time in Northumberland County when Officer Shawn thought it novel to get his picture with us which includes Daruka’s blue front Amazon bird, Billie Jean. We also thought it a cool idea. It’s great to have the Forces behind you.
Now here’s where good follow through pays off. Keeping contact with those you’ve met gives so much return. On a former trip to a destination, Daruka met an artist couple from the area, kept their name and number, knowing he and I would be going through their neighbourhood on Highway 2. The fruition to this simple and thoughtful anticipation matured. We paid our visit to the country home of Bruce, Sharon and family. Lovely people they are. Eileen, a friend of the family has been going through much internal pain since her son has been missing with no sign or trace. We chanted all together for his and the world’s overall well being. They are now our friends and we intend to keep connected.
Karen met Daruka and I at Victoria Park in Colborne for the local newspaper. “Why the walk?” is always the natural question. Answer: to encourage a more back to basics lifestyle; to encourage balance, it takes two feet to move in balance with each other.
To apply some TLC, tender loving care, to the body, Daruka and I adventurously left for Presqu’il Beach. We were under the sharp rain pellet while standing against the aggressive waves, both providing a therapeutic massage well needed. Speaking of Daruka, he appears to be the victim of circumstances again. This time when doing some work on his laptop outside, a swarm of wasps came on the attack targeting both knees. At least they were going for balance.
30 Km
Monday, 6 August 2012
Saturday, August 4th, 2012
Pilgrim George
Trenton, Ontario
Happy rabbits, white, black and brown, hopped along – I mean dozens of them near the bay of Quinte near Highway 2. Then in the town of Trenton you have this Air Force space, and to my left I saw dozens of groups of air cadets in training marching east to the other side of the fence. “Left! Right! Left! Right!” commanded someone in charge. Some of these cadets caught a sidelong glance of me dressed in a different type of uniform and moving the other way. I offered a pranams (folded palms) to one troupe hoping for a reciprocation. I guess you could say I tried to tempt them. They remained quite focused, good for them. Then moving in my westerly direction was a man in a convertible who pulled over. The car was posh and fire engine red. He asked if I needed to go somewhere, so I told him about my pilgrimage. Next question was if I’m meditating and if I’m trying to reach Nirvana. To put it more straight, I identified myself with Krishnaism. “Ah, yes,” he said, “more along the Hindu line.” He offered help, a donation of money. I asked him about his profession. “I’m a judge.”
“A big responsibility,” I said.
Then I came upon pilgrim George. He’s over 65, carries a bundle of things including a tent, water, a camera. Fully clothed in a robe of neatly patched denim, he looks extremely hot. He’s bespeckled, wears a sun hat and uses a walking stick a staff with a crucifix on top. He covers ten km a day on foot and sleeps in his tent at night in the woods. He hails from Pennsylvania and has walked in 48 countries. Within Canada he’s trekking 800 Km from Toronto to midland to Ottawa, Montreal, and back to Toronto on this Highway, Highway 2. He intends to attend mass in the church up the street tomorrow. By the way I forgot to mention he also carries a rosary. So there you have it, a genuine pilgrim. He expressed to me at least once a day a person talks to him with a serious dialogue. Some people consider him crazy, but he declares he’s not. In fact, he’s very bright, alive, and spiritual, and he demonstrates a respect for me, although I could be considered a false prophet from some people I’ve met in the past.
As we chatted alongside the road, a motorist gawked at us and almost had a serious accident. Farewell, Pilgrim George. To relieve ourselves of heat, Daruka and I took to a southerly route by car to the world’s largest fresh water sand banks, so we were told. There we did swim to let the water massage the tired body. A woman there mentioned she just read about my marathon walk in the paper. Also a pilot from Trenton’s Air Force and I talked along side with his son about Krishna Consciousness, as I do with all people I meet. I always try to convey whatever people are able to hear. In the course of the day between Daruka and I, the individuals we meet, although usually on a one to one basis, becomes too many to recall.
From rabbits to pilgrims.
28 Km
Trenton, Ontario
Happy rabbits, white, black and brown, hopped along – I mean dozens of them near the bay of Quinte near Highway 2. Then in the town of Trenton you have this Air Force space, and to my left I saw dozens of groups of air cadets in training marching east to the other side of the fence. “Left! Right! Left! Right!” commanded someone in charge. Some of these cadets caught a sidelong glance of me dressed in a different type of uniform and moving the other way. I offered a pranams (folded palms) to one troupe hoping for a reciprocation. I guess you could say I tried to tempt them. They remained quite focused, good for them. Then moving in my westerly direction was a man in a convertible who pulled over. The car was posh and fire engine red. He asked if I needed to go somewhere, so I told him about my pilgrimage. Next question was if I’m meditating and if I’m trying to reach Nirvana. To put it more straight, I identified myself with Krishnaism. “Ah, yes,” he said, “more along the Hindu line.” He offered help, a donation of money. I asked him about his profession. “I’m a judge.”
“A big responsibility,” I said.
Then I came upon pilgrim George. He’s over 65, carries a bundle of things including a tent, water, a camera. Fully clothed in a robe of neatly patched denim, he looks extremely hot. He’s bespeckled, wears a sun hat and uses a walking stick a staff with a crucifix on top. He covers ten km a day on foot and sleeps in his tent at night in the woods. He hails from Pennsylvania and has walked in 48 countries. Within Canada he’s trekking 800 Km from Toronto to midland to Ottawa, Montreal, and back to Toronto on this Highway, Highway 2. He intends to attend mass in the church up the street tomorrow. By the way I forgot to mention he also carries a rosary. So there you have it, a genuine pilgrim. He expressed to me at least once a day a person talks to him with a serious dialogue. Some people consider him crazy, but he declares he’s not. In fact, he’s very bright, alive, and spiritual, and he demonstrates a respect for me, although I could be considered a false prophet from some people I’ve met in the past.
As we chatted alongside the road, a motorist gawked at us and almost had a serious accident. Farewell, Pilgrim George. To relieve ourselves of heat, Daruka and I took to a southerly route by car to the world’s largest fresh water sand banks, so we were told. There we did swim to let the water massage the tired body. A woman there mentioned she just read about my marathon walk in the paper. Also a pilot from Trenton’s Air Force and I talked along side with his son about Krishna Consciousness, as I do with all people I meet. I always try to convey whatever people are able to hear. In the course of the day between Daruka and I, the individuals we meet, although usually on a one to one basis, becomes too many to recall.
From rabbits to pilgrims.
28 Km
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Friday, August 3rd, 2012
Don’t Dry Up
Belleville, Ontario
The crickets are cracking, the monk is walking.
It’s 3:45 AM at the time I left the camp in Deseronto. Going west I entered Mohawk territory. Some of the road signage is bilingual, meaning in English and Mohawk. Next to the sign, ‘STOP’ is a duplicate sign which says ‘TENH-STA’NA’. Prevalent in the area are smoke shops where cigarettes are sold with the incentive of being tax free on all items.
Predominantly though, white farmers manage the fields in the area. I caught with my eye a soybean field which became a perfect place to lay down for a power nap. A second nap occurred along Salmon River, a great spot. Once Daruka joined me after I jaunted the first 18kms we did the Vaishnava thing, went for a swim. The fish were nibbling our toes. One of them got Daruka’s nipples. That took Daruka by surprise. Who can blame the fish, he’s hungry.
Later on, Nicole from the Intelligencer Daily Paper had questions. I could not contain myself by lashing out at today’s technology which in my opinion has destroyed neighbourliness; “The curse of the cars” was my theme. With Gail of the Q-Net News there was a keen interest in our philosophy and lifestyle. She wanted to know about destiny. I quoted from the Gita, chapter 9, “You end up going to the place where you put your attention.” We discussed about the soul’s transmigration. Gail had millions of questions. She also expressed a desire to see the country from coast to coast in an RV.
Part 2 of the day’s quota on foot sent me along the Moira River, which runs next to Belleville’s downtown. A man in his 60s living here all his life expressed he’s never seen the river’s lack of depth like this. Global warming! Kids are walking through its dry patches. Are we drying up? May we spiritually not do that. Keep that soul moist, keep it alive with chanting. In fact, I tell reporters that my mission of feet movement is not just about walking, but also about meditating with mantras.
Hare Krishna.
31 Km
Belleville, Ontario
The crickets are cracking, the monk is walking.
It’s 3:45 AM at the time I left the camp in Deseronto. Going west I entered Mohawk territory. Some of the road signage is bilingual, meaning in English and Mohawk. Next to the sign, ‘STOP’ is a duplicate sign which says ‘TENH-STA’NA’. Prevalent in the area are smoke shops where cigarettes are sold with the incentive of being tax free on all items.
Predominantly though, white farmers manage the fields in the area. I caught with my eye a soybean field which became a perfect place to lay down for a power nap. A second nap occurred along Salmon River, a great spot. Once Daruka joined me after I jaunted the first 18kms we did the Vaishnava thing, went for a swim. The fish were nibbling our toes. One of them got Daruka’s nipples. That took Daruka by surprise. Who can blame the fish, he’s hungry.
Later on, Nicole from the Intelligencer Daily Paper had questions. I could not contain myself by lashing out at today’s technology which in my opinion has destroyed neighbourliness; “The curse of the cars” was my theme. With Gail of the Q-Net News there was a keen interest in our philosophy and lifestyle. She wanted to know about destiny. I quoted from the Gita, chapter 9, “You end up going to the place where you put your attention.” We discussed about the soul’s transmigration. Gail had millions of questions. She also expressed a desire to see the country from coast to coast in an RV.
Part 2 of the day’s quota on foot sent me along the Moira River, which runs next to Belleville’s downtown. A man in his 60s living here all his life expressed he’s never seen the river’s lack of depth like this. Global warming! Kids are walking through its dry patches. Are we drying up? May we spiritually not do that. Keep that soul moist, keep it alive with chanting. In fact, I tell reporters that my mission of feet movement is not just about walking, but also about meditating with mantras.
Hare Krishna.
31 Km
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
Break A Habit
Napanee, Ontario
A sign outside a church reads if you want to break a habit, just drop it.
I like that. I passed by the sign in the greater Napanee area. The downtown proper of Napanee isn’t so huge, only 5,000 residents. But the place had a powerful enough impact on me. Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, spent his youthfulness in this area, and also delivered his last speech in the town hall which Daruka and I visited while greeting the staff. More important than this (and I say it almost tearfully), my dad had walked these streets when he first landed in Canada from Holland. Yet, before he fathered me and my five siblings, he worked as an hired hand at a dairy farm going back over 6 decades ago. I took the time to walk some of those same streets just to absorb. Those were simpler times I’m sure.
Daruka had almost missed me on the road as I took a quick water discharge in a corn field.
“Hey, Daruka!” I shouted after I had done my business. He heard me although he sped along. Believe it or not your lungs and voice projection improve from walking. Daruka turned around his vehicle and brought me Adam from the Napanee Fever News Paper. Adam fired his questions as we sat by the corn. Daruka also brought me to see Meghan of the Napanee Guide. We then made our way to MYSM for a radio interview. I also met Serge who along with his wife just opened a yoga studio on King Street. There were a host of people I met in the town and it looks like they were able to accept whatever I felt they could receive. You can’t always go terribly deep into spiritual subject matter. I find it works to give something light and to give some warmth.
Dave, a campsite owner, wasn’t about to venture deeply into a spiritual arena. Yet, he was good enough to slot out a spot in his campground at Mohawk Bay. It’s a kind service he offered to us. No charge whatsoever. Dave has a big heart, and so he rendered a service that was unobliging for him. A good soul indeed.
35 Km
Napanee, Ontario
A sign outside a church reads if you want to break a habit, just drop it.
I like that. I passed by the sign in the greater Napanee area. The downtown proper of Napanee isn’t so huge, only 5,000 residents. But the place had a powerful enough impact on me. Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald, spent his youthfulness in this area, and also delivered his last speech in the town hall which Daruka and I visited while greeting the staff. More important than this (and I say it almost tearfully), my dad had walked these streets when he first landed in Canada from Holland. Yet, before he fathered me and my five siblings, he worked as an hired hand at a dairy farm going back over 6 decades ago. I took the time to walk some of those same streets just to absorb. Those were simpler times I’m sure.
Daruka had almost missed me on the road as I took a quick water discharge in a corn field.
“Hey, Daruka!” I shouted after I had done my business. He heard me although he sped along. Believe it or not your lungs and voice projection improve from walking. Daruka turned around his vehicle and brought me Adam from the Napanee Fever News Paper. Adam fired his questions as we sat by the corn. Daruka also brought me to see Meghan of the Napanee Guide. We then made our way to MYSM for a radio interview. I also met Serge who along with his wife just opened a yoga studio on King Street. There were a host of people I met in the town and it looks like they were able to accept whatever I felt they could receive. You can’t always go terribly deep into spiritual subject matter. I find it works to give something light and to give some warmth.
Dave, a campsite owner, wasn’t about to venture deeply into a spiritual arena. Yet, he was good enough to slot out a spot in his campground at Mohawk Bay. It’s a kind service he offered to us. No charge whatsoever. Dave has a big heart, and so he rendered a service that was unobliging for him. A good soul indeed.
35 Km
Friday, 3 August 2012
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012
Broadcast System
Kingston, Ontario
“A Hare Krishna monk is in town and he’s walking across Canada for the fourth time. He’s walking to promote the using of the feet and to include spirituality.”
Such was the message broadcast over the airwaves on “The Fly and The Drive Radio Station.” I also was interviewed at Queen’s University Campus with CFRC. It was remarkably coincidental to see an acquaintance in the bay next to me. Cameron, a former student, poked out of the studio once I was completed with the studio and reminded me of when he played Hanuman, the monkey warrior, in ‘The Ramayan’, a production I directed at Lakehead University. Darron Davis also came to the highway where we were as the reporter with CKWS-TV. Finally, Colin came out to do an article for Kingston’s daily paper, The Whig Standard. The response in the city was phenomenally great.
And what else? You are looking at being at the location where the great lakes begin or rather end, when you consider the flow of the water. The Kingston area is also one of the sites of battle between the French and English, and like all these waters, conflicts with the Americans in the war of 1812, it is interesting to note that historically we have the tendency to choose the wrong battles, and that it is prevalent in all of us. Perhaps we should consider that our true identity has nothing to do with one’s ethnicity.
I am not an American, a Canadian, French or English, I am a spirit, a spark of light. I am not this body.
Our day ended with a double dose of spirituality. More strumming on the sitar strings occupied Scott’s hand to accompany our chants. We also chatted about the topic of doubt which tends to visit everybody’s minds now and then. Daruka and I even managed to meet a group of Christians at a drop in center on Princess Street. I was thrilled to mingle amongst non fundamentalists. We found these people genuine.
I should also not fail to mention today, honours one of our principal Avatars, Sri Balaram, the brother of Krishna.
29 Km
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
He Looked After Me
Gananoque, Ontario
Jehovah looked after me. Fatigue hit me while on Highway 2. I took my beggars cloth and stretched it out onto the outdoor back stairs of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah. It was too early in the morning to imagine that parishioners would come to notice me. The 15 minute power nap did wonders. Thank you, Jehovah.
The area that I tread is going through a drought. Farmers are unhappy. The corn plants are tall but their yield will be meager because of lack of moisture. Meanwhile, just one kilometer south of me is a parallel highway, the 401, and also twinned to that is the 1000 Islands Parkway. People here view and play in the water to an optimum. The Saint Lawrence Seaway with its dotted islands draws multiple tourists. West of Brockville, Highway 2 leaves the waterside, but then eventually reunites with it at Juncture Point, the small city of Gananoque. According to Daruka, I was to walk into the office of the Gananoque Reporter, and meet with Amanda Smith for an interview. That did transpire.
“What was the strangest thing that ever happened to you in the course of one of your walks?” Amanda asked me.
I answered, “I met with a seductive lady on the road just the other day while Johnny Cash was singing on her car radio, ‘I keep a close watch on this heart of mine…’ I stuck to the words, walk the line (of dharma) and I kept in my heart the feeling for her soul, which felt a bit lost.” To Amanda I suggested, though the incident was a strange one, why not take one of my bear encounter stories to report about. Amanda admitted that my story of walking across the country is unique. Let’s see what becomes of the article in the paper which is a weekly.
A refreshing swim in the Saint Lawrence made Daruka and I and Jamuna fit for a change of pace. Let’s sit and sing in the home of a young couple who have opened their doors for us. Scott and Reena pulled out their sitar and tablas respectively while Nuno from Portugal and Prahlad from Hungary indulged with us our voices in singing the maha mantra. This was very melodious. Then suddenly the rains came. May the farmers be happy.
Jehovah and Krishna are one.
28 Km
Monday, July 30th, 2012
Others Walking?
There’s a rumour going around that there’s another monk trekking across the land. A local person also talked about a nun who was conducting a solo walk in protest against nuclear power plants. If it’s true that there’s other renunciants out there with a cause I could perceive them as competitors, but no. If the numbers of spiritual walkers are on the rise then that’s good. In fact, that’s what I’m hoping to accomplish. Let’s see if we can meet these pilgrims if they are not fictitious characters.
Mallorytown, Ontario
There’s a rumour going around that there’s another monk trekking across the land. A local person also talked about a nun who was conducting a solo walk in protest against nuclear power plants. If it’s true that there’s other renunciants out there with a cause I could perceive them as competitors, but no. If the numbers of spiritual walkers are on the rise then that’s good. In fact, that’s what I’m hoping to accomplish. Let’s see if we can meet these pilgrims if they are not fictitious characters.
Speaking of nuns, I did meet one in Brockville at the healing arts center on King Street, I conducted the 9 Devotions workshop. One person described herself as a nun with the Buddhists. She travels the world doing volunteer work and describes herself as a nun on the run without any order. She also explained that she travelled with the Dalai Lama and calls herself a Lamette.
Like the others who attended 9 Devotions, it was so well received. As a workshop goes, it’s participatory and interactive. People sang from their hearts and voluntarily began to dance. This type of activity is also a great break from the highway.
Truly, every day is exciting. Today my walking partner from Cuba, Jamuna Jivana and I were humbled by a Rottweiler. This four legged creature was tough. We could help but to see God in him in a vindictive way. Fortunately the owner spotted us in peril and called off the canine creature.
Also I saw my first pheasant ever coming from the wild. He was beautiful, and was attempting to cross the highway. But wise as he was, he turned right around and merged into the thick grasses. What you see on the road and what you hear and smell all becomes the adventure anticipated. It’s all the things that occur, big or small, that stack up to become an array of wonder. I’m happy to be out here, Krishna!
33 Km
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