Saturday, December 30th, 2017

Ajax, Ontario

Good Crew, Good Brew

I was quite amazed by the turn-out of family and supporters for Kiran, age twenty-four, who was recently deceased, the cause being car collision related.  Hundreds of people came, mostly from the Guyanese community, to attend the last rites ceremony, done Vedic style in a crematorium/funeral home in Ajax.

The love which emanated from parents, siblings and friends was quite powerful.  Upon hearing the eulogy, I could understand he was quite the kind-hearted type and you could see the reciprocation pouring out.  I wish I had known him better.

They are good souls who enter into the course of your day to make your day.  And so, after the funeral, my world, for the rest of the day, was filled with mostly the younger set, the cast and crew of our production of “Many Mothers, Many Fathers.”  A good crew.  A good brew.

What a co-operative group it is, an international one, consisting of Canadian born to Israeli, Ukrainian to Mexican and Indian.  The story, “Many Mothers, Many Fathers,” is centered around a king—Chitraketu—of the Surasena dynasty who lost his son to poisoning.  Out of the tragedy comes a reconciliation of jealous exchange and conflicting relations.

The young boy, Nimai, six, who plays the dead son, is stunningly good at doing just that—playing dead.

I guess we all do that—play dead—for the soul (the real me) does not perish.

May the Source be with you!

3 km

Friday, December 29th, 2017

Toronto, Ontario

Cold

I spoke to someone from Florida today, Dattatreya, a magician, and he told me they have a cold snap like everywhere else in North America.  Temperatures there are at 3 or 4° Fahrenheit.

“Imagine then how we are doing up north?” I asked.

In speaking to others, Mother Nature appears to be showing an ugly, fierce side.  In Fort McMurray, the plummeting figure was -54° Celsius, outdoing the lowest temperatures of the furthest north.  Fort McMurray is the place in Alberta known for its oil enterprises, with its tar sands nearby.  That news came from Abhidheya in Vancouver.

Then Savyasacin of Brampton told me last night at our play practice that Toronto and other cities around are speaking about possibly cancelling the New Year’s celebrations due to such intense, frigid situations.

The conditions are such that I’ve not been bearing the extreme outdoors, but I’ve been taking those walks of mine inside our temple room.  It seems to work, although the air quality outside is probably better.  Probably sterilized.  It’s quite remarkable just how extreme it can get.

Mother Nature, you definitely have some might.  Thanks for teaching us tolerance.  It takes me to Verse 2:14 from the Gita.  “The dualities of the world need to be accepted.”  It’s a lesson in life.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Thursday, December 28th, 2017

Toronto, Ontario

A Loss, But Not Lost

A young man, Kiran, 24, a member of our community, suddenly lost his life in an auto accident while on his way to work.  While this may be just another one of those news items, one that we often become insensitive to because it is a story repeated over again and again, it really shakes the ground you stand on when it’s close to home.

“Kiran used to attend the temple when he was much younger,” said his distraught mum, Srimati, when I spoke to her over the phone.  “The car spun out of control when someone hit him.  It’s very hard.”

You could hear the pain in her voice as we conversed.  It’s understandable.  A soul comes into your life, is your dependant for a quarter of it, and so the attachment is very real.  Then if you have one of those families where the lifestyle is a wholesome one, your dependant starts doing things for you and eventually a beautiful reversal takes place.  In your senior years, he/she looks after you.  You have him/her and you have God.  You’re not lonely and you’re attached to the love given.

It then becomes difficult to have one such person suddenly drop out of the picture, although the Divine friend, God-in-the-heart, remains as a blesser and a guide.

We, the friends of the family, are compelled to be totally behind you and support you through prayer and mantra.  There are many folks in this world who lose family through mishaps of a shocking kind and we give our hearts out to you.

May the Source be with you!

5 km