St.
John’s, Newfoundland
To
the Atlantic
I’m certain that
passengers on the 8:00 a.m. flight to St. John’s, considered Marshall and I—who
were in devotional apparel—to be connected to the omnipresent scene of
Hallowe’en. But no, both of us were, and
are, genuine monks. Jon Peters, who
picked us up at the airport, knew me all too well. Thanks to Krishna, Marshall
came in from Montreal with a mini harmonium strapped over one shoulder, and a mrdanga
over the other.
Off to the campus of
Memorial University, we went, to meet one of the chaplaincy’s members of the
Jesuit order. To him, we were true-blue
Hare Krishnas. We had a good chat. He recalled seeing a group of us chanting at
a Pro Life event in Queen’s Park, Toronto, in the early eighties.
“You were all chanting,
and you had your food,” he recalled.
(I’ll refer to him as ‘Father’ from here on.)
Father asked about our
community in Canada, and I was able to explain that, both here and in the U.S.,
our society went through its share of struggles trying to get established after
our guru, Srila Prabhupada, initiated
the movement in 1965. “We were a curiosity then, tolerated, but now we are
accepted. And that has been in a large part due to endorsements from
theological academia, the support of the Hindu community, and our own
endurance.”
I was interviewed on the
campus radio station, CHMP 93.5 FM. “At
Halloween, people dress to be someone else. But in truth, we will always remain
as the self, the soul, despite even the reincarnations,” I expressed to the listeners.
Jon, Gordon, Marshall
and I took to walking at
Quidi Vidi Lake. A pigeon on the path
appeared to be leaving its body. Jon
picked it up and put it in the bushes. Then, I chanted mangala charana
mantras. Notably, today is the
anniversary of the passing of our guru, Prabhupada. Marshall and I made this our meditation.
May the Source be with
you!
3 km
