Wednesday, November 6th, 2019

Toronto, Ontario

Meeting Tony

Achuta is a young father originally from Tamil Nadu, who is now living in Qatar. He is exploring Canada as a place to move to.  He happily accepted my proposal for a one hour walk.  We did so in a drizzle, in a nearby neighbourhood of the temple/ashram.  We both chatted and compared notes, so to speak, on the differences between the three cultures of India, the Middle East and Canada.  Our conclusion was that while there are variant ways to do things, in the end, everyone is often quite the same in terms of habits based around self-centredness. 

As we were in conversation (and still in drizzle and darkness) a younger man walked up to me, wanting my attention.

"Are you a monk?"

"Yes I am, a Krishna monk from around the corner at the Krishna temple on Avenue Road."

He went on to say, excitedly, "In my ancestry, there have been a good number of monks and nuns." 

He identified himself as Roman Catholic by birth and said  his name was Tony.  “They were so gifted and insightful.  Are you like that?”

I believe he was implying that people of the cloth, who lead a life of simplicity, are perceptive and often healers; they do good works. So I explained that through study of ancient teachings, like those of the book, Bhagavad-gita, and through the mercy (kindness) of my teacher/guru, I've become a lot more sensitive and benevolent.

We were now at the entrance of the subway, and he mentioned he had to break it off and depart.  We shook hands.  Achuta saw and heard our talk and was impressed with Tony's inquisitiveness.  Personally, I like the way some conversations go from a negative analysis to a positive experience.  We walked back to Govinda's where I met Stephen Phillips, who was happy on Krishna prasadam. https://www.instagram.com/p/B4i3gDWgCkH/?igshid=1umh561toifr7

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Tuesday, November 5th, 2019

Toronto/Markham

A Birthday

The boiler in our building has some challenges; it’s leaving the interior rather cool in temperature. Govinda’s Restaurant, located inside, is warm, however, it’s being heated by a separate unit. I hung out here for a good portion of the day until it was time to go for my walk in the direction of Dhira Nitai’s home. It’s his birthday. He is sixty-nine today.

I made my way through Rosedale, then onto the Danforth to what is known as Greektown, and just before I entered a growing Islamic community, I was picked up by two devotees of the Scarborough temple. They took me to Dhira Nitai’s basement apartment. With a mini birthday cake, we celebrated this fine bhakti yogi of a man. About twenty of us fit into his modest-sized space.

I had to pardon myself for an hour to take some private time on a conference call. (We monks do have diverse responsibilities.) Once the call was completed, we swung our hearts into the Damodara song, and then offer a candle to the images of Baby Krishna and His mother, Yashoda. It has become a custom amongst some of us Krishna-ites to do a bit of house-hopping, sing the same song, and then offer candles in this month of Kartik.

What a nice bunch of people, and all with such good intentions. When Dhira Nitai blew out his birthday candle, I asked him to tell us his wish, and he said what the group wanted to hear: “That we will have a larger property with a larger building to accommodate more people.”

Of course he was talking about the current local ISKCON facility, and how he wishes to see an increased sharing of higher consciousness. He is thoughtful!

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Monday, November 4th, 2019

St. John’s, Newfoundland

Dear Great Trail

Marshall and I took to a second chunk of the Great Trail, beginning at Bowring Park and going west. Nice place, really, with water cascading. This morning, I took to some analysis of the trail along Waterford River and wanted to express my feelings.

Dear Great Trail,

             

You are not so ‘great’ as you may think you are. In fact, because you are rendering many services to others, you appear to be meek, and humble. You are bearing the weight of my roamers pounding on you daily. The feet of humans, dogs, and the many wheels of rubber must be crushing you at times. It must also be unpleasant when the heat is soaring, the rain is pouring, and when snow and ice are covering you.

I see that you have partnered up with diverse trees and grasses along your two sides, and that various stones rest upon your very self. Judging by my own ambling upon you, I find that you are level-headed, with the exception of a few depressions, here and there, upon your surface. Puddles on your path are rare. It looks like you have someone caring for you, in terms of maintenance.

There is a beautiful aspect to you, but I believe you are under-appreciated. Perhaps more people could take advantage of your services. There is much more of a hectic element on the road running parallel to your edge. Traffic is crazy along there, especially at rush hour.

You have a certain gravity, yet another of your good qualities. Now that I’ve left you, in hindsight I believe you are a ‘Great Trail, after all.

Sincerely,

The Walking Monk

May the Source be with you.

5 km