Sun. Feb. 17, 2008 - Ujjain, India
Today was another introspective day with respect to spiritual leadership. Our guru, Srila Prabhupada, had explained that there is sometime casualty on the royal road meaning that when one is on the journey of spiritual evolution there can be a weakness that sets in and effect the practioner to the point of disinvolving himself or herself. Indeed the soul can have its dark hour. This may also be the case for someone who has reached the height of being a leader.
It has been emphasized in the seminar the notion of retaining the servant attitude. One has an obligation to oneself first to see to it that spiritual health is intact. On a plane they advise that you take the oxygen mask before applying to your child or dependent. Similarly if you have students or followers you are expected to be fixed and fit in devotion and then they will benefit.
It is of paramount importance that we are up for self-assessment and that is one of the reason for being part of an initiative that allows for introspection. We also discussed the need for a buddy system, in a way that is conducive to spiritual health.
In the morning I was asked to lead Kirtan chanting but in the process drums were too many, khar-taals as well so midway through I stopped the kirtan and begged to reduce "the noise level". So we started again.
6 km
B L O G S P O T
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Sat. Feb. 16, 2008 - Ujjain, India
The train sounds faintly in the distance. It is 3:10 AM and it could well be 3:10 PM and the same train could likely be heard. Trains are prevalent in India and they have been a vital conveyance for moving people for at least a century or more. The train experience as a passenger is a colourful one. If you are not on a first class wagon and end up on a lesser status it is easy to feel like cargo at a time in the push for space. For the moment I am joyful to be free on the open street, Dewas Road, mobilized by my legs or the converse, being mobilized by my legs. Particularly every hour there is an automobile or a scooter that passes by and so quiet prevails which is so conducive for walking and chanting. My chosen route is the immediate area of the temple going "goom goom" or round and round. It is never my intention to be private but visible. As a monk our life should be an "open-book" or "like a reality TV show", a message that came out of today's seminar. At this hour in the morning who might be watching my moves? The answer is that there are plenty of security guards at particularly ever property site noting that I am there walking and chanting. I am not alone ever. There is always someone watching - the sun, the moon, people, animals what to speak of God in the heart.
6 km.
The train sounds faintly in the distance. It is 3:10 AM and it could well be 3:10 PM and the same train could likely be heard. Trains are prevalent in India and they have been a vital conveyance for moving people for at least a century or more. The train experience as a passenger is a colourful one. If you are not on a first class wagon and end up on a lesser status it is easy to feel like cargo at a time in the push for space. For the moment I am joyful to be free on the open street, Dewas Road, mobilized by my legs or the converse, being mobilized by my legs. Particularly every hour there is an automobile or a scooter that passes by and so quiet prevails which is so conducive for walking and chanting. My chosen route is the immediate area of the temple going "goom goom" or round and round. It is never my intention to be private but visible. As a monk our life should be an "open-book" or "like a reality TV show", a message that came out of today's seminar. At this hour in the morning who might be watching my moves? The answer is that there are plenty of security guards at particularly ever property site noting that I am there walking and chanting. I am not alone ever. There is always someone watching - the sun, the moon, people, animals what to speak of God in the heart.
6 km.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Fri. Feb. 15, 2008 - Ujjain, India
India has a multitude of rivers, all sacred, according to residents and teachers of Vedic knowledge. The Kshipra River flows through Ujjian and draws millions of pilgrims to this body of water as one of the four annual sites for the popular Kumbh Mela, a festival which honours the pot of immortality nectar held by the goddess, Mohini Murti, as a gesture to offer long life to pious demigods.
It was day number two of a seminar on spiritual leadership and those participating were all leaders mostly monks and including some married folks. We explored the attributes of the ideal spiritual leaders, his or her assimilation of wisdom, its applications and the consequences that arises from not following certain principles and values.
They are good learning sessions and when you consider that 5,000 years ago Krishna, as a young boy, along with brother Balaram came to Ujjian to learn of 64 arts, this location must be well charged up for learning. Sandipani Muni was the name of the guru and it is not hard to feel the influence of such an empowered teacher.
As happened last night the day ended with a Kirtan at my lead. This is God's mercy, of course.
My early morning trekking takes place in the temple's neighborhood.
8 km.
India has a multitude of rivers, all sacred, according to residents and teachers of Vedic knowledge. The Kshipra River flows through Ujjian and draws millions of pilgrims to this body of water as one of the four annual sites for the popular Kumbh Mela, a festival which honours the pot of immortality nectar held by the goddess, Mohini Murti, as a gesture to offer long life to pious demigods.
It was day number two of a seminar on spiritual leadership and those participating were all leaders mostly monks and including some married folks. We explored the attributes of the ideal spiritual leaders, his or her assimilation of wisdom, its applications and the consequences that arises from not following certain principles and values.
They are good learning sessions and when you consider that 5,000 years ago Krishna, as a young boy, along with brother Balaram came to Ujjian to learn of 64 arts, this location must be well charged up for learning. Sandipani Muni was the name of the guru and it is not hard to feel the influence of such an empowered teacher.
As happened last night the day ended with a Kirtan at my lead. This is God's mercy, of course.
My early morning trekking takes place in the temple's neighborhood.
8 km.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Thurs. Feb. 14, 2008 - Ujjain, India
A quiet and non-congested place is sometimes hard to find in India but somehow or other Ujjain (Population 500,000. aprox) situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh is one of those clean air retreat friendly cities. The ISKCON temple is situated in the outskirts. The project headed by Bhakti Charu Swami, a Bengali native, carries all the charm of this dear and kind monk. In the morning discourse the swami spoke of how the institution was precedented to work democratically without a single successor. Collective consciousness was the order set by head monk Srila Prabhupada, the founder. This type of governance offers a reasonable checks and balance system and hence some security for participants. Granted there is no real firm protection in this mundane world. Who doesn't claim to be enslaved by life's features of birth, death, old age and disease? I received an email message that one of our members of ISKCON in Toronto just passed on due to a nasty automobile accident while in India. Bless the soul of Bandhari Prabhu whose life was of devotion to family and Krishna. Life goes on as the sun pervades here in India despite the dying dynamics and birth dynamics of this world.
9 km
A quiet and non-congested place is sometimes hard to find in India but somehow or other Ujjain (Population 500,000. aprox) situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh is one of those clean air retreat friendly cities. The ISKCON temple is situated in the outskirts. The project headed by Bhakti Charu Swami, a Bengali native, carries all the charm of this dear and kind monk. In the morning discourse the swami spoke of how the institution was precedented to work democratically without a single successor. Collective consciousness was the order set by head monk Srila Prabhupada, the founder. This type of governance offers a reasonable checks and balance system and hence some security for participants. Granted there is no real firm protection in this mundane world. Who doesn't claim to be enslaved by life's features of birth, death, old age and disease? I received an email message that one of our members of ISKCON in Toronto just passed on due to a nasty automobile accident while in India. Bless the soul of Bandhari Prabhu whose life was of devotion to family and Krishna. Life goes on as the sun pervades here in India despite the dying dynamics and birth dynamics of this world.
9 km
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Fri. Feb 01/08 - Calgary, Alberta
Today I completed a poem about my dad (John Vis Sr.)
Dear Creator,
You struck a good balance
When you linked the leaf and petal
Came a man of heart and muscle
Smooth as silk, hard as metal.
With pride he told his pastimes
Of a place of mills and dikes
Which fueled life then and there
With feet on skates and feet on hikes.
Folks then bore brutal war
Watched the stock market crash
Lost jobs but not nerve –
Convictions could never be smashed.
He left the land below sea level
For a promised place remote
Atlantic waters rippled by
Wonderlust was his virtual boat.
He married a lady called Rose
They passed through fragrance and thorns
They begot two guys ‘n two gals
Then a twin was newly born.
He walked us down the outdoor trails
But inside told of birds and bees
He gave us each those daily chores
And how to milk those cows with ease.
He grew those plants with his green thumb
Toiled decades on the assembly line
With different strokes he cracked those jokes
He was just fun-loving all the time.
Patience he learned in a very hard way
He gave us our choices in life
Our music was not to cope with
It gave him some stress and strife.
His was a full life of colour
Sporting half beard and wooden shoes.
He was extraordinary and yet ordinary
An upbeat dad you thought you’d never lose.
His heart froze in the land of the petal
His body lies in the land of the leaves
Oh Creator, rest his soul in heaven
For he was born to give and to please.
H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami
4 Kms today.
Today I completed a poem about my dad (John Vis Sr.)
Dear Creator,
You struck a good balance
When you linked the leaf and petal
Came a man of heart and muscle
Smooth as silk, hard as metal.
With pride he told his pastimes
Of a place of mills and dikes
Which fueled life then and there
With feet on skates and feet on hikes.
Folks then bore brutal war
Watched the stock market crash
Lost jobs but not nerve –
Convictions could never be smashed.
He left the land below sea level
For a promised place remote
Atlantic waters rippled by
Wonderlust was his virtual boat.
He married a lady called Rose
They passed through fragrance and thorns
They begot two guys ‘n two gals
Then a twin was newly born.
He walked us down the outdoor trails
But inside told of birds and bees
He gave us each those daily chores
And how to milk those cows with ease.
He grew those plants with his green thumb
Toiled decades on the assembly line
With different strokes he cracked those jokes
He was just fun-loving all the time.
Patience he learned in a very hard way
He gave us our choices in life
Our music was not to cope with
It gave him some stress and strife.
His was a full life of colour
Sporting half beard and wooden shoes.
He was extraordinary and yet ordinary
An upbeat dad you thought you’d never lose.
His heart froze in the land of the petal
His body lies in the land of the leaves
Oh Creator, rest his soul in heaven
For he was born to give and to please.
H.H. Bhaktimarga Swami
4 Kms today.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thurs. Jan. 31/08 - Calgary, Alberta
It was rather shocking news throughout Canada. The newspapers headlines amplified “Cold Reality”. Regardiung 2 toddlers, 1 and 3, found frozen to death lying in the outdoor snow clad in diapers and the father, still alive, frost-bitten on a native reserve in Saskatchewan. Temperatures had reached minus 50 degrees Celsius.
The “Reality” is life’s duality, the extremes and how to cope with them?
I bundled up to a minus 27 degree in the Calgary afternoon chill to do my body some service- exercise and move the body airs around inside. I had brunched with a primary school teacher at the residence of Gaurachandra, a marvelous saxophone player and spiritual man, along with Vanipriya, his wife, and Jagannath his son. Conducive for such chilled weather we had our hot soup while speculating over the decision for Toronto to open a black-only school for black kids.
Wouldn’t this ignite a new segregation? Even racism? Moreover, from a monks perspective isn’t this decision highly bodily conscious? All the decades of efforts to defuse racism seems to now have gone straight out the window. I find such social shifts very interesting.
Our evening event was a satsang, home program, of chanting and encouragement towards chanting.
Chanting is where the real warmth lies.
5 kms.
It was rather shocking news throughout Canada. The newspapers headlines amplified “Cold Reality”. Regardiung 2 toddlers, 1 and 3, found frozen to death lying in the outdoor snow clad in diapers and the father, still alive, frost-bitten on a native reserve in Saskatchewan. Temperatures had reached minus 50 degrees Celsius.
The “Reality” is life’s duality, the extremes and how to cope with them?
I bundled up to a minus 27 degree in the Calgary afternoon chill to do my body some service- exercise and move the body airs around inside. I had brunched with a primary school teacher at the residence of Gaurachandra, a marvelous saxophone player and spiritual man, along with Vanipriya, his wife, and Jagannath his son. Conducive for such chilled weather we had our hot soup while speculating over the decision for Toronto to open a black-only school for black kids.
Wouldn’t this ignite a new segregation? Even racism? Moreover, from a monks perspective isn’t this decision highly bodily conscious? All the decades of efforts to defuse racism seems to now have gone straight out the window. I find such social shifts very interesting.
Our evening event was a satsang, home program, of chanting and encouragement towards chanting.
Chanting is where the real warmth lies.
5 kms.
Wednesday, Januaray 23, 2008
Wed. Jan.23/08 - Dallas Texas
My stay here was on Gurley Avenue in the home of the ISKCON temple’s co-ordinator. His name is Nityananda, Fijian born, and is a gentleman. The temple is gorgeously re-made with a combined gothic church look and vedic temple modification, interior and exterior. My room was a minute walk from this location which has an award winning restaurant incorporated inside. The neighborhood is graced with modest homes keeping the Texas sky large and leaving some presence of Pecan trees. Mostly Mexican families surround the devotees community and it’s not uncommon for someone to maintain a rooster in their yard.
In my early morning japa (chanting) walk I came upon stray dogs and if it wasn’t for a boisterous local man to call them off I might not have been able to proceed.
Monks and married men and women from the Krishna order had come to Dallas for an annual continental gathering for business of our mission. I was pleased to be asked to lead in some kirtan (singing) to commence the meetings set for the following three days. I was also given access to the Dallas community of youth as we planned rehearsals and presentations of the 30 minute drama “Canto 10”.
I’m not much of a meetings person but it is a necessary austerity that helps keep order.
It is a nice service.
9 kms.
My stay here was on Gurley Avenue in the home of the ISKCON temple’s co-ordinator. His name is Nityananda, Fijian born, and is a gentleman. The temple is gorgeously re-made with a combined gothic church look and vedic temple modification, interior and exterior. My room was a minute walk from this location which has an award winning restaurant incorporated inside. The neighborhood is graced with modest homes keeping the Texas sky large and leaving some presence of Pecan trees. Mostly Mexican families surround the devotees community and it’s not uncommon for someone to maintain a rooster in their yard.
In my early morning japa (chanting) walk I came upon stray dogs and if it wasn’t for a boisterous local man to call them off I might not have been able to proceed.
Monks and married men and women from the Krishna order had come to Dallas for an annual continental gathering for business of our mission. I was pleased to be asked to lead in some kirtan (singing) to commence the meetings set for the following three days. I was also given access to the Dallas community of youth as we planned rehearsals and presentations of the 30 minute drama “Canto 10”.
I’m not much of a meetings person but it is a necessary austerity that helps keep order.
It is a nice service.
9 kms.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Mon. Jan. 21/08 - Blenheim, Ontario
The previous day was spent at McKinlay Funeral Home to have the last glimpse at the man I adored, my first guru, my father. Surely his life force is gone and moved on.
A member of the family booked several rooms for us at Chatham’s Comfort Inn. I took to early walking in robes of course. It was dark and a person reported to the police that someone was walking in slippers and a gown in this 20 below degrees so police came. I undid my hood and explained that I’m a monk and having my last reflective walk before burying him this morning. Respectfully they offered a word of condolence and went on their way.
My three sisters and two brothers attended the last rites at St. Mary’s church, then the burial right next to mom who was placed there in 1992.
Farwell, dad.
9kms
The previous day was spent at McKinlay Funeral Home to have the last glimpse at the man I adored, my first guru, my father. Surely his life force is gone and moved on.
A member of the family booked several rooms for us at Chatham’s Comfort Inn. I took to early walking in robes of course. It was dark and a person reported to the police that someone was walking in slippers and a gown in this 20 below degrees so police came. I undid my hood and explained that I’m a monk and having my last reflective walk before burying him this morning. Respectfully they offered a word of condolence and went on their way.
My three sisters and two brothers attended the last rites at St. Mary’s church, then the burial right next to mom who was placed there in 1992.
Farwell, dad.
9kms
Saturday, January 19. 2008
Saturday January 19/08 - Port Royal Pennsylvania
The morning message was based on a verse from Canto 5 of the book, Bhagavatam when renounciant king by the name Bharat fell overly affectionate for a lost fawn. He went so far as to say that the earth is blessed because of the deer’s dainty hoofprints etched on it’s soft surface. You could call it a situation of love sickness.
We all have our moments of extremities and they do lead to trouble. That’s why the safest path to tread is the middle gorund, the path of balance, caution- the path of goodness, satva guna.
The residents at the rural community, Gita nagari, were highly attentive to the message of the verse, thrust towards goodness and the satva guna way of living. The resident peacocks outside the temple confirmed it with their cooing.
The balance of my time there was spent in passion. We had pre arranged some drama practice with the local youth and the piece was called “Canto 10”. There was no time to complete practice sufficiently as there was (don’t know the word) no time to walk.
I’m a little worried I’ll put on extra pounds.
The morning message was based on a verse from Canto 5 of the book, Bhagavatam when renounciant king by the name Bharat fell overly affectionate for a lost fawn. He went so far as to say that the earth is blessed because of the deer’s dainty hoofprints etched on it’s soft surface. You could call it a situation of love sickness.
We all have our moments of extremities and they do lead to trouble. That’s why the safest path to tread is the middle gorund, the path of balance, caution- the path of goodness, satva guna.
The residents at the rural community, Gita nagari, were highly attentive to the message of the verse, thrust towards goodness and the satva guna way of living. The resident peacocks outside the temple confirmed it with their cooing.
The balance of my time there was spent in passion. We had pre arranged some drama practice with the local youth and the piece was called “Canto 10”. There was no time to complete practice sufficiently as there was (don’t know the word) no time to walk.
I’m a little worried I’ll put on extra pounds.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday January 18/08 - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
I am truly spending more time in the air than on the ground these days. However, my brief walk with companion Pandu, is practically like being in the air. My hosts in Harrisburg are Tand Krishna and Lila Katha, an absolutely lovely couple. Their home is at the top of one of those Pennsylvania hills. The January winds offer a chill. Leafless hardwood trees are set against white slopes and it’s rather appealing to me.
In the evening I was asked to speak at a community centre which is a weekly venue for those keen on Bhakti yoga. The topic was verse 10:12 and 13 of the Gita which addresses the preference of the manifest over the unmanifest aspect of the Supreme. I relayed to the group of forty or so people how in my younger years I was wrongly put in prison overnight and a day 30 years ago and while there I met a manifest God.
Truly this prisoner was self-declared and I asked him if he could manifest his universal form as outlined in Chapter 11 of the Gita. His rather questionably intelligible remark was,” I am not up to it now but I’ll do so when I wish to.”
The remark brought laughter to the enthusiastic group. One man in the group wanted to hear about some anecdote from the road so that sent me flying not through the air but through the ether, through time and on those roads again. Naturally we had tales to tell to the gathering and it appeared that they too were transported to a world of walking.
A modest 2kms.
I am truly spending more time in the air than on the ground these days. However, my brief walk with companion Pandu, is practically like being in the air. My hosts in Harrisburg are Tand Krishna and Lila Katha, an absolutely lovely couple. Their home is at the top of one of those Pennsylvania hills. The January winds offer a chill. Leafless hardwood trees are set against white slopes and it’s rather appealing to me.
In the evening I was asked to speak at a community centre which is a weekly venue for those keen on Bhakti yoga. The topic was verse 10:12 and 13 of the Gita which addresses the preference of the manifest over the unmanifest aspect of the Supreme. I relayed to the group of forty or so people how in my younger years I was wrongly put in prison overnight and a day 30 years ago and while there I met a manifest God.
Truly this prisoner was self-declared and I asked him if he could manifest his universal form as outlined in Chapter 11 of the Gita. His rather questionably intelligible remark was,” I am not up to it now but I’ll do so when I wish to.”
The remark brought laughter to the enthusiastic group. One man in the group wanted to hear about some anecdote from the road so that sent me flying not through the air but through the ether, through time and on those roads again. Naturally we had tales to tell to the gathering and it appeared that they too were transported to a world of walking.
A modest 2kms.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Thurs. January 17/08 - Columbus, Ohio
My hosts for today was Naveen Krishna and family in a Colunbus suburb, upper Arlington in a section of town with zero crime rate. An early morning walk through this neighborhood of well maintained residences and plenty of churches convinced me that I’m in conservative middle-class America and in a safe zone. The irony is that this whole mundane exsistance is fraught with the insecurities of death, old age and disease. This may seem as cynical to say but such truth cannot be clothed. Life is harsh!
My father was the epitome of energy, a robust rock and the farthest point from being a dead – dad. He was upbeat. The pity of life is to see something so powerful diminish and shut down. He is relieved now and so am I. May he be better situated in a new life of (don’t know the word) and I thank him for being my first guru and instilling in me a taste for spirituality that has become a life-line.
My mourning for him is over and I was able to participate forthrightly in a program held weekly at the ISKCON centre.
10kms.
My hosts for today was Naveen Krishna and family in a Colunbus suburb, upper Arlington in a section of town with zero crime rate. An early morning walk through this neighborhood of well maintained residences and plenty of churches convinced me that I’m in conservative middle-class America and in a safe zone. The irony is that this whole mundane exsistance is fraught with the insecurities of death, old age and disease. This may seem as cynical to say but such truth cannot be clothed. Life is harsh!
My father was the epitome of energy, a robust rock and the farthest point from being a dead – dad. He was upbeat. The pity of life is to see something so powerful diminish and shut down. He is relieved now and so am I. May he be better situated in a new life of (don’t know the word) and I thank him for being my first guru and instilling in me a taste for spirituality that has become a life-line.
My mourning for him is over and I was able to participate forthrightly in a program held weekly at the ISKCON centre.
10kms.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Cleveland, Ohio
On the flight back to Cleveland I enjoyed reading articles from “Back to Godhead” magazine. It is a unique bi-monthly journal and features articles on Vedic philosophy, places of pilgrimage, people’s personal spiritual testimonies and more. One of the publication’s purposes reads, “to help discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.” For a journal in today’s world it is indeed rare.
As we descended through clouds and the Continental 737’s windows revealed frost-white blotches on the landscape below to contrast Florida’s greenness and in the moments when I thought back on what I just left behind a vision of another new aquaitance came to mind. During the chanting session at South Beach one of the participants was a true pilgrim whom I had read about in a previous “Back to Godhead”.
The pilgrim is Chadrabhagad. She and her husband Avadhuta hold to their credit a distasnce of 10 000 miles when in 2003 they lived from a horse driven cart from Pennsylvania to Ecuador. It was an honour to meet a comrade that I shared a common Karma with. The tragedy as she explained about the project is that in a mountain region two vehicles on a foggy day clashed and startled the horse toppling the cart and injuring the driver, Avadhuta, who became paralyzed. Bless him! They are my heroes.
The scene of the accident was at Cuenca, Ecuador and has halted the project whose goal was to encourage the simple life.
An evening program was held at Cleveland’s west-end gathering center at the home of Dayal Nitai former heavy metal musician. In the evenings message I emphasized the need to always remain connected to spiritually evolved people.
As I was about to leave for a two hour ride to Columbus I received a call from Remuna my assistant from Toronto; ”Your dad passed away five minutes ago.”
On the flight back to Cleveland I enjoyed reading articles from “Back to Godhead” magazine. It is a unique bi-monthly journal and features articles on Vedic philosophy, places of pilgrimage, people’s personal spiritual testimonies and more. One of the publication’s purposes reads, “to help discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.” For a journal in today’s world it is indeed rare.
As we descended through clouds and the Continental 737’s windows revealed frost-white blotches on the landscape below to contrast Florida’s greenness and in the moments when I thought back on what I just left behind a vision of another new aquaitance came to mind. During the chanting session at South Beach one of the participants was a true pilgrim whom I had read about in a previous “Back to Godhead”.
The pilgrim is Chadrabhagad. She and her husband Avadhuta hold to their credit a distasnce of 10 000 miles when in 2003 they lived from a horse driven cart from Pennsylvania to Ecuador. It was an honour to meet a comrade that I shared a common Karma with. The tragedy as she explained about the project is that in a mountain region two vehicles on a foggy day clashed and startled the horse toppling the cart and injuring the driver, Avadhuta, who became paralyzed. Bless him! They are my heroes.
The scene of the accident was at Cuenca, Ecuador and has halted the project whose goal was to encourage the simple life.
An evening program was held at Cleveland’s west-end gathering center at the home of Dayal Nitai former heavy metal musician. In the evenings message I emphasized the need to always remain connected to spiritually evolved people.
As I was about to leave for a two hour ride to Columbus I received a call from Remuna my assistant from Toronto; ”Your dad passed away five minutes ago.”
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