Saturday, October 26th, 2013

Nice Touch

Tel Aviv, Israel

My main host in Israel is a bright 25 year old Russian-born Bala Krishna. As we made the drive to Tel Aviv for a walk, a swim and Kirtan with others he showed me a hard copy of an interesting graph. It was an EEG, electroencephalogram, of two people, quite avid practitioners of bhakti yoga and how the brain waves showed a beautiful solid reading of an exceptionally controlled mind when they chanted gayatri mantras.

It was an experiment conducted as part of academic research showing unseen ability to control brain-wave patterns. The whole world is becoming intrigued with the practice if meditation and how it brings about a positive sense of focus in people's lives. If science gets behind this ancient technique for making life tolerable then it will be rendering a great service, don't you think?

Since my last visit to Israel two years ago when I actually completed walking the country I see the efforts to improve the quality of life at least by the beachfront, the Mediterranean shoreline. A bicycle path, with north and south lanes, has been introduced with a bike rental system as you see in world-class cities. But what else can provide an enhanced way of being?

The kirtan that was lead by one other Russian devotee on harmonium with speakers and an entourage had many people spontaneously dancing and putting their effort out to take a crack at mantra meditation. The people here have a sense of rhythm and this was clearly demonstrated by passersby, tourists and such, who didn't just end up passing by but who stayed for a stretch to join in the fun. A lot of happy faces erupted as folks entered this domain.

The two young guys in particular remained with our male circle of dancers as they kept a simple but creative step for a good long while. Our female-formed circle also attracted women who stumbled upon a very festive side of a Saturday Night Fever. The more delicately demonstrated impressive hand moves.

I'm not sure what a graph would look like if all kirtan participants, including dancers and onlookers, were hooked up to a brain-wave machine. Judging by the joy on the faces I think that alone to be a good gauge. From what I gather the city of Tel Aviv is gracious to allow for this outdoor kirtan to go on for many years. This party of mantra chanters puts a nice touch to the the social landscape of the Mediterranean Sea side.

May the Source be with you!

5 KM

Friday, October 25th 2013

Getting to Know You

 

Tel Aviv, Israel

 

From the ashram in Aeriel on Hadekel Street, two of the monks residing here took me on a trail that looped around the edge of the town. It was 5:30 AM and Adan was being sung from a minaret of the local mosque. One of the monks chose to be in civilian attire for reasons that he didn't want to deal with authorities. The other one was bolder and stuck to devotional attire. I didn't think there was too much to worry about.

 

I was becoming familiar with the customary greeting in "Hebrew". Of course, there's Shalom. Also boker tov was the expression I got to know. We were not alone on the stroll. There were warm greeters. One man however, with a lips cap on his head just didn't take too well to our presence. I was trying to get "biker to my tongue, grappling for this new term to send off. I found a big smile had to suffice. A condescending glance that went from my head to toe was how he reciprocated.

 

I got to know the area a bit, including the university grounds. Cats frequent the streets. Bala Krishna, one of the monks, told me that the students feed these stray feline creatures, which explains the numbers. Jasmine, fig and olive shrub and trees are recognizable to me. It's a wonderful world.

 

Twelve hours later and we drove ourselves to near the central bus station in Tel Aviv. I'm just a stranger here but I find an absolute "no no" that our Krishna devotees are partaking in. There's nothing wrong with them chanting. In fact, I'm keen to be a part of it. It's the location and formation that got me concerned. As a rule of thumb I would never have a chanting party cause people to have to walk around and walk on the sidewalk and especially outside a busy department store. Sure enough, security came out because our group was just too much "in the face" of the place and so they reacted. Mind you the singing and drumming was supremely lively but we were in one spot for too long, too loud and creating worse than a bottle-neck situation. We had to move on. I hope to learn from our mistakes.

 

A ten minute walk and we were set for an evening sanga at a community hall. It was a predominant Russian community that came to hear about the Science of the Self, to sing, eat and enjoy each others' company. Bala Krishna translated my message and I was gratified to hear the audience was gratified. It's all the mercy of guru.

 

May the source be with you!

 

7 KM

Thursday, October 24th, 2013

The Run

Aeriel, Israel

At the airport in Istanbul, Turkey, time was tight for catching the flight to Tel Aviv from Mumbai.  My walk within the terminal to my designated gate almost broke into a sprint, just to make sure I wouldn’t be late.  Once reaching gate 502, it was relieving to know that our plane destined for Israel was a few minutes late.  Phew!

I got to thinking (meditating perhaps) that there are a few well known instances where Krishna was recorded to have run like crazy.  One example is when he was young and he ran away from the aggressive King, Jarasandha.  It might have appeared that Krishna whose self took on a role as aksatriya warrior had now portrayed himself as cowardly, but that wasn’t the case.  Circumstantially he received a letter from his bride to be, Rukmini, who was set in great danger, he ran to her rescue.

Another occasion where Krishna ran and in genuine fear, was when he was a mere toddler and his mother, Yashoda, came after him to catch him and chastise him for some apparent wrong doing.  To put it very plainly, Krishna had built up a reputation as a prankster.  In this case he deliberately broke a household butter pot.  Some people may offer their opinions that he could be excused because he was so young in his formative years.

Run, he did.   Got caught, he did, after a well worn out chase by his mom.  In the mood of parental love, Yashoda had committed to exercising correctional services upon her son, which involved a rope, a stick and a hard run.

This pastime involving Krishna and Yashoda had many endearing messages behind it.  When I arrived at the men’s/women’s ashram in Aeriel, an hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, I was asked to remark about the running boy, Krishna.  I was equipped with a new book, “Damodara” by Bhakti Purusottama Swami.  It’s an excellent read, and as the author proudly put it when he happily delivered it to my hand the other day, “This is a compilation of the combined efforts of the acharyas who have commented on the matter.”  He was referring to Krishna’s running.  You might want to check out this book.

May the great Source be with you!

0 KM

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013

To Pune

 

Pune, India

 

Enroute to Mumbai is another city in the state of Maharashtra where devotion soars high in the midst of the passion of urbanization.  The place is Pune which had recently opened doors to a new temple located in its suburbs.  I was to see this as a stopover before proceeding to Mumbai.  There is this gorgeous temple of red stone and white marble.  I was warmly greeted by at least twenty monks engaged in kirtan chanting at the temple's entrance.  Inside a class was in session, conducted by Bhanu and Bhakti Chaitanya Swamis.  Then I was called up to speak a few minutes.

 

Unaware of the actual topic of today, I just decided to 'wing it' and ask an even larger group of monks to answer my question.  In this way we could be more interactive and keep the group alert.

 

My question was, "Why have you all decided to take up life in this temple/ashram?"  The answers flowed like water.  It was easy to hit thirty-five reasons for being a monk in this very sattvic place, in this mode of goodness atmosphere.  We could have gone on but it was time to terminate.  "Love, care, friendship, education, purification, peace," were some of the clinchers for these young men moving in.

 

From here I was driven to breakfast at a devotee's apartment (I hope I can fit some time into a trek somewhere in the day).  Ascending the steps to the apartment building a young man was standing there.  I saw the opportunity to leave him the flower garland given to me at the temple.  As a kind gesture I began to raise the beautiful crafted flower garland towards his head.  He immediately backed away as I could understand he was likely not a Hindu. He resisted like anything.

 

In the Marathi language my assistant started speaking to the fellow, whom I now offered a handshake instead. He then responded.  It turns out that the fellow was Muslim and was not willing to partake in a foreign gesture.  I appreciated that he did compromise though.  "Why must there be such colossal walls between the different approaches to the Absolute?" I thought.  When the Berlin Wall finally did come tumbling down it opened up a greater communication between East and West Germany. The problem with the invisible wall between faiths is that it appears more formidable than that apparent solid barricade that politically tears people apart, such as the great wall of China.

 

"Come together, right now!"  John Lennon.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

5 KM

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013

Safari Destination

Mahabaleshwar, India

 

This place could easily turn into a safari destination point.  I put my feelers out there hoping to attract a crew to go hiking with.  Initially it was going to be Dominique, Dina Sharina, one of our outstanding female leaders from Germany, and myself to trek a longer route today and only in the wilderness.  By dispatch time, 9:00 am, a dozen willing and eager people came forward for the time together and time for mantra meditation on foot.  News got out that leeches found under leaves and on grass are in abundance.  It didn't seem to intimidate anyone - a sign of leadership, I'd say.

 

As I've said before to have a real adventure it takes getting lost to accomplish that.  Dominique, who's a well-intentioned guide, himself became a little bewildered when paths turned into overgrowth.  Being the person he is, he was as cool as a cucumber about it and consulted with some women in sarees who, out of habit and need, were in the forest collecting firewood with machetes in their hands.

 

A second time of losing grip on directions forced intuition (or supersoul) to help us gain our bearings.  We took to uneven ground over volcanic rock.  In some instances thorny branches grabbed the ends of our flowing devotional attire.  We crossed one of those creeks balancing ourselves on tottering rocks; not bad for a bunch of people mostly in their sixties.  Finally we connected with a road of pavement which led us to an extraordinary vista.  From there a coincidence (if you want to believe such) happened - our pick-up van showed up, terminating the trek, much to all of our troupers' dismay.  Just under two hours was not sufficient for the adventuresome.

 

There is no bonding like this that takes place when people in moderate number, move together through thickets and clearings on a wild trail.

 

We merged with our larger group, fellow devotees, when finally in the night over a veggie barbecue enterprise, we offered ghee lamps to the image of Damodara (baby Krishna) and listened to a dramatical reading from the script 'Gita: Concise' which I compiled paraphrasing Krishna's rich words.  This was the last of readings by Praghosa and I to our group of peers at Mahabaleshwar.  In front of the Heritage Building at the resort our challenge at reading was getting our scripts to behave considering the winds were high, tossing the pages of the script.

 

One of the many instructive lines was the script indeed contained a message about wind.  As I turned a page the word popped out.  In regards to the mind Krishna says, "Be like a flame in a windless place where it does not waver."

 

May the Source be with you!

 

7 KM

Monday, October 21st, 2013

The Jungle and the Temple

Mahabaleshwar
 
There was a high concentration of saffron at our morning sadhana program.  This simply means that monastic fellows were in good attendance.  The venue was the conference room at Ram Sukh Resort.  We enjoyed singing in gratitude to guru, to Krishna, to His pleasure potency Radha - Female Divine.  And for meditation on the Earth green we praised Tulasi, the sacred herb mentioned over and over in ancient texts of bhakti (devotion).

 

To prove our amicable nature towards the earth's bounties coupled with a fever for seeing old and antiquated anythings, a few of us set foot to trek in the local wilderness.  We had in mind to explore.  Two groups went their own chalked out routes.  Lokanath Swami heading the first group and Dominique was our guide for the second group.  It was a two and a half hour exploration through the low jungles of the area.  We then ventured to a Siva Lingam Temple, a structure from another era; rewinding time 5000 years to when the warrior Bhima of the famous Pandavas erected this piece of wonder.

 

While Bhakti Bhringa Govinda and Radhanath Swamis were being treated for leech attacks, the balance of us zealously stepped into a moment of great honor in time.  At this temple courtyard a stone carving of Siva's bull Nandi spouts out from his mouth the pure water source of one of India's sacred rivers, The Krishna.  The river flows for hundreds of kilometers to the southern state of Kerala - awesome.  We stand to be corrected however, because just a few meters in elevation is another temple where apparently 5 rivers converge in the form of spring water, which come forth like little trickles before they transform into volumes of Bhumi's (earth) elixir.

 

Prahlad Rathi, our resort owner, so kindly ventured with us.  And although he may be classified as being in the big-shot category as a swanky businessman, on the contrary he is as humble and accommodating as they come.  It is not that saintly hood only comes in packages of saffron or in the dress of the royal order like the hero Bhima, but you can find it streaming from anywhere and everywhere like the many springs that rhythmically descend to the base of the Krishna Valley.  By the end of the day we fondly looked at the sun's bowing out in this magical valley.

 

May that great Source be with you!

 

10 KM

Sunday, October 20th, 2013

Horn Not

 

Mahabaleshwar, India

 

From Juhu a bus load of us elders (I guess you could say) journeyed to the Shayadri Mountains, one of three major ranges in India.  We ventured to a secluded place at the summit of a hill station - The Ram Sukh Resort in Mahabaleshwar where we were to chill for three days.

 

Juhu was our place of business, discussion, and strategic planning.  This resort was to be a place to relax with a non-compulsory program.  It's a first.  Yet it is understood that sadhana or the minimum requirement of japa chanting was still standard.

 

After an interesting zig-zag ride with tight curbs on a windy trail our bus could go no further due to lack of ample maneuvering space.  Conveyance by car took us to the entrance of the resort, a full-vegetarian heaven-on-earth tourist trap.  The rear parking lot has a sign attached to it which reads "HORN NOT OKAY PLEASE."  Not all motorists read the message.  As I made my way with luggage to the Solitarie Building for accommodation, a person insisted on tooting.

 

We lunched with Bhanu Swami (a Japanese Canadian monk), Bhakti Purusottam Swami from Bengal, and Madhusevata (a guru from Italy).  Then it was American-born Kavichandra Swami and I who took to a mediocre-rough trail after lunch.  When Kavichandra was young he was like a Tarzan in spirit.  At the outskirts of his Minniapolis family house were woods galore and he trained himself to move with speed through the forest.

 

Our guide was Dominique Saunders from Madhya Pradesh and he let us know that we should expect wild buffalo, wild boar, deer, and monkeys along our trail of numerous Ayurveda herbs and trees.  We spotted monkeys who appeared to want privacy as we watched them springing from tree to tree.  Deer hoof-prints were on the foot path but no trace otherwise.  Wild boars made their mark with turned-over soil which happens to be richly red.  And as for the wild buffalo - yes, footprints were there.  One nonchalant foot placement by Kavichandra happened to not clear a fresh patty on the forest trail.  I'm sure Tarzan stepped in a lot of this stuff in his time.

 

Fascinating was the presence of volcanic rock in addition to a splendorous view of the Krishna Valley that is spring fed, fueling one of India's sacred rivers that goes by the same name - Krishna.  We happened to be near its source.

 

In December of 1976 our guru, Srila Prabhupada, came to Mahabaleshwar.  Unfortunately the journey to and fro created motion-sickness.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

4 KM

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

Saturday Night Sounds

 

Juhu Beach, India

 

What does Juhu Beach look like on Saturday night?  It's pretty much what you'd expect.  In the commerce and residential areas it is busy with crazy traffic and people milling about.  Passions are high.  Ambitions and anticipations are also.  What fun can I have?  Let's try a new restaurant.  Let's hope to spring upon a new relationship; let's build upon the old ones.

 

And the beach itself from the stretch of fish town (smell it - uhh!) to the end of a lamp-post section it's people catching some air off the Arabian Sea.  There's gatherings, Hindu rituals, and vendors flogging their nic-nac wares.

 

One thing that's intriguing for beach-comers on this Saturday night is a bunch of hot, sweaty young men in some kind of moving formation, holding placards and just making a lot of noise.  But wait their is the thud of drums - djembe and Bengali drums.  There's sounds of protest, so it seems.  Yes, in fact, protests against maya, the illusions all about.

 

That group, in friendly opposition, is us.  Well, I'm not young.  Let's make a disclaimer there, but the actual kirtan that we are taking on our feet over the surface of the sand is making me young.  I had at one moment winced at the thought of getting old.  You see, it's been a topic of discussion to some degree.  My excuse for being on the beach with the other devotees and not sitting in on the last sessions of meetings with my peers at mid-term AGM was to lead this chanting.  In one session the topic of resigning or retiring from managerial positions for a number of us took place.  Yes, succession planning is topical.

 

It's good that you can't say that for kirtan, chanting that you can never retire from.  It's about the only thing going on that is a fountain of youth.

 

Our gig on the beach drew in greater crowds.  It seems that people are drawn to hot, sweaty something-or-other going on and as excitement peaked with our drums and our lungs I saw the opportunity to physically pull potential dancers into our circle.  It worked.

 

Such was my second visit to the sands of Juhu for the day and such was my finale for walking before being treated by an excellent massage therapist, Rasik Shyam.  It lifted my spirits when he said I'm in good shape.  That's humbling to hear.  It's all by the mercy of guru and God.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

9 KM

Friday, October 18th, 2013

Just Seeing Old Friends

 

Juhu Beach, India

 

Just over four decades ago when American Krishna monks first set foot in Mumbai (then Bombay) it struck local people with curiosity and some with fear.  The sector of the public that was suspicious considered the Americans members of the CIA.  A popular Bollywood movie came out that lumped the Krishna devotees in with hippies.  People were singing a song from the film Dum Maro Dum which refers to smoking pot.  Devanand was the name of the director of the film and had agreed to meet some of our members to which time he apologized.

 

Eventually a gorgeous temple at Juhu was built and it became so popular.  This is where I'm staying.  On an average day thousands of pilgrims come to the temple.  Grandiose events such as Krishna's birthday take place.  Large scale marriages have this location as their venue.  Bollywood stars come for darshan - deity viewing.  Now, when you walk the beach, as I have been doing, in the same area, where establishing the temple took help from the public and lawyers after serious police harassment, we see a change in spirit.  To and from the beach early morning walkers greet me with a gracious, not even Namaste, but a "Hare Krishna!"

 

My colleagues (sannyasis and peers) and I were treated at the Bhaktivedanta Mission School, newly located a ten minute drive (my guess a 5 or 6 km walk) from the popular Juhu Temple.  Nine hundred students greeted us with mantras.  Well behaved and orderly, the students - mostly boys - demonstrated the spirit of enthusiasm just to see us older western guys.  When on our tour of this seven-story structure, we had been taken to the roof where you find a basket-ball court.  Of course, some of us were shooting balls testing our skills at the hoop - and scoring.

 

By evening I had dinner with a fairly well-known actress, Madhuri Bhatia, who appeared in feature films and daytime TV.  She had come to help us in Toronto when she resided there with our devotional dramas.  She brought a friend, also an actress, for a delicious meal at Govinda's.  I was accompanied by my assistant, Karuna Sindhu.  That made it two monks with two ladies, a little odd, but I see it all as family.

 

Occasionally one of my peers did walk through the restaurant noticing my company.  I just gave them a casual smile letting them know that I'm not doing anything non-conventional.  "Just seeing old friends.  That's all!"

 

May the Source be with you!

 

6 KM

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

Service In The Wet

 

Juhu Beach, India

 

It is unseasonably wet.  Rains have been coming to add onto the already humid atmosphere.  It makes it interesting.  This means that when taking your sand-bound steps either on the nearby beach or a flat-floor pacing in the ISKCON corridor floor #2 you perspire real easy.  After a shower it takes time for your brahmin's thread that's flung around the neck and across the torso to dry, much after you've donned a set of fresh and pressed clothing.

 

The service attitude here at the ISKCON Centre is phenomenal.  Your needs are met.  If you order a pomegranate juice it will be delivered, freshly-squeezed from local sources in a jiff.  But as a routine you don't order anything except for medicinal purposes, before the morning sadhana is over; the last portion of it being a class on a lesson from the book Bhagavatam.  Today's discourse came from Prahladananda Swami, who heads up the Sannyasa Ministry, the department that looks at eligible candidates for the renounced order.

 

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" he recited over the mic in a sarcastic tone.  Prahladananda pokes fun at the ego.  Who will deny that the ego needs a few kicks everyday?

 

For kicks I later ask Prahladananda if he could reference the nursery rhyme.  He frankly admitted he couldn't remember.  After talking with our Latino peer, Jaga Jivan, he confirmed the source - Snow White.  You see, we're getting older being in our 60's.

 

A major chunk of the day was occupied in discussing art of the last five hundred years in the Vaishnav tradition.

 

Vasudev from France and I reviewed essays on the subject.  We observed that the pushtimarga movement inspired by pundit Vallabhacharya and son Vithal had influenced art in a profound way in the early 16th century.  Ornamental back drops and paintings to murtis, or deities gave a flavour of other-worldliness.  Scholars who have written on the subject of Vaishnav art may take note of the 'realism' that was amplified by followers of the founder of the Krishna Consciousness movement.

 

Vasudev, who's a film-maker, and I spent a solid three hours in our little 'art universe' until it was time to retire.  At the time I did so my brahmacari assistant, Karuna Sindhu, let in four massagers (if I said massage therapists it would have professional connotations).  Why four?  Four limbs, I guess.  They applied a pleasant Ayurveda oil which made me moist.  They managed to get themselves wet in the toil and the joy of service.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

6 KM

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

THE WALKING MONK CONTEMPLATES AVOIDING BEING SELF RIGHTEOUS IN BHAKTI AS TAUGHT BY HIS GURU...

 

Let's Get The Bhakti Down

 

Juhu Beach, India

 

It was at this beach that a man had been standing on his head when our guru, Srila Prabhupada, passed by him.  One of his students said to Srila Prabhupada, disclaiming the yogi saying, "This is not one of our men."  At that time the mood was that if you did anything that wasn't directly devotional you would be considered as being in maya (illusion).

 

Srila Prabhupada was silent for a few seconds and then remarked about the fellow doing the head-stand that this was good for health, implying that it was good for a practitioner of bhakti to do this type of thing.

 

Sometimes, those who are in devotion may carry a self-righteous attitude about what they do, regarding other practical things as secondary or less important.  My remark on that is we need to obtain a balance.

 

Here's an example of something interesting where the point of devotion was amiss for the sake of being practical.  Murali Krishna Swami is a huskily built green-eyed Boston bloke who used to excel in hockey before he became a monk.  He and I were sitting side-by-side at the edge of a carpet where we were enjoying doshas and chutney.  Two fellows proceeded to roll up the carpet in order to avoid spillage.  In the process M.K. Swami's dhoti (lower garment) got trapped in the carpet.  He finally yanked and freed his dhoti remarking to me, "Do they have to do this now?"  Once the carpet came my way my dhoti got trapped in also and the way things were looking I was going to be pulled in if I hung on.  If I was to remain indifferent I might become guilty of indecent exposure if I let the dhoti take its own course.  (Funny, but we just heard a recording on the message of renunciation).  In the meantime I tried to balance my plate of prasadam (food) when the plate tipped and the chutney spilled on my tugged-at dhoti.

 

I revealed the evidence to the carpet-rolling devotees who merely waggled their heads.  I thought maybe a tiny bit of thoughtfulness was absent.  So be it!

 

In any event I had a great day with team members of Vande (Vaishnava Arts for a New Devotional Era).  All was civilized in the end.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

5 KM

Tuesday, October 15th, 2013

I Tried

 

Amsterdam/Mumbai

 

I tried to get some walking in Concourse E in Schipoel Airport, Amsterdam was the best place to do so - up and down, then maybe go for Concourse F as well.  It’s not totally practical with luggage to drag along.

 

At the end of E I was approaching a glass wall.  Perhaps at a left or right of it, I could explore another hall.  But “No.”  A security person came towards me.  Maybe I walked beyond a barrier I shouldn’t have?  It was a young woman, looking quite fair, looking rather Dutch.  In her uniform she came rather unofficial.  In fact she put her palms together and affixed “Namaste” as a salutation.  It turns out she’s taking yoga and aspires to become a teacher of the art.  We conversed about ego and its tendency to get in the way, of many things, just about everything.  I told her of my being a teacher of kirtan.

 

“Doing mantras?” she asked.

 

“Exactly!  If you open a yoga studio, I’ll be glad to come and give lessons on bhakti-yoga.”

 

I told her my name.  “Bhaktimarga” means path of devotion.  This was intriguing to her and that I have a reputation for doing pilgrimage.  She was floored when I told her I’m known as “The Walking Monk.”

 

“I don’t believe it.  I just read about you on the internet.”

 

“Ah, yes the internet, a blessing and a curse at the same time,” I thought.

 

We had to part and I had to leave to catch my flight to India.  Yes, India.  Before long I would get hit with a wave of heat and musty smells.  Traffic would be busy and roads very dusty.  But I love the people.  I love them.  I can’t wait to be, in a sense back home.

 

May the Source be with you!

 

2 KM