Monday, November 16th, 2015

Monday, November 16th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

Whim and Purpose

I went westwardly twice today, first by way of Bloor Street and then later by Dupont.  I guess I was taken by whim each of those two times.  No!  Time number two was a deliberate visit to the home of a young man whose grandmother just passed away.  He wanted me and other members of our ashram to have a grand veggie prasadam meal in her honour. 

The sentiment is noble and appropriate.  She is in India now thousands of miles away or perhaps now thousands of yojanas away (a yojana is a Vedic measurement equating to 15 kilometres or 8 miles).  Since the soul travels, there is no guarantee that it returns to Earth once leaving.  It may be destined to more sublime spheres.  This could be something to rejoice about, since existence on our plane is wrought with suffering and with not enough enjoyment to match.

In the Gita, Krishna speaks of pain and pleasure, sadness and gladness as being a very shared reality.  Right in the beginning of chapter 2, he addresses dual experiences.  Therefore, application of tolerance is necessary and acceptance is key. 

We are encouraged to be in Vaikuntha (Heaven) wherever we are.  It is the state of consciousness that is important.  Our greed and envy tends to stir the pot and agitate us to the point where we say, "the other man’s grass is always greener".  By the way, that’s not always necessarily true - it’s greener where you water it.  My condolences go to the righteous young man, Durjoy by name, and all well wishes go to his grandma, a mature and pious lady.

May the Source be with you!

9 km

Sunday, November 15th, 2015

Sunday, November 15^th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

Crying


There was a general sense of happiness in the atmosphere today.  The great weather made a major contribution.  Many walkers hit the trail, as I did, along Balfour Park, The Brickworks, and beyond.
However, a touch of sadness naturally grasps the heart for those of us who remember the passing of our teacher, Srila Prabhupada.  It has been 38 years of this anniversary event.  I chose to read a passage from his biography to a gathering of devotees before I took to walking.  The letter was addressed to him from one of his spiritual daughters.  The contents of the letter are as follows:

Dear Srila Prabhupada,
This shawl is made of the wool from our own sheep.  It is spun and woven here at Gita Nagari.  It is the first piece we have made.  While I was working on it, I would always think of you, of how I was supposedly making you a gift.  But, actually, you were giving me the gift of engagement in devotional service.  Srila Prabhupada, I always pray to Lord Narasimhadeva to protect you and allow you to stay with us and finish your books.  But, I think today the rain falling from the sky is actually the tears of the demigods, crying at the prospect of your departure.  I am also crying.  Even Krishna cried at the passing of grandfather Bhisma, so I have a right to cry.  I cannot be so philosophical to say that you are always present in your books and teachings, though I know these things are true.  I will miss you so much, Srila Prabhupada, if you go.  I beg that I will always remain your menial servant and devotee.
Your humble disciple,
Satyabhama Dasi

May the Source be with you!
7 km

Saturday, November 14th, 2015

Saturday, November 14^th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

Woe to the World


I am back at home base.  I’m downscaling as far as walking is concerned but I am walking.  I’m revisiting the neighbourhoods I know by making a puny promenade (5 km).
I’m seeing a full circle dynamic from one year ago.  I see Christmas paraphernalia being propped up for the big commercial hype.  I see the liquor store bustling with activity - vain attempts at weekend pleasure.
I do see optimism in the hearts of the people though.  At least I’m receiving nods and smiles.  I always see that as a good sign.
There is an undercurrent, however, of uncertainty, as always in the atmosphere of this world.  The city of Paris is under a siege of terrorism.  The loss of 129 lives and many injured, the result of ISIS activities, is very significant.  In simple terms, we might make a remark that ignorance is behind it all.  But a question continues to linger in my mind regarding such terrorist acts.
At a home program this evening during a casual discussion, the question arose.  “Since it is such a cowardly act that just took place on the part of some antagonist, why does the US continue to supply arms to such zealot outfits?”  This is a great puzzle for me.  I stand to be corrected on such an assumption - sounds to me like it all boils down to economics. 
Woe to the world. 

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Friday, November 13th, 2015

Friday, November 13^th, 2015
Toronto, Ontario

Friendship Walk


We took one last walk to wrap up our bonding venture with fellow pedestrians – Vivasvan, Mandala, and Jake.  Tre’von had already left for Hartford and Esa for his home city, Philadelphia.  Our group of four took to a seven kilometre stint through the residential area of Rosedale before parting ways.
Surely a bond had developed between us over the last few weeks of walking and it is such a bond that sustains us.  In all reality, it is establishing personalism that is so vital for our survival.  There were times on this recent trip where tension had flared between two or more of us but our strong sense of needing to fixate ourselves on the mission made it it possible to overcome any differences.
As we came to a park, we met Wayne Cherry, our neighbour and a noted artist.  I’ve seen Wayne for many years.  He’s on his second dog now who is 13 years old.  I say this to illustrate the point that I’ve seen Wayne for a long time.   During my training time at the ravines, I would see him when he would take his pet for a stroll.   Being neighbourly is another aspect of personalism.  I’m always glad to see Wayne who always expresses interest in my latest venture on foot.
“Impersonalism” is a common theme found in our guru’s books which he addresses when speaking about the Divine.  Prabhupada writes, “Long practice in impersonalism becomes a source of trouble.”  He then correlates personalism to the joy of life – to the bliss factor.   That’s what everyone wants, to be happy.

May the Source be with you!

7 km

Wednesday, November 11th, 2015

Wednesday, November 11th, 2015
Brooklyn, New York

Now That The Walk’s Done

Well, our walk through a portion of the US northeast is now complete but the activity of trekking will not cease.  Like so many tourists who come to New York, walking over one of the multiple bridges is a must do.  I imagine the Brooklyn Bridge is a popular one and so our core group left Manhattan for Brooklyn via that causeway over the water.

We made our way to Schermerhorn Street where the temple of Radha Govinda is located.  There, darshan, or the viewing of the gorgeous deities, blesses the eyes and in the basement, you can secure a marvelous meal with a veggie nut loaf as one of the main features.

I had asked the boys who travelled with me for some or more of the 950 mile walk to make some comment about it.

Jake was with us for the last day.

Jake:  “While I was walking and focusing on the mantra, I was caring less about some of the physical pain I was going through.  The mantra has power.”

Mandala was with us for the last 2 ½ weeks.
Mandala:  “The walking really helped me to cultivate determination.”

Vivasvan was with me the whole time as my driving support person. He did a lot of walking as well.

Vivasvan:  “It was a life changing experience.  It makes you re-evaluate how you see things and brings you closer to people and nature.  I found out things about myself that didn’t reveal themselves to me before.  Overall, the walk was better than skydiving.”
The final cap that we put on the day was to honour Diwali, the Festival of Lights, at the Iskcon Towaco Center.  There, I spoke about Rama and the epic nature of His story.  Rama spent many steps trudging through the forests of India.

May the Source be with you!
4 miles / 7 km

Tuesday, November 10th, 2015

Tuesday, November 10^th, 2015

Manhattan, New York

The Finish Line…The Tree

We had yet to complete New Jersey before hopping on to a ferry for Manhattan, taking us towards our final destination for this walk.

Two more players entered our trekking arena; a local person, Bhakta Avatara, and Jake from Michigan.  Seven of us took boldly to the streets despite it being overcast with light rain.  Through Newark downtown we went.  And then we came upon bridges with walkways - rarely used. They take you over the river before reaching Jersey City.  Before we came to the posh and clean waterfront with new high-rises, we traveled through areas of human embarrassment - trash, rejected objects of food, coffee containers… We walked by a massive auto grave yard catching a glimpse of the symptoms of Kali Yuga, the age of forgotten values.

In Manhattan, the world of cultural power catches the attention.  We came upon an extraordinary memorial in honour of Irish settlers who took the long journey to the US in response to devastating famine.  Not far from there, just two blocks away, we observed another monument.  This one was to honour the departed souls of 9/11.  It was a huge square-ish run of water trailing down a dark deep well.  Very impactful.

Another one of those tiny miracles occurred when I was stopped in the street by another friend, Sudha Jiva.  He came at the point when the rain came more profusely.  Conveniently, we took shelter of his vehicle nearby where we could talk.

“Much work needs to be done”, we both concluded in regard to promoting spiritual renaissance, one that encourages us back to the land and simple living.

A kirtan chanting party was set for our last leg of the 950-mile walk in honour of our teachers (and specifically our guru Srila Prabhupada).  It began at Union Square and proceeded to Tompkins Square Park to its central point, the elm tree.  It was under this tree that our divine teacher inspired his first followers to engage in the prime function for the people of this age - celebration of sacred sound.  There was a small gathering that came to honour our humble event of walking from Boston to Butler and to New York.  I’m grateful that Abhiram, my spiritual friend, came to join us.  Not all of us hugged that very special tree but we all circumambulated it offering it the reverence and credit that it deserves.

I had the good fortune to speak about the glories of bhakti-yoga and our recent walk to a gathering at the nearby Bhakti Center.  I hope that I successfully took them out to the trail in an imaginary way through the woods and along the crazy highways to capture even for a moment the glory of introspective walking.

Although this walk is now completed, I will continue with more trekking and we’ll update you with more tales. Thank you all for following us.

May the Source be with you!

17 miles / 27 km

Monday, November 9th, 2015

Monday, November 9^th, 2015

Newark, New Jersey

Another One

A new pilgrim came on board today.  Esa is a 24-year-old guy from Chile and is an employee of Govinda's veggie restaurant.  Here we have another real trooper.  He was the first one to rise and he also kept steady for the entire 24-mile trek on foot.

We all felt a rush of excitement as it is one of the last two days on this 950-mile journey of introspective walking.  It’s almost too hard to believe that this project is coming to an end.  The nature of trekking each day is that you just carry on without cessation.  Fortunately or not, we have to turn our attention to other devotional commitments and issues before dreaming and planning for the next circle.

The four of us trekked through Morristown, Madison, Chatham, and a whole string of boroughs and towns.  In Newark, our expectation to meet more pedestrians became a reality.  

I met Miss Kat.  “That is, with a K”, as she put it.  

She is a very outgoing type of person. 

“I’ve never met a monk before.  I have only seen them in the movies”, she said.

I also met a large-framed man.  When I asked him how he was doing, he expressed how he was happy to have a bed and home.  This is taken for granted by most of us, to have a home, shelter, food, family, and safety.

The little miracle of the day came when our small group came to a junction on Road 16.  We left the town of Madison going east-bound until we came to a complex roadway system.  We were uncertain how to move forward.  We sat against the ramp when suddenly I saw my dear friend, who I know from Canada, drive up.

He rolled down his car window, “What are you doing here Maharaj?”

Nilamani, who used to live in Toronto, was on his way back from work when he spotted us.  The funny thing is that he was on my mind all morning.  I knew that he lived somewhere in New Jersey now but I was uncertain where exactly.  As I mentioned before, walking on the road attracts a lot of attention and causes surprising interactions.

“Come to our house and have a break”, Nilamani said.

And we obliged.

In the evening we went to chant at Union Square in Manhattan.  It was outstanding to see how many people came forward to offer a small light to the image of Krishna and His mother, Yasoda, which was placed upon a small table, after being welcomed to do so as we chanted away.

May the Source be with you!

24 miles/ 39 km

Sunday, November 8th, 2015

Sunday, November 8^th, 2015

Washington Township, New Jersey

Something New

We were going along the trail off Road 513 when Tre'von, Mandala and I saw a couple dozen folks coming our way in the opposite lane of the road.  It was clear to us that they were one group.  Were they protesting?  As they came close to us, we could see that each of them, the participants, had some meditative beads in their hands.  In many ways they resembled us.

It was my monk’s instinct to talk to a male person near the end.  The female participants initially appeared a bit militant or at least reserved.  I admit, it surprised me to see so many pedestrians at the same time.

The team that was sharing the road with us was a catholic group from a local parish.  We started talking and exchanging our values.  I was glad to hear one of the persons say, "We all believe in the same God".

The experience was so novel.  Never in my years of marathon walking did I randomly encounter a group of people in prayer or meditation, walking!  In India it is quite common to see folks on pilgrimage walking around Govardhan Hill or people on the route to famous Tirupati, and, of course,  walkers on the famous Camino in Spain.  You would expect pilgrims in these places but here in New Jersey?  It was fascinating to see.  I guess you could say that our two groups, the catholic group with the rosaries and we devotees of Lord Krishna with our japa beads, were inspiring each other.

After a sunny morning and an early afternoon of walking, which included trekking over brittle leaves through the woods, our crew drove to Philadelphia to the ISKCON center where I spoke about transcendence from the Bhagavad Gita, verse 14.26.

Let’s get genuinely transcendental.

May the Source be with you!

22 miles / 35 km

Saturday, November 7th, 2015

Saturday, November 7^th, 2015

Mansfield, New Jersey

New State

Yes, we moved to a new state this morning - New Jersey - after crossing the Delaware River at Easton.  From there, our route was on highway 52 and then 57.  Counting today, there are only four days ahead of us before coming to the finish line at Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan.  It will be something worth rejoicing for.

3:00 pm was the cut-off time for departing to the Big Apple (New York City), specifically 26 Second Avenue, the location of the first formal spiritual gathering held by Srila Prabhupada, our guru, in 1965, 50 years ago.  In many ways, the room at this address has not altered since that time.  At 5:30 pm people were trickling in during my lead on the kirtan.  An intro was presented by Atma Nivedan, a community member in this place.  The verse of the Bhagavad Gita that I was speaking from was 10.8.  In this text, it is expressed that a sincere seeker of the truth realizes the power of the Divine and responds by rendering service.  Yes, it is service to Krishna, who is within all of us, from where the perfection of life begins.

It was a fine list of questions that people came up with after the talk.  After a rich devotional meal, our crew made our way around the corner to the Bhakti Center where we were catching the last minutes of the Govardhan puja festival.  What are you supposed to do when eating at two places, one after the other, relishing such good food?

Going to and fro through New York by vehicle can be a challenge.  NYC is a somewhat foreign place to us all and we ended up there very late at night because of the events.  Our final destination for our accommodation was in central New Jersey at the home of Virat and Purva.  I took my final shower before retiring for the day and discovered a tick in my left shoulder. How did that come about?  Are those little things still active in November?  Tre’von and I had taken a snooze on the grass between some blue spruces and that is likely where the little fellow took on.  All and all, we had a great day. Krishna is kind.

May the Source be with you!

22 miles / 35 km

Friday, November 6th, 2015

Friday, November 6^th, 2015

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Surprises at Sizes

Hosting our team is Dhir Krishna.  He's originally from North India and is now residing in Reading, Pennsylvania.  He and his family opened their house to us for a good night’s sleep, prasadam meals, and a program the previous night of chants and discussions from the Bhagavad Gita.  We spoke from chapter 10, text 11, about the power behind instinctiveness. 

Well received!

There’s a general power behind the instinct, intuition, creativity, inspiration, and so on.  The Gita addresses this and gives credit to the paramatma. 

Please explore.

Now for the walking.  Our team was surprised at the size of Allentown and it's twin town, Bethlehem.  There’s people in these places.  One young Afro-American chap was curious when he cast eyes on my robes. 

“A religion or something?” he asked. 

“A spiritual tradition with roots from India.  I’m walking a 900 mile plus trek to represent the tradition, one that promotes peace and simplicity.” 

Another Afro-American dude pulled over from driving.  “Hey, I saw your aura and I had to stop and ask…”  He described himself as a director of films.  He wanted to take a picture.  When he came out of the car, his size and height were revealed.  He could have easily passed for a champ basketball player.

At Overlook Park, Chaz, from News 69 TV, came over for an interview.  This guy was a pro at what he was doing.  He could practically do acrobatics with his camera.  It was inspiring to see this.  I was pretty stiff at the time.  The interview was broadcast on TV on the 6 PM news.  Let’s see how motorists react to the broadcast tomorrow about a Hare Krishna monk who is doing some walking to the extreme.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles / 34 km

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

Thursday, November 5^th, 2015

Fogelsville, Pennsylvania

Lucky?

Recently I’ve been lucky if you can consider luck as a principle of reality.  Or, let’s say I was a recipient of kindness in the form of new pairs of shoes.  A box was sent from Florida by Ananta Sesa, a financialist.  The contents of the box were a pair of Keen shoes which are sturdy and airy.  We also managed to pick up a package that came from Pittsburgh.  Our dear friends Nitya Dita and Siksastaka delivered a pair of Oofos shoes which are light, soft, and bouncy.  Along with my current sandals (complements from an admirer in Spain), I can now interchange between varieties of footwear and make the ends of my two lower limbs happy.

While trekking Old Route 22, right next to Interstate 81, I received a good response from the motorists.  A man named Lance pulled over on the road right next to a pond where a pair of celestial-like swans were gliding.

He said, “My fiancée saw you passing by our home so I’m here to find out about you”.

We chatted.

I received a ride offer from Rob who was coming back from his work.  Of course, I declined.

Another young guy who was working on the road side and kicking fallen leaves from the sycamore tree was picking up traffic cones when he saw me.  I then introduced myself as a person sometimes referred to as a ‘moving traffic cone’.  He then remarked, “Ah, the colour! The colour you are wearing…”.  We laughed and chatted.

And near the Old 22 was a highway where a road construction crew was busy at work.  Some of those workers started moving traffic cones and gave hand waves and nods of approval for me to pass.  Wait a minute, did I say construction crew? Let me rephrase, it was more like a group of cheerleaders.

Andrew from TV 69 came to interview me as I was ambling alone on the last mile.  It was a day when you couldn’t feel neglected.

May the Source be with you!

22 miles / 36 km

Wednesday, November 4th, 2015

Wednesday, November 4^th, 2015

Strausstown, Pennsylvania

It Looked Like

It looked like a scene from ‘Gone with the Wind’.  There was a scarlet-red sky on the sunrise as we were walking on the road.  We approached a hill so the intensity of redness was half concealed. Tre’von was the first one to hear the sound of a horse’s gallop on the asphalt.  He, Mandala and I saw, as we ascended the hill, an actual horse, a carriage, and a passenger, an Amish man in a broad sunhat spurting just before us in rapid motion.  The horse reacted swinishly, surprised by our sudden presence.  We observed a magical silhouette with the passenger pulling the reins.  It was like Rhett Butler controlling an excited horse with flames and blaze in the background.  Wow!

There were numerous interactions with people since the weather was so conducive.  We met one mild-mannered man by the side of the road who was tending to his crop of white cedar.  We went into conversation.  The first topic was about young trees, then about the walking mission, and then about monks.

“Do monks believe in Jesus?”

“Yes, most definitely”.  (He lived like one).

“Do monks believe he is the son of God?”

“Yes.  God is the father so that makes Jesus the son”.

“But, for salvation, you need Jesus”.

“That principle we accept. You can’t receive salvation on your own. We need help”.

From here I dared not to get into further communication where one can be sure of a one-way scenario.  So it was time to wish this man well with his tree nursery.  I had to move on.

A glorious end to the day was at Gita Nagari Yoga Farm where I presented to the local folks who we met along the way for the last four days.  

This is the fruit of our endeavour.  Humans should come together to hear and discuss something spiritual, to chant, to eat and to leave for home with an enhanced richness and with books and beads in their hands.  

May the Source be with you!

24 miles / 39 km