Saturday, July 30th, 2016

Saturday, July 30^th, 2016

Redfield, Iowa

I Start

I start when the crickets are in concert and when the owl can be heard, but not seen.  It’s true.  I can never discern which tree he’s perched upon when I begin those early steps before dawn cracks.  Sometimes I become oblivious to sound, to the point where I’m convinced there is no sound outside of my murmuring mantras before the tree residents show presence.  I feel it’s so silent that I start to hear human voices in the distance.

In this case at 4:33 am, as I was leaving the quaintness of town Perry, I did hear voices—real ones.  Quite early for cyclists!”  I thought.  But there they were, and there they went.  Two women, helmeted for safety, with bikes lit for any objects ahead.

So I became an object, and not one to be objected to.  We all share the trail here.  That is the culture established on the Raccoon River Valley Trail.  On Saturday hundreds of cyclists tread the trail.  All other creatures cross, or crawl, or hop, or fly, or leap the trail.  Rabbits, chipmunks, skunks, coyotes and more make their move.  No, I haven’t seen a raccoon yet, strange as it is.

Those that don’t have the capacity to move, but stand gloriously as they offer their looks, smells and tastes.  Blackberries, wild plumbs, choke-cherries, apples, mulberries, elderberries, and all herbal wonders line this path.  There’s a serious community present.  And the cyclists?  They move fast but are ever courteous about space.

They, the cyclists, runners and walkers, I’m convinced, are the happiest people.  Line them up against a wall of motorists and they’re no comparison.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Friday, July 29^th, 2016

Jamaica, Iowa

The Walking Monk Takes His Path Through Ames

Bhaktimarga Swami, who is often referred to as the Walking Monk, made his way through Ames on Wednesday while continuing his mission to walk from New York City to San Francisco.

This is the first time Swami has walked border to border in America, but this is not a new mission.  In the past, he has walked across his home nation of Canada, Ireland, Israel, Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Guyana.

These treks are not simply a spiritual journey for the orange-robed Hare Krishna monk but more of a way to spread his message of health and self-consciousness.

“I’m saying let’s slow down.  Let’s get more in touch with ourselves by walking,” Swami said.  “Really, it’s to check the imbalanced lives we live. We are very much in the consumer world, capitalism, and we just don’t take enough time for introspection. So when you walk, you have time to just process things.”

Swami said that being in Ames on Wednesday was also a celebration of a momentous occasion for followers of the Hare Krishna movement because it marked the 50th anniversary, to the day, of the movement being started.

“It’s a movement that has its challenges but it exploded, went all over the world, and  here we are 50 years later,” Swami said.

Born John Peter Vis in 1952 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Swami said he found the Hare Krishna movement to be similar in many ways to Catholicism, which was the religion he was raised in as a child.  Since making the transition into being a monk, Swami said he started making his pilgrimages to help spread his beliefs but to also meet people and learn more about himself.

“It’s walking, meditating, connecting with people, getting more in touch with yourself, and your soul and just trying to be more contemplative about things,” Swami said.  “When you walk at the human pace that we’re supposed to, there’s an appreciation and sensitivity that develops.”

While traveling from place to place, Swami said that the vast majority of his encounters have been positive and people are usually very receptive of his message.  However, there have been some troubling encounters as well, including some close calls with grizzly and black bears.

“I have been mistaken many times for being an escapee from a prison wearing an orange jumpsuit,” Swami said.

He added that someone also called the police on him when he was walking near a mental institution close to Iowa City because they were worried that he was an escaped patient.

According to Swami, he averages about 20 miles per day and at that pace he believes he could complete his entire trip in about five months.  However, due to a prior commitment, he will stop for the summer once he reaches Nebraska and then pick up where he left off next summer to continue on to San Francisco.

Swami said that during his trip in America, he has seen a different kind of culture that he hasn’t come across in the other areas he has traveled.  He said that he has seen most affluent of neighborhoods and the poorest of ghettos.  According to him, America has several issues that has caused him to be concerned for the world.

“America’s a place of a lot of extremes,” Swami said.  “Obesity is a big problem.  It’s embarrassing to be human sometimes. People could do better.”

One thing that walking across a country has taught Swami, is that no one is above the pains associated with growing older or putting strain on your body.  He said it is also part of his mission to accept those pains for “austerity purposes.”

“It means to voluntarily take up a little bit of inconvenience so to build character, to toughen up a little bit, to be a tough boy,” Swami said.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Thursday, July 28th, 2016

Thursday, July 28^th, 2016

Dallas Centre, Iowa

Trek Sayings

To accommodate a family that came all the way up from Florida, it was decided to route ourselves along some bike trails like the High Trestle Trail.  This route and a similar one today, forming a loop, would be sage for peaceful conversation.  The state of Iowa is blessed to have such excellent and well-maintained trails.

While the caption for yesterday’s blog “More Walking, Less Squawking” is my own dreamed-up slogan, I picked up some really brilliant sayings that were posted along the trail—sayings that promote the walking culture.

Let’s begin with insomniac Charles Dickens who consumed much time in his daily (or rather “nightly”) walks.  He is quoted saying:

1)    “If I could not walk hard and fas,t I would explode and perish.”

2)    “The way to extend your days is by walking steady and with purpose.”

Savour this one:

3)    “Thoughts come clearly while one walks,” wrote Thomas Mann.

4)    “All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking,” penned Friedrich Nietzsche.

5)    “It is solved by walking,” is a Latin Proverb.

And, from an unknown source, here is a thought of wit…

6)    “You can’t leave footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your butt.  And who wants to leave butt prints in the sands of time?”

I want to thank Ananta, Vaishnavi and their son, Gopal, for joining us all the way from Florida.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Wednesday, July 27th, 2016

Wednesday, July 27^th, 2016

Ankeny, Iowa

More Walking, Less Squawking

From the “Newton Daily News” Alex Olp wrote:

Bhaktimarga Swami, also known as “The Walking Monk,” made his way through Newton on Thursday as he continues his project to walk coast to coast across the country.

Bhaktimarga Swami, which means “path of devotion,” has done walks before across seven other countries including four in his homeland of Canada.  He is making his first trip across the United States for a couple of reasons — to promote the walking culture and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hare Krishna movement.

“I think we lost touch with walking, and it’s important to get back to it,” Swami said.  “The one main gain is to get a balance for life.  It’s a good workout of course, but it’s a good ‘work in’ as, well, meaning you take a little time to yourself to look at the little things and the little demons inside of you that you want to address.”

He explains walking as an internal cleaning as it not only provides a physical workout, but improves the mental state as well.

“I really believe strongly in ‘more walking, less squawking,’” he said.  “I don’t like cars.  I don’t like what cars have done to the world and what they’ve done to us.  They made us kind of impersonal.  That’s the big thing about walking — you meet people.”

On some occasions, you meet animals, too.

During one of his walks across Canada, he came face-to-face with a grizzly bear.  A bear, he said, that was interested in him but was luckily scared away by a tractor traveling along the road.

So far, his first walk across America hasn’t had many close calls, but he has caught the eyes of few people.

A couple of occasions in Iowa City left him answering to police after locals dialed 911 after mistakenly identifying him —wearing his orange robes — as an escaped convict.

However, Swami said police have been nothing but nice to him, especially in Iowa which is a state he is visiting for the first time.

“People here are very pious and very kind,” Bhaktimarga Swami said.  “They really look after each other and I’d say there’s a wholesomeness here.  And I don’t see things falling in decline like some other states I have gone through.”

On Thursday, he began walking near Grinnell at 3:30 a.m. to avoid much of the day’s scorching heat.  With a few stops along the way, including Newton Public Library to rehydrate, Swami reached his average of 20 miles per day around 1 p.m. just west of Newton.  Due to an obligation elsewhere, he will put his walk on hold until Monday when he will return to his exact spot on Highway F48 and make his way west to Colfax.

Bhaktimarga Swami began the walk across America last fall making his way from New York to Pennsylvania before winter break.  He returned to Pennsylvania on Mother’s Day and has walked in a relatively straight line since then.  He plans to reach Grand Island, Neb. as a halfway point this year and complete the entire project next summer.

Contact Alex Olp at aolp@newtondailynews.com

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Tuesday, July 26th, 2016

Tuesday, July 26^th, 2016

Des Moines, Iowa

Turning Some Souls

Yes, we made it to the big city—big, meaning big for Iowa.  Someone said that its population is just over a half-million.

Frankly, though, there was minimal interaction with people during the course of our walk (Mandala is with me).  We did trek through an area of corn, then an urban sprawling Altoona, followed by Des Moines itself.  Strip mall retail zones, the guts of the city—industrial—along Delaware Ave., then municipal district (capital state building), the artsy area, and then the university.  At one point in the morning rush hour, at Hwy. 6, motorists, noticing the robes, became head-turners.

By noon I had done my day’s quota.  Much of the trek was under the hot sun.  We were like toast!  Mandala, by the way, victoriously did his first 20 miles, ever.

It was in the University City of Ames, north of Des Moines that I could realistically interact with humans.  At Inis Grove Park local students set up a program for a “Tales from Trails” session.  The set topic I was asked to extract from this was “Is the Concept of World Walking Utopian?”

To prepare for my talk to this group of brilliant students, I reviewed my blog notes since beginning this leg of the walk.  It was a refresher looking over the adventures of the last two months.  I realize from the perusal that our team touched many souls.  No way are we poised to convert everyone into a pilgrim or pedestrian, but if by the message more people buy into the walking culture, we will consider to be having some success.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Monday, July 25th, 2016

Monday, July 25^th, 2016

Mitchellville, Iowa

Hawks and Their Direction

It is said that the hawk is known for its powers of focus and observation.  And when a hawk is spotted, either in flight or perched, it is a sign that some initiative should be taken up.

My morning and afternoon were punctuated with the presence of a hawk.  He was, of course, buzzing about, more interested in prey than my prayer.  I enjoyed his camaraderie.  We were moving along somewhat in the same sphere for a while, with him in the air and myself on the ground.

Initiative?  New projects?  Well, maybe!

A film-maker I met last fall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had a project in mind, one that would involve some hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  The participants would be leaders of religious denominations.  I have been invited to represent Krishna Consciousness.  The trek would begin at the start of May.  I just received an e-mail. 

My dilemma is that my last leg of the cross-US walk would already be in session.  I’ll be 64.  I don’t know that my knees would take too kindly to the endeavour, although I would truly relish trekking and camping with a priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a mullah.

So, I question the timeline and whether I can physically take up the challenge, especially if it involves backpacking. Let’s dwell on it.

The hawk of the morning brought good vibes.  Motorists were waving.  One group of people stopped to load Mandala and I with a pile of sweet corn.  The hawk of the afternoon seemed to lead us to a shady bike-path, a relief from the strong sun.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles

Sunday, July 24th, 2016

Sunday, July 24^th, 2016

Des Moines, Iowa

Conversation in Flight

I sat next to Mike on the plane back to the States and we got to talking.  He works with the mining industry.  We spoke about that and I could see that now, at 55, he’s feeling good about his years of work with his company, his being a loyal husband and father, and that it’s something worth reflecting on.  He seemed content about life’s pursuits.

What about his spiritual side?  He asked me about my Krishna consciousness and my vocation as a monk. Admittedly, it’s a different approach to life from his, and I suppose you could say I spoke with a similar kind of pride about my years in the monastic order, as he expressed with a wholesome pride about his career.

“Have you ever wondered,” I asked him, “where all this leads to, all this living, all this working hard, and for what?  Do we live just to survive?”

I wasn’t sure if he had some belief in God, a higher power or what?  He did say that he’s spent hours of conversation with his wife on the topic of destiny, or the aspect of wonderment over the aim and puzzle of existence itself.

He was curious about my belief and so I began speaking about our sacred text, the “Bhagavad-gita,” the “Song of the Divine,” and how Lord Krishna spoke to His warrior friend, Arjuna, about picking up his low spirit and remaining firm to the sense of duty on two levels—to the body, and secondly to the self (the soul).

To Mike I explained about these two obligations and that the balance is highly important in our life as a Krishna devotee.

May the Source be with you!

0 km

Saturday, July 23rd, 2016

Saturday, July 23^rd, 2016

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Good Thing

The real good thing about keeping a dog is that he/she forces the master to go for that stroll.  I witnessed this dynamic when staying with my host in Saskatoon.  A three-month-old husky pup, fairly new-acquired, needs that walk through the neighbourhood, to go for an ultimate exploration (checking out just about everything) and going for that workout.

Now this pup, Akela by name, is the cutest thing, with one green eye and one blue.  He rarely barks, but does more howling, as is expected from a canine who’s a wolf-derivative.

In any event, this young pup participated, by leash, at the chanting procession--at least the start of the program--for the Festival of India.

Akela and I get along, but it was another guest who I’ve been bonding with or, shall I say, developing a friendship with.  It’s Mayor Don Atchison who has come to the Festival of India for the second year in a row.

We share a lot of the same interests.  He’s a marathoner, can easily take on a four mile jaunt per hour, and he’s quite excited about the coming completion of the Trans-Canada Trail, a walker’s paradise path.  It will penetrate right though the parameters of the city of Saskatoon—his city.

Next year Canada will be 150 years old and the finishing touches to this trail is the obvious timeline.  This becomes tempting for me.  Shall I, if not next year, on in the future, tackle this most glorious walking challenge?

May the Source be with you!

4 km

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

Friday, July 22^nd, 2016

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

“Walking Monk” Heads Across Iowa

A late-night flight brought me to Saskatoon to attend yet another Chariot Fest.  Forwarded to me was an article by Dann Hayes for “The Des Moines Register.”

Bhaktimarga Swami, known as “The Walking Monk,” says “the walk before” encourages him to keep walking, which got him started on his most recent walk, a walk across America.

Bhaktimarga Swami (formerly John Peter Vis) is a Hare Krishna monk who is walking across America to promote a healthier global lifestyle, a strong spiritual foundation and a simple meditative life.

“I’m also out here to integrate with people,” the 63-year-old Canadian said.  “It’s kind of like a workout and a work-in…to take time to process life.”

He is also walking to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Hare Krishna movement.

On this particular day (Wednesday, July 20) he started just outside of Brooklyn on Highway 6 and was stopped just east of Grinnell.

Born in 1952 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Bhaktimarga Swami adopted the monastic lifestyle of the Hare Krishna order in 1973.

Traveling on foot is a common practice in various traditions, he said, and it’s an effective way to reach out and communicate the importance of morality and ethical priorities.

“You learn to take it all in,” Bhaktimarga Swami said.  “The heat, the wind, the rain, the traffic, the cold, the black flies, the mosquitos, the public attention or none.  With all of that you learn detachment from the externals and how to go within to be happy.”

Bhaktimarga Swami said that during his travels he has had a number of different experiences.  He usually starts a walk very early each day – recently to beat the heat in Iowa he has started around 4 a.m.  And with wearing an orange robe he has been mistaken for a number of different things in the dark, including an escaped convict.

That normally brings the police, but after a brief discussion, he continues on his way.

In Iowa, Bhaktimarga Swami had only good to say for the law enforcement community.

“The police have been terrific,” he said.  “The cops are nice here in Iowa.”

This tour is made of three parts – he started last fall in Boston, went to Butler, Penn., then into New York.  The second leg started in Butler and brought him to Grinnell.  He plans on stopping near Grand Island, Neb., before continuing on the third leg next summer.

This isn’t new to him, he has trekked across Canada four times, Ireland, Israel, Guyana, Trinidad, the Fiji Islands, Mauritius and other countries.  He was featured in a National Film Board of Canada’s documentary titled “The Longest Road.”

He averages about 20 miles a day, he said.

“While I walk I also meditate,” Bhaktimarga said.  “As a monk you have that obligation to yourself – take to the elements and toughen up inside.”

Thank you Dann Hayes.

May the Source be with you!

0 km

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

Thursday, July 21^st, 2016

Newton, Iowa

Cold Water Please!

Ice water and Gatorade were coming my way all day.  It was a response by the public to the radio, newspaper, and facebook articles which were being circulated.

Rajasuya and I took to a pretty, shaded, residential street and, as we did so, we encountered Wally, Diana, and grandson, Braden.  Diana’s sister had just passed away.  She asked for my prayers and I was happy to oblige.  Diana kept replenishing our cups with ice water.  We all got quite comfortable being in each other’s company in their front yard.  We even broke out into song with George Harrison’s, “My Sweet Lord,” Simon and Garfunkel’s, “Slow Down,” as well as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails.”  Braden, who’s about eight, didn’t have a clue about these songs from the 50’s and the 60’s.

Our meeting went from grave feelings to happy ones.  That’s just what the walking does, even in the midst of steaming heat and fatigue.

Were we ever relieved to enter the cooling AC’d Newton Library.  The weather was unforgiving at times, as we reached high noon.  Some of the water donated to us was taken as head-shower fluid.  At 107 degrees Fahrenheit, who wouldn’t employ H₂O in that format? I’ve even found the umbrella as a shield to be effective as the heat rose.

I imagine the desire for water rose in just about everyone in the State of Iowa.  This is all relative to the need within the season.  Had we been in frigid conditions, the element of fire would be most desirable.  Needs change in relation to the body.

In connection to the soul, there is a constant contentment.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles.

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

Wednesday, July 20^th, 2016

Grinnell, Iowa

His Eyes

His eye was fully open but the other was closed, and just as the closed eye-lid began to open, the open eye began to move in a slow blink.

This was pretty much how I viewed the full moon and its counterpart, the sun, as these heavenly bodies presented themselves in the early morning sky.  It was purely magical, and while I had the moon before me in the westerly sky, the sun naturally arose behind me.  I was being looked at by God, one eye at a time.

This dynamic occurred yesterday and repeated itself again today.  Yet today, the sun began to be in a relentless mode as the hours moved on.  Water in the air (humidity) was thick in suspension.  It was taxing and dehydrating.

Relief arrived  merely with the visitation of people.  Rajasuya and Mandala came to join me on Hwy. 6.  Then Dan Hayes appeared from the Iowa County Market Newspaper.  A fellow by the name of Rich, a local organic farmer, stopped out of interest.  I was also whisked away to KGRN radio with Chris Johnson as the interviewer. 

Back on the road again, and a woman from nowhere delivered lemonade.  A second one, Lisa, pulled over to hand out some refreshments—ice water and fruit.

“I’ve been following you on the internet.  I drove around knowing you were in town,” said Lisa.  She is very much the big-hearted type of person and it was a pleasure meeting her at the last step of the day’s walk.

These were all lovely people whose paths I crossed today, and it alleviated the physical strain felt initially.

What really stuck in my mind were Dan’s questions. “What prompted you to do this walk? Does it have anything to do with the current political situation?  Isis and so forth?”

“Much to do with it,” I said, and went on to explain that the message from our scripture, the  Bhagavad-gita, is much about taking firm stands when gentleness is taken advantage of.

This is a big topic in and of itself.

May the Source be with you!

19 miles

Tuesday, July 19th, 2016

Tuesday, July 19^th, 2016

Deep River, Iowa

Walk More, Rush Less

Two papers in the local area, “The Journal Tribune” and “The Pioneer Republican,” carried the story with the above title, by Melinda Wichmann:

“We’re designed for walking but we’re not doing enough of it.”

That is the message Bhaktimarga Swami wants to share as he walks from New York, N.Y. to San Francisco, Calif.

“The Walking Monk,” as he is called, passed through Williamsburg, Tuesday morning, July 12, during his travels.  He left Iowa City before the sun rose that morning and walked along the IWV Road, arriving in Williamsburg about 10 a.m.

The purpose of his cross-country trek is two-fold: first, to encourage people to slow down the pace of their existence, to become more introspective, and to find their spirituality, and second, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Hare Krishna movement.

Bhaktimarga is breaking his journey into three parts.  Last year, he walked from New York to Butler, Pa.  This year, he resumed walking in Butler and hopes to complete the middle portion of his journey in mid-Nebraska by August.  He plans to reach San Francisco next year.

Long-distance walking is nothing new.  Canadian-born, he has walked across his home country, four times, as well as  Ireland, Israel and a number of other foreign countries.  He averages about 20 miles a day, logging mostly morning hours to beat the summer heat.  He believes walking enables people to find their spirituality, slow down and become a little more introspective, rather than rushing through the day in a frantic hurry.  No one walks anywhere anymore, he said, they all drive. “We are consumed by the automobile and as a species, it is making us very hard and cold.”  Walking provides a way to connect with one another as well as oneself.

“This part of the country already has a slower pace of life,” he said, by comparison with larger cities and urban areas.  When he told friends he was going to walk across the United States, their reaction was a little skewed, based on American television shows.

“But everyone has a gun there,” his friends told him.

“Clearly, that is not true,” he said.

“The reception has been great,” he says, with the people he passes offering friendly waves or stopping to talk to him.

He is enjoying his trek across the heartland, especially the spacious fields and pastures.

“You have an opulence of space here,” he said.

For more information, visit thewalkingmonk.org.

May the Source be with you!

20 miles