Friday, November 18th, 2016

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Meeting Talent

Juan and I took a stroll at our “Krishna Is” drama’s break-time.  I asked him what his vocation is and he tells me he’s training up to be a clown.

Really. Can someone make a living doing that? I thought.  Juan has so much more potential.  He’s doing fantastic as the warrior, Arjuna, in our drama which is set to be performed this Sunday.

Back to our practice place and there I met Laura.  She’s a super talented actor on Argentinian television.  More recently, she’s devoted herself to live theatre musicals.  Devotees tell me she is quite famous.

Laura was kind enough to watch a small Krishna vignette.  What an honour for those of us practising!  She gave her input after she saw our troupe in action.

“Believe in what you are on the stage, then you convince others (the audience).”  “Give more fullness in your movement,” she suggested, in an encouraging way.

The discussion I had, to follow-up on her fine critique, involved the person, Krishna, Himself.  “What a god Krishna is!  He dances, sings, is heroic, stays young permanently.  Amazing isn’t it?” I asked her. 

Meeting Him means meeting talent. 

“Oh yes!” she answered agreeably.  Laura is connected to Krishna-lila (pastimes), and to chanting….

She’s also lived in Toronto for some time.  People in Argentina know her as Laura Azcurra.  It was great to have her presence.

May the Source be with you!

5 km

Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Another City, Another Continent

I’m in a country, Argentina, where soccer can be considered the heart-beat of the nation and tango dancing has a place in people’s minds.  The country is European in flavour, and you see more walking going on than in America; although fast cars are plentiful.  The local currency, the peso, is generally not very strong against the American dollar.

The place in Buenos Aires that I visit yearly is the ISKCON Centre at Palermo.

It is not a wealthy community.  An acquired private school converted to an ashram/temple is gradually being renovated.  Outside this welcoming destination are streets that I’ve reported before as being a bit too dog-ridden.  Nothing wrong with dogs.  It’s the owners who show irresponsibility.  You could be slipping and sliding if you don’t watch yourself.

Balarama, who travelled with me here from Canada, said, “So it’s just like Mexico, my country,” indicating that it’s hard for pedestrians at times, dealing with the dung.

I mentioned about financial-tightness.  That’s not always the worst thing.  What’s important is to value what you have.  And if humility plays a role in your day-to-day life, due to the “less is more” reality, then that’s nothing to necessarily complain about.  As my room-mate monk, Gaura Vani Swami, indicated, “Where there is excess of money, that’s where you find the corruption.”  And then he said to watch out for the influence of Kali-Yuga, the age of shadiness.

May the Source be with you!

3 km

Wednesday, November 16th, 2016

Santiago, Chile

  

Giving Up

It is merely a short stop-over that Balarama and I took in Santiago (population 7 million), the major city in Chile.  I could see that while we were in the airport, we were snuggled in the Andes Mountains.

Mountains, oceans and prairies have always been the best locations for dreaming, in my opinion.  Looking to the mountains through the glass, beyond the airport’s facility, I simply reflected on the exchange with the woman behind us in the queue.  She was Canadian.

“Actually, I’m from Pembroke, raised in Niagara Falls.  I was a police woman there.”

“Oh yes, I’ve walked through both those places.  I do walking pilgrimage.”

The newly-made friend understood pilgrimage.

“Actually, I come from a Mennonite background.”

She mentioned it was her dad who was the generation to leave the strict order.

“When he acquired a car, he had to paint the bumper because it was too shiny,” she said, expressing the rigidness of the faith.

Somehow, we got to talking again about her job policing in Niagara.

“One man, who was near the falls, reached into his pocket and just handed me his wallet which held his ID and cash.  He then took a few steps over, jumped into the water, and off he went.”  The 175 foot or 53 metre drop to the bottom was his destiny.  Like most people who attempt suicide in these great waters, there is a high success rate within this act of defeat.

Insert ‘faith’ and there’s less chance of giving up.

May the Source be with you!

0 km