Tuesday 28 October 2008

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Fri. Oct. 24/08 - Paris, France

It was a long day, about 34 hours long, stretched out due to time zones changes while moving by aircraft in the westerly direction. There was time for thought.

I had the opportunity to visit our “older brother” Jayapataka Swami who lies in the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai. This senior monk was struck with a serious stroke and as a custom, members of our ISKCON league all over the world are praying for his recovery. Prior to my flight back to Canada I found those few minutes to be with him alone in the intensive care unit. He was in a coma and so his faculty powers are more or less dormant. I sang mantras during that special time for him. As I finished a woman who heard the mantras asked that I come by her mother’s bed to sing for her, so I did. It was and is a great time of sobriety for so many people.

As said before there was time to think. For the past few days in Mumbai I felt grateful and honored to be a member of a committee which has taken on the responsibility to formulate a constitution for our international organization. Being that the work is sedentary and requires much technical processing, the task does not always appear to be my calling. I have managed during our get together sessions to go about our small circle and give neck and back messages while discussion and reporting goes on. At least I’ve become somewhat useful with this newly found seva or service. Service is the thing that sustains the devotional path. There are many different ways to serve but serve we must do.

7 Km

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