Friday 23 December 2011

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Welcome to Kali Yuga!

Toronto, Ontario

Welcome to Kali Yuga, age of darkness!

When there's a threat of rain (looks like no white Christmas here) I'm inclined to trek a street with awnings and stay close to an underground mall where no walking impediment is known. I chose to turn a right on Yonge, but it wasn't all dry. It was a sleazy strip where I stepped over a stream of human urine trailing off into branches. A transvestite lay against a shop letting it loose. A man stood at him /her to say, "You shouldn't be doing that." Well s/he didn't take kindly to that and blurted out the most non-Christmas remark imaginable. Not good for a monk's ears.

At one crossing in that area a newsstand window revealed a headline about two young Dutch men engaged in cannibal sensation as part of a culinary experience. Surgically, flesh was taken from each and then gobbled up. Bon appetit!

"I don't want you near me again," shouted the young woman to her night partner as I walked by the couple who lingered in argument. Happy Holiday indeed!

Sights and sounds of our decadent but decorated season. Night time stuff. It invokes both my disgust and sympathy simultaneously.

I could have chosen a left turn and avoided the entertainment but then I might get spat upon by nature. Someone would probably say, "Oh come on, Swami, what you describe about decadence is just the tip of the iceberg."

Maybe so! I'm rather glad to have been born and raised in more simpler times. I'm also grateful to be in a safe environment, staying in temples, ashrams, and homes of the more pious. If there was anything beneficial about this and my other walks its that it always enhances gratitude.

7 KM

No comments: