Wednesday 5 December 2012

Thursday, November 29th, 2012

Treasures

Varadero, Cuba

The ocean offers so much. Each day it delivers sea treasures that are washed ashore. Hayagriva, my brahmachari assistant, was just shy of stepping onto a jelly-fish and a squid shared the same beach with his spineless companion. Shells, clams and ocean plants also seemed to end their water journey when the high tide swept them on drier sand. Some of these items are precious to beach comers who walk away with one of these prizes.

Our group from Canada all took that visit to the sands of enjoyment, a 21 mile stretch of a magnificent beach. One of our group remarked “When the local tour guide mentioned that there's a cold front that just hit the shores we Canadians just had a good laugh. Cold front? You don't know the meaning of the word.”

Just to clarify, our group is not just here to be sense gratifiers. We are here to mix pleasure and work together. The beach stuff with its therapeutic benevolence fuels the body and mind. As for the soul...? Well, our crew qualified the trip as a pilgrimage by way of kirtan. We chanted the Gaura Arati in the hotel room and then I gave an explanation on the song which highlights Sri Chaitanya as the great mantra master. 

What is really honourable about this group is that they stuffed their suitcases full of sarees, kurtas and spices like hing to have with the Cuban bhakti-yogis, newcomers to Krishna Consciousness. What big hearts they have? That's the spirit. An average salary in Cuba is 35$ monthly. The residents of Cuba could use some help both in a practical and spiritual way. Everyone could use little treasures that come in different chests.

7 KM

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