Mayapura, India
Special Come Together
Sages, avatars and the sacred texts called "Veda"
all say the same thing, that the best action you can take in spiritual life is
to embrace the company of spiritual comrades.
And so that's what we did today, in a special way, as we do every year.
This year, two of our ladies in their mature years, arranged
a lunch for those of the Canadian branch of our mission. But, wait a second, we had Americans in there
too; one who qualified as a "Resister" or as we used to say
"Draft Dodger". Yes, indeed,
one of our lunch buddies, defected from the United States during the time of
the Vietnam War, and discovered Krishna at the same time. Another U.S. devotee, who run the
"Krishna House" in Florida, very successfully, managed our Vancouver
Centre in the ‘80s. It was interesting
to note that in 1967, a Punjabi gentleman who emigrated to Canada, took shelter
of Krishna at that time, and has since been a solid man in spiritual life: a
monk in saffron. His name is Gopala
Krishna Goswami. He is well-known.
So, we went around the table of forty-five and each stood up,
when it was his or her turn, to tell their brief story. Amongst the group were three couples with
landmark marriages. Kala and Yasomati
joined ISKCON in Montreal and have been married for fifty years. Ghosh and Girija of British Columbia have
been locked in wedlock for over forty years, and Kramadasa and Paurnamasi also
boast a similar statistic.
Our annual lunch was held this year in the upper deck of
"Govinda's Restaurant" and the menu was organic salad and
pizzas. The real treat was each other.
May the Source be with you!
5 km
Editor’s note: On January 21st , 1977,
then President Jimmy Carter pardoned all American Vietnam War draft dodgers, which
allowed all of them to avoid any imprisonment or legal convictions in their
home states. Many chose to stay in Canada where they had been welcomed as legal
immigrants during the war.
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