Thursday 30 July 2020

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Brickworks, Toronto

 

Beware: Poison

 

It happens just about every summer, I give a warning to the walkers, runners, campers and outdoor folks to be aware of the Covid-19 among plants — the dreaded poison ivy.

 

I personally know someone who mistakenly took these darlings to be encroaching weeds and begin to pull them, as best can be done, at the roots. Lo and behold the rash invaded the skin and has become a nightmare for her.

 

Anyway, enough for cursing the innocent-looking plant. Let’s get to terms with the solution. Experience tells that the Earth locks within herself many secrets. Take some mud from a good source and apply it to the infected areas before resting. Be generous with it. By morning time you’ll already see an improvement. Less itch and less leakage from the rash.

 

Shower again in the morning and apply more mud where it might be concealed by your clothes, unless, of course, you’re on a holiday and then, who really cares what you look like.

 

For those of us who follow the bhakti tradition we may use tilak, and earth from sacred places. It does miracles more than regular mud does.

 

When I walked the U.S., from coast to coast, I came upon a place in Utah, the town of Delta, where an amazing lake had this incredible silty bottom. My small team of two monks, Hayagriva Marshall and I would go daily to this lake in the hot afternoon hours, when we were in the area, and take a full mud bath, all for the purpose of taking care of our God-given bodies. It was sublime.

 

May the source be with you!

4 km


No comments: