Friday 4 November 2022

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Stouffville/Brampton

With the Leaves

Today was the day for mingling and service together with our congregates in the greater Toronto area and it was most rewarding and fun. The first occasion of devotional joy took place at the home of Kishor Mani for an eight-hour chanting session, which wasn’t consistent but interrupted, intentionally, by eating and also by some poetry reading by myself.

Kishor’s son, Arnav, who’s just a young guy, is a chess champ, taking him all over the world for chess championships, was kind to me by leading me to some trails in Ballantrae County nearby the house. The ambience of those autumn colors made me think of the lyrics of Nat King Cole’s song, “the falling leaves depicted by the window / the autumn leaves of red and gold.” Like most of his songs that I grew up with, it carries a romantic edge, so, as a bhakti yogi, I translate such nuances of love as the love for Krishna.

One other way to view the falling leaves is to parallel this dynamic to the souls that fall from grace from the spiritual realm, looking to an adventure with maya, illusion. One other consideration on this analogy is that when one disconnects from the trunk and branches of a tree, one dries up. However, once the leaves have fallen, over the months, they provide excellent compost for the tree to be nourished by. In other words, we are never useless even when we make the iconic fall. One can always serve.

My last visit for the day was at Prashant’s home. Twenty years ago I engaged him in a drama. He and his brother were my actors. It was great to reconnect.

May the Source be with you!

3 km


 

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