Thursday 11 December 2008

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

He works with the greatest of ease and I’m not talking about the man on the flying trapeze. I’m referring to one of our own monks who faithfully goes daily to the world’s longest street (Yonge st.) and smoothly convinces people, mostly shoppers, that they are getting the best bargain in life. The bargain is the “Bhagavad-Gita”, the great gift of knowledge.

Yajna Gauranga, a Ukrainian born monk, who sports regular civilian clothes for the task, loads himself up with soft-bound Gita books, priceless information on life skills. He succeeds with devotional finesse to approach passerby-ers, gets them to stop from their passionate pace and convinces them to take home a copy of this timeless “bombshell”. I say bombshell because once the wisdom of the Gita is put into thought and subsequent action it’s sure to shatter some mundane dreams.

I was appreciating Yajna’s devotional charm as I took a much needed afternoon stroll through the Santa Barrage of shoppers’ madness. My route was deliberate – to hit his daily path, meet him, and watch him in action. Christmas is a lonely time for a lot of people and the Gita’s contents can challenge that worst of social maladies – loneliness. Not everyone has to feel the pangs of a “Blue, blue, blue Christmas” as Elvis used to sing. “Go, Yajna, GO!”

8 Km

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