Thursday 16 July 2009

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

No Way to Pay

Hamilton, Ontario

It's been seven years since coming to Hamilton, a municipality or district of 500,000people. It was my southern most destination point in the country for my second sojourn on foot. People's response to Krishna Consciousness has always been well received here. A whole band of young people hailing from this bustling city became serious followers of Srila Prabhupada in the early seventies, a number of them who imparted to me personally and saw to my spiritual evolution. It's for this reason that I feel some indebtedness to come here.

Jaya Keshava, a monk from Liberia and I took a few steps through the downtown. We scouted Westdale, the university district at McMaster as well as Mohawk College We ended up driving to the west end of Hamilton to see landscape artist Tracy Munro who has been to India, is fond of Krishna and recently cut a CD of ancient mantras. She invited us to a couple's home, clients and friends for lunch. There in the coziness of their backyard we got caught up on things.

While watching their young kitten climb a tree who then by suprise pounced a robin's nest which sent those gorgeous turquoise eggs in the air we noted the furry animals natural instinct. Mother robin was terrorized and so were we to a certain extent. We managed to re-position the nest to its juncture of two branches and spare one egg carefully placing it back in its home by gloving it with a broad dandelion leaf. We had heard that some birds reject their eggs if handled by humans.

The incident, though petty in some ways, did rile up some fine sentiments. It was also a recurring sentiment in me that had me thinking of devotees in this area that helped me in my spiritual life back in '72. They introduced and sustained me for so very long. There is no way to repay them for picking me out of the mire of maya, illusion.

Finer sentiments or sensitivities are supposed to develop when one cultivates consciousness.

5 KM

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