Wednesday 9 April 2014

Sunday, April 6th, 2014

Toronto, Ontario

Towards Personalism

A college student came to see me for agreed upon meeting at venue, the streets.  It became a question and answer session on foot on this most sattvic day.  The sky was clear and bright, air was fresh, there was hardly a breeze. 

I can say for myself, I felt the same forecast within.  I think my friend from Whitby, Ontario, the college student, was of a similar state.  I could tell by the questions and the way he was receiving and digesting my responses.  He was curious about the long walks I’ve done.  To that, I explained that light and long travel aid in the process of detachment. 

“Is that like nirvana?” he asked.  I was relieved to know that the phrase wasn’t just a name to him for a hot rock band, but that it means something quite different. 

Nirvana is a word found in the Bhagavad Gita, and it’s a term very much clutched onto by the Buddhists.”  I explained that we are referring to a state of mind beyond the mundane, beyond the hankering and lamentation of this world.  Although nirvana may not be complete so far as total spiritual fulfillment is concerned, within popular Hinduism the equivalent to nirvana would be moksha.  For Krishna conscious pursuers, the state of completion anticipated is union with the Divine in personal service.  It is a highly personalistic approach to life. 

The student and I agreed to meet again and to have more parlance while walking. 

Equally enjoyable to walking and talking through the quiet residential Rosedale neighbourhood, was the evening kirtan which followed right after a successful run of the drama, “Little Big Ramayan”.  The incredibly hyped kirtan with pulsing drum beats and high strung voices took a strong personal involvement, and many people were there participating.  And it was my arm that reached out to bystanders of the kirtan, pulling the eager and shy ones into the dancing circle. 

One teenager that I pulled in stood there very flushed red, shrugged his shoulders up and down, as if declaring, “I don’t know how to dance!”

“Relax,” I said, “you’ve already got unique style.”

May the Source be with you!

6  KM

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