Thursday, June 23rd,
2016
Chicago, Illinois
Two Groups
This was a
pre-planned trip, to back-track to Chicago in order to give an experience to
two groups of youth. After a sacred
half-hour of song at the 4:30 AM mangal
arati, young monks from the Lunt Avenue temple and I took to the streets,
and then to the northern end of the water-front trail. Joey, Jordan, Igor, Mitch and Marcel, all
dressed in novice white dhotis and
tops, accompanied Uttama and myself.
We walked. We chanted.
They questioned. I answered.
“I noticed you are
very expressive in your speaking presentations.
How does this play into a humble devotional life?” asked one of the
boys, meekly.
“I was once a very
shy, insecure guy. Still am, but I
gained confidence through bhakti yoga,
devotional service. In any event, you
should be who you are. Be yourself. Whether introvert or extrovert, maintain
RESPECT. You know the song? (Implying Aretha Franklin’s song)”
My second batch of
walkers was a group from a youth bus tour, originating from Florida. Unfortunately we only covered a mile together. It was a slow-but-sure stroll along the
beach, and then up along the end of a pier.
They, like the first group, felt honoured to be part of a historic walk,
one that goes from the east-coast to the west-coast. Even though time allowed only one mile before
my flight to Vancouver, Canada it was one mile with twenty youths that mean a
lot to me.
“Try to absorb the
power of the waves in the water, the smells in the air, as well as the
temperature and feel of the wind. What
you perceive is the Krishna factor (God).”
So that, in brief,
was my message to them.
10 miles
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