Toronto, Ontario
What People Said!
I have written
before about people’s interesting reactions to the robes I wear when out in
public, walking along the street. Early
this morning, I received some new responses.
It started with a
man, quite intoxicated, on Bloor Street.
“Hey, are you with the circus?”
Then on Yonge
Street, which becomes rajasically
(passionately) vibrant, especially on a sticky, hot evening like tonight, when
just about everyone’s out and about, “Oh monkeeeey!” said the woman and then
apologetically retracted, “I mean monk.” There’s a question of whether or not she’d
had a few.
I do take pride
in wearing my monastic clothes. From all
that I’ve read, our guru, Srila Prabhupada, held a fearless countenance as he
walked the streets of New York. He
carried himself like “an aristocrat.” Hayagriva,
his first student, had said that of him after their first meeting. I believe Prabhupada wanted us (his students)
to dress smartly and not necessarily like an avadhuta, one who is uncaring about attire and behavior, yet
renounced.
As I walk on
Yonge, I have to keep in mind, upon recalling my early years on the street in a
dhoti (lower garment), that if you
walk over a subway vent, when the train underneath goes by, the hot wind
suddenly shoots up. It can be
embarrassing when clad in a dhoti.
The finishing
steps of my early night walk on Yonge were met with nods from several people. One young fellow in T-shirt and shorts looked
at my clothes from afar and as he got closer said, “Yah wanna trade suits? I like it.”
May the Source be
with you!
7 km
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