Sunday 31 December 2017

Wednesday, December 27th, 2017

Brampton, Ontario

The Girl and the Gita

Cinnamon buns, pudlas—an eggless omelette—dilled scalloped potatoes and beetroot-carrot juice were on the menu.  “And black beans as we have on the east coast,” remarked cook and host, Nirmana, at her home shared by three generations of family.

Nirmana is a regular Canadian girl who became a registered nurse and married into an Indian family.  She and her husband, Sahil, have a beautiful one-year-old daughter, Manjari.  I'm indeed happy for her.  I recall first meeting her in New Brunswick when she first showed receptivity to bhakti yoga.  I was giving one of those “Tales from Trails” presentations, when, in Woodstock, at a wellness centre, a young woman came to hear.  One thing led to another and it all led to an attraction for a different lifestyle.

She is such a qualified person and at the same time has a simple nature.  She reminds me somewhat of the verses we read today from the Gita, chapter 17.  Here they are—three of them—verses 14, 15 and 16:

“Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.  Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.  And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.”

May the Source be with you!

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