By Bhaktimarga Swami
At 3:30 a.m., I stepped out of the car to resume walking from where I left off the previous day. Garuda drives forward ten kilometers and rests. I look at the panoramic sky above me. A sparkle display of stars puts me in awe. And so does the wide smear of the Milky Way. To the north from the horizon up, the northern lights are broad shafts occupying that entire direction. My eyes must be planted to the ground now. The pavement is uneven, broken by gravel. It’s the old highway, I assume, running parallel right next to #44.
As darkness dissipates on the trek easterly, thick tree areas fill the north and south of me. There is increased moisture in the air. Gone is the open and dry prairie. I see hints of the Canadian Shield, outcrops of Earth’s oldest rock. Buzzards soar above looking for tasty prospects below. I’m certainly no catch or prey for them. It’s weariness and drowsiness that captures me as the sun’s warmth intensifies.
Off with the socks! Let the feet breathe through the holes of the Crocs footwear. Ahhhh! That’s better!
In my stationary moment, I reflect on the recent occurrences, the people I met, and the messages that were coming to me during my stretch of Manitoba. The newspapers reports from the town of Neepawa told me that Manitoba is an aboriginal word for “the God who speaks”. It apparently refers to the voice of the winds blowing through the narrows.
So, what is God (the Great Spirit) saying, and to me in particular?
Recently I had met an array of people who took interest in the long trek—the mayor of Edmonton, a writer for the US Congress, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, farmers, truckers, journalists, radiobroadcasters, a chemist, an English professor, a Christian hermit, radical youth bare-chested with rings pierced about their nipples. This is naming a few.
All of them had something to say, and Krishna no doubt channels information through people all of the time. What sticks out is the words of a Swiss immigrant farmer who comments on the social condition of the world. Referencing the colossal conference held in Toronto over the notorious HIV/AIDS epidemic, this rather pious man had something to tell me about the reason for the death threat of AIDS. LACK OF DISCIPLINE is what he identified as the culprit. 20,000 delegates including mega Bill Gates, I’m sorry, offered words but no wisdom on the topic. For many pundits, the answer was liberal distribution of protection (condoms). “Abstinence is no solution,” suggests one expert.
(Hopefully monastics will honour that one, but they are virtually small in number.)
I concurred with the man. “It’s education. Big campaigns about enhancing spiritual life. Indulge in a higher taste.” If campaigns against smoking have succeeded in moving masses to renounce the cigarette, then this same approach against illicit sex can have positive bearing on the public.
Candidly, what does the public actually see and hear about this interesting appetite? Answer: all the promiscuity you can imagine. If sex is always “in the face” of the public, then it is merely dictating and producing disastrous social consequences. Irresponsible sex is creating a global mess.
In the Bhagavad Gita, God is identified as lust which is not contrary to dharma. Krishna (the Great Spirit) is speaking, and my friend here is echoing the same message.
Manitoba is very well populated with members of the Mennonite community. As I continue the trek through their farmland, I sense a type of groundedness because of their strong family values and strong sense of responsible life. It inspires. After all, every group has something to offer the world.
As I complete this segment of Canada, Manitoba, and reach the Ontario border, I am reminded that the art of walking is of secondary importance. It is the people you meet and observe that makes it all worthwhile. I feel enriched and benefitted. I am grateful that my guru Srila Prabhupada, has blessed me with the life of a nomad.
Life like this doesn’t get any better.
Hare Krishna
Bhaktimarga Swami
(Note: It is Radhastami, the birth anniversary of Goddess, Radharani. Part 1 is complete. Part 2 of Canwalk 3, the third trek across the world’s largest country, will resume in the summer of 2007.)