{"id":10565,"date":"2012-05-29T13:43:57","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T12:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=10565"},"modified":"2012-05-29T13:43:57","modified_gmt":"2012-05-29T12:43:57","slug":"chants-songs-and-bulrush-snack-part-of-monk%e2%80%99s-first-day-on-confederation-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=10565","title":{"rendered":"Chants, songs and bulrush snack part of monk\u2019s first day on Confederation Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eric McCarthy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Journal Pioneer<\/p>\n

ALBERTON — There\u2019s a Hare Krishna monk walking Prince Edward Island\u2019s Confederation Trail this week as part of his fourth Cross-Canada trek.<\/p>\n

If Bhaktimarga Swami\u2019s (The Walking Monk\u2019s) saffron\u2013coloured robes don\u2019t catch your attention, then maybe the 25 year-old Bluefront Amazon parrot perched confidently on the shoulder of Daruka dasa\u2019s shoulder will.<\/p>\n

Daruka is a monk-in-training and he travels by car to drop off Swami at the start of each day\u2019s trek and pick him up at the end of the day. He also provides for him during the day and arranges media interviews and encounters with Swami.<\/p>\n

Swami\u2019s fourth cross-Canada marathom started last fall in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. He resumed the marathon Tuesday in Tignish, covering 35 kilometers of trail to Bloomfield. He normally does a full marathon a day, 42 kilometers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m turning 60 this year, so I\u2019m slowing it down a little bit. My knees are telling me so. You know, your body is it\u2019s own guru. It\u2019s telling you what you can take and what you cannot take,\u201d Swami said upon returning to Alberton\u2019s Old Stone Station Park for a meal after completing Tuesday\u2019s trek.<\/p>\n

Swami describes his walk as \u201cTime for myself, time for inner-development, (and) time for introspection.\u201d Hare Krishna chants takes up about two hours of each day\u2019s walk. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like to start early in the morning with a walk. This morning it was quarter to five, so that I can have my little peace to do that, my little time to chant.\u201d Here are songs to sing, people to meet and nature to enjoy. <\/p>\n

The trail here allows you a lot of time for doing that kind of stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a place of incredible solitude here, this trail. It\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous treks in 1996, 2003 and 2007, were conducted primarily along sides of roads.<\/p>\n

Depending on the time of the year and where he is at, trails can be dangerous. He has had encounters with a Grizzly Bear in a previous trek.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday his most common encounter was with black flies and mosquitoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou become bug smart and wildlife smart,\u201d he acknowledged, adding that working oneself into a frenzy over the bugs only makes things worse. <\/p>\n

Swami acknowledges his appearance often strikes curiosity in folks. He\u2019s eager to chat with whomever he meets. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot that can inspire you just by the simple things people do,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope that I can mutually do the same thing, just by walking and trying to tell people, \u2018hey, we need to spend a little more time to take care, not only of our bodies but our souls.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Swami suggested North Americans are generally out of balance in the way they live. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty good with the recreation, very good with the work. We have our commitments there, but when it comes to that introspection, we\u2019re a little bit on the weak side. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need some time for reflective walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he has received some help from his own community in starting out on his trek, Swami admits he also relies on generosity of strangers. \u201cKindness is there when you need it,\u201d he said. Provisions include a Grand Marquis, tent and Coleman stove. A snack along the way on Tuesday consisted of tender bulrush stems.<\/p>\n

Swami\u2019s trek will take him to the Manitoba border by fall. He will pick up next spring where he leaves off. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eric McCarthy<\/strong><\/p>\n

If Bhaktimarga Swami\u2019s (The Walking Monk\u2019s) saffron\u2013coloured robes don\u2019t catch your attention, then maybe the 25 year-old Bluefront Amazon parrot perched confidently on the shoulder of Daruka dasa\u2019s shoulder will<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-iskcon-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}