{"id":30167,"date":"2016-08-04T14:12:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T12:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/148444916086"},"modified":"2017-01-26T18:28:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T17:28:10","slug":"walking-monk-heads-across-iowa-bhaktimarga-swami-known-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=30167","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Walking Monk\u2019 heads across Iowa. \nBhaktimarga Swami, known as…"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u2018Walking Monk\u2019 heads across Iowa.
\nBhaktimarga Swami, known as \u201cThe Walking Monk,\u201d says \u201cthe walk before\u201d encourages him to keep walking, which got him started on his most recent walk, a walk across America.
\nBhaktimarga Swami (formerly John Peter Vis) is a Hare Krishna monk who is walking across America to promote a healthier global lifestyle, a strong spiritual foundation and a simple meditative life.
\n\u201cI\u2019m also out here to integrate with people,\u201d the 63-year-old Canadian said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a workout and a workin \u2026 to take time to process life.\u201d
\nHe is also walking to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Hare Krisna movement.
\nOn this particular day (Wednesday, July 20) he started just outside of Brooklyn on Highway 6 and was stopped just east of Grinnell.
\nBorn in 1952 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Bhaktimarga Swami adopted the monastic lifestyle of the Hare Krisna order in 1973.
\nTraveling on foot is a common practice in various traditions, he said, and it\u2019s an effective way to reach out and communicate the importance of morality and ethical priorities.
\n\u201cYou learn to take it all in,\u201d Bhaktimarga Swami said. \u201cThe heat, the wind, the rain, the traffic, the cold, the black flies, the mosquitos, the public attention or none. With all of that you learn detachment from the externals and how to go within to be happy.\u201d
\nBhaktimarga Swami said that during his travels he has had a number of different experiences. He usually starts a walk very early each day \u2013 recently to beat the heat in Iowa he has started around 4 a.m. And with wearing an orange robe he has been mistaken for a number of different things in the dark, including an escaped convict.
\nThat normally brings the police, but after a brief discussion, he continues on his way.
\nIn Iowa, Bhaktimarga Swami had only good to say for the law enforcement community.
\n\u201cThe police have been terrific,\u201d he said. \u201cThe cops are nice here in Iowa.\u201d
\nThis tour is made of three parts \u2013 he started last fall in Boston, went to Bulter, Penn., then into New York. The second leg started in Butler and brought him to Grinnell. He plans on stopping near Grand Island, Neb., before continuing on the third leg next summer.
\nThis isn\u2019t new to him, he has trekked across Canada four times, Ireland, Israel, Guyana, Trinidad, the Fiji Islands, Mauritius and other countries. He was featured in a National Film Board of Canda\u2019s documentary titled \u201cThe Longest Road.\u201d
\nHe averages about 20 miles a day, he said.
\n\u201cWhile I walk I also meditate,\u201d Bhaktimarga said. \u201cAs a monk you have that obligation to yourself \u2013 take to the elements and toughen up inside.\u201d
\nSource: http:\/\/goo.gl\/AXuNMJ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

‘Walking Monk’ heads across Iowa.
\nBhaktimarga Swami, known as “The Walking Monk,” says “the walk before” encourages him to keep walking, which got him started on his most recent walk, a walk across America.
\nBhaktimarga Swami (formerly John Peter Vis) is a Hare Krishna monk who is walking across America to promote a healthier global lifestyle, a strong spiritual foundation and a simple meditative life.
\n“I’m also out here to integrate with people,” the 63-year-old Canadian said. “It’s kind of like a workout and a workin … to take time to process life.”
\nHe is also walking to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Hare Krisna movement.
\nOn this particular day (Wednesday, July 20) he started just outside of Brooklyn on Highway 6 and was stopped just east of Grinnell.
\nBorn in 1952 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Bhaktimarga Swami adopted the monastic lifestyle of the Hare Krisna order in 1973.
\nTraveling on foot is a common practice in various traditions, he said, and it’s an effective way to reach out and communicate the importance of morality and ethical priorities.
\n“You learn to take it all in,” Bhaktimarga Swami said. “The heat, the wind, the rain, the traffic, the cold, the black flies, the mosquitos, the public attention or none. With all of that you learn detachment from the externals and how to go within to be happy.”
\nBhaktimarga Swami said that during his travels he has had a number of different experiences. He usually starts a walk very early each day – recently to beat the heat in Iowa he has started around 4 a.m. And with wearing an orange robe he has been mistaken for a number of different things in the dark, including an escaped convict.
\nThat normally brings the police, but after a brief discussion, he continues on his way.
\nIn Iowa, Bhaktimarga Swami had only good to say for the law enforcement community.
\n“The police have been terrific,” he said. “The cops are nice here in Iowa.”
\nThis tour is made of three parts – he started last fall in Boston, went to Bulter, Penn., then into New York. The second leg started in Butler and brought him to Grinnell. He plans on stopping near Grand Island, Neb., before continuing on the third leg next summer.
\nThis isn’t new to him, he has trekked across Canada four times, Ireland, Israel, Guyana, Trinidad, the Fiji Islands, Mauritius and other countries. He was featured in a National Film Board of Canda’s documentary titled “The Longest Road.”
\nHe averages about 20 miles a day, he said.
\n“While I walk I also meditate,” Bhaktimarga said. “As a monk you have that obligation to yourself – take to the elements and toughen up inside.”
\nSource: http:\/\/goo.gl\/AXuNMJ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30167","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\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30167"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38150,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30167\/revisions\/38150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}