Spiritual Trek Brings Monk Through MD

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Spiritual Trek Brings Monk Through MD

 

FROM ROCKY VIEW TIMES

 

CANADA, Oct 10 (VNN) — By Samara Cygman

 

Supposedly, according to old eastern tradition, spotting a monk

walking on the side of the road is a good omen. This should be

exciting news to many a Rocky View resident after spotting 50-year-

old Bhaktimarga Swami, swathed in bright salmon-coloured robes,

walking on the side of Hwy 1A, Oct. 2.

 

2nd cross-country walk

 

The honest-to-goodness Hare Krishna monk is blazing his trail across

Canada for the second time to promote the simple life and raise

awareness about peace and spirituality. My walk is like a pilgrimage

and it's a chance to meet people, which is what's happening, said

Swami of truckers, hitchhikers and cyclists he's gotten to know. My

effort is not to try to get people to convert but to try to get

people to think a bit about balance.

 

In 1996, Swami did a similar type of journey, walking 8,500 km and

wearing out four pairs of shoes from Victoria, B.C. to St. John's,

Nfld. This time, he thought he would start east and work his way

west.

 

Journey began in May

 

Since he began his journey May 3 in Cape Spear, Nfld., Swami starts

each day with three hours of meditation using a string of 180 Neem

wood beads. His 45-km-a-day goal makes him so tired, when night falls

he doesn't care where he sleeps. You're tired enough you can sleep

anywhere, said Swami. He is lucky to have two full-time companions

with a van full of vegetarian food and supplies picking him up at

night and dropping him off early in the morning. Our main expense is

fuel. Isn't that ironic? laughed Swami.

 

Donations accepted

 

To aid in battling the expenses, Swami gratefully accepts the

donations given by the generous people he meets and uses the bit of

money saved up from a stint he did with a film crew in Calgary in the

1980s.

 

They were making a documentary called The Longest Road about the

Trans Canada Highway and it was the first paycheque he received since

becoming a monk in the early 1970s. Along with that, Swami has also

learned to love the tastes along the side of the road. Dandelion

Flower Fritters are one of his favourite. The side of the road

provides an incredible amount of vegetation. And it's free, said

Swami.

 

Sights of the highway

 

Rubber tire pieces are the most common litter to see on the side of

the road, followed by disposable coffee cups. Animal life, and death,

are also remarkably abundant. Animals tend to use the highways as a

toilet. Maybe they are trying to tell us something -- what they think

of our highways, said Swami. One day he saw what he thought was just

another piece of rubber tire -- until it moved. A medium-sized turtle

was trying to make its way across the Trans Canada and Swami took it

upon himself to help it.

 

He stood smack-dab in the middle of the highway, arms outstretched

and palms up. Traffic, from both directions, came to a halt. The

drivers looked at him quizzically. He pointed excitedly to the

turtle. By then the turtle had made it's way into the middle of the

road, when it finally decided to look up and take in the scene around

him.

 

What must have seemed like huge metal beasts were being held off by a

towering figure in flowing saffron robes. The scene must have been

too much for the turtle and it promptly retreated into its shell. The

traffic carefully maneuvered around the turtle and when it had

cleared, the reptile finally made its way across. That was one of the

most exhilarating moments for me, said Swami excitedly.

 

Simplicity inspiring

 

His journey was inspired one day while picking up a friend from a bus

terminal in Toronto -- the city Swami calls home. It was a snowy

night in January and he drove past a group of homeless people huddled

in a corner by city hall. They had made their bed in the one spot not

obscured by snow.

 

It was just inspirational that someone could take such simplicity and

live with it, he said. Simplicity inspired him at the age of 20, when

he first decided to join the monastery in Toronto. He grew up a good

Catholic boy named John -- the son of Dutch descendants. In high

school, he unintentionally turned his back on his spirituality. It

was hard to think about religion at the height of the 1960s.

 

But when he regained a level head, in college, he knew what he wanted

to do. When I was alone in college, I thought more about my

spirituality, said Swami. When their 20-year-old son approached them

with his decision, Swami's parents thought it was a phase.

 

When I decided to become a Krishna monk, they were concerned, said

Swami. But with a new Sanskrit name, ironically meaning path of

devotion and 30 years under his belt, Swami is teaching Bhakti-yoga

in Toronto and working with youth around the world. Life is like the

roads, he said. It's a never-ending journey. We were created with a

body. Half of it is leg. This is what it's meant for, said Swami.

 

d 2003 Rocky View Times