GET THE BLOG VIA EMAIL

Wednesday, May 7th, 2026 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania I circled Sparta Lake one last time on this trip for four circumambulations, observing birds in pairs - the red-winged black bird, red cardinals, gold finches, ducks, geese. One single bird stood out alone - the heron, who is often like a hermit. There it was, single-pointed in thought, patient for a fish to appear. Well, I wasn’t patient enough to wait for a poisson to come as bait. I was in a hurry with that last revolution

Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 Sparta Lake, New Jersey Louisa came early for the evening sangha hosted by Haripad and Sandani, where they were anticipating a full house attendance. Before the crowd arrived we spoke for a few minutes. She was raised Catholic, likes to hike, has made a trip to India for spiritual purposes, has black bears visit her back porch, embraces Krishna Consciousness. We also found out something similar when we learned we share the same birthday, October 5. Th

Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 Sparta Lake, New Jersey On the phone I said, “There’s this beaver in the water, just five meters away from me playing with a branch.” “That is a real Canadian story, if ever I heard one,” said Nrsimhananda, my friend from the west coast. Our conversation in session had been interrupted when I saw the rodent acting in this way. I continued, “I’ll get closer to him and I’ll bet he’ll slap his tail, in defensive warning, but no, he’s practically domesticat

Monday, May 4th, 2026 Cleveland, Ohio As we were making our way to the Marion Correctional Services, Akilananda and I were headed toward the moon. But that moon was slowly fading as it was the sun’s turn to take prominence. Trees were revealed, including Ohio State’s official tree, the Buckeye. Trees are always good to look at. Our purpose in going to prison is not so much to view trees, but to visit Arjuna, a devotee from Ohio. He has four more years to go. Arjuna met us in

Sunday, May 3rd, 2026 Cleveland, Ohio I have walked around the lake at New Vrindavan multiple times. Today was another day just to get some footsteps in before a decent drive to the next destination - Cleveland. For well over a year now the Bhakti yogis of this area in Ohio have been meeting weekly at what’s termed as “Pierogi Palace.” It is a modest sized meeting hall on top of a hill, quite ideal for a private Hare Krishna gathering. Today some newcomers came - their first

Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 Moundsville, West Virginia The sun was attempting to burn through the fog. It succeeded although it brought on so little warmth to the day. At the Teaching Garden clear cups of corn substance were placed over the new seedlings. The chills of the last two days are unseasonable. Personally I was charmed and warmed by the teacher in the garden Tapapunja, a disciple of Prabhupada, hails from north Michigan, but has been a resident of this village, New Vrin