A MEANINGFUL TRAIL

Tuesday, October 28th, 2025

Taylor Creek Park, Ontario

When you are a participant in devotional life, the guru comes to mind very regularly.  There are the principles of vani and vapuh when it comes to guru.  Vani refers to the message that such a teacher has left, and vapuh applies to the guru’s physical presence.  Of the two, vani and vapu, the message or instruction is more important and significant.

We had the golden opportunity to give some attention to everyone’s guru, Srila Prabhupada, by walking down a trail he walked in June of 1976 at Taylor Creek Park which is connected to the Don River system.  On the momentous walk he spoke about many things beginning with an acknowledgment of the many trees and the creek itself. 

The fact is that even his bodily presence is meritorious for what he stood for, and therefore, this trail considered by his followers as a place of pilgrimage.  Yes, Taylor Creek has that status in our minds.

What did we see?  Elements of what is classified as features of the Carolinian Forest, which interestingly enough, ends at the location we walked on.  A certain vegetation grows in this area, and then cedar trees start to manifest just east of Toronto.

It was a magical day with natural colour of the trees dominating, some are still displaying the chlorophyll, the green pigment that is related to photo synthesis. 

Back at the temple/ashram, another one of the boys accepted saffron colour for his robes.  This means he’s going through a period, before marriage, of studies and service.  Congratulations!  That makes the count of four in our ashram in recent months, which is quite inspiring. 

MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU

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