iMonk | November 2006

Saint Petersburg, Russia — Friday, November 3rd

Why?

why does it still snow
now that gurudev has gone?
flaky memory

Saint Petersburg, Russia — Tuesday, November 7th

Cold comfort

It's funny, the kinds of associations your mind makes, isn't it?

A few days ago, at one of the morning darshans, somebody asked, "How can we control our minds?" Srila Gurudeva responded with a vivid analogy: "Just as we put glass in a window to protect ourselves from the cold and the wind and the rain, we should shield our minds with a similar barrier against unfavorable elements."

I can't get this graphic image out of my mind... On cold mornings, windy afternoons or rainy evenings, I find myself pensively staring out the window, remembering Srila Gurudeva... His analogy is as clear as the window I stare through: we must protect ourselves so that we can see the world around us without being affected by its environment.

Whenever I look through a window now, especially on a cold, blustery day, I immediately remember this analogy, and by association, Srila Gurudeva. And whenever it begins to snow, I remember how that first snow came to serve Srila Gurudeva, and this association reminds me just how much I miss his association, particularly when I catch myself muttering:

"Stupid snow! Why do you still come back here? Once you came only to serve Srila Gurudeva; now you serve only to remind me of his absence. Your flaky antics, once amusing, now leave me cold... Go away!"

URL: http://www.imonk.net/06/november1.html
Layout by iMonk — November 7th, 2006.