Hit the showerz..

"As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change."
-Bhagavad Gita As It Is (2.13)

I woke up this morning and felt really good. I thought to myself, I bet my alarm clock will go off right now. Two seconds later, sure enough. Got out of bed and performed the morning rituals. Took my cold shower (i've discovered the secret of cold showers, closes the pores, keeps ya warm all morning) then did some breathing exercises. Sang and danced during morning program, chanted Hare Krsna for an hour, made some dandelion-yarrow tea, and changed into my barn clothes. I stepped outside into 2-3 inches of "FRESHIES" (old snowboarding lingo for no tracks). The snow was still falling and I felt that "it's snowing and it's quiet, so quiet and everything looks so beautiful, even the crusty old trailer and the mess of tractor parts under a fresh blanket of show" feeling. Got to the barn and was greeted by Maggie Mae, a real sweet dog from down the road. I paid my obeisances to Mother Ganga, flipped over the milk crate, and sat down beside her. Twenty minutes and 17lbs of milk later, we were both pleased. As the calves were suckling, I brushed their soft behinds and tried to determine if the rumors of diarrhea were true. Madhava drops some solid stool so it must be Kesava. The mothers and I exchange some parting words of gratitud and I prepare to head back to the temple.
I pour Miss Maggie some milk and she comes running in all bloody-like on her right side. I smell trouble. Buckets clean, I leave the barn and notice Maggie's tracks heading into the woods. Fully intent on attending class, I still couldn't resist my internal Tom Brown. Into the woods, through the wild, multiflora rose bushes, under the barbed wire fence, past a couple dilapidated cabins, down the hill, across the creek, up the ravine, and heading south on a newly discovered trail later, I lost the tracks. "Oh well," I thought, I should be heading back anyways. And just as I turn around, there she is. A few yards in from the trail, a young deer is laying on her side, blood on the snow. Her leg moves and I realize she is still alive and breathing. Hare Krsna! I shed a few tears and began to chant.

"Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail." -Bhagavad Gita As It Is (8.6)

Prabhupada writes in the purport of this verse that chanting the Hare Krsna maha mantra is "the best process for successfully changing one's state of being at the end of one's life." so i chanted. i stayed on the path and wished her back home to Godhead. i continued to chant for a half hour or so until her body lay stiff. it was 9 o'clock. i missed class.


Today is a special day for Krsna devotees. Every 11th day after the full and new moon, we celebrate "ekadasi". I am told these days are extremely favorable for spiritual advancement. Ekadasi is observed by fasting, at the very least no beans or grains, and the extra time is used for spiritual inventory. The renunciate in me has taken to ekadasi nicely.
This was a special morning of an auspicious day. Thank God i was sober to understand what was happening. In fact, i consider soberness my only redeeming quality these days. Bhakti yoga is a spiritual path that slowly purifies one's heart. Therefore, lots of emotional gunk is surfacing, which i am told not to be ashamed of. To criticize one who has sincerely taken to the path of self-realization and Krsna consciousness, is like calling someone dirty while taking a shower. In that case, I'll be in the bathroom for a very long time, especially because i'm a girl.