ridewithin

In the memories of Sally Aggarwal she states that when Srila Prabhupada would laugh “his laughter was oceanic”.  I always remember that description.

This morning I woke up in Point Pleasant New Jersey. I hopped on my bike and rode the mile or two to greet the rising sun as I reached the beach off of Bridge avenue. In these parts of the world you have to pay to use the beach. There are signs everywhere which state you must always carry your badge to prove you are a paying customer. I guess because I was there so early no one bothered me. Actually there were only a few people at all on the beach. There were a few unsuccessful fisher men and my friend Ken who is the general manager of the Fatburger Franchise in Souther California. I didn’t bother to tell him I was a vegetarian. Interestingly his old girlfriend used to go to school at Ohio University.

I walked for an hour North chanting  japa. There was as short stop for offering respects to the sun and entering other asanas. Harmony can be found very easily in the presence of such powerful entities as the ocean and the early morning Sun. When you connect to the holy name in such an environment even better.

At one point while walking I found an overturned horseshoe crab. He looked prehistoric and had many other entitites living underneath his shell. I curiously touched him and noticed he was still living. He was about 30 feet from the tata rekha so I flipped him over and carefully placed him back into the ocean.

After reaching the boardwalk I turned around to chant the second half of my japa. I wanted to go swimming immediately when I got to the beach but I was a bit scared because no one else was around, I never went there before, and I was a bit under confident of my abilities to save myself etc… after a couple of hours of being near the ocean I decided it was time to enter the sacred waters of the Atlantic. I removed my pants and hoodie and walked closely to the water. With folded hands I requested, “Dear Ocean, You are great while I am not. I only ask for a short immersion into your waters. Please take care of me because I have to be at my brothers wedding tomorrow.” Sprinkling three drops of water on my head and with folded hands I walked into the water. It was so refreshing! I always forget the delight of an ocean swim. Lucky me I get two more mornings of beach japa, yoga, swimming and bike rides!