We had an excellent trip on October 24th to the Black Creek Pioneer Village. There were about twenty attendees, including honourable guests, HH Bhaktimarga Swami and HG Prem Nidhi das, who graced us with their transcendental association. The trip was sponsored by the very kind Lajput and Prem Appaji prabhus.

We started the day off with a specially designed educational tour, in which we learned how to make cake and cookies from scratch, a cranberry and apple 'jam' and how to spin wool. Maharaj churned the fresh milk into creamy butter, just like Mother Yasoda! He even told the story of Machan-cora to one of our instructors! The prasadam was then offered, and we all enjoyed a transcendental feast!

The Village was a great place to explore the lives of Ontario pioneers, and we spent several hours doing so. HH Bhaktimarga Swami was full of questions for the 'pioneers' (employees of the Village dressed as citizens of the time), and we learned a lot about the austere life of the 1800s in Ontario. 

We even spontaneously broke into kirtan in the Presbyterian Church, with a wallet size photograph of Sri Sri Radha-Ksira-Cora Gopinatha at the front of the church! After a delicious lunch prasadam, cooked in the morning at our temple by some of the group members, we explored the Village some more before it closed for the day, taking group pictures with the 'pioneers' along the way. We then went for a lovely hike along the Black Creek, singing kirtan to the birds and other wildlife. During the kirtan Maharaj began to rap!  He started rapping about all that had happened during the day and the chorus for the rap was the maha-mantra! 

With the mrdanga providing the beat, and everyone joining in at the chorus, the "rap" was one of the highlights!  After our hike, we gathered together in front of the Village entrance to have an interesting Bhakti Vrksa. The topic was 'Material Advancement vs. Spiritual Advancement'; a perfect way to tie in Krsna Consciousness with what we had learned during the day about the pioneers! The pioneers were a great example of how to live life simply, not waste any resources, and to keep religion a central part of life. They did not seem to be particularly focused on advancing their material possessions, but on being satisfied and resourceful with what they had.

The perfect end to an exciting day of learning was a plate full of pasta, also cooked by our group members in the morning. This trip was a great example of how we, as devotees, should respect other people and ways of life. Although the pioneers were not particularly Krsna Conscious, they did live according to the principles of Varnashrama Dharma (i.e., male and female roles according to Vedic scriptures, self-sufficient community which is God-centered); we should respect them for this. I know that they lived with much more austerity than most of us would be able to tolerate even for a minute!

On behalf of all the attendees, I would like the thank the NRYAN core team for their efforts in making the trip run smoothly, especially Keshav Sharma, Sanjeev Sharma, Aravind Kanagasabapathy, and Bhairavi Shanker (our new co-treasurer, who is doing a GREAT job!). Specials thanks to our drivers for their cars, time, and gas. Also, thanks goes to all the volunteers and immense help from Advaita Prabhu who helped in the kitchen, early in the morning so that we could all have nice prasadam, and once again thanks to our sponsors Prem Appaji Prabhu and Lajpat Prabhu!