Author Archives: H.H. Bhaktimarg Swami

Casa Loma, Toronto Snazzy Buildings Janardana Maharaja is a Filipino-born person who joined Krishna Consciousness in the ’80s, right in Toronto. He came from Catholic parents. “So did I,” I mentioned to Dayananda, American born and who joined Prabh…

Yorkville, Toronto Lessons on Life Halifax and Toronto Zoom-ed together on a call to explore the first two lessons taught by Sri Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita. Chapter 2, verse 12 opens up in revealing the mystical trait in all of us; the …

Montreal, Quebec With a Book On the Way On the second day of the Chariot Fest we had more joy. As always one of the main features is people. Why are festivals put on in the first place? In order for people to have a leisurely time. Just for gaining…

Montreal, Quebec Festival Back in Montreal The local devotees of Krishna Consciousness pulled off a great fest today; the first of two days to honour Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe, on this 44th celebration. Back they are to the procession on…

Toronto/Gananoque As Always, A Good Day Being summertime means that guests are coming, both spiritual seekers and spiritual speakers. A very humble and scholarly monk (brahmacari) from Orissa, India, is delivering classes on bhakti and that is brin…

St. Jamestown, Toronto Save the Earth/Sage the Earth  My last draft on this poem. She goes by a sweet Vedic name, Bhoomi And is worshipped by many a sage and muni She’s sometimes described as a sacred cow or calf A sentient …

Yonge St., Toronto Curiosity at Sam’s The two lads, middle-aged, were sitting on the steps at Toronto Metropolitan University, at the former sight of the iconic “Sam the Record Man” on south Yonge St. The one more hefty-built one waved me over and …

Christie Pits, Toronto Karma Came Up “Better to suffer than to protest,” is rather a mind-blowing remark when taken out of context. In the Gita,12.13-14, an insightful purport had us probing into the nature of karmawith these above-mentioned, profo…

Toronto, ON Share Your Care I know you all feel like you want to help with what’s going on in Ukraine. Our Hare Krishna movement has an ISKCON temple in Lviv, Ukraine currently serving as a refugee centre. I want to share with you some information …

Stratford, Caledon/Ontario With the Younger Gen Today we drove to the lovely city of Stratford, home of many theatrical productions. However, the group I’m with, the Bhakti Academy, and the group we were joining, the Bhakti Yoga Club leaders really…

Russell, Ontario Some Excitement For our morning sadhanasession with the Bhakti Academy, I facilitated the group on a class from Bhagavatam1.2.17. Here’s the verse in English: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Superso…

Ottawa, Ontario Chanting at the Capital Happy Birthday Canada! It’s an annual trip I make to the capital city of this country – a country of pluses and minuses. Canada is a place where we can exercise our practice of higher consciousness. While le…

Yorkville, Toronto The Eve Before the Birthday I’m starting to get serious about doing community theatre again. It involves engaging youth in thematic productions based on Vedic stories. Currently, I am preparing a half-hour piece, a throw-back fro…

Rosedale, Toronto Mostly Joy Whenever I get the insomnia attack, I will clutch onto my japa meditation beads for calming a restless mind. I know at that time that God is with me in the form of sound and that I’m not alone. Is it a true consolation?…

Brampton, Ontario Signing and Shining Not but a few days ago I signed papers for registering ISKCON Saranagati with the property in Venables Valley, British Columbia. Today I signed papers for our newest project, ISKCON Milton. Also, I noticed when…

Vancouver/Toronto My Poem for Today   Swami from India   There was a wise old swami from India Who very much wanted to be in America He was warned that he was too old And that America was much too cold But he was determined to go To the la…

Burnaby, British Columbia Sun/Fun Day New initiate, Mukunda Madhava, sent me a pic of his five-day old baby, Hari Priya. Sweet indeed. It is the hope of her parents (Nancy is her mother) that naturally Hari Priya will grow up to be a strong devotio…

Burnaby, British Columbia It Started With Fluff Fluff floats in the air at this time of year, which is actually seeds sent off by poplars. Well, that is what is occurring in many places in North America, and the several acres off of Marine Drive, t…

Burnaby, British Columbia Sage the Earth Congratulations to Bhakta Michael who accepted diksha initiation. What a fine person he is! A gourmet chef and caterer, he is also a good devotee. His Sanskrit name now is Mukunda Madhava. Offering initiati…

Saranagati, British Columbia Back to the Valley Vallabha Hari flew in, as did I, to attend the “Sage the Planet” event, in the role of master of ceremonies. He arrived last night from Toronto, but this morning an idea came to his head of tagging al…

Vancouver, British Columbia Down on Marine Drive By evening I was able to reflect on the day’s affairs as I strolled down on Marine Drive. It was past the sun’s setting. The air was cool; good for contemplation. I’ll add that overall, it is the coole…

Midtown Toronto, Ontario From Midtown I put hours into drama practice. It’s coming along – the production “Demon.” I’m blessed once again with a good team, but it’s hard work. Following that came a visit to Adi Kurma’s. He’s a good cook. He pulled to…

East of Church Ave., Toronto Getting Back I’m getting back to doing plays now that the post pandemic restart button has been pressed. I’m preparing a production for Montreal and Toronto’s upcoming Chariot Fests; actually, reviving a piece of the pa…

Brampton/Oakville The Book Was Flying The flight from Winnipeg on Air Canada was early, at 5:35 a.m. Usually at such an hour you can bet that passengers on a full flight like this will be fast asleep. Such was the case for all, except the pilot and…

Assiniboine Park Zoo With the Animals Out of the courtesy of the ISKCON youth, I had the pleasure to spend time with them at the zoo. Now what can anyone learn from gawking at creatures that you can get fairly close to and admire like anything? Wel…

Ritchot, Manitoba Dreamy Day Abhi is my stalwart helper. He accompanies me on the morning walks and takes me around to various locations, all places for speaking, chanting, associating, and honouring prasadam, sacred food. Today, my first visitatio…

Winnipeg, Manitoba Home Visits Visvambhar mentors international students from India and they are receptive, indeed, to Krishna Consciousness. Each morning while in Winnipeg, being accommodated in a quaint temple at 124 Hazelwood Ave., a portion of …

Transcona, Manitoba Reunited with Billie the Parrot It was with great pleasure that I could see Daruka, my support person for my fourth walk across the country, and also the second half of the third trek. This meeting with Daruka was very special, …

Winnipeg, Manitoba Another Mercy Day Rain is prevalent these days, but somehow or other the presiding God of all Gods seems to make way for some walking to take place. Thank you, Krishna. The water from above appears to get tossed around intermitte…

Lorette/Winnipeg The Airy Prairie I could not resist going down an endless prairie dirt road for the friendly skies of Krishna – blue clouds, great air, and no stop signs or intersections to worry about. The road I chose is located where I’ve been …

Winnipeg, Manitoba Together Event Vivaan, who’s 8, the son of my hosts in Lorette, shared with me a quote he loves about the forest – “You won’t get WIFI here but you will get connected.” I like that. I think we’ve all had incredible connections wi…

Lorett, Manitoba To A Great Flatness Lat week my travels led me to Quebec and before that the Maritimes, where all those places are mountainous, at least hilly, but today, after a good flight to the Prairies, I landed on ultra-flat terrain. A nice …

Christie Pits, Toronto Spotty Green Spaces   Life in the ashram gives regular birth to a fresh challenge for a monk. This day is called Nirjal Ekadasi. “Nir” refers to “no.” “Jal” refers to “water.” On this ekadasi,reserved for a grain fast, re…

243 Ave. Rd., Toronto Stop and Smell   You have all heard the saying, “Stop and smell the roses.” It’s a phrase that was used often in the ’60s (not sure if it had anything to do with hippie flower power). The message is hurry and worry less. S…

The Annex, Toronto What Is A Hoser?   A cool and fairly wet season either curses or blesses the region. In my maturing years, I actually don’t mind so much the more moderate temperatures with the morning hovering around fourteen degrees Celsius…

Rosedale, Toronto Starting Over The class this morning was graciously handed over to me and, being that we have now begun the Bhakti Academy training course for novices, it means a few changes have been implemented. We have left Canto 11 behind and …

Montreal/Toronto In Two Cities I delivered a final class to the residents at Iskcon Montreal and the subject was “Observing the Good Character of King Ambarish.” He is so adored. Ryan and I then took the Via Rail train ride to Toronto. It was his f…

Montreal, Quebec To the Personal   People are important. I realize that people need attention and they are not getting enough of it. Genuine love, a bonding-type, is hard to come by, yet humans crave for it like anything. The people in our commu…

Montreal, Quebec Joy in Quebec   While it was June 4thin Noida, India, the morning, I was delivering a class to students during my evening, several hours behind the day before. It was my second time giving a Zoom call to this group in what they …

Quebec City, Quebec Culture?   It was a very scenic, long drive to the area of Quebec City. A gracious host, Priya Radha, invited our troupe to her home for chanting and a talk. There was food and fun. On the way to her home, at I’sle de Neige,…