Author Archives: Kevala-Bhakti Dasa (Keshav)

On New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1st, 2018, Toronto’s Hare Krishna temple will be hosting our annual Srila Prabhupada Festival!  Promising to be a great way to start the new year, the festival is usually one of the biggest of the year.

The festival will feature plenty of kirtan, wonderful classes, a new drama presented by Bhaktimarga Swami and a sumptuous feast to help ring in the new year!  You won’t want to miss it!  There will be no better way to usher in the new year on an auspicious note!

Festival Schedule (Subject to Change):

6:00pm to 6:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:50pm – Guru Puja
6:50pm to 6:55pm – Welcome and Announcements
6:55pm to 7:00pm – Sankirtan News
7:00pm to 7:05pm – Temple Council News
7:05pm to 8:00pm – Drama: “Many Mothers Many Fathers”
8:00pm to 8:30pm – Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm to 9:30pm – Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

The Toronto Hare Krishna temple will be celebrating Govardhana Puja on Friday, October 20, 2017. Govardhana Puja is an especially “sweet” festival!

During the time of Lord Krishna, the villagers of Vrindavan used to honour King Indra, the demigod responsible for providing rain for harvest. One day, young Krishna convinced the villagers to celebrate Govardhana Hill instead of Lord Indra because it was the soil of the hill that provided grass for the cows and bulls to graze and then they provided milk. Thus, the hill should be worshiped. King Indra got infuriated and sent massive thunderstorms as punishment. Lord Krishna calmly lifted Govardhana Hill with his little finger to provide shelter for Vrindavan’s residents. After seven days of continuous thunderstorms and rain, King Indra surrendered and asked for forgiveness from Lord Krishna. He realized his true position as a servant of Lord Krishna.

On Friday, October 31, 2017, the temple will build a Govardhana Hill replica, made of prasadam, to worship Lord Krishna as the lifter of Govardhana HIll and worship the cows and bulls who are so dear to the Lord.

The program will take place from 6:00pm to 9:00pm!  We hope to see you there!

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple is featuring an ongoing series on our website about how active members of our community became practitioners of the Hare Krishna faith.  Written by Krishna Rajesh, a young high school student in our community, this series will share devotees’ personal stories of how they became Hare Krishnas!  Please share your encouraging words and feedback with a comment!

How I Became a Hare Krishna – Karuna Sindhu Dasa
By: Krishna Rajesh

“Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness, and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy—all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone”

“Sankirtan” is the process of conducting outreach to those who may not know of the power of the divine names of Krishna (God). People mistakenly think that this movement, which was originally started by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (who is none other than Lord Krishna Himself), does not have a major impact in this world. But what they fail to understand is the deep and profound impact that it has on those who are involved and to those who are being reached out to. In fact, sankirtan is one of many outreach tools that have an impact!  Every festival, every kirtan, every sanga, and even just the smiles that are given by devotees make a huge difference. Such, is the story of Karuna Sindhu Dasa and his journey to Krishna Consciousness.

In 1994, Karuna Sindhu Dasa, then known as Kunal Benjamin Kugel, visited the ISKCON temple in Toronto for the first time. He had visited with a friend to eat at the restaurant known as Govinda’s. Struck by the ambience of the temple, Kunal immediately felt a connection. He was drawn to the vegetarian food and the high ceilings in the temple room. He was surprised to see how much things differed from the other Indian restaurants that he had visited.

“It was a special experience that I never forgot. I especially liked the karela (bitter melon) preparation they had that day. It is something you never see in other Indian restaurants.”

In 1996, Kunal had the opportunity to attend the annual Ratha-Yatra festival in British Columbia, Canada. It gave him a deeper insight of ISKCON’s values and he saw how devotees practiced Krishna Consciousness. Kunal then began to regularly attend the Sunday program at the temple, which was four hours away from his residence. He gradually began to make friends within the devotee community and he soon got involved with the temple in many events.  As one thing led to another, Kunal was soon initiated and given the spiritual name, Karuna Sindhu Dasa.

With respect to his reflections on his faith, Karuna Sindhu Dasa said, “It helps me become more peaceful and understanding of others because the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is that we are all children of the same father, in other words that we are all souls; spirit souls. Due to our previous activities we are in different situations, but we are all children of the same father. That understanding helps me appreciate all those around me. Whereas before, I used to be more intolerant of others and more self-absorbed.”

As you can see, Karuna Sindhu Dasa is one of the many jewels in the devotee community of ISKCON Toronto.

The Gita Contest 2017

Krishna’s Funskool at ISKCON Toronto is pleased to announce the Gita Contest 2017– Bhagavad Gita competitions for children.
                           
Event Date: Saturday, December 2nd, 2017
Venue: The Hare Krishna Temple, 243 Avenue Road, Toronto

Category 1: Age 3-5 years – Recitation and Translation
Category 2: Age: 6-8 years – Recitation and Translation
Category 3: Age: 9-12 years – Recitation, Translation and application
Category 4: Age: 13-17 years – Chapter study – MCQ and Short answer quiz

Please note: The selected verses will be sent by email to the participants on completion of registration

• Assured prizes and Certificates of Participation for all contestants
• For Gita verses and translations, please refer only to Bhagavad-gita As it is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
• Contestants should bring proof of age (preferably copy of birth certificate/ photo ID card with age on the day of the contest
• Registration fee is $20 per child (can be paid online at torontokrishna.com, or at Krishna’s Funskool, ISKCON temple, Toronto on Sundays between 6:15 and 8:30 p.m.)

For details about content for Bhagavad Gita contest, registration and other information, contact kids@torontokrishna.com

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UPDATE – The Town Hall will NOT be broadcast live online in an effort to promote better in-person attendance.

The Temple Council is very excited to announce that we will be hosting our next Town Hall on Sunday, October 1, 2017 from 4:00pm to 6:00pm in Govinda’s Dining Hall.  This Town Hall will present an opportunity for our vibrant Hare Krishna community to come forward and engage in a productive, two-way dialogue about our Hare Krishna temple and community at large.

The Town Hall will begin with a small presentation from the ISKCON Toronto Temple Council, highlighting the successes, challenges and financial developments over the last several months.  After this, we will open up the dialogue to our entire community to share their thoughts, dreams, concerns and suggestions about how we can continue to grow our temple and community.

Please accept this as a warm invitation for you to come and attend our Town Hall.  We continue to host these Town Halls every three months in an attempt to increase the communication between the temple management and our dear congregation.

If you are unable to make it to the Town Hall, but would like to share some ideas, suggestions or feedback, please feel free to fill out our form by clicking here or email us at templecouncil@torontokrishna.com.  You can also visit the Temple Council’s website at templecouncil.torontokrishna.com.

We hope to see you on Sunday, October 1, 2017 – please feel free to pass along this warm invitation to your devotee friends!  Hare Krishna!

Sincerely,
The ISKCON Toronto Temple Council
templecouncil@torontokrishna.com
www.torontokrishna.com

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple is very excited to announce that the hit film “Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami who started it all” is having it’s Toronto premiere from Friday, September 8th through to the 19th at the historic Hot Docs Cinema located at 506 Bloor Street West.

There will be two special screenings of the film on Friday, September 8th (6:30pm) and Saturday, September 9th (6:30pm) where the film’s directors Yadubara Dasa (John Griesser) and his wife Visakha Devi Dasi (Jean Griesser) will be facilitating short Q&A sessions after the movie.

Book your tickets today by visiting this Hot Docs Cinema website!

The following is a synopsis about the film, from the official website:

1965: America is in turmoil. Unprecedented introspection and questioning of societal norms roil the country. Prabhupada, an unassuming 70-year-old Swami from India, arrives in New York City alone and without support or money. He carries only the ancient scriptures he has translated, and the firm faith in his teacher’s request: “offer spiritual wisdom to the people of the world!”

Suddenly thrust into the raging counterculture movement, Prabhupada speaks of the world’s real need, which is not necessarily satisfied by political or social revolutions, but by a revolution of consciousness. This divergence from the status quo successfully captures the attention of a generation of youth seeking answers to life’s existential questions. From a tiny storefront on 26th 2nd Avenue, Prabhupada shares with them the idea that the way to find real happiness, love and freedom is to search within and connect to your true self. All this, the Swami says, begins by simply chanting a rhythmic, meditative 16-word mantra – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

This universal message resonates with more and more people, including musician George Harrison whose hit song ‘My Sweet Lord’, features the Hare Krishna chant. From there, Prabhupada’s movement explodes, and his followers – now known as the Hare Krishnas – become infamous for chanting and dancing in the streets.

Not everyone is enamored by the enthusiastic, and at times overzealous, fervor of Prabhupada’s young followers. As more people join the movement, parents and community leaders begin to view it as a dangerous cult. Devotees are charged with brainwashing and are taken to court in a controversial case that threatens to undermine everything that Prabhupada has worked for…

Hare Krishna! is the true story of an unexpected, prolific, and controversial revolutionary. Using never-before-seen archival verite, Prabhupada’s own recorded words, and interviews with his early followers, the film takes the audience behind-the-scenes of a cultural movement born in the artistic and intellectual scene of New York’s Bowery, the hippie mecca of Haight Ashbury, and the Beatle mania of London, to meet the Swami who started it all.

ISKCON Toronto’s 2017 Congregational Vyasa Puja Book

The appearance day (birthday) of Srila Prabhupada is a very special occasion for all Hare Krishna devotees.  Srila Prabhupada appeared on Nandotsava – the day that Nanda Maharaja had a big festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Krsna (Sri Krsna Janmastami).   This year, Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja falls on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 and celebrations will be from 11am-3pm at the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple.

This day is known as Vyasa Puja because the spiritual master is a representative of Srila Vyasadeva who is the author of the Srimad Bhagavatam, one of our most important scriptures.  Traditionally, Vyasa Puja “offerings” are made by devotees who write and present personal messages to the spiritual master.   The Governing Body Commission (GBC) for ISKCON has stated that every devotee in ISKCON should write an offering to Srila Prabhupada on Vyasa Puja.

We would like to encourage all devotees in our community to write a personal letter, in the form of an offering to Srila Prabhupada for this year’s festival and, to further facilitate this process, we will be making a special ISKCON Toronto Vyasa Puja Book for 2017.   This book will be presented to Srila Prabhupada on the day of Vyasa Puja.   Following the program, the book will be on display for devotees to read all the offerings by devotees of our community.  Please note – due to time constraints during the festival, we will not be able to have everyone read out their offerings during the main festivities.  However, devotees are welcome to privately do so before or after the festival.

In order to facilitate this whole process, pre-printed pages have been prepared and we are asking devotees to hand write offerings onto these specially-designed pages.   The maximum length of the offering is one page per person.   If you wish to type your offering, you can use our Vyasa Puja online form using the form below – typed offerings must be emailed by 8:00am on August 16th.  We will print out these offerings for you.

The hand-written offerings can be submitted in person at the temple, in the designated drop box, up until 11:00am on August 16th.

We humbly encourage you to please take this opportunity to honour Srila Prabhupada with a personal offering!  Hare Krsna!

Your Servants,
The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple

Guidelines for Your Written Offering:

• Write your offering in the mood of a personal letter to Srila Prabhupada.  Write in a style as if you are addressing Srila Prabhupada directly (e.g. “Srila Prabhupada, it is by your mercy that I have come to Krsna consciousness.”)
• The Vyasa Puja offering is meant for glorifying the spiritual master.    So offerings need to be made in that mood and not be used as a platform for airing one’s grievances.  
• You may wish to read the previous year’s Vyasa Puja offerings made to Srila Prabhupada by various senior devotees around ISKCON.    It may give you some ideas of how to express yourself.   These can be found here: http://prabhupada.krishna.com/homages
• It is a courtesy to start your offering with Srila Prabhupada’s pranama mantras; we have already printed these onto the official pages.   A suggested opening is as follows: “Dear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble obeisances.   All glories to you on this auspicious occasion of your Vyasa Puja.” 
• The main content of the offering should glorify the role that Srila Prabhupada is playing in your life as well as express your indebtedness to him.   You may also include reports about your spiritual growth, how you are meeting challenges and how you are carrying out his orders.    
• To end the offering it would be nice to show one’s appreciation and desire to please, by some nice phrase such as “Your Humble Servant” or something similar.
• If you have any questions, concerns or challenges, feel free to write to us at SPofferings@torontokrishna.com 
• Please note, the temple reserves the right to not publish an offering if it is deemed inappropriate.

Submission Requirements and Deadlines

• Hand-written offerings must be submitted no later than 11:00am at ISKCON Toronto on Friday, August 16, 2017
• Typed offerings must be submitted via the form embedded below no later than 8:00am on Friday, August 16, 2017

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As tens of thousands of people descended upon downtown Toronto to attend the 45th Annual Ratha-Yatra (Festival of India), the media also took notice!  Our festival was featured as part of news coverage on major networks.  We did a quick scan of websites and newspapers and were able to grab a few highlights:

CTV News:

Canadian Immigrant Magazine:

Toronto Star Online:

DailyHive:

Toronto Star Print:

Toronto Star Touch:

BlogTO:

The annual Festival of India is this weekend in #Toronto https://t.co/ZKJ7IT9XXg pic.twitter.com/o7YUUl1KuK

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 14, 2017

With the official countdown on to the 45th Annual Ratha-Yatra (Festival of India), excitement is building for the grand event which will be taking place from July 14-16, 2017.

There are plenty of ways for you to get involved to support the festival. Our hope is to make this year’s festival the biggest ever! One of the biggest features is the free vegetarian feast at Sherbourne Common and to serve the tens of thousands of people, we need an abundant amount of spices, vegetables, dry goods and more! It is through your generous donations that we can make this year’s festival the most memorable. You can also sponsor various elements of the festival or just make a general donation.

How Can You Donate?

• Online using the donate button on our website (located on the right hand side of the page).
• Contact Satyabhama Devi Dasi via email or (416) 414-4123.
• Visit our temple at 243 Avenue Road and make your donation to our front desk volunteer at anytime.
• Click here to download a fundraising form to ask your friends and family to contribute Festival of India!

The Hare Krishna Temple would like to invited eveyrone to a special screening of Srila Prabhupada’s biography, “Your Ever Well Wisher”, this Friday, July 7, 2017 at 6:30pm in the temple.

Please come and witness the love and dedication Srila Prabhupada put in the order of his spiritual master and see the struggle he endured as he single handedly spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world for the benefit of all of us. 

TORONTO’S BIGGEST ANNUAL KIRTAN DAY!
Harinama Eva Kevalam

The much awaited annual pre-Rathayatra 12-Hour Kirtan is just sround the corner!  Featuring kirtan leaders from around the world, this is certainly a day not to be missed!  Being held on Friday July 14th from 10am – 10pm at the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple at 243 Avenue Road, it promises to be the best 12 hours of your life!

Book the day off work or school as this is your opportunity to immerse yourselves in 12 amazing hours of the transcendental vibrations of the maha-mantra accompanied by singing, dancing, drumming and clapping.

World renowned kirtanyas will be descending on Toronto from around the world, including Madhava Prabhu from Switzerland, Agnideva Dasa from the West Indies, Amala Kirtan Dasa from Brazil, Jahnavi Jivana Devi Dasi from the United Kingdom and many more! Make sure you come early as your favourite kirtanya might be chanting earlier than you expect!

Don’t forget to invite and bring your family and friends on Friday July 14th, 2017. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple has started a new online cooking series called “Cooking for Krishna” wherein delectable dishes from famous Hare Krishna cookbooks will be lovingly prepared and shown in a step-by-step fashion.  This series is presented by one of our very nice devotees of our Toronto Hare Krishna community, Lyudmila Mataji.  We hope you enjoy!  Please leave your comments below!

Cooking for Krishna – Stuffed & Baked Eggplant
Prepared By: Lyudmila Tamahina
Preparation and Cooking Time: 35 – 45 minutes
Yield: 8 stuffed eggplant halves

Introduction
Today’s recipe is from the famous Hare Krishna Cookbook, “Cooking with Kurma” by Kurma Dasa and can be found on page 71.  You can pick up your copy of this amazing book at the temple!

Step One – Ingredients:

• 4 medium- sized eggplants, about 750 g
• ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
• ½ teaspoon (2ml) yellow asafetida powder
• 2 cups (500 ml) fresh tomato puree
• ½ cups (125 ml) tomato paste
• ¼ cup (60 ml) packed fresh basil leaves, about ¼ large bunch basil, chopped 
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) salt 
• 1 tablespoon (20 ml) sugar
• ½ teaspoon (2ml) freshly-ground black pepper 
• ¾ cup (185 ml) parmesan cheese 
• 1 ½-2 cups (375-500 ml) breadcrumbs 
• 2 tablespoons (400 ml) reserved parmesan cheese 

• Cut the eggplants in half, lengthwise. 
• Place them in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, and boil them for 5-7 minutes  or until they are tender enough for their flesh to be spooned out. 
• Remove and drain the eggplant halves.

• With a spoon, scoop out the flesh from the eggplants, being careful to allow a little flesh around the narrow neck of the eggplant to remain intact. This will ensure that the eggplant shell does not collapse and lose its shape.
• Set the shell of the eggplant aside.
• Chop the eggplant flesh, squeeze out liquid

Step Four:

• Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and ½ cups (635 ml) of the breadcrumbs. 
• The mixture should now be thick . Add a little extra breadcrumbs if required. 

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 ℃/390 °F. Spoon the mixtures into the eggplant shells, packing and piling it up until all the filling is used. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top, place the eggplants on an oiled baking sheet or in a casserole dish and bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

• Serve Krsna first!

• Serve hot or warm.
• Bon Appétit

GUESS WHAT’S COMING SOON: Harinama Eva Kevalam

The much-awaited annual pre-Ratha-Yatra 12-Hour Kirtan is just a few weeks away.  Featuring kirtan leaders from around the world, this is certainly a day not to be missed!  Being held on Friday, July 14th from 10am to 10pm at the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple at 243 Avenue Road, it promises to be the best 12 hours of your life!

Book the day off work or school as this is your opportunity to immerse yourselves in 12 amazing hours of the transcendental vibrations of the Maha Mantra accompanied by singing, dancing, drumming and clapping.
Stay tuned for the list of kirtanyas that will be descending on Toronto from all around the world!

Don’t forget to invite and bring your family and friends on Friday July 14th, 2017.  We look forward to seeing you there! Stay tuned for more information!

After a successful two-month beginners mridanga course, the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple is very pleased to announce the next level of the two-month course – “Mridanga Course for Intermediates”. A student should have completed the beginners course or at least have some basic knowledge of mridanga prior to taking this course as it is a prerequisite. The start date for the course and other particulars are mentioned below

This course will be taught by our resident devotee – Gopal Prabhu, a young, enthusiastic and energetic devotee who studied mridanga among other subjects in Gurukula in Vrindavan, India.

This course will build upon the basics learned in the Beginners Course and enable a student to play mridanga at a basic level in the Kirtan. This course will still be very valuable for mridanga players of others levels to perfect their technique and playing.

Tentative Course Details: 

• Prerequisite: Beginners level mridanga course or basic mridanga knowledge
• Dates: Starting May 13th – July 5th, 2017
• Venue: ISKCON Hare Krishna Temple on 243 Avenue Road, Toronto
• Timings: Wednesday (6pm -7pm), Saturday (10 am – 11 am)
• Fee: $175 for the 2 months course
• Registration: Registration is mandatory 
• Other Notes: It is highly recommended that you have your own mridanga because you will need it for practicing, if you don’t have one and are interested to buy, please let us know we will try to make some arrangement.

For more information, please contact Hitesh Patel or Santosh Ravi.  If you are interested in taking the course, please click here to fill out the form and we will get back to you.

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple will be featuring an ongoing series on our website about how active members of our community became practitioners of the Hare Krishna faith.  Written by Krishna Rajesh, a young high school student in our community, this series will share devotees’ personal stories of how they became Hare Krishnas!  Please share your encouraging words and feedback with a comment!

An International Story – Bhakti Yoga Dasa
By: Krishna Rajesh

For many devotees, the one question that goes unanswered is: “What can I do to contribute?” Often times, newcomers are surprised by the amount of enthusiasm devotees show towards doing service at the temple. And they are always eager for more. Devotees are also found agonizing over their contribution; thinking that it is not significant enough. Bhakti Yoga Das is an example of a devotee who made the best of all the opportunities he had and incorporated Krishna Consciousness into his life in the best possible way.

Bhakti Yoga Prabhu, formerly known as Bhisham Prasad Mishra, was attracted towards Krishna Consciousness at a very young age. He had a cousin who was already in the movement, and he received guidance to help reach his destination.

He was living in Guyana, South America, when he began what would turn out to be a divine journey in Krishna Consciousness. His cousin, Butadi Prabhu, had previously lived in New York for a while, where he was initiated by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of our Hare Krishna movement. Through association, Bhakti Yoga Prabhu was inevitably pulled towards the temple. And on his first day, he had the opportunity to read the original Krsna book.

“It was a large volume…about twelve inches tall, with a silver jacket, and a picture of Radha and Krishna on the cover.”

That was his first introduction into Krishna Consciousness. And after one taste of the nectarine knowledge, he simply couldn’t get enough. He started going regularly to the temple in Guyana, every day after school, and sometimes he would even stay overnight on the weekends to attend the morning 4 am arati (morning service). He learned how to dress and follow the customs of a Vaishnava, which led to his very first sankirtan outing (outreach through book distribution and kirtan).

In 1980, he immigrated to Canada with his family. He originally lived in Hamilton, Ontario. On weekends and holidays, he would visit the Toronto temple. Eventually, a devotee from the temple used to come visit them. This was the start of a Sunday program in Hamilton.

“Later on, when I finished high school, I moved into the temple and stayed there for a couple of years.”

In June, 1982, while living at the temple, Bhakti Yoga Das met his eventual spiritual master, Gopal Krishna Goswami for the first time. Later on, in September of the same year, he got initiated (was formally as a student of his guru).

As one thing led to another, his thirst for spiritual bliss increased. He became increasingly inclined towards visiting India, and finally, with the blessings of his guru, he went to Vrindavan for the first time in 1985. During the six months that he spent there, Bhakti Yoga Prabhu learned Deity worship; a skill that would come a long way in the future.

“We had a shortage of pujaris (priests) at the time,” he remarks, “and because I wasn’t experienced, I was to tend to the smaller deities.”

After his lengthy stay in Vrindavan, Bhakti Yoga Prabhu returned to Toronto, where he helped in bookkeeping and used his newly acquired knowledge of Deity worship.

In 1989, he returned to Guyana, where he once again was greeted by Butadi Prabhu, who was now his Siksha Guru (spiritual guide). Taking into consideration the fact that he was still young, Butadi Prabhu arranged his marriage with Jahnavi Devi Dasi. After three years, Bhakti Yoga Das and Jhanavi Devi Dasi were married in Canada.

Haridas and Neela Madhava were soon new additions to their family. The couple wanted desperately to find a spiritual school for their sons. They traveled to many North American temples in search of a gurukula (Vedic school). Finally, they found a good gurukula in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. The family moved there, and lived there for about five years.

During their stay there, Bhakti Yoga Prabhu served as a managing director at an NGO called Shri Mayapur Vikas Sangha. They got grants from various countries and organizations for setting up primary schools, clinics, and training sessions for women in the villages near Mayapur.

At the end of five years, the family returned to Canada, where he resumed his service as a Pujari and even conducted a few seminars on Deity worship. He also began assisting a few devotees who wanted to start a temple in Scarborough. When the temple was established, Bhakti Yoga Prabhu was the acting Temple President.

Currently, he is working on establishing a temple in Milton with some enthusiastic devotees who are living there. He says that he hopes to continue spreading the Krishna Conscious movement, “I simply hope to be instrumental helping to make Srila Prabhupada’s vision a reality!”

Vedic Roots Montessori Academy (VRMA) was born in Fall, 2015 as a small preschool with a big vision – to become a leading Montessori school providing academic excellence with a spiritual foundation. We believe that a holistic education (addressing the mind, body and soul) can significantly contribute to a positive childhood experience, which research has shown, is linked to lifelong physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Over the last two years, VRMA has grown into a successful preschool in Toronto that combines the world-recognized Montessori curriculum with the values-based lessons on universal spiritual principles such as compassion, truthfulness, and empathy. VRMA also provides nourishing and balanced meals that promote the holistic well-being of our students in accordance with the ancient science of Ayurveda.

VRMA’s first location at Yonge and Sheppard is running at maximum capacity, and they are ready to open multiple locations across the GTA as early as Fall, 2017. Their new locations will be selected based on demand, because they want VRMA to be as close to its students as possible.

Currently they are accepting pre-registrations for two age groups: Toddler (18 months to 2.5 years) and CASA (2.5 years to 6 years). The preschool will run full-time: Mon-Fri, (with optional after-school program).  If you are inspired to send your child to VRMA, please fill out their New Location Survey!

The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple will be welcoming Chaitanya Charan Dasa from April 27 to May 1, 2017.  Chaitanya Charan is a monk and spiritual author. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Pune. He subsequently served as a software engineer in a prominent multinational software corporation.

Seeing the prevalent problems of stress, depression, addiction and overall misdirection – all caused by a lack of spirituality – he felt inspired to dedicate his life to the cause of sharing the spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad-gita under the aegis of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna consciousness). He is a member of ISKCON’s leading intellectual body, the Shastric Advisory Council, and is the associate-editor of ISKCON’s global magazine, Back to Godhead. He is the author of the world’s only Gita-daily feature, wherein he writes daily a 300-word inspirational reflection on a verse from the Bhagavad- Gita. He has written over seventeen hundred Gita meditations that are posted on www.gitadaily.com and are read through daily feeds by thousands from all over the world.

He also answers questions by seekers on his site www.thespiritualscientist.com, where his over three thousand five hundred audio answers and several hundred articles are available.

He travels all over the world from Australia to America, giving talks on spiritual subjects in temples, universities and companies. His articles have been published in many national newspapers including Indian Express, Economic Times and Times of India in the Speaking Tree column. His writings in English have been translated into several foreign languages including German, Chinese and Romanian and several Indian languages including Kannada, Telgu, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. He is the author of sixteen books.

Official Schedule:

• Apr 28th: 6pm-9pm – ISKCON Scarborough
• Apr 29th: 10am-2pm  – Seminar at ISKCON Brampton
• Apr 30th:  10am-1:30pm – Sunday Feast ISKCON Brampton
• Apr 30th:  6:00pm-8:30pm – Sunday Feast ISKCON Toronto

As devotees of Krishna, have you aspired to transform your home into a small temple for God?  Have you ever desired to perform  personal service to Deities? Are you not sure how to do so authentically?  The Hare Krishna Temple is organizing an all-day seminar on Deity Worship with Bhakti Yoga Dasa.

This seminar will cover various topics, including how to:

• pronounce mantras properly
• perform achaman (water purification)
• prepare bhoga (food) offerings
• use paraphernalia for worship
• apply tilak (sacred markings on the body)
• performing arati

Our sacred texts reveal that God has an authorized representation in the Deity form, which is called arcā-vigraha. This arcā-vigraha is an incarnation of the Supreme Lord. Lord Krishna will accept service through that form. The Lord is omnipotent, all-powerful; therefore, by His incarnation as arcā-vigraha, He can accept the services of the devotee. Click Here to Register for the Seminar!

“Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.”