Author Archives: RG

Two More Chances to Associate with HG Jananivas Prabhu!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

This past weekend, our community was excited to have the entire TOVP team as well as Lord
Nityananda’s shoes and Lord Narasimha’s helmet from Mayapur for a wonderful presentation about the upcoming temple being built there.

The excitement continues as we have two more opportunities to hear from HG Jananivas prabhu starting TODAY – Tuesday, June 2, 2015 starting at 6:30pm. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity as this will most likely be his first and last trip to our community. Please come hear from one of our most senior pujaris (priests) in ISKCON and his many wonderful stories with Sri Sri Radha Madhava.

You can also hear from HG Jananivas prabhu this Thursday, June 4, 2015 for a special morning Srimad Bhagavatam Class starting at 7:30am. 

Please come with your entire family to participate in these two events that are truly, once in a lifetime!

Siva Ratri – Celebrations this Sunday, February 22, 2015!
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

This Sunday, February 22, 2015, Toronto’s Hare Krishna Temple will be celebrating Siva Ratri.*

Siva Ratri literally translates as “the Night of Lord Siva.” Lord Siva is described as “the greatest Vaishnava (devotee of Lord Krishna)”; as such, this week’s Sunday  Feast will be dedicated to honouring Lord Siva.

The tentative schedule is as follows:

6:00pm to 6:30pm – Arati
6:30pm to 6:35pm – Welcome and Announcements
6:35pm to 7:15pm – Class by HG Bhakti Yoga Prabhu
7:15pm to 7:30pm – Abhisheka (bathing ceremony) for Lord Siva
7:30pm to 8:00pm – Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)
8:00pm to 8:30pm – Arati


*Please note that the actual day of Siva Ratri was on Tuesday, February 17, but the festival will be celebrated at the temple on Sunday, February 22.  

**UPDATED: Extended Program** Nityananda Trayodasi – Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015
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One of the sweetest festivals of the year Nityananda Trayodasi (appearance day) will fall on Sunday, February 1st! A warm invitation goes out to you and your family to join us as we celebrate the advent (appearance) of Lord Nityananda.

Lord Nityananda (also known as Nityananda Prabhu, Nitai, Nityananda Balarama) appeared hundreds of years ago as Lord Chaitanya’s principal associate for spreading the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. He is considered an incarnation of Lord Balarama.

This festival is a special one for ISKCON Toronto and often features very sweet, intimate and spiritually-soaked festivities! This year, we will begin with a 6 Hour Kirtan, starting at 12pm. Come join us as we celebrate Lord Nityananda through non-stop melodious kirtan, which will lead us straight to our Sunday Feast program that will feature a class as well as wonderful treat from our Sunday FunSkool!

Please join us!

Schedule (subject to change):
12:00pm – 6:00pm: 6 Hour Kirtan (schedule and details will be up shortly)
6:00pm – 6:30pm: Arati and Kirtan
6:30pm – 6:35pm: Welcome and Announcements
6:35pm – 7:20pm: Class
7:20pm – 7:45pm: Presentation by Sunday FunSkool
7:45pm – 8:30pm: Kirtan and Arati at 8:00pm
8:30pm: Vegetarian Feast


Diwali and Govardhana Puja Celebrations – All Weekend Long!
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This next several days at Toronto’s Hare Krishna Centre are incredibly busy with the festival season upon us! Festivities start off this Friday, October 24th with s HUGE Govardhana Puja and Diwali Celebration, starting at 6:00pm. 

Diwali is a grand festival celebrated across the world and stems back to ancient times when
inhabitants of Ayodhya celebrated the joyous return of Lord Ramachandra. Lord Rama was in exile, away from His kingdom, for many years. The joyful day on which He finally returned is observed as Diwali, or Dipavali (“dipa” means candles, and “vali” means numerous.)

Govardhana Puja is celebrated the day after and Diwali and on this day the inhabitants of Vrindavan (Lord Krishna’s abode on Earth) would hold a harvest festival in honour of King Indra, the demigod who provided the rains essential for the harvest. One day, however, Lord Krishna wanted to teach Indra a lesson. He convinced the inhabitants of Vrindavan to honor Govardhana Hill instead, whose fertile soil provided the grass upon which the cows and bulls grazed, and to honour the cows and bulls who provided milk and ploughed the lands.

Outraged, Indra retaliated with terrifying thunderstorms. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, calmly lifted Govardhana Hill with the little finger of his left hand. For seven days and seven nights the Lord held up Govardhana Hill, providing a giant umbrella to shelter the inhabitants of Vrindavan from the torrential rain.

Schedule for Govardhana Puja – Oct. 24 (subject to change):
6:00pm to 6:30pm – Arati
6:30pm to 6:50pm – Damodarastakam Prayers
6:50pm to 7:00pm – Welcome and Announcements
7:00pm to 7:30pm – Class on Govardhana Puja
7:30pm to 8:00pm – Special Presentation
8:00pm to 8:30pm – Arati
8:30pm – Prasadam
Stay tuned about more details over the weekend!

Initiations Committee Open House – September 21, 2014
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After having served in ISKCON for sometime, a stage comes in our Krishna conscious journey at which a devotee develops a desire to seek shelter of an ISKCON approved initiating guru to achieve formal initiation. This inspiration may come from various sources such as reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, serving devotees, devotee association and receiving encouragement from initiated devotees or initiating gurus. Also, more often than not, devotees need guidance and support from a more experienced devotee and a nurturing and caring environment as they endeavour to progress on the path of their devotional practices and try to maintain.

Here at ISKCON Toronto, an Initiations Committee consisting of Sita Thakurani devi dasi, Rupanuga das, Jagannath Misra das and Shyama Mohini devi dasi and has been put in place with the mandate to develop and manage a mentorship system. This system will facilitate and nurture interested devotees aspiring for first and second initiation. The information on initiation standards and procedures will be available here shortly (a dummy link with our documents). The Initiations Committee has also developed an initiations policy to help aspiring candidates prepare themselves better to seek initiation from an ISKCON guru. We hope you will find it informative and fair. 

Based on the above-mentioned information and your enthusiasm to continue to serve ISKCON, you are humbly invited to attend an information session on Sunday, September 21, 2014 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM at Govinda’s for further details on the Mentorship System including the process of seeking formal initiation at ISKCON Toronto. To help us plan better, please register and RSVP for this informative seminar by clicking here.

It is our sincere request that you attend this enlivening and informative session in our humble attempt to please Srila Prabhupada. For further information, please take a look at these following documents to get a better understanding of the process so far:
Resources: