Wednesday, January 4th, 2023 243 Avenue Road, Toronto
A fabulous chicory drink, chow mein, Gauranga potatoes (a delicious ISKCON favourite), and kulfi were the special features of an appreciation dinner for the cast and crew of Big Fish Little Fish. It’s always important to say ‘thank you’ for any services rendered, however fun, fair, or foul they sometimes are. Service is service, and it is the most valued type of action that exists in the world.
The demigod serves or assists the Supreme Godhead, life partners serve each other, those that give birth to others serve their children, and when of age, the children serve their parents as they mature in years. It’s all about service which is the main feature of bhakti yoga.
At the ashram we have a cleaning company that comes in to address the needs of floors, windows, washroom, etc., and the head fellow of the cleaning business, Byron, says he loves coming here. He has a contract with many places. He has an opinion about our facility. He loves it because, as put in his own words, “Everyone is so kind to me. They smile and make friends with me and my staff.” It looks like he has picked up on thew good vibes of the ashram. He feels he’s appreciated. I was glad to hear that stick out amongst all the places that employ him.
Everyone needs encouragement through appreciation and so a reference for that is found in the Gita, 3.26.
A river by the name of Sixteen Mile and a quaint downtown where oak trees are known to have had a past and a present were two of our destination points for the day. Madhava drove us to the Medicine Shoppe for me to acquire, of all things, summer sandals, the walking on air type, to prepare for my coming Trinidad/ Surname/Guyana trip. I was in need of warm weather footwear. My cooler brand of shoes are serving my feet well, but it is time to slide in to 30°C atmospheres.
In Toronto we are experiencing in the plus conditions. There is more reain than we are accustomed to and I stuck by the cooler footwear (or that which handles the more frigid weather) when doing some japa meditation in the evening. I was basically doing some awning-hopping to keep dry from drizzle. It was in a safe neighbourhood–Rosedale, however, thieves do make their rounds.
One disheveled-looking fellow, however, was checking out every single door of these high-end shops, right where I could see him, as a witness, had he the chance to pilfer or steal. No shame in him. I envied him somewhat, though, because he likely gets a lot of walking in in the course of a day. He’s doing better than me in the walking department.
My day and night proved right because of the shoe purchase, the bit of outdoor exposure, plus the bhakti classes I gave. You can’t go wrong in listening and speaking about the Supreme. Krishna is always worth dwelling on and working and living for.
Mississauga is an Ojibwe word which means ‘river of many mouths’. To reach Mississauga in a most practical way is by automobile going west of Toronto, not nearly as romantic or adventurous a means of transport as in the days of our Indigenous – on foot or canoe.
Mahadeva, Annapurna, and I, made our way on a set of wheels to the home of Lobsang, his good wife, teenage son, and a trusty dog. It became a sangha, a gathering of Gita enthusiasts. This group comes together monthly by Zoom, and also monthly in person. Today it’s in person. I have been combing the Gita with this assembly for some time now on our second year. We are still early the game of the Bhagavad-gita’s teaachings, chapter one, catching the theme of a warrior’s duty in the matter of protecting family traditions.
So, there we were in the living room sitting with family people, all scoring fairly well in their mutual looking out for each other. I feel quite safe in such an environment. We had great Ekadashi prasadam – grainless, sacred food. Starting the New Year like this doesn’t get better.
I felt the same sort of safety in a Zoom class with devotees from the big stretch of Manitoba to British Columbia. It just so happens that this group is analyzing the same section of the Gita, all so much to do with honouring values and protocols and assessing what is and what is not sin according to the standards of Sri Krishna.
A healthy outlook always is obedience to code. We just need to learn them.
Our play, Big Fish Little Fish was a smashing success, a real crowd-pleaser. Congrats to the actors and technical people. Some of my favourite lines in the play are as follows:
Little Fish to Big Fish: What if we just switched roles for a little change?
______
Maya to Little Fish: What you need is an education.
Little Fish asks: Education? Is it a liquid?
______
Mr. Fastbuck to Little Fish: Whether you’re taking a loan or taking a leak, you have to do it all on me… I mean THROUGH me! I own them all. Twitter smitter. I even own Elon Musk.
______
Mr. Highlow (the drug dealer) to Little Fish: I’m a merchant of the people. I sell a high product for a low price. My business is pharmeceuticals. Im’ a man of the people… You take the pink pill to go up. You take the blue pill to go down. You take both and you go sideways.
______
Maya to Little Fish (in retaliation): I was going out to have a hamburger, but now I’ll have some fish and chips.
______
Big Fish to Little Fish: Welcome home, Little Fish, it’s good to have you back!
Our annual kirtan, perhaps the best of the year in terms of participation and intensity, was something we were all geared up for. We huddled in the ashram’s temple at 243 Avenue Raod where I gave a pep talk and some guidelines for kirtan performance.
“It’s going to be very busy at Old City Hall (our usual spot for New Year’s), more than the ordinary. The post-covid explosion is a reality these days. And the weather is mild (4 degrees). Hold on to your musical instruments. The crowd is a bit tipsy (from drinking) and things get excited, a little rowdy, even. Sing loud. Smile.”
Our very ready troupers and I softly chanted our way through quiet Ramsden Park at 11 pm before we reached the underground train, the TTC. It is several stops before we reach Queen Street, the location of the changing. Each time the subway train stopped to pick up more commuters, the doors would open to the multitudes while the train was already packed. You could hear a sudden woefulness from the crowd both inside the train and out. It was hilarious. You couldn’t pack anymore people in. IN fact, the train couldn’t move further for the already sardined conveyance. We decided to walk the rest of the way. No problem.
When we arrived at our spot, the magic began. Sound took over and our drums, djembe and marching drum got everyone adrenalined.
Oh! It was great and the mantra resounded. Better than ever!
Friday, December 30th, 2022 243 Avenue Road, Toronto
I am very encouraged by the crew we have to help me in my services to guru and God. Cooperation, humility, good listening, good advising, good intelligence are some of the ingredients that make our product. The main ingredient is bhakti. It is that agent that causes ‘the cake to rise’ or our consciousness to rise.
Our product or project is our production. Drama. Theatre. Teatro. A play called Big Fish Little Fish!
Not only are we experiencing the blossoming of talent, but intelligence as well. A number of young people from our community have come forward to volunteer and it’s making a big difference. When casting people for certain acting roles, I have had to do some personal digging. It involved phone calls, or something asking so-and-so to ask so-and-so to see if he/she would like to get involved.
The personal touch usually works and that’s how the flow of volunteers happens. I know that if I ask, I’ll get a response. If I don’t inquire or invite, nothing will happen. Everything will be quiet. There will be no growth.
I see that here’s a lot of enthusiasm and energy exploding around our little theatre project. My realization around this matter is that there should be a branch of a thespian element within our bhakti culture. Such a venture should be highly supported.
Shrila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura took birth in the year 1654 Shaka era (according to the Gaudiya Vaishnava Abhidana, Part 3, p. 1370) within the Nadia district of West Bengal in a place called Prasiddha Deva Gram. He appeared in the Radhiya line of brahmanas.
Shrila Chakravarti Thakura went on to live in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal, in Saiyadabad, where he received mantra initiation from Shri Krishna Charana Chakravarti. He lived for a long time in the house of his guru-deva, where he wrote many books.
When Shrila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura lived in Nadiya, he closely studied the scriptures, beginning with a study of Sanskrit grammar, poetry, and rhetoric. It is said that even as a boy in school, he was an undefeatable scholar who could overcome anyone in argument and debate. From an early age, he was indifferent towards family life.
For the purpose of binding his son in the contract of family life, Vishvanatha’s father arranged for his marriage when he was very young. He remained a married man for only a short time. Soon he renounced his wife and home and went to live in Vrindavan.
After this, his parents and relatives made many unsuccessful attempts to induce him to return to family life, but Vishvanatha Chakravarti was fixed in his determination to renounce wordly life and surrender himself completely to the service of Krishna.
After having come to Vrindavan Dhama, Shri Vishvanatha took up his residence in the bhajan kutir of Shri Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami on the banks of the Radha-kunda, where there lived a disciple of Krishna das Kaviraja whose name was Mukunda das. There, Shri Vishvanatha Cakravarti made a careful study of the Goswami’s literatures. In that holy place he later wrote many commentaries on the books of the Goswamis.
Shri Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura established the worship of the deity of Shri Gokulananda. Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur was also sometimes known as Harivallabha das. Vishvanatha’s title, “Chakravarti” was awarded to him by the devotees. Generally this title designates one who maintains (varti) a circle (chakra) of influence.
Shri Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura has written many books, among which are the following: Commentaries on Srimad-Bhagavatam (Sararthadarshini-tika), Bhagavad-gita (Sararthavarshini-tika), Alankara Kaustubha (Subodhini-tika); Ujjvala-nilamani,Ananda Vrindavana Champu (Sukhavartini-tika); Rupa Goswami’s Vidagdha-Madhava Natakam, Gopal-tapani-upanishad; Chaitanya-charitamrita; and original works such as Shri Krishna-Bhavanamrita Mahakavya; Svapnavilasamrita; Madhurya Kadambini; Stavamala-lahari; Aishvarya Kadambini.
The life and teachings of Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti give happiness, inspiration, and transcendental wisdom to the entire Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. In Krishna lila he serves Srimati Radhika as Vinoda-manjari. His samadhi is in the Radha Gokulananda temple courtyard in Vrindavana.
“The process of bhakti-yoga is regulated by a theory of knowledge that strictly rules out unjustifiable speculation and extrapolation, and in this respect bhakti-yoga is methodologically superior to modern science and goes beyond modern science by providing the individual with practical methods of developing higher cognitive powers that lie dormant in the conscious self.” (Mechanistic […]
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The lieutenant governor of Maryland, Aruna Miller, swore her oath to serve as the lieutenant governor by placing her hand on Srila Prabhupada‘s Bhagavad-gita as it is -Likely the first lieutenant governor to do so. Aruna Miller took the oath of office with Chief Justice Matthew Fader of the Supreme Court of Maryland, placing her […]
(photo credit: Ashwani Diwedi) Selfless service by devotees at ISKCON Ayodhya ISKCON Ayodhya distributes prasadam to over a hundred thousand people. Vinay Bhushan Chaitanya Das, the director of ‘Food for Life,’ cited Srila Prabhupada’s words that no one within 10 miles of an ISKCON Temple must sleep hungry. The distribution happened in over 11 […]
A clip from the video explains how their children need electricity to do online school. The ISKCON Ukraine devotees would like to thank ISKCON North America for organizing and collecting over $100,000 to help them, who are now in the middle of winter, have power and heat. The NAC Support Office led the fundraising […]
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Swarupa Das: Just got word that David Crosby died. Back in ’86 Chitta and I were introduced to David by a mutual friend. We met at the friend’s house in Novato (Marin County, California) and from there we drove David to his home in Mill Valley. We stayed with him all night into the next Read More...
By Maharishi Das It’s Saturday at 4.30pm, I looked out the window to see the sky covered with grey clouds and a torrent of rain splashing the landscape. I felt unwell, should I go on Harinam? The mind was flickering. Should I go or stay in the comfort of my home.I thought of all the Read More...
“The process of bhakti-yoga is regulated by a theory of knowledge that strictly rules out unjustifiable speculation and extrapolation, and in this respect bhakti-yoga is methodologically superior to modern science, and goes beyond modern science by providing the individual with practical methods of developing higher cognitive powers that lie dormant in the conscious self. Read More...
