Bhakta Josh Joins Our New Raman Reti Iskcon Temple in Alachua, USA.
Bhakta Josh has been with us for some months now, after reading Srila Prabhupada’s books for three years prior. Inspired by the philosophy and a transcendental lifestyle, he came to us eager to participate more deeply in devotional life. He appreciates and is always deepening his understanding of the philosophy, and is particularly enlivened by book distribution and preaching - sharing with others the treasure he has received.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/OQsNeZ
Festivities at ISKCON Sydney (Album 22 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Once can be free from all sinful reactions after reaching a place of pilgrimage, but one can have the same benefit at home or at any other place simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. (Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.15)
See them here: http://goo.gl/Ce0Xmb
Bhakti Yoga and Vegetarian Cooking Retreat at Hare Krishna Valley, Winchelsea
Winchelsea is a town in Victoria, Australia.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/KMaEgk
The TOVP World Tour 2015-2016
A special TOVP World Tour is now being organized, carrying with it Lord Nityananda Prabhu from The Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir in the form of His divine shoes, accompanied by His Holiness Bhakti Purushottama Swami, His Grace Jananivas prabhu, His Grace Radha Jivan prabhu, and His Grace Vraja Vilas prabhu.
TOVP Chairman Ambarisa prabhu will also be present at some of the programs.
The Tour will begin Spring 2015 in North America from April through July.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/N14iMK
Bhagavad Gita – Karma Yoga (Chapters 1-6)
Bhagavad Gita – Karma Yoga (Chapters 1-6). The time is 5000 years ago; the place: Kuruksetra; the circumstance: the biggest battle the world has ever known. So the stage is set, and Lord Krishna has arranged a most dramatic build-up so everyone’s attention is on what happens next. And when all eyes and ears are ready, Lord Krishna arranges that an intimate friend falls under the influence of His internal energy to act as a conditioned soul, bewildered by the most basic questions: ‘Who am I?’ ‘What am I meant to do?’ Lord Krishna , in response, explains to Arjuna the process of yoga and the basic transcendental knowledge needed to act in spiritual consciousness.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/SbJw6n
ISKCON-guru Giriraja Swami speaks about the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium and the astounding thing Srila Prabhupada said to him about what would happen if we build this temple.
His Holiness Giriraja Swami speaks about the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium and the astounding thing Srila Prabhupada said to him about what would happen if we build this temple.
Please share your realisations with other devotees from around the world...simply send me an introduction email and I will be happy to make you a member:
Who can understand Krsna? Who can understand that there is a personality behind all these unlimited energies? Who can understand that there is not only one universe, but that there are many universes and that all these universes are emanating from the Supreme Lord? Who can understand that Krsna has unlimited qualities? Although he is a person, he is by no means limited, but rather his qualities have no end. The devotee spends eternity in exploring these qualities of Krsna, discovering them and becoming enlivened by them. All Krsna’s qualities are wonderful and bring so much insiration! Wonderful Krsna!
Krsna is not dry, not boring. He is not working. There are unlimited energies emanating from Krsna, but Krsna has no work to perform. Krsna is the Supreme Controller, but Krsna does not need to push buttons or pull strings to control things. Things are simply going on by his desire and he himself is engaged in unlimited blissful pleasure pastimes. That is Krsna!
The devotees are seeing and appreciating all these unlimited qualities of Krsna. Therefore, the devotees glorify Krsna. That is their business.
ISKCON Brampton was a tad more quiet than usual according to one of the members. Though their turn out of 80 people was low due to pilgrimages to India and the absenteeism of some of the youth on drum lessons, I thought the attendance was quite fair.
It is Sunday, after all, and it’s a day that families are available for spiritual charge-up. Hey, I’m proud to say that there are a lot of families, good family folks that form the major body of attendees at this midday gathering.
I brought pilgrim, Manu, with me and he gave the talk citing many references to the family unit. It got me thinking. There’s one way we might describe the word family, it is a group of souls that share biological karma together. Then, let me try something else, it is a network of souls that have the opportunity to serve each other over and over again. I thought further on, a family could be viewed as a group of beings who can evolve or devolve together.
We’ve heard of family feuds such as in the case of the Pandavas vs. the Kauravas, as found in the epic, The Mahabharat. It’s sad, but all blood relations don’t always get along. Evidently, genuine spiritual discharge has proven to help in damage control. Somehow we need to see beyond the bodily platform and come to appreciate that as spirits, we belong to a one universal family.
I was glad to catch a glimpse of this concept being put into practice. A young drum teacher, Devala, by name, came to our ISKCON Toronto branch, where youths from Brampton and other areas took some lessons from him. Devala created an atmosphere of family just with the thump of the mrdanga drum. With his 30+ students, a powerful heartbeat of drums made you want to march, if not dance into the world of synchronicity.
The film about Krishna consciousness was the winner of the Moscow Film Festival
At the prestigious Moscow Film Festival took third place film about Krishna consciousness . “Long-lost” - twenty-five minute short about a young man in search of Truth meets Krishna consciousness.
The film became popular in the Russian Film Festival and other international festivals. The Russian Film Festival in Moscow “I see God”, the audience gave the film “long lost” the third place of the 65-year-submitted pictures. In all the movies of their authors have tried to convey his understanding of God.
“Long-lost” was also approved by the London Film Academy. October 31 he demonstrated at the British Film Institute, along with other short films. The film is dedicated to the proposed for display at the prestigious American Film Festival in Utah. And if it approves of the jury, then from January 22 to February 1, 2015 the film will be shown at the festival.
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/MWUQG5
Wanted Dancers, Actors, Singers!
For the Spectacular 40th Anniversary of the Krishna Balarama Mandir Grand Opening
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/YZIEuL
The latest collections by award-winning fashion designer and Krishna devotee Mandali Mendrilla, inspired by her path of devotion, have been featured in the February issue of British Vogue magazine. The magazine’s staff told Mandali that they felt her beautiful contemporary designs would be a perfect fit for their customers.
A study reveals that curcumi may provide what the authors describe as an "effective therapeutic strategy to reverse age-related cerebrovascular dysfunction."
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar's amazing brain scans show meditation can actually change the size of key regions of our brain, improving our memory and making us more empathetic, compassionate, and resilient under stress.
The world believes that Newton was the first to discover the law of gravity. You will be surprised to known that the theory of gravitation was created 1,200 years before Newton by an Indian mathematician Bhaskaracharya.
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
The year 2014 is already in our collective rear view mirror but that shouldn't stop us from taking a moment to appreciate all the amazing things that took place throughout the year! The sankirtan spirit flowed throughout the year as a whole team of devotees dedicated themselves to sharing Srila Prabhupada's books with the public at large. Here is a sweet video which captures some of the highlights of the year!
Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.17 during a program at the home of Gopal Acharya dasa.
“We heard the wonderful descriptions of Mukhara mataji, how she had awakened to her eternal identity and her eternal service to Radha and Krishna. We all can experience the same result if we follow the same method with the same spirit. Even though our forms will be different in the spiritual world, Srila Prabhupada said we will recognize the people we knew in the material world. So, this is also very encouraging We will be reunited in kirtan and seva. That is achieved primarily through the chanting of the Holy Names —Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
A quick YouTube search yielded some jewel-like videos - clips from Ratha-Yatra 2004. These 10 year old videos show elements of the two-day festival over the course of the weekend. With the entire community coming together to put on the festival, this video has plenty of fun little treats!
Several months ago, the City of Toronto hosted it's annual Nuit Blanche festival wherein entire swaths of the downtown core were transformed into giant art exhibits. With the public encouraged to walk around and take in the sights and sounds all night long, the devotees from our Hare Krishna community took to the streets (in the middle of the night) and shared kirtan! Here are the results:
UPDATE - The Town Hall will be broadcast live right here on the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple website. Please log in at 4pm on Sunday in case you are unable to join us in person!
We are very excited to announce that ISKCON Toronto will be hosting our next Town Hall on Sunday, February 22, 2015 from 4:00pm to 5:30pm 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, February 22nd - 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
