Initiations Committee Open House – September 21, 2014
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

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:


Virtual Mantra Choir To Feature Hundreds of Webcam Singers
→ ISKCON News

A unique offering may be presented to the sacred hill Giri Govardhana upon the October 24th festival of Govardhana Puja this year. Renowned UK musician and singer Jayadeva Das (John Richardson) will put together a virtual version of his Mantra Choir project in which over 108 – and possibly as many as 300 or 400 – singers will harmonize through their webcams on a mantra in praise of Govardhana.

World Holy Name Week: Day 7
→ ISKCON Malaysia

BY GAURAVANI DASA

KUALA LUMPUR - "All glories, all glories to Lord Murari in the form of His all-ecstatic name. If any living being puts aside such tasks as meditation, ritual worship, and social duties, and even once takes the holy name, the name will grant him liberation. That holy name is the source of eternal pleasure, and it is my very life and ornament.

Commentary: Among the various practices of devotional service, the most important is the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. Chanting the Lord's name is ananda rupam, pure bliss, because it makes ecstasy rise in the heart. Chanting the holy name is also ananda rupam in the sense that it is the essence of ecstasy, and makes everything it touches ecstatic. In this verse, the author again repeats the exclamation jayate, indicating that harinama, the name of the Lord, is the greatest manifestation of the Supreme Lord's attractiveness and mercy. One who realizes the value of harinama will choose to rely on chanting harinama rather than any other kind of spiritual effort. - Invocation, Brhad-Bhagavatamrta, Srila Sanatana Goswami.

Bhakti Centre Preaching
→ Ramai Swami

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Madhavananda das and Locanananda das, disciples of HH Janananda Maharaja, are active members of the Bhakti Centre Gold Coast community.

Besides working full time jobs they go on harinama and book distribution as well as attend programs at the centre.
Recently they performed their 50th home program where they give small porcelain Gaura Nitai murtis to serious congregation members to perform simple worship.altAr7o24pAF05FmjgfX43CrbOsYiaRjcdyq20140907130213

Food For All UK Ad Campaign
→ simple thoughts

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Boat Festival at ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai on 02 September 2014 (video)
→ Dandavats.com

Our relationship with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is eternal. Nitya-siddha Krishna-prema. The pure souls are eternally in love with Krishna. Simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra one revives his original relationship with God and thus becomes so happy that he does not want anything material. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.7.39 Purport) Read more ›

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Appearance Day Celebration At Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Album 38 photos)
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The appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was celebrated exquisitely at SJMKL this year on 7th Sep, Sunday. HG Lila Purushottama Prabhu who is the Director of International Gurukul Vrindavan, India, was present to share glories of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura on the auspicious day. A series of special prayers starting from bhajans consisting magnificent Vaishnava songs composed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Pushpanjali, Maha Arathi and Kirtan were held. Read more ›

Did Robin Williams get Srila Prabhupada’s mercy?
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So, here's what I found out from my friend, Sankirtana Devi Dasi. During the filming of ‘Patch Adams’ at UNC Chapel Hill, Sankirtana ’s sister Krishna Devi Dasi, and her two friends, the twins Jaya Radhe and Amrita, along with an older girl at the time named Jahnavi Devi Dasi (all part of the Hillsborough, New Goloka Temple), were getting up very early each morning at two o’clock, and would go to the campus where they were filming the movie ‘Patch Adams’ with Robin Williams. This went on for quite a few days... Read more ›

The Index Acharya: The Life and Death of an Unsung Hero
→ Dandavats.com

Before Akshobhya's arrival, the books would occasionally include indexes, but not always. And even then, they were often crude and incomplete, making it difficult for readers to locate points of interest. Akshobhya helped make the books more accessible by developing superior indexes. At the time (the mid-1970s), the BBT was brimming with activity. Srikanta Dasa, who was then copyediting and proofreading Srila Prabhupada's books, was aware of the need for proper indexes, but he was at a loss when it came to actually doing them. Good indexes do not come easily: Indexing is an art and a science that requires a certain skill. In walks Akshobhya, still enthused from his service in Dallas. He had ideas about how to compose indexes, and between the two of them a system was developed. Read more ›

Preaching program in Vaikuntha Center of Bologna, Italy (Album 85 photos)
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Trai das: On Friday September 5th we held a program with a very nice devotee named Radhalondonisvara das, of course from London, who led a very nice bhajan that had everyone with arms upraised in ecstasy. He also gave a very nice presentation about bhakti yoga as many of the audience were yoga teachers. Then as we were leaving the older men who were seated playing cards near our center greeted us saying that the chanting was very nice this evening why did we stop. Read more ›