Saturday, August 23rd, 2014
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Brampton, Ontario

2nd Annual

In between the two installments of trekking today, I had the pleasure to partake in Brampton’s 2nd Annual Ratha Yatra at downtown Gage Park.  “When a teenager,” I told the crowd, “way before I heard the word ‘Krishna’, I relaxed at this very park at the gazebo in the shady trees.”  Ron Casir, a friend, and I, hitchhiked one summer throughout southern Ontario looking to find ourselves.  I never would have believed that I’d be in this spot again, bald and wearing robes, 43 years after my moderate hippie phase. 

Since then, the park has been spruced up (I still see the same spruce trees, though).  The area around has been built up.  After all, the world in which we live is always changing.  The mayor of the city, which is now at the half a million mark, showed up.  Susan Fennell seemed to be all smiles.  My god-brothers, Kaliyapani and Gaura, also came to lead in the kirtans.  A special feature, undisputedly, was the drama of “Little Big Ramayan”. 

The organizers were happy, expressing a double increase of attendance from last year’s modest 500, it grew to twice that size.  Our route for the standard procession was ‘in the round’.  Four revolutions on this circular sidewalk constituted the journey of joy as participants pulled the chariot by rope.

One local guy, James, who came for the bulk of the program, came to see me, offered the greatest handshake, saying, “Thank you, and please pray for me.”  I thought he was going to cry.  I believe he did, at least internally.  Tears were dripping on his heart, he had such a good time.  Then James asked a group of us, “Do you guys know the Beatles?” and one of our members, Vaishnava, sang, “We love you, yeah yeah yeah…”  James corrected him saying, “No it’s, ‘she loves you’.”  And my response to that was, “No it’s ‘we’, in relation to you and us.  We prefer, ‘we love you’”.  At that point, James got it.

May the Source be with you!

11 KM

Friday, August 22nd, 2014
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Toronto, Ontario

The Good About Kali


Sad for me to hear from a family lawyer, who’s a member of our community, that few people remain content in their relationships.  In her own words, “People don’t seem to learn from their past mistakes.”  She indicated that whatever personal weakness that an individual may admit to, he/she will not make the endeavour towards correction, hence, the same short coming spoils the chance for a relationship to work the next time around.

Separation/divorce is rampant, and it’s a challenge that faces every community across the board, across the globe. 

When I saw a park bench in the course of today’s trek, a grafiti’d message sprayed on to the bench read, “Sick Earth”.  I wasn’t sure how to interpret that line because sick in today’s language means, ‘it’s cool’.  If we take it to mean that the world is malfunctioning or is dysfunctional, I think this would be a more accurate assessment.  Patience and tolerance of character we lack, and it is a sure sign of the times.  We say, in devotional circles, “We are in the Kali Yuga (age of darkness).”  People are slow to inner development. 

At the same time that we languish in the conditions of today, we can also recognize the true optimism of the current day.  In our discussion this morning, after I took my personal short but sweet head clearing walk, the few monks and I reflected on the Kali Yuga’s strongest feature.  The sages of Vedic tradition say that through song of the right sound one can encounter ultimate hope and peace. 

May the Source be with you!

4 KM

A Regular Practice
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“The devotee should make it a regular practice to spend a little time alone in a quiet place and concentrate deeply on the holy name. He should utter and hear the name distinctly. It is impossible for the jiva to singlehandedly avoid and overcome the illusion of distraction. By the mercy of the Lord, however, [...]

Thousands joyfully dance on Krishna’s birthday in Iskcon Kolkata
→ Dandavats.com

When a sincere soul enquired from Srila Prabhupada that how does Krishna look like? Then this great Vaisnava saint said that go and see Krishna at Sri Sri Radha Govinda temple at 3C Albert Road, Iskcon Kolkata. Krishna looks like that. Now who would know Krishna better than his pure devotee like Srila Prabhupada? This beautiful deity of Radha and Govinda at Iskcon Kolkata has been personally installed by this great sage. Here the ever smiling Radha and Govinda attract every individual’s heart. At times while seeing the beauty of the Lord tears flow effortlessly from the eyes of the devotees but they try their best to hide it from others. Read more ›

Radhaastmi – 3 September
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Dear Devotees & Friends,

We would like to invite you all for the Radhaastmi on 3 September 2014.

RADHAASTMI PROGRAM
5:00pm Kirtan and Bhajans
5:30pm Tulasi Arati
5:45pm Abhishek
6.15pm Radha Rani’s Favourite dishes Offering
6.30pm A Special Class on “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” and its application in daily life
7.30pm Dance
7:45pm Arati
8:00pm Prasadam

A humble request:
“Drivers, please be aware of children and drive safely on temple grounds.
Parents, please ensure children are supervised at all times. ”

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR A FEAST OR HELP IN ANY SERVICE, PLEASE CONTACT:
Syama Sarana das(0439 969 002) or
Sitaram Lakshmana das(0422 045 525)
Attend such a wonderful feast and receive the Lord’s mercy of full spiritual benefits with Kirtan, Aarti and Spiritual Discourse.

Hare Krishna

Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja Grand Celebration at Sri Jagannatha Mandir, Kuala Lumpur (Album 178 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

19 August 2014, Nandotsava : The auspicious ceremony of the appearance day of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada Vyasa Puja), the Founder Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was celebrated at Sri Jagannatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur Headquarters Malaysia grandly with the participation of 400 devotees and guests. The celebration commenced with daily morning puja followed by Abhisheka ceremony for Srila Prabhupada, followed by dedication of homages by devotees and guests present that morning. The devotees of Sri Jagannatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur were very fortunate to listen to the glories of Srila Prabhupada directly from HH Bhakti Vrajendra Nandana Swami Maharaj, the President of ISKCON Malaysia. Some of the homages that were read to Srila Prabhupada were by HH Jayapataka Swami Srila Guru Maharaj and HG Amoga Prabhu ACBSP. Read more ›

Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-08-25 01:19:00 →

1970 August 25: "If there is one tree in whose cavity there is a little fire, that one tree can burn into ashes the whole forest. Similarly in this institution if there is one bad disciple he can burn the whole institution into ashes. The GBC must therefore keep the Society as pure as possible and see that every member is following."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-08-25 01:16:00 →

1970 August 25: "Spiritual Master is the representative of Vyasadeva. Any person distributing the Vedic knowledge is called a Vyasadeva and anyone who does this work in disciplic succession from Srila Vyasadeva is considered as representative of Vyasadeva and as such the bona fide Spiritual Master's Appearance Day is worshiped as Vyasa Puja."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

Prabhupada Letters :: Anthology 2014-08-25 01:13:00 →

1970 August 25: "One should have unflinching faith in Krsna and similarly in the Spiritual Master. That is the way of understanding the secret of Krsna Consciousness. Unfortunately, attempt has been made lately in our Society to shake this formula. This mischievous attempt has done a great harm, but if you can rectify this mischievous attempt, then still there is hope. I hope Krsna will help us."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970