A Most Spectacular Event
→ travelingmonk.com

Yesterday Russian devotees held their annual Ratha Yatra festival in Moscow. Due to the present political climate in the country, city authorities restricted the event to a small area inside a park. But that did not deter 700 hundred devotees from participating. Afterwards a public program was held in a large auditorium for the public. [...]

Saturday’s festive Harinam from Sokolniki metro station, Russia (Album 290 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

“‘In this Age of Kali there is no religious principle other than the chanting of the holy name, which is the essence of all Vedic hymns. This is the purport of all scriptures.’ purport: ...Since Krishna and His holy name are identical, the holy name is eternally pure and beyond material contamination. It is the Supreme Personality of Godhead as a transcendental vibration. The holy name is completely different from material sound, as confirmed by Narottama dasa Thakura: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana. The transcendental vibration of hari-nama-sankirtana is imported from the spiritual world. Thus although materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and the so-called “scientific method” cannot place their faith in the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it is a fact that simply by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra offenselessly one can be freed from all subtle and gross material conditions. Read more ›

Harinama at Broadbeach 18 May 2014 (Album 37 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Lord Sri Krishna Caitanya is the initiator of sankirtana [congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord]. One who worships Him through sankirtana is fortunate indeed. Such a person is truly intelligent, whereas others, who have but a poor fund of knowledge, must endure the cycle of repeated birth and death. Of all sacrificial performances, the chanting of the Lord’s holy name is the most sublime. Read more ›

FFL prasadam distribution for flood victims in Bosnia by Iskcon Sarajevo (Album 17 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

It is our great pleasure to report that a group of devotees from Sarajevo distributed prasadam to the flood victims from the municipality of Vogosca, Sarajevo Canton, today. Devotees collected donations amongst ourselves, then purchased the bhoga, cooked, transported and served Kitchri, bread, salad and drinking water to 73 of our fellow citizens, who were located in three collective centers in the municipality of Vogosca. After our mission at motel Beslic, there were media crews from TVSA and BH Radio 1 to which our spokesperson Amala Prema dd gave statements, even live in the radio program. We did not expect any media promotion or worked for it, but it was obvious that Krishna wanted it to promote efforts of his devotees. Read more ›

Sunday, May 18th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Canadian Shield, Ontario

Michael, Us, Canada and More

Michael and his ’94 red engine Chevy Blazer are the driver and carrier for this trip en route to Taber, Alberta.  A stop over night in Wawa was a good place to rest after a 12 hour journey from Toronto. 

Also on board is my monk assistant, Karuna Sindhu.  The three of us are all Canadian boys.  Michael even worked at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Front Street in Toronto for some time.  He, like myself, trekked the nation, starting from the Beaches area of Toronto.  He went eastward to Newfoundland in 2002, and three years later he started at that fairly central point once again, at the Beaches, on a westerly direction to Victoria, BC.  On the two trips he backpacked it all the way, living much like an ascetic or a yogi.

As we drove through the planet’s oldest rock formation, The Canadian Shield, he was pointing out to us all the things he had done on the previous walk 9 years before, about whom he met, and then also identifying the very spots where he pitched his tent and what occurred around him.  One day he woke up and four inches of snow welcomed him. Another day, a moose happened to offer company outside his wigwam, and like my own experiences, you wake up to the sound of millions of, well, at least it’s my interpretation, Krishna flutes, playing sweetly.  Actually, they’re small yellow throated sparrows of the Boreal forest, and they’re supposed to be chanting, “Oh sweet Canada Canada.”

Eventually after today’s  more modest mileage, and being interrupted by a bear, a yearling on the road, we arrived at Thunder Bay and the Vedic Cultural Centre to conduct a 9 Devotions Workshop, an exercise in fostering good relations of bhakti.  So, while we may have pride in nation, ultimately our connection is to do more with nature and its source.  

May that Source be with you!

5 KM

Saturday, May 17th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Toronto / Wawa, Ontario

Freedom Ended?

Fil came to me for a hug and then I asked him if he wanted to spend his last moments of freedom for a three kilometer hike with a monk.  He said most abruptly, “Let’s go!”

It was just a literal four hours from when he was to ‘tie the knot,’ so to speak – get married.  He was going to be the lucky bride-groom to Sukayanti, a devotee girl from Israel.  Their Vedic wedding would be at 10 AM.  They already had their official marriage last fall but considered that the real exchange of vows was in the temple before family, friends, and God.

So Fil and I ambled along Roxborough, then south on Yonge where we met a group of five young guys at Davenport.  They had been up all night, were ‘pissed,’ as the saying goes, and smelt like a combined brewery and tobacco farm.  They were awfully friendly though, and curious.

I volunteered to talk and we walked southbound on Yonge.  I told them we were walking and meditating.  “What are you doing?”  I volleyed to them.  Half embarrassed, and half in twilight zone, they answered what they could.  I told them about Fil getting married.  One of the guys animated with his face a melted heart.  Then another jokingly asked, “Did you have a bachelor’s party?”

“Yeah, we’re having it right now!”  I expressed.  At Bloor we separated as they received a Krishna parting from us.

Fil and I returned to the ashram/temple.  He got busy while I started to prepare for the journey to complete my fourth cross-Canada walk.  At speech time, I like others, was given one and a half minutes, to say something.  The short of that was, “A marriage is a sacrifice where two people had freedom and now share space.  According to 3.10 of the Bhagavad-gita, sacrificing is for humans and super-humans (demigods) with end result being happiness.  So be happy in a spiritual-centric relationship!”

Fil and Sukayanti – congratulations!

May the Source be with you!
 
5 KM

Friday, May 16th, 2014
→ The Walking Monk

Toronto, Ontario

 You Cockroach!

“You cockroach!” said the disheveled looking man when I was outside at the base of the stairs at Bhakti Lounge.
 
To make it clear, the term wasn’t lodged towards me.  I had no previous exchange with him.  I just opened the door and appeared when the sound was projected.  The cutting remark with additional language of a six letter word was directed to someone else, another unfortunate soul.

What was clear to me and to the other members of Bhakti Lounge poised to begin our sankirtan (public chanting) was that someone was cursing as a result of some anger and discomfort no doubt.  I merely suggested to the group that we hurry it up with our kirtan and purify the atmosphere which got some laughter.

I had forgotten the neighborhood we were in.  It’s rather a mix of, on the bright side, students of Ryerson University, complemented, if you will, by street and drug folks.  All the more reason to be in this location with the presence of Bhakti Lounge.  You go where you can be useful, correct?

From here the juncture of Church and Dundas Street, we walked in stride with instruments as people in good numbers gad about, which is common on a Friday night.  Well we were the ones having fun and by reading the faces of others the contagion wore on.  As we ambled along you could see people lighting up.  I like to think that they got more than they bargained for.  What can sensual pursuits have over the aural reception of the groundbreaking sound of mantra power?
 

May the Source be with you!
 
5 KM

Just Saved From Slaughter (6 Months Later) (2 min video)
→ Dandavats.com

Learn Anasuya's history in her first video "Just Saved From Slaughter" at: http://youtu.be/Ak5BM5XQUsM Anasuya was so happy to get out of the barn and onto the pasture. She ran, jumped and kicked her heels in joy. The winter was long and harsh and the warm temperatures and green grass were like heaven. She may be a little hesitant when meeting new people but not very much and charmed some students from Hanover College when they came for a visit to the ISCOWP farm. She also is kind as we learned when we put Gourangi in the Old Cow Shelter that Anasuya and Indraneela were using. Anasuya stuck close as Gourangi passed away. Healthy and pretty (who would have known by the way she looked when she was rescued), Anasusya is living the good life at the ISCOWP farm as a protected cow. Read more ›

Vaishnava Vivaha-Yajna at the Center for Indian Culture, Moscow, Russia (Album 153 photos)
→ Dandavats.com

Vivāha-yajña, the marriage ceremony, is meant to regulate the human mind so that it may become peaceful for spiritual advancement. For most men, this vivāha-yajña should be encouraged even by persons in the renounced order of life. Sannyāsīs should never associate with women, but that does not mean that one who is in the lower stages of life, a young man, should not accept a wife in the marriage ceremony. All prescribed sacrifices are meant for achieving the Supreme Lord. Therefore, in the lower stages, they should not be given up. Read more ›

Food Workshops
→ Bhakti Lounge - The Heart Of Yoga in Wellington

BL_food_June_web_banner

June 3rd – Whole-foods for Health
You’ll gain confidence and knowledge how you can optimise your health and vitality through a plant-based diet. At this workshop we will look into:
- Where we can get the essential nutrients we all need – without taking pills!
- Common myths about plant-based diets lacking in nutrition and therefore causing fatigue and bad health.
- How to identify the unnecessary and harmful ‘non-food ingredients’ in many foods today.
- Tips how to prepare wholesome meals amidst a busy lifestyle!

June 10th – Plate Power!
We are exposing the secrets of Krishna food!!! In this workshop we will allow the yoga knowledge to reveal how our food choices, the way we prepare and the way we eat all have an impact on other living beings, on the planet and mostly our own consciousness and therefore our experience of life. It’s scientific and amazingly tangibly true!

June 17th – Positivity from Within
How much does modern society affect our lifestyle choices, our conceptions of diet and our body image? This workshop will highlight this and then we will explore knowledge of our blissful true-self identity. We’ll find ways to practically apply this new found positivity in our personal lives and actualize freedom from any negative and limiting conceptions of ourselves.

June 24th – Practice the Magic
A much desired and asked for cooking class! All this talk is now going to end up on your plate :D as they say the proof is in the pudding! Learn some basic skills to prepare divinely delicious meals, that are totally affordable and easy to make in this hands on workshop!


"The Return of Hare Krishnas" – Article from Details Magazine
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

We want to share an interesting article that we stumbled upon. It illustrates and discusses the lifestyles of some members of the Hare Krishna faith in the contemporary western world. The author begins:

The much-maligned Hindu sect has shed its freak-show status and, behind its yuppie-friendly pillars of yoga, meditation, and clean living, is transforming America into a postmodern ashram. Robes not required."

The past and present of Hare Krishna suns himself in the high-resolution glow of code as it scrolls down his computer screen. He is 31 and married to a doctor and, after five years as an architect, is making the transition into tech—working at the largest data-protection company in the world to study its market strategies, which he hopes to apply to the start-up he's planning to launch. He is just like you: career-minded and ambitious. He has a slim build, short-cropped hair, a vegetarian diet, and a dedicated yoga regimen. It's only if you happen to catch a glimpse of the string of tulasi-wood beads—a sign of devotion to Lord Krishna—tucked discreetly inside his collared shirt that you might become aware that Palaka Das is existing on a different plane. [Read More]

After devastation, the first life appears in water
→ The Spiritual Scientist

"Because after devastation, the whole universe is filled up with water.
So in the water the first living beings are the fishes or the aquatics.
Then that fish or aquatic means a living entity embodied by that fish
body. Just like we are now, every one of us... I am also a soul, you are
also a soul. We are embodied by this body, human form of body.
Similarly, we had to accept the body of a fish. Because we are in this
material world, when there is water only, where shall we go?"

Ref. VedaBase => Lecture -- London, July 12, 1972

The smile of Lord Caitanya
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta Lecture)

Caitanya_painting_mayapurHow far does the mercy of Lord Caitanya extend? It is said that it is the smile of the Lord that awoke the desire for spiritual life in the heart of the living beings. So, it is not just all due to our own credit, our own piety and so on. It is also Lord Caitanya who awoke some desire into our heart, just to encourage us, ‘Alright, take a little bonus here!’

Otherwise it may have never happened. The mercy of Lord Caitanya is the reason why the Caitanya Caritamrta is so important. Because of that mercy, the Caitanya Caritamrta goes beyond the Srimad Bhagavatam.