Thursday, July 14, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Ramsden Park, Toronto

Getting Ready

People are beginning to flow in like rivers to a sea. The big attraction is the 12 Hour Kirtan being held tomorrow at the temple/ashram on 243 Avenue Road. Gopi has a massive following in chanting circles. Her hubby, Param and children (now rather big) are also here from Virginia. Kirtan enthusiasts come from all around. We also have Madhava from Switzerland, who is well known for his chanting. A session took place last night at Trinity Bellwoods Park, just as a warm up for the weekend’s chanting cultural conquest.

All are welcome to an actual three-day event, including a 50th Anniversary of the Chariot Festfor the city of Toronto. A procession begins at Dundas Square on Yonge St. Weather is promising to be good. Come one! Come all! We are also expecting several monks; Chandramauli, Janardana, Bhakti Sundara, and there’s me – all swami’s or renounced men.

Our drama troupe is working hard to assemble our play for the Centre Island venue Saturday and Sunday. The dancing group is coming together in practice for the parade. It’s looking good over-all. Dwarkanatha, our enlightened cook, is working feverishly. Stomach needs are being met by volunteers. Those who are wanting to pump muscles are getting their satisfaction through lifting and loading. The smiles on faces are oceanic. Akash from the U.S. came with all his eagerness to do just about everything. Billy came to assist with the sound system set-up for kirtan.

It’s a busy bee-hive or a frantic ant-hill. The centre is Krishna in all of this.

May the Source be with you!

2 km



 

Wednesday, July 13, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Don Valley Bridge, Toronto

The Bhakti Buzz

 

I have been receiving much correspondence from afar wishing me a “Happy Guru Purnima,” to annually remember one’s teacher on this particular day. Of course, every day is the day to revere one’s mentor, one’s Mother, one’s Father, and so on. Every waking moment should be a conscious one of indebtedness to those who contribute to our lives.

I was asked to give the class this morning, and to speak on my walking endeavours of the years, as all of the marathons were dedicated to our guru, Prabhupada. I hope it was inspiring. If our devotional executions are not layered with the spirit of eagerness to serve, then our gestures become merely flat and our growth is slow.

There is definitely a tremendous energy floating about at the temple, all in preparation for the upcoming Chariot Festival. There are decorators, loaders, cookers, cleaners, dancers and dramatists in rehearsal. It’s all quite exciting. Electrifying! The sparks of bhaktiare flying in the air.

Phone calls are coming in like crazy. One chap came in, perhaps pulled in by the magnet of devotion, and he had all these questions about our culture and beliefs. “I’ve been exploring Jainism, Buddhism, all kinds of ways; that’s why I am here. I’m curious about Krishna.”

Vallabha Hari, who has this expressive approach with his strong Croatian accent, most enthusiastically delivered the goods. Our visitor was truly absorbing it, picking up on the strong vibration coming from Vallabha’s mouth and heart. The atmosphere is truly charged up. “Keep plugging in,” is the theme.

May the Source be with you!

7 km


 

ISKCON’s Incorporation
Giriraj Swami

Srila Prabhupada incorporated ISKCON on July 13, 1966, in New York City, which corresponds to today on the Vaishnava calendar. One exchange between him and Bhavananda indicates some of its significance:

Bhavananda: In Svarup Ganj theres one big astrologer. So, he saw your photograph, and he said, “This is the face of the most powerful spiritual personality on the planet.”

Prabhupada: [laughs] Hare Krishna.

Brahmananda: Then what else?

Bhavananda: Then he said that “I can tell from his face that he can make a house in which the whole world can live peacefully.”

Devotees: Jaya Prabhupada!

Prabhupada: At least I desire so.

(Morning Walk, July 1, 1975, Denver)

 

The following are excerpts from the certificate of incorporation:

CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, INC.
(Pursuant to the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York)

We, the undersigned, for the purpose of forming a corporation pursuant to the Religious Corporation Law of the State of New York, do hereby make, subscribe and acknowledge this certificate as follows:

FIRST: The name of the corporation shall be INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS, INC.

SECOND: The purposes for which the corporation is organized are:

(a) To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

(b) To propagate a consciousness of Krishna as it is revealed in the Bhagawat Gita and Srimad Bhagawatam.

(c) To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, and thus to develop the idea, within the members, and humanity, at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).

(d) To teach and encourage the Samkirtan movement congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

(e) To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.

(f) To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.

(g) With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings. . . .

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF we have made, subscribed, and acknowledged this certificate of incorporation this 13th day of July, 1966.

[signed:] A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Carol Bekar, Raymond Marais

Of Lights I Am the Radiant Sun
→ Dandavats

“Godhead is Light, Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no Nescience.” (Srila Prabhupada’s original Back to Godhead logo) “Kṛṣṇa is compared to sunshine, and māyā is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of
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TOVP Peacock and Cornice Embellishments
- TOVP.org

I would like to show you a short video about some of the exterior elements of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium: Peacock and Cornice Embellishments.

A lot of work has already been completed, and this includes many, many architectural pieces made from GRC (Glass Reinforcement Concrete). In this video I will tell you a little about some of these decorative ornaments, the peacocks and cornices.

 

 

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Sinister Father Saintly Son
→ Dandavats

“Like father like son,”  the saying goes. So how was it that  the most sinister personality ever  to darken the universe fathered a great saint? Adapted from Srimad-Bhagavatam, translation and commentary by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A vicious storm raged through the darkness. Pierce winds hissed again and again and uprooted gigantic trees. Thick
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Getting to the Soul of Psychology
→ Dandavats

On October 3,1972, psychologist Dr. Gerald Frazer visited His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada at ISKCON’s world headquarters, in Los Angeles. Their conversation follows. Dr. Frazer: I am curious to know what you do when one of your students has a problem on the physical or emotional platform. Do you help that person over his
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Homeless man becomes rich
→ Dandavats

While distributing books in a parking lot in Dallas, I approached a couple of men at their truck and offered them an “Easy Journey to Other Planets.” “This book explains that there is life on other planets, and many of those planets are a lot better than this one,” I said. “We’re destroying this one.
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