Everything Counts Vaisesika Dasa: My father used to take my…
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Everything Counts
Vaisesika Dasa: My father used to take my brother and me for regular backpacking excursions into the mountains of California, Wyoming, and Canada. To help us keep our backpacks as light as possible, my father would tell us as we packed: “Watch out for the ounces and the pounds will watch out for themselves.”
His philosophy worked well.
By carefully considering the relative importance and physical weight of each item before putting it into my backpack – no matter how insignificant the difference seemed at the time – the end result was that I brought just what I needed and appreciated the lightness of my backpack while hiking.
Since those days in the mountains, I’ve found my father’s backpacking advice to be equally applicable to the practice of bhakti yoga. That is, my decisions about apparently small matters and my attention to detail (or lack of it) bring larger-than-expected results over time in devotional service.
In the Gita, Lord Krishna says:
“Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained by full conviction, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.25)
Krishna’s use of the words, “gradually” and “step by step” mean that one’s progress in bhakti comes in a series of small victories in controlling one’s mind and senses.
One has to win the seemingly insignificant battles that are right in front of one’s nose. Each one counts.
And as the progressive bhakti yogi continues her winning ways, she is quietly, yet steadily promoted to the status of a truly advanced soul.
Om Tat Sat

Carrying the vaishnavas
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2011, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture)

Srila Prabhupada wrote two letters after the departure of his spiritual master. In the first letter, he said, “My spiritual master has now returned back to the spiritual world and has taken up his eternal position as a manjari (flower) in the spiritual world.” In the second letter, he wrote, “Although my spiritual master is now in the spiritual world, he is always looking at everything I do.”

So in other words, Prabhupada was saying how his spiritual master was always actively involved in his work. This is the situation. All great and pure devotees can manifest themselves either by appearing before devotees in this world, or by appearing in the dreams of devotees, or by appearing as someone else. They do this by arranging for Krsna Consciousness to manifest and influence the lives of all us devotees. There is no doubt about this.

We can understand that just like Srila Prabhupada wrote that his spiritual master was watching over him, so similarly Prabhupada is now watching over all of us. Isn’t this what we are experiencing? A devotee once told me how he had done a lot of service one day and still had some rounds left to chant. However, he was just so exhausted, that he went to bed. Soon, he had a dream that there was someone knocking at his door, and when he opened it, there was Srila Prabhupada asking him, “Did you finish your daily rounds?”

So in such ways, Prabhupada will help us, and so will the other great and pure devotees who have departed and are residing in the spiritual world. And just like this, there will be other pure devotees who will emerge and who will manifest themselves by carrying the Vaishnavas. So one should not just look at the pure devotees who have passed on, but one should also look at the pure devotees in the present, who will somehow or the other give us shelter. We must take shelter in them, and then everything can be attained, because the same knowledge and the same mercy is coming from the disciplic succession.

The article " Carrying the vaishnavas " was published on KKSBlog.

Srila Prabhupada On Education By Example
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Hare KrishnaBy Indira-sakhi Devi Dasi

You are right when you say that setting a good example for the boys is the best precept. There is a saying that an example is better than a precept. Our exemplary character depends on strictly following the four principles, and this will conquer the whole world. Our boys and girls in London, by their exemplary character, have drawn the attention of many respectable persons and even some public papers. Our movement is not only for some theoretical teaching, but it is for developing practical character and definite understanding. (Letter to Aniruddha, Los Angeles, February 4, 1969) Continue reading "Srila Prabhupada On Education By Example
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WELCOME TO MOTHER RUSSIA: Education in ISKCON Russia
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Hare KrishnaBy Tirtha-pavana Das

Any structure suggests a kind of pattern, but we aim to make education more personal. We have given local leaders the right to adapt curriculums and different resources, including books, training aids, etc., to the needs of their community. Also, we try to make education inextricably linked with mentoring in order to implement the principles of individuality, practicality, and live guidance in education. Therefore we are trying to organize a considerable amount of home programs, where in small groups, devotees can receive education that meets their needs. So, devotees are able to attend courses of their interest, which are conducted in an informal environment from year to year to develop relationships with the elder Vaisnavas and receive systematic mentoring in their life. Continue reading "WELCOME TO MOTHER RUSSIA: Education in ISKCON Russia
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When terrorists kill people, are those people killed because of their own karma?
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Answer Podcast

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How can we explain why bad things happen without seeming insensitive by bringing in karma?
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Answer Podcast

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Be creative in fixing the mind on Krishna – Hindi
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[Bhagavatam class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.22 at ISKCON, Mira Road, Mumbai, India]

Podcast


 

Podcast Summary


 

Video:

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Gita 17.25 Recitation of tad signifies and stimulates the pursuit of transcendence
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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

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Hare Krishna Couples’ Retreat! **Registration Extended**
→ The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple!

We would like to warmly invite all the associating, engaged, and married couples to the Hare Krishna Couples' Retreat which will be happening from 28 September - 30 September, 2018, just an hour outside of Toronto. The retreat is put on by the Grihastha Vision Team (GVT) for the first time in Canada!

The facilitators - Uttama and Partha prabhus, Krsnanandini and Tariq prabhus (http://vaisnavafamilyresources.org/grihastha-vision-team-members/) are highly expertise in strengthening, educating and enlivening family relationships.

Throughout the retreat you can learn how to better communicate, 'spiritualize' your relationship while balancing material demands, and get an escape from the city!

Address:
Simcoe County Rd 50,
Adjala-Tosorontio, ON L0N 1P0
(an hour away from Toronto)

Registration:
To sign up for this wonderful retreat please click here.

Fees:
$320 per couple
registration deadline: September 15, 2018
fee includes: accommodation, prasadam, classes
*overnight accommodation available
Fees can be paid by using the following options:

1.) Donate button on the sidebar. Please include "Couple Retreat" in the memo.  

2.) EMT transfer at donate@torontokrishna.com. Please use the password "couples2018" to ensure your payment is accepted. 


Wednesday, June 13th, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

The Force and the Source

Have you ever looked out the window to see, before your very eyes, a storm, not brewing, but suddenly hammer its way through?  I did.  It was on this very day.  I would say there was no physical warning.  It just came, turbulently.

I was in the chair looking at the trees from our second storey. Suddenly those trees swayed in such a way that I didn’t know they could bend like that.

Of course, some didn’t bend.  Some older growth just snapped and crashed.  The winds with rain moved easterly, and it was severe for only about seven minutes.  The downpour of rain then shifted vertically.

The sirens resounded throughout the city.  I went for an aftermath walk.  Sure, enough damage was done.  Power lines were down in the Yorkville area.  Cars were crushed under massive tree branches.  Someone I spoke to on a stroll mentioned that the popular Eaton’s Shopping Centre downtown had major leakage coming from its high ceiling. With all this you can say it could have been worse.

“Nature is like the mind—turbulent,” I said to two guests in Govinda’s.  They concurred that they were seeing themselves in the condition of the weather.

During my nighttime stroll, I took the opportunity to sit in a café chair by a parkette.  I was having a break from the return of the wind.  Indeed my dhoti experienced a good tossing in the air.  I had to tame it, holding it down at times.  I placed my japa beads on the table and was content to have them always near me.  After all, it is the Kali Yuga.

May the Source be with you!
4 km

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018
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Brampton, Ontario

 Opportunities

Three of us, Keshav, Vijay and I, went for some fund-raising in Brampton.  There is a need to receive kindness from donors for the up-and-coming Chariot Fest in Toronto.  The target for collection is $20,000 (Canadian).  People were reciprocating.  One dentist and one pundit from a Hindu temple gave generously.

We lunched at Keshava’s, and since Vijay, the driver, wished to nap before the return journey home, I decided to get a head start. Eastbound I went on Wanless Drive which eventually changes name to Conservation Drive.

While trekking under a hot sun, a man I couldn’t recognize passed by me in his car and made a U turn.  He honked his horn which drew my attention.

“I’ll drive you.  Come on in.” He offered his pranams.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said in certain terms. “Someone—Vijay—is napping at the Asian Food Centre.  He’ll pick me up.”

Sorry at missing the opportunity, the gentleman went about his way. A second driver pulled over and didn’t offer a ride but delivered a classic question that I often receive, “You don’t remember me?”

“Vaguely, I’m sorry.”

“I’m Balen.  I laid down a floor for you in your temple.”

“Yes, it’s coming back to me,” I said in a genuine moment of recollection.  “That was in the mid-eighties.”  I thanked him and let him know we are ready to lay down tiles again for a different floor. He moved on and I was thrown into nostalgia.

May the Source be with you!
5 km

Monday, June 11th, 2018
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Toronto, Ontario

Small Band of Monks

My physical body was in T.O., T-Dot, now called The Six—according to Drake—but really, I took a mental-flying carpet all over the nation; nay—the continent; nay—the globe.  By phone and e-mail, I moved about looking at how places can be helped, in a social sense.

There is a lot of pain in the world.  Higher, not lower, consciousness can alter that in an incremental way.  It’s amazing what a circle of monks can do.

I sat down with our small team of young monks in Canada—Prana, Marshall, Samuel and now also Karuna—planning out the month of June. For starters, the boys are planning to drive to Saskatoon, a length of some distance.  The mission is to stir up the town a little for three weeks, and reap a harvest of new students.  A nice Gujarati family, comprised of Kashyapa and Panchami, as well as son and daughter, had initiated a weekly program for awareness of the Divine.  This has been running for eight years.

Sadly, they are to leave, since work contracts have expired and finance isn’t looking that great in the province of Saskatchewan.  It is not booming at the moment.  The redeeming aspect of the place is its university; it’s pretty downtown with a big beautiful river, the Northern Saskatchewan, running through it, and there are lots of friendly people.

I was envying the group of monks who were embarking at noon today for the long journey through a scenic Central Canada route.  Too bad they’re not walking.  It’s a 3,000 kilometre trip and they’ll miss the hidden treasures of Lake Superior’s north shore.

May the Source be with you!
6 km

Sunday, June 10th, 2018
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Moundsville, West Virginia

Success Between Him and Her

I applaud any couple who can do the job of staying together. Although I am an unwavering renunciate, I am a blesser of families.  I remain a firm believer in true-hearted couple-ism as much as I hold onto my saffron dhoti(robe).

Vraja Kishor is a happy householder—though not without disagreement with wife, Nitai.  They just know, or are constantly learning to know the ropes behind living it out on the foundation of compromise.  Their five year old, Arjuna, is a major factor who glues the relationship together.

Vraja looks after me when I come to visit their community in ‘them there hills’ of West Virginia.  Happily, they celebrated their 10thanniversary today.  I and others, I’m sure, bless them that those ten years will be multiplied by five or six decades.  That would be something worthy of having an eggless, processed-sugar-free cake.

A particular ingredient behind the success of a marriage is the spiritually-centric nature of it.  Yes, the dharmaside of it teaches compromise and communication.  Anything can come to tempt you, to displace you, and when your guard is down, emotions are up and good rationale is ebbed low, then, you can register as a disaster.

Disaster!  There are just too many of them today.  We don’t need any more to add to the list.

Vraja took me to the Pittsburgh Airport where they only play good classical instrumental music, the type of vibration which keeps couples as one.

Back home in Toronto, I sit in a room with brahmacharis—monks—who respect married men and women.  They are content to be as they are, and if any of them choose to marry, we will encourage the loyalty between them and their spouse.

May the Source be with you!
0 km

BBT Annual General Meeting Kick Off in Korsnäs Gård – New…
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BBT Annual General Meeting Kick Off in Korsnäs Gård - New Radhakunda, Sweden: Gundica Marjana!!! (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The more you cleanse the temple, the more you decorate the Deity, the more your heart becomes cleansed and you become spiritually decorated. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Material world means dirty things and spiritual world means clean. Calcutta February 4, 1977
Find them here: https://goo.gl/KhVqwy

The building blocks? The Transcendental Sound Vibration!
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Hare KrishnaBy Rachael LeValley

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Harinama Sankirtan Mission. Right now, this moment in Harinam Sankirtana, the Maha Mantra rises. The kirtan leader was born a devotee - blessed by the commitment of his parents and the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. The volume is high, the beats are many per minute. The devotees are all swimming with the current. The commuters are now running - it is rush hour in New York. Everyone is running. These busy people may not notice the devotees - it appears this way - but the inner ear, the Soul's accomplice, has captured this Transcendental Sound. These Eternal moments are quick! Continue reading "The building blocks? The Transcendental Sound Vibration!
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Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) in the Rains (Album of photos) Hari…
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Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) in the Rains (Album of photos)
Hari Pārṣada Dās: The serene location of Wada near Mumbai is where I am currently spending some really good quality time. The idyllic cottages, the immensely learned devotees at the Srimad-Bhagavata Vidyapitha, the various replicas of Sri Vrindavan all combine to give an unprecedented devotional experience. To top it off is the beautiful rainy season.
Immense hard work and dedication have been invested in this wonderful project by devotees of Govardhan Ecovillage, especially Gauranga Das Prabhu, Gauranga Darshan Prabhu, Ananta Raghava Prabhu and all other devotees under the guidance of HH Radhanath Swami. In my mind, there is no doubt that this is the best replica of Sri Vrindavan that I’ve ever seen in my life.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/nqsAMX

The Self: Who are we?
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Hare KrishnaBy Urmila Devi Dasi

A very interesting way of envisioning the relationship between the jīva, mind, body, and the world has been explored by Dr. Richard Thompson (1947- ). He presents the material world as a kind of computer simulation, with the bodies of living beings like the characters seen in a role playing game. The subtle body consisting of mind, intelligence, and false ego acts as the interface much like computer mouse and keyboard, with the self as the one desiring and willing. Continue reading "The Self: Who are we?
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Putting An End to Courtesy Japa
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Hare KrishnaBy Mahatma Das

“Nish, nish, ram, ram, nish, nish, ram, ram.” Prabhupada once imitated how we sometimes chant without focus, without concentration, without proper pronunciation – how we chant when we don’t feel like chanting. You know the mood behind this chanting; “I have to chant but I’d rather be doing something else.” And in our minds we are thinking, “I can’t wait to get these rounds out of the way.” We all do this. And it can get pretty bad. I know devotees who chant rounds while watching football games on TV. Prabhupada explained that this type of chanting is more or less useless because it will not produce the desired result, love of Krsna. To even call this chanting is a stretch. It is closer to a ritual. But Prabhupada acknowledged the value in the ritual by saying that although this kind of chanting is not very productive, at least those who are chanting this way are keeping their vow to chant. Continue reading "Putting An End to Courtesy Japa
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60 devotees at the first Summer Trip Reunion (Album of…
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60 devotees at the first Summer Trip Reunion (Album of photos)
Krishna Kishora: Yesterday we had about 60 devotees at the first Summer Trip Reunion: 13 alumni, a couple family members from some alumni and the rest were attendees from this years summer trip. On the main reunion day we had our morning program with Rtadhvaja Swami and after Japa period he told the boys summer trip stories, which they loved!
Then Rupa and Goura Rivera along with one of our boys, Dhruv, made over 300 pancakes that left everyone well satisfied.
After that we took the boys on a tour of the goshala. We will post those pictures separately.
After a scrumptious lunch made by part of the Higher Taste Cafe team (Mario Cornejo, Ram Nicoloff, Vraja-Gopal Das, JP Rivera) we took the boys to a nearby park.
As usual, Maharaja was ref and made sure we all got along.
After a variety of sports and a hair cutting ceremony, Kṛpāmoya Kṛṣṇāṅghri Dāsa baby boy, we had a pizza and pasta dinner that was a nice closing for the evening activities.
Of course, the older guys got together in Maharajas room and played Hearts, King/Queen and cracked jokes till the wee hours of the night. We just didn’t want to say bye. So instead we decided to say till next time!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/U41mc9

Inside Look at Hare Krishna Life Airs on Largest TV Station in…
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Inside Look at Hare Krishna Life Airs on Largest TV Station in Chile.
Viewers across Chile watched an inside look at the lives of ISKCON devotees on Monday June 4th, when an eight-minute documentary short was broadcast on Canal 13, the biggest TV station in the country.
The documentary ran during primetime at 10pm on Teletrece, currently the longest-running television programme and the second most-watched national newscast in Chile.
It also was shown on the program’s Facebook page, which has 3.8 million followers, and on its Twitter page, which has 2.91 million, alongside other social media outlets.
To read the complete article please click here: https://goo.gl/hYfU4W

New York Rathyatra (2018) Album (126 Photos) Arjun…
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New York Rathyatra (2018) Album (126 Photos)
Arjun Bhattacharyya: This year, New York city celebrated it’s 42nd Annual Rathyatra festival which was started by Srila Prabhupada in 1976. Sri Sri Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra Maharani gracefully rode down 5th Avenue while thousands of devotees gathered from all parts of the world had ecstatic harinam and pulled the chariots. This year the rathyatra has seen it’s biggest crowd with many Iskcon sannyasis also joining the festivity. The Festival of India ground at Washington Square Park was also overcrowded with people. Please relish the pictures of the most awaited Rathyatra of North America.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hq2fi9

Devotional Services
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Hare KrishnaBy His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Lord Shri Krishna Who is the Personality of Godhead in His eternal Form is glorified because He has endeared Himself by His acts of benevolence in disseminating the different kinds of Rasa or Zests. Rasa is psychologically described as a sense perception. But the sense perception which we experience in our material conception of life,-is a perverted reflection of the reality. The reality is approached by self realisation of understanding the all inclusive Personal Form of the Supreme Who is all attractive Shri Krishna. The very name of Shri Krishna is suggestive of a conception of complete attraction by dint of wealth, strength, influence, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Complete embodiment of all these opulences combined together in their fullness is exhibited by the manifested activities of the Lord when He is, out of His causeless mercy, within our view, although the Supreme Person is transcendental to the speculative actions of thinking, feeling and willing of a living being. Continue reading "Devotional Services
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Be humbler even than a blade of grass
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Hare KrishnaBy Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

The holy command of Shri Guru has been that we shall serve Godhead in association with one another. By the word ‘we’ he did not mean any one individual. There are many persons who are very selfish, indeed. They say, ‘I alone shall serve. It is incumbent on me alone. No one else has any claim to join me in my service of Godhead.’ But the kind heart of Shri Gurudeva says, ‘Come, let all of us jointly worship Godhead by giving up malice.’ The service of Godhead is the highest of all functions. My Gurudeva does not say that others will be unable to do the work because it happens to be the highest. Neither does he say that he will not allow any other person to serve Godhead, on the ground that it is the highest of all functions. The chant of Hari-Nama that is performed jointly by all persons is Sankirtana. ‘That Kirtana which is performed by many jointly is alone Sankirtana.’ Prayer, praising Godhead, is included in Sankirtana. Continue reading "Be humbler even than a blade of grass
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