Deity Darshan: Sunday, November 27, 2011

Video: Behind the Scenes with Gaura-Shakti - Cooking for the Sunday Feast!

A few Sundays ago, Toronto's Hare Krishna kirtan-yoga group, Gaura-Shakti, had the delightful opportunity to cook for the weekly Sunday Feast at the temple.  Inviting friends to come help, Gaura-Shakti and Friends prepared a fun, Chinese menu and worked away in the temple kitchen for hours!

For many of our volunteers, it was their first time in the temple's kitchen and so they got a chance to learn about the high standards of the temple kitchen, how cooking in the temple kitchen is a meditative experience and that the kitchen is looked upon as belonging to Srimati Radharani - Lord Krishna's divine feminine energy.  So it was a fun learning experience for all.

Here's a fun little behind-the-scenes look at what was certainly a special experience!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, November 20, 2011

Food for Life just turned three!

Every month, a bunch of local youth at the Hare Krishna Centre along with other budding spiritualists from Krishna Club, York University go out to the streets and share a hot meal of pasta with the homeless. This exciting endeavour is called Food for Life, Toronto.

With similar projects happening all over the world, participating members believe that it is not just about sharing a hot meal, it is about sharing love and showing those who are less fortunate that there is some one who cares about them. When they go out for Food for Life (usually at Sherbourne and Queen), it is always accompanied with hot pasta being served along with chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra!

Last Sunday, Food for Life Toronto turned three years old. That means, that till today, over 3600 of plates of hot pasta have been distributed to the homeless in Toronto and we hope that this number continues to grow.

To celebrate this special occasion, we have some videos from different years of the project!

Here is a video of the second Food for Life from December 2008



And here we have a video from May 2009 when our friends from the Montreal Hare Krishna Centre were visiting us.

Video: Book Distribution Drama - January 2010

At the beginning of last year (January 1, 2010), we held our annual Srila Prabhupada Festival and, as a little treat, we had a small skit about book distribution.  Check it out!

Part One:


Part Two:

Deity Darshan: Sunday, November 13, 2011

Video: Toronto's Explosive 12-Hour Kirtan!

It was just under four months ago that Toronto's Hare Krishna community was in full-fledged Festival of India mode and there was an explosion of spiritual sound during the 12-hour kirtan.  Held the day before the biggest festival of the year, the 12-hour kirtan featured world-famous chanters like Madhava das and Niranjana Swami!

*** SPECIAL UPDATE *** The recordings from Toronto's 12-hour kirtan have been posted online and can be found by clicking here!

Join the Toronto Hare Krishna Book Club!

Inspired by the success of the book club which was launched this past month (during Kartik), the book club initiative continues! The book club "book" from Nov 11-30th is the Nectar of Instruction.  The objective of the book club is to facilitate and encourage readings from the wonderful philosophy of Krishna consciousness. We encourage you to participate! We will be sending out daily quotes from the book to those who register! To register for the book club, email us!

Also, don't forget that we are having weekly classes on this very same book every Friday evening!

Video: Radhanatha Swami speaks at House of Commons, UK

Radhanatha Swami, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a Bhakti Yoga Pracitioner for nearly four decades was recently invited to speak at the House of Commons, the UK Parliament. Radhanatha Swami's autobiography "The Journey Home" has inspired thousands of readers around the world and today, he travels all over the world giving talks at various banks, universities and business corporations.

Check out the highlights and audience reaction from his talk at the UK Parliament.

The End of Kartik

Yesterday concluded the month of Kartik, an auspicious month that is celebrated as a month to progress further in our spirituality. The month was dotted with various activities to help everyone take a closer look at their spiritual growth through morning Srimad Bhagavatam classes, Nectar of Devotion book club, themed Sunday Feasts and much more!

With all of this excitement, we wanted to ask you, our readers, for any of your experiences or realizations this past month. We would love to hear how this month has progressed for you!

Please leave us a comment!

Historical Look at Vimanas

We found this interesting video that includes our very one Dr. Michael Cremo (Drutakurma Das) explaining the historical and spiritual significance of Vimanas. These are aircrafts that are depicted in many of the scriptures like the Srimad Bhagavatam.

We hope you enjoy!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, November 6th, 2011

ISKCON North Carolina: Hare Krishnas Share Faith Through Food

We recently stumbled upon a nice article from the The Daily Tar Heel, a student newspaper from the University of North Carolina (UNC) about the local Hare Krishna meal program!  Check it out!
---------------------------------
Hare Krishnas Share Faith Through Food
For many students, the weekly, vegetarian Hare Krishna meal in McCorkle Place represents a free dinner. But for others, it is much more.

Every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., hundreds of UNC students line up for rice, curry, beans and cream of wheat, served by members of the New Goloka temple in Hillsborough.

Sophomore Josh Sydes was one of those students last year. He began asking members of the temple questions about their beliefs, and soon, he was volunteering himself. (Read Full Article)

Video: Greenstream TV Visits the Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, England

Green Stream TV is a website that explores all things environmentally-friendly and provides environmental news, commentar and advice. They recently visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor in London, England and explored the sustainable philosophy of the Hare Krishna movement.  Read more about the visit here.

Video: Re-Living Nuit Blanche with the Hare Krishnas!

Toronto recently celebrated Nuit Blanche, an all-night arts festival in downtown.  For one sleepless night, tens of thousands of people roamed the streets and took in arts exhibits, performances and more.  An energetic group of devotees from Toronto's Hare Krishna community hit the streets and brought their drums, cymbals and more.

The kirtan began and swept the public up in the sounds of the chanting and before we knew it, there was dancing, singing clapping and more!  Check out this little video that captures the experience!

Video: Guru-Puja from Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day Celebrations

Damodarastakam in Mayapur!

As we enter the last week of this special month of Kartik, we wanted to share with you a beautiful video of the Damodarastakam prayers being led in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.

An Invitation to "In the Further Soil" with the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company

A warm invitation has been passed along to Toronto's Hare Krishna community to attend a special presentation by the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company.  Menaka Thakkar has been a friend of our temple for a number of years and has helped arrange beautiful dance programs at our annual Festival of India.

 “In the Further Soil” is subtitled the transplantation of a dance tradition because it illustrates the journey that Ms. Thakkar has forged in founding the first professional school of Indian dance in Canada as well as founding the first professional Indian dance performance company which became the first culturally diverse dance organization to receive funding from Canada Council for the Arts. The title of this production comes from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore in which he speaks of the Banyan Tree that not only grows in its own soil but reaches its roots to the further soil which is an apt metaphor for the growth of Indian dance in Canada through the activities of Ms.Thakkar.

For more information and tickets, please visit: www.menakathakkardance.org or www.nrtyakala.org.

Nectar of Instruction Classes Starting Friday!

Starting tomorrow, Friday, November 4th, the Toronto Hare Krishna temple will be facilitating weekly classes on one of our most beautiful and essential books, The Nectar of Instruction.  The concept of instruction being sweet like nectar can be seen when it melts your heart, lights your path, and bring tears of love for God to your eyes.

Let this Nectar pour forth into your being!  These eleven short verses give essential instructions on how to clean your heart and prepare it for loving devotion to Krishna, God.  The classes are part of the wider Bhakti-Sastri Certification program and will be conducted every Friday from 6:30pm to 9pm over the next few weeks in the classroom in the temple basement.

The classes will take place every Friday evening for the next three months and will cover the following major themes:

1. Mind and Sense Control
2. Attitude
3. Guru and Disciple
4. ISKCON’s Purpose
5. Sadhu-sanga
6. Devotees
7. Bhakti

If you have any questions regarding the Nectar of Instruction classes, please email Vrndavana das.

Video: Temple of the Vedic Planetarium Mini-Documentary

We thought we would share another beautiful video of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (we posted one several months back).  The project is continuing at a rapid pace!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, October 29, 2011