Your Guide to an Awesome New Year's Eve!

The following is your detailed guide to ringing in the New Year "Hare Krishna Style"! As we do every year, devotees gather at the temple on New Year's Eve and then head over to City Hall to join the tens of thousands of revelers, ushering in the new year. However, we come armed with our drums, karatalas (cymbals) and voices as well!

Here's all that you need to know about this evening:

8:00pm - Kirtan will begin at the temple.

10:00pm - The kirtan will really pickup by this time!

10:30pm (approx) - Bundle up and off to Rosedale station.

11:30pm - We will start chanting in front of Old City Hall (NE corner of Bay & Queen)

12:00am - the kirtan will reach it's peak as fireworks set the sky ablaze!

1:30am (approx) - We'll get back on the subway and make our way back to the temple for hot ginger tea and snacks!

Some tips to keep in mind for this evening:

• Come early to the temple - enjoy the kirtan and association of devotees before we head out to City Hall.
• Dress warmly - it will be chilly, so dress in layers!
• Don't worry about weather - whether it be snow, rain, hail or sleet, we will usher in the new year with kirtan!
• Bring your voices - don't forget to chant with all of your hearts!

To get a glimpse into what it's like to party with us, "Hare Krishna Style" on New Year's Eve, check out this video footage from our 2008-09 New Year's Eve kirtan!  We really hope to see you there!

Annual Srila Prabhupada Festival - This Sunday!

On New Year's Day, January 1st, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will be hosting our annual Srila Prabhupada Festival!  Promising to be a great way to start the new year, the festival is usually one of the biggest of the year.

As a special treat, we would like to encourage all devotees to come early for the festival to chant japa (mantra meditation) together.  The schedule for the program is as follows (subject to change):

4:00pm to 6:00pm - Mantra Meditation (Japa) Session
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm to 6:40pm - Welcome & Announcements
6:40pm to 7:00pm - Guru Puja
7:00pm to 8:00pm - Drama Presentation - "Dhruva"
8:00pm to 8:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
8:30pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Mantra Meditation: A Video

Ever wondered why we do kirtan? Here is a wonderful video explaining mantra meditation as well as some realizations from people on their kirtan experiences.

Aaand if you cannot wait for your own kirtan experience, join us on New Year's Eve as we celebrate the arrival of the New Year - Hare Krishna style!

Please stay tuned for more details!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, December 25, 2011

Yamuna devi dasi Passes Away

Toronto's Hare Krishna community was deeply saddened to hear the news that Yamuna devi dasi, a legendary devotee in our international ISKCON family, passed away in Florida this morning.

Yamuna devi dasi was one of the first women to join ISKCON, helping to open the San Francisco centre in 1967 and the London centre later on. One of her first services was to assist Srila Prabhupada in cooking, and she had become one of the foremost experts on Vedic cooking.

Also famous for her singing voice, Yamuna devi dasi's voice can be heard as the lead vocalist in the famous "Govindam" prayers that are played in all 400+ Hare Krishna centres around the world every morning.

We invite devotees to post their comments of gratitude and sympathy.

There will be a memorial service taking place in Alachua, Florida on Tuesday, December 27 at 7pm. There will also be a live broadcast of the event.



In our Hare Krishna (Vedic) culture, it is customary to sing a traditional bengali song (bhajan) for the passing away of devotees of Krishna.  The name of the bhajan is Je Anilo Prema Dhana (seen below).

Bhagavad-Gita Facing Ban in Russia - Please Sign Our Petition!

In recent news, the Russian Government has deemed the Bhagavad-Gita As-It-Is, an ancient and revered text, "extremist literature" and is in the process of banning the book from the country.

Devotees in Russia are rushing to stop this banning and are urging devotees and well-wishers around the world to sign a petition found here.

Deity Darshan: Sunday, December 11, 2011

Temple Clean-Up - This Saturday at 10:00am!

CDM (Ceto Darpana Marjanam) is a monthly project which entails the organized cleaning of the temple as a group and will take place this Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 10:00am!

The schedule will be as follows:
10:00am to 1:30pm - Clean-Up
1:30pm to 3:00pm - Special pizza party and nectar-filled conversations.

An inspirational quote by Srila Prabhupada:
"Everything within the temple should be kept very, very neat and clean. And the more you keep the temple neat and clean, you will be neat and clean within your heart. And then your understanding will be very easy. We cannot understand Krsna because our heart is piled up with many garbages. That we have to cleanse." 
-- Srila Prabhupada Melbourne, May 22, 1975

Please come out and bring your family and friends for this unforgettable experience!

An Appeal for Help from ISKCON Hungary!

We recently received the following message regarding some difficulties that the wonderful devotees in ISKCON Hungary.  We're hoping devotees from our Toronto Hare Krishna Community can sign the petition to help out our fellow devotees in Hungary.

Dear Devotees.

The new “Church Law” in Hungary will take away ISKCON Hungary’s church status as of January 1st requiring us to reapply for the same next year. However the government has not provided any legal stipulation for the society’s continued ownership of Krsna Valley’s lands in the interim period until we are again reregistered. In short we risk losing Krsna Valley with no pasture for our cows or land to grow our food. I therefore request that you sign the online petition—link below—and forward this message to as many people as possible who would also petition against this injustice. 

Thank you.
Sivarama Swami.

http://www.petitions24.com/krisna

Vaisesika Prabhu Returns to Toronto!

Our Sankirtan general, H.G. Vaisesika Prabhu is returning to Toronto. A disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and a mentor to so many of us in Toronto and around the world, we are always looking forward to his visits. From inspiring classes and hitting the streets with spiritual books, to the rip-roaring kirtans, Vaisesika das keeps us all on our spiritual toes! We have an inspirational line-up of programs for you! While details are being finalized, some of the key events that you absolutely need to know are:

Friday (Dec 9) - Monday (Dec 12) - Srimad Bhagavatam Classes (7:45-9:00am) Sankirtan is for Everyone
Sub-themes:
Friday: Sankirtan is our Family Business - Power of Parampara
Saturday: Sankirtan is All Inclusive - Fighting the Myths
Sunday: Sankirtan and Sadhana - Sharing the Overflow
Monday: The Power of Endeavour - Every ONE Matters, Every BIT Counts!

Friday (Dec 9) - 6:30-8:30 pm - Sankirtan Training - Handling Objections and Rejections (Top 10 tips)

Saturday (Dec 10) 11:00 am - 2:00 pm - World Enlightenment Day Special Sankirtan Festival
All devotees are welcome to join Vaisesika das as we collectively hit the streets with our beloved spiritual books with the goal of sharing our beautiful spiritual heritage with the public. Stay tuned for more information!

Saturday (Dec 10) 6:30 pm - Bhajans with Marathon Memories, Stay tuned for more information!

Sunday (Dec 11) - 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm Sunday Feast with Vaisesika das
Our weekly Sunday extravaganza will include a special class by Vaisesika das. Toss in some amazing kirtan and mouth-watering vegetarian feast and your Sunday should be booked!

...and more... see http://www.torontosankirtan.com/ for more details!

Deity Darshan: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Celebrating the Speaking of the Bhagavad-Gita - Monday, December 5, 2011

Over five thousand years ago, Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, discussing the fundamental principles of life. The Gita lucidly explains the nature of consciousness, the self and the universe. It contains both the essence of India's spiritual wisdom and the answers to questions that have been posed by philosophers for centuries.

Today, that same Bhagavad-gita has been translated to numerous languages and is read by millions of people around the world, revered in academic circles, and studied by spiritualists of all backgrounds.

Monday, December 5th marks Gita Jayanti, the day when Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna. We will be celebrating this occasion by reading the entire Gita in Sanskrit. The reading will begin at 6:00pm and will take approximately two hours. Stay tuned to the Toronto Hare Krishna Blog for more information!

December Book Club: Path of Perfection

The newly established "Toronto Hare Krishna Book Club" will be reading Path of Perfection this December. This book has 176 pages, so if you were to read only 6 pages a day, you will complete the book in less than a month!

"A chronicle of a historic series of talks by Srila Prabhupada, who has been acclaimed by scholars as the greatest exponent of the Indian spiritual tradition, this book deeply probes the nature of consciousness, meditation, karma, death and reincarnation. He prescribes a simple process to purify the mind and elevate the consciousness - a process that assures the readers not only inner peace but the power to change the chaotic trend of modern society."

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 toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com.