At Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre, we're fortunate to regularly have inspiring dramas presented by Bhaktimarga Swami. Recently, Bhaktimarga Swami formed Swami Productions which consists of gifted actors from around the world. This Sunday they will be showcasing their first collaborative creation entitled, “Lonely” (Originally scheduled for Sunday, November, 8th, the drama had to be rescheduled due to unforseen circumstances).

This drama differs from some of the traditional theatrical epics of the Vedas and highlights a modern-day struggle that many of us have experienced or at least know someone who has been affected by it. Loneliness has evolved into such a big problem that many people can't handle it. This performance is a reminder of what it can do to individuals.
Please join us this Sunday for this unique experience!

Pandava Sena Toronto, the temple's youth group is extending a warm invitation to all the congregation members especially the youth to join them as they engage in some special temple clean-up seva (service) on Saturday, November 21.

For this seva day, one of the main services will be to clean the Tulasi room and take extra care of Tulasi Maharani. The clean-up will start at 11am and continue till around 2pm. Those who attend will be rewarded both spiritually and with a delicious lunch prasadam!

Please contact psenatoronto@gmail.com to RSVP or for more information!

For over 30 years, the Toronto Hare Krishna Temple has been a bustling hub of activity with grand festivals and regular events. This year has been no different as a calendar full of activities and events has enlivened our vibrant congregation!

In a creative effort to capture some of the wonderful events that have taken place this year, the ISKCON Toronto Fundraising Committee is presenting to the community a magazine showcasing some of the highlights of 2009. The Fundraising Committee hopes to distribute 5,000 to 10,000 copies of this magazine during 2010. The colourful magazine will include various articles on Krishna consciousness, bhakti-yoga and will feature messages by some of the senior leaders of ISKCON Toronto.

There will also be an opportunity for the members of the community to place advertisements in the magazine. It will reach out to a large number of people in the GTA and will be a great way to market your company or organization while also providing a nice service for the temple by informing people of the numerous activities and events that take place at ISKCON Toronto.

The prices for advertisement in the ISKCON Toronto 2010 Magazine are as follows:
- Full Page Advertisement: $500
- Half Page Advertisement: $300
- Quarter Page Advertisement: $200
- Special Page in the middle of the Magazine (4 pages available): $800

The last date for submiting ads for the magazine is November 30, 2009. For more information about how you can be involved in the magazine and for all other inquiries, please contact the members of the Fundraising Committee:
- Geet Bhardwaj - geetegay@gmail.com (416-831-7773)
- Keshava das - krishna01@sympatico.ca (416 922 5415)

Ever wondered why a call-in devotee talk show did not exist where you could call in and ask your most pressing/embarrassing/heart-rending relationship questions in complete anonymity and get help from an expert? Ever felt terribly anguished yet unable to unburden yourself for fear of ridicule? Ever wondered if you are the only one suffering alone? Ever wondered if your relationships could get better?
Wonder and worry no more- it is here! In the safety and privacy of your home or office, you can call in and talk to a relationship expert who is experienced and devotional. The Grihastha Vision Team offers yet another first to the devotee community of North America - a FREE teleconference facility every month just for you - the humble devotee who is seeking help with relationships.
You can choose to remain anonymous, but please note that your question and the panelist’s answer will be audible to all those on the call. This way you benefit from the association of many other devotees and also gain perspective from the comments of others who are facing similar issues. Our entire panel consists of qualified experts, counselors, therapists or marriage educators who are deeply dedicated to the health of devotees in relationships - especially those in or those contemplating marriage.
Here is the telephone number for our inaugural public teleconference call, 712-432-0111, Participant access code: 761698 #. This information is also available on our website and online newsletter at www.vaisnavafamilyresources.org.
The call will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 7- 8 PM EST.
The call, which will be for one hour is on the topic, “FORGIVENESS.” We will introduce the call and explain the format to you. Her Grace, Krsnanandini Devi Dasi, Director, Grihastha Vision Team will be the panelist for the first conference call. She is a Certified Family Life Educator, Prepare and Enrich Counselor, Grihastha Coach and has been counseling devotees for a number of years. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother and an author and has been a regular attendee and participant at the Smart Marriages Conference.

For further information about the other expert panelists, and the efforts and initiatives launched by the Grihastha Vision Team, please look up our web-site which iswww.vaisnavafamilyresources.org. Please feel welcome to sign up for our free newsletter. You may also e-mail us with your questions by using the 'Contact Us' button on the web-site.

Thanking you in anticipation,
Grihasta Vision Team

Due to some technical difficulties with the audio, there won't be a Sunday Feast Recording for this week. We apologize for any inconvenience caused!

The Hare Krishna temple is very excited to announce that HG Uttama Sloka das will be once again visiting our temple to conduct the second part of his Bhagavad Gita Course. Uttama Sloka das visited Toronto last year and facilitated a course that was attended by over 50 devotees!
He is a disciple of HH Indradyumna Swami and serves part time as Maharaja's traveling assistant, secretary and translator. Apart from his personal services to Indradyumna Swami, he spends his time conducting educational and training courses covering 20 countries on four continents. He is qualified as a Bhakti Sastri teacher, mediator and counsellor. This will be his third visit to Canada.
Uttama Sloka prabhu will be teaching a week-long seminar on the Bhagavad Gita. Normally, Bhagavad Gita courses and seminars focus on studying the deep intricacies of the ancient spiritual text. The unique feature of this course is that it will focus on real-life applications of the Bhagavad Gita! Imagine learning real lessons from the Gita about releasing negativity, developing self esteem and learning how to foster cooperation!
The course will span Friday, November 13th to Tuesday, November 17th. The details are as follows:Friday, November 13th, 2009 - 6:30pm to 9:00pmSaturday, November 14th, 2009 - 10:00am to 2:00pmSunday, November 15th, 2009 - 3:00pm to 5:00pmMonday, November 16th, 2009 - 6:30pm to 9:00pmTuesday, November 17th, 2009 - 6:30pm to 9:00pm
There will be a fee for the course, which will be announced in the coming days. For more information, please feel free to email us. To officially register for the course, please fill out the form below:

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The recording for this week's Sunday Feast can be viewed by clicking the image below. As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

*** Update - Sunday, Nov 8th - 4:00pm EST - Due to unforeseen circumstances, the drama will not be taking place today during the Sunday program. However, we are happy to share that Bhaktimarga Swami will be giving a wonderful class today! ***
At Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre, we're fortunate to regularly have inspiring dramas presented by Bhaktimarga Swami. Recently, Bhaktimarga Swami formed Swami Productions which consists of gifted actors from around the world. This Sunday they will be showcasing their first collaborative creation entitled, “Lonely”.
This drama differs from some of the traditional theatrical epics of the Vedas and highlights a modern-day struggle that many of us have experienced or at least know someone who has been affected by it. Loneliness has evolved into such a big problem that many people can't handle it. This performance is a reminder of what it can do to individuals.
Please join us this Sunday for this unique experience!

At Toronto's Hare Krishna Centre, we're fortunate to regularly have inspiring dramas presented by Bhaktimarga Swami. Recently, Bhaktimarga Swami formed Swami Productions which consists of gifted actors from around the world. This Sunday they will be showcasing their first collaborative creation entitled, “Lonely”.
This drama differs from some of the traditional theatrical epics of the Vedas and highlights a modern-day struggle that many of us have experienced or at least know someone who has been affected by it. Loneliness has evolved into such a big problem that many people can't handle it. This performance is a reminder of what it can do to individuals.
Please join us this Sunday for this unique experience!

This Saturday, November 7th, 2009, a warm invitation goes out to one and all to join the Pandava Sena youth group and the rest of the youth in coming out for a very sweet and intimate experience at the temple.

Please come and join the temple devotees for the regular morning service, consisting of arati, japa (mantra meditation), Bhagavatam class, kirtan, and of course delicious breakfast!

The program begins at 4:30am with Mangala Arati and finishes at 9:00am followed by breakfast prasadam. Feel free to contact psenatoronto@gmail.com if you have any questions or concerns or if you are looking for a ride, and we will respond to you as soon as possible.

The Sankirtan Team of the Hare Krishna temple is excited to announce a new "Book of the Month" program which will highlight one of Srila Prabhupada's books each month. The goal is to help us collectively take more time to read these spiritual gems of wisdom!


Srila Prabhupada translated numerous Vedic scriptures including the Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita. This month's book is The Path of Perfection. This book features a collection of talks given by Srila Prabhupada focusing on the nature of consciousness, meditation, karma, death and reincarnation.


As a teaser, here is an excerpt from the book:
"The ultimate goal of yoga is thus clearly explained. Yoga is not meant for attaining any kind of material facility; it is to enable the cessation of all material existence. As long as we require some material facilities, we will get them. But these facilities will not solve the problems of life. I have traveled throughout the world, and it is my opinion that American boys and girls have the best material facilities, but does this mean that they have attained peace? Can anyone say, 'Yes, I am completely peaceful'? If this is so, why are American youngsters so frustrated and confused?"
(Chapter 4 - Moderation in Yoga)
If you would like to obtain a copy of The Path of Perfection, you can place it on hold for you by clicking here. You can then pick up your book during the weekly Sunday Feast (there is a suggested donation of $4.00). For more information about the book, please visit the book table at the Hare Krishna Temple, during the weekly Sunday Feast.

The recording for this week's Sunday Feast can be viewed by clicking the image below.
As a reminder, the recordings from our weekly live web broadcasts are stored on our ISKCON Toronto Video Archive Blog.

For many members of our vibrant Hare Krishna community, worship of the Deity form of Radha and Krishna is not only something that happens at the temple, but also at home.
It is said that by serving the Deity of Krishna we understand ourselves to be His servant, with practical service to offer. Krishna is a person and when we care for Him, He reciprocates with us by purifying our heart and bringing us closer in our relationship with Him. Thus, many devotees choose to worship the lord in his Deity form in their homes (transforming their homes into temples)!

For quite some time. the ISKCON Toronto blog has featured a popular online gallery, on the right hand side of our blog, showcasing our community's "Home Deities"! This is an excellent opportunity to have virtual darshan of the various beautiful Deities being worshiped throughout our community.

As a new feature to our blog, we are asking members of our community to share the "story of their Deities"! Once in a while, we will feature a story on the blog of a community member's Deities.
It's as easy as sending us a picture of your Deities by email (if you haven't already done so) and filling out this form, with a brief description (150 words or less) about your Deities, including:
1) How long you've served your Deities?
2) How did They come into your care (what is Their story)?
3) Any special information about Them or your favourite aspect about Them.
Of course, if you would like us to simply include your deity pictures in the gallery please email a picture to us!

An article written by Bhaktimarga Swami about the growth of ISKCON in Canada in the last few years has been featured on ISKCON News. The article profiles the amazing feat of opening seven new centres across Canada in the last seven years. * * *Putting Krishna on the Map In Brrrrr-land - As a leader of a spiritual organization, I felt the guilty weight of not fulfilling my obligations. I looked at a map of Canada, my area of responsibility to the ISKCON society, and imagined yellow pinheads pushed into it in the locations where ISKCON has established itself.(read more)

Sankarshan Das Adhikari, a world-renowned traveling spiritualist will be visiting Toronto from October 30th to November 2nd! He is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and is the inspiration behind the "Ultimate Self Realization" e-course, a daily and weekly email lesson plan covering all aspects of bhakti-yoga, especially it's practical application in challenging circumstances. The e-course has over 10,000 subscribers from over 100 countries. Please click here to read some of his realizations!

He is an initiating spiritual master and regularly travels and shares Krsna consciousness throughout the world accompanied by his wife, while maintaining the ISKCON Austin preaching centre as his home base.
During this visit to Toronto he will be accompanied by his wife, Visnu Priya devi dasi and his disciples Abhay Charan das, Guruvani devi dasi and Kirtan. Sankarshan das will be conducting various seminars and programs and we invite you to take this opportunity to come and hear from this renowned speaker. The tentative schedule for the programs can be found as follows (subject to change):

Friday, October 30, 2009:- Program at ISKCON Scarborough - 6:30pm

Saturday, October 31, 2009:- Srimad Bhagavatam Class at ISKCON Toronto at 8:00am- Monthly Sankirtan Festival Send-off lecture at 11:00am- Monthly Sankirtan Festival Welcome lecture at 3:00pm

Sunday, November 1, 2009:
- Sunday Feast at ISKCON Brampton - 11am to 2pm- Sunday Feast at ISKCON Toronto - 6pm to 9pm
Please try to come out for these programs to enjoy spiritual nectar from Sankarshan das! For further questions about his visit, please send us an email! We look forward to seeing you at these programs!

The ISKCON Toronto Blog is excited to announce that we will be broadcasting our first home program, complete with kirtan and philosophy, this Saturday, October 31st, 2009. Members of our Hare Krishna community regularly open their homes and invite friends and family to come over for kirtan, class and a feast! These events are commonly known as "home programs".
HH Bhaktimarga Swami and HG Sankarshan das Adhikari, who is visiting Toronto, will be in attendance at a home program being hosted by a local congregation member this Saturday evening!
The broadcast will go live at 7:15pm (subject to change). If you like this idea of virtually attending home programs, please let us know by commenting on this post and we will try to broadcast more home programs in the future!
If you and your family are planning on hosting a home program and are interested in having it broadcast on the blog, let us know by emailing us and we can try to set it up for you and run the broadcast for you as well!

It's the end of another month and the fifth Monthly Sankirtan Festival (MSF) is around the corner! "Sankirtan" involves sharing our beautiful spiritual tradition of bhakti-yoga with the public through outdoor book distribution and chanting.
The GTA Sankirtan Team is very happy to invite everyone to the "Halloween Special MSF" this coming Saturday, October 31st (a.k.a Sankirtan Saturday). One of the highlights of this MSF will be a special training session faciliated by HG Sankarshan das Adhikari, starting 9:00am at the Hare Krishna temple.
The atmosphere will be surcharged with Halloween spirits and, keeping with the theme, MSF volunteers will hit the streets sharing "transcendental treats" of prasadam (sweets offered to Krishna) and spiritual books. In addition, teams of devotees will also visit select residential areas to share these treats reversing the age-old tradition of "trick or treating"!
There are many ways in which you can be a part of the MSF, and it's certainly not restricted to just distributing books. You can hand out flyers and sweets, or just sing your way to ecstasy as the chanting party rocks the streets of Toronto! You could also help prepare or pack the sweets or assist with other logistics. This is indeed a golden chance to participate in a type of spiritual service that is so dear to Srila Prabhupada!
Please click here to sign up for the MSF and don't hesitate to contact us with any comments or questions at toronto.sankirtan@gmail.com.