Fearless - Bhayam dvitiya aniveshita

Submitted by Mangal Arti dd

I met this nice Russian lady, perhaps middle aged. She didn't seem the yoga kinds but surely looked distressed. I showed her a Perfection of Yoga (POY) and explained about yoga, meditation and how it helps with relaxation. Sensing some stress, I asked her if she was stressed in life. While giving donation for the book she explained how her son was killing her. I asked her if he was a teenager and she explained he was just caught smoking marijuana, and that he lied about going to school but really was just taking marijuana. She was very distressed and was fearful of what he would do next.

I opened the Bhagavad gita and showed her what Krishna says about material world being a place of fear. And she immediately acknowledged saying yes she feels afraid all the time. She is afraid her ex-husband will loose his job and she wont get child support, Or she will loose her job or worse even she will loose her son - No relief.

Having appreciated the philosophy she left with a book. I realized how amongst millions of other things, we are thankful to Srila Prabhupada for granting us fearlessness through his books in this world. All fear is due to 'bhayam dvitya aniveshita' and through the lamp of knowledge Srila prabhuapda destroys it.

SB 11.2.37 : Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord.

Purport : According to Srila Sridhara Svami the objection may be raised that since fear is caused by ignorance, it can be dispelled by knowledge and there is no need to worship the Supreme Lord. The living entity falsely identifies with his material body, family, society and so on, and he simply has to give up this false identification.

SB 1.11.3 : Out of the four problems of material existence, namely the food problem, the shelter problem, the fear problem and the mating problem, the fear problem gives us more trouble than the others. We are always fearful due to our ignorance of the next problem. The whole material existence is full of problems, and thus the fear problem is always prominent. This is due to our association with the illusory energy of the Lord, known as mäyä or external energy, yet all fear is vanished as soon as there is the sound of the Lord, represented by His holy name, as it was sounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahäprabhu in the following sixteen words:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare HareHare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare

We can take advantage of these sounds and be free from all threatening problems of material existence.

Why not just be there?

This last MSF (Monthly Sankirtan Festival) was a little magical. I met several people who by themselves just wanted the books...I did not have to go much beyond, "Hi, are you interested in yoga", and they would just get attracted to these windows of the spiritual world!

I remember one such girl I met, she very eagerly took several books with her and gave a more than kind donation. Afterwards I wrote back to her, and her reply completely convinced me of how we just need to be there! So many people around the world are searching for Krishna...and Krishna will arrange for them to come in contact with Him. If we're standing on the way, we may get the credit...so why not just be there!

Hi Shyama! Yes I've been looking at them. I especially like the The Perfection of Yoga book. I think I may have to read it a couple times to make sure I understand the message properly though. Thank you very much for introducing me to them. I also checked out the Urban Edge Yoga website. I think I may sign up for a meditation class soon. It's funny. The night before I met you I was telling my boyfriend that I wanted to learn more about yoga. I was feeling pretty frustrated with, you know, life, goals and decisions...and I felt like I needed to do something to help me shake off the self-destructive negative moods I sometimes get in. And then the next day, there you guys are. When I told him that I met you he smiled and told me that our minds are powerful and I should be mindful of what I focus my thoughts on because I may attract it to me. lol. In this case, I am very happy to meet you and hope to see you again soon.

Almost there...

It's been an eventful 2 weeks, 15 action-packed days! What started off as a "whim" of the excited mind, and materialized as the "Maha-mantra week" has been an ecstatic experience to say the least.


Today, the 12 hour kirtan marks the Grand-Finale of the celebrations. We're almost there, 2 more hours to go... and it does feel like an incredible journey with the holy name. And in this journey, we've witnessed inspiration, determination, dedication and the effort required to create this experience!


In spite of the extremely short notice, Jatin Bhandari (aka Jetu), our kirtan star arranged for an exciting lineup kirtaneers for the whole day. With his fellows in the "Sri Sri Radha Govinda Kirtan Mandali", Jetu setup the altar and accompanying instruments. Moreover, whoever was chanting, Jetu and Satyananda accompanied them as backup vocals, instrumentalists and cheer leaders. The deep love for the holy name was reflected loud and clear in the sincere chanting of the kirtaneers.

The theme today has been chanting at the time of death, we read about it this morning from Sri Namamrta, and we heard in the bhagavatam class about Srila Prabhupada's final instruction. The time of death is the real test, whether we'll remember Krsna or not...but who knows when death will knock, we're all almost there!

Krishna tracks, attracts and connects

Submitted by - Mangal Arti dd

I had a few minutes before the session at Urban Edge Yoga started and i stepped downstairs. I was trying to talk to this guy on a bike when a girl passing by asked me about our centre and said she was searching us on the internet. I told her to hold on for a few seconds and she actually waited. She was with a very kind looking man and somehow or other they waited. They were almost leaving when I caught a minute to talk to them - turns out the girl Heather was going to our temple in Miami coconut grove and used to take prasad there and even Warren was going to temple in Venice beach California. I invited them both upstairs to Urban Edge Yoga. Very kindly they agreed, I showed them the Bhagavad gita and as they were leaving I requested them a few minutes to make an offering..they sat on the couch. I started to talk to them and they told me their stories how they were both addicts and joined the AA group ... both were recovering addicts. She was born in LA and grew up in Toronto and went back to Miami where she met devotees. He was born in Toronto and moved to LA where he lived close to venice beach and ate at the temple sometimes and liked the Krishnas. They didnt have the Bhagavad gita but they had seen Srila Prabhupada's picture. She was an actress in TV commercials and then just walked away from everything due to her addictions. They took the Bhagavad Gita and said they will come back. He was very interested in Gita and she was in cooking. They took the dessert cup as they left and i was just wondering it happened - this amazing couple crossing countries to meet Krishnas, the night before they were searching on internet for us ...i was cooking upstairs and came down for few minutes and they stopped at the very minute - Krishna really attracts!

Now I know why we came here!

The ecstacy of the Beatles Festival in Orillia was ruling over the assembled devotees. Smiles, singing and dancing dominated the scene. When we took a break for prasad, I was serving to ensure we had enough prasad. Suddenly, I saw a little girl staring at some of our books. I went up to her and offered her a cookie. Surprisingly she denied saying I dont really like cookies. To this cute comment her mother and I struck a conversation. Soon I showed her the Chant and Be Happy book. As soon as she saw the book, she had goosebumps! This was the first time I had seen someone feel such power. Immediately I introduced her to the concept of chanting, and showed her some beads...which she eagerly accepted. We took a picture together with the beatles background of "Chant & Be Happy". As we exchanged emails she told me that they were from Missisauga travelling to Hunstville and just stopped here for gas...she exclaimed "Now I know why we came here". We parted to stay in touch...as very good friends would!

The "Unknown" Connection

Submitted by Mangal-arti dd

As I was coming out of the subway I saw this girl walk into the subway and she clearly caught my attention but I had just finished speaking with someone else and did not have a chance to take out any books or cards. My hands were empty, I regretted in my heart but she registered. I had to run from Bedford to St george and only had a few minutes…I stopped around the corner when I saw a man with his baby and he bought a small Bhagavad Gita, which was probably another 2-3 minute conversation. After this, I continued my sprint to St George. While running, something from within the heart made me stop and turn around. Much to my surprise I saw the same girl who had caught my eye near the subway and she was outside the subway that too near me. I knew Krishna had sent her back and I didn’t even bother with the formalities – I just looked at her and said " hey I just saw you a few minutes back entering the subway and I really wanted to give you a card but it was in my bag and now you are here". She actually took out her headphones and smiled to talk. I just handed her the Bhagavad gita – and before I could say anything about yoga and meditation – she said with great surprise – "wow Bhagavad gita". I was so surprised – I told her ‘don’t tell me you were looking for this as that would just be too much’. She said she had just done a course on religion at UofT where they mentioned the Bhagavad gita and she thought it was interesting and wanted it. I told her how I wanted to give it to her but we missed each other a few minutes back so this is divine intervention. I showed her some mantras, purport and Srila Prabhupada and told her to get it for a donation. She didn’t have money as she just bought a text book. I requested her to look into her wallet and give whatever she had. Somehow she listened and pulled out some laxmi to her own surprise. I asked her to come for Bhagavad GIta discussions and that we have dinner after. She asked me if it was vegan and I told her our centre was vegan and I was just totally taken aback by now because she was also looking for vegan people. We exchanged emails and as I was leaving she told me how she forgot something and had to come out of the subway in this direction as if we were just pulled towards each other by someone. I told her my real estate friend was waiting and I had to run and as I was running she called out – please email me.

We actually don’t sell these books, we just have the great honour of being in association of these books for a few minutes. It is our life’s greatest gift to be in association of guru parmapara