Marathon - Daily Update & Inspiration

"Rise and Shine! Santa Clause has personally employed you to distribute presents from the spiritual world today - books, prasad candies, smiles and happiness. Join the sankirtan party at the Dufferin Mall TODAY at 12 noon till about 4pm! Yummy prasad served afterwards"

With unwaivering enthusiasm several devotees continue to head out everyday in spite of the extreme cold! Yesterday a team of about 8 young devotees (who are offschool or work now) went out to Yonge and Eglinton (which we only later found out is the coldest area in the city because of the windtunnel effect!!!)They distributed several books and befriended manymore people.

Today is the last day of big-pre-christmas shopping and we will besetting up our sankirtan party outside the Dufferin Mall at Bloor andDufferin from 12 till whenever we can. And delicious warm prasadamwill be served afterwards.

Our scores as of the eod yesterday were 4316 books! We only have 8more days and we need 684 books!Do you think we will meet/beat ourgoals? Please join in...the final leg of the marathon has started! Weneed ALL your help, prayers and blessings.

Looking forward to serving Srila Prabhupada with you!

Inspiration for the dayThis is an example in preaching. Āpani ācari' bhakti śikhāimu sabāre.Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu teaches us that those whom preachers meet arealmost all offenders who are opposed to Krsna consciousness, but itis a preacher's duty to convince them of the Krsna consciousnessmovement and then induce them to chant the Hare Krsna mahā-mantra.Our propagation of the sańkīrtana movement is continuing, despite manyopponents, and people are taking up this chanting process even inremote parts of the world like Africa. By inducing the offenders tochant the Hare Krsna mantra, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu exemplifiedthe success of the Krsna consciousness movement. We should followvery respectfully in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, and there is nodoubt that we shall be successful in our attempts.CC Adi 7.150

A Change of Heart - The Magic Works

Submitted by Mangal Aarti dd

A few months ago I had met an old Indian man on Sankirtan and he was very edgy. We talked for a while but he would not come near the books. He went on and on about how he was Indian etc etc...so i was almost trying to get out of the conversation but Lord Caitanya had a different plan. The next day I had met him again at Avenue and Bloor and this time he was a tiny bit more receptive to talking with me about serious stuff. So he said he thinks he may have a Bhagavad gita at home but I insisted and said you may not have - so he did take it and gave me laxmi. But he was still stuck up about his Indian -Hindu stuff. Today months later i met him but he was completely different. First he stopped and he was just laughing and almost dancing. I could not understand what had happened to him. I asked him did he ever read the Gita or go to temple. Turns out he did both. He went to temple 3 times and already donated 300 dollars there - including the roof reconstruction project. I tried to ask him to come for MSF and he already knew about the marathon. He was talking about Krishna as 'Gopinath' referring so personally, just glorifying prasadam and how he is not allowed sweets but he loves the kheer. This man had changed completely - he was no longer the same man who i had met. Association with Srila Prabhupada's books had completely transformed him and all he could talk about was dancing in Kirtan and said he would come to temple for Vaisesika prabhu's program.

Basket Ball

Submitted by - Mangal Aarti dd

I was really struggling at the corner of avenue and bloor, no one was stopping and it was cold. I thought I guess I prayed too much to lord Caitanya for a taste of sankirtan and now He was going to make me stand there and not stop anyone. So i decided to just try to accept - time to practice what i had heard. Try to please lord Caitanya :)

I started to chant and this really tall tall man with a NBA Sweatshirt came along. I thought he wouldn't stop or even see me but did. First I handed him a tiny book and showed him a picture of Srila Prabhupada. He said he would take it. Then somehow I asked him if he was interested in ancient history and as soon as he looked interested I handed him the Bhagavad gita. He dived right into it. I showed him Sanskrit mantras, he tried and then just asked me how much for the book. I told him whatever he would like to give and he handed me a lot of laxmi for the books. I asked him if he was around for a while and he said he was playing today and leaving the next day back to US.

This is the time I started to put his over TALL hieght and lots of money and game together - i asked him to write to me and gave him a card. I am very ignorant and have no idea about what game he plays or who he is - but perhaps one day, he will take to Krishna Consciousness!

Happening THIS WEEKEND!

Tomorrow (Sat Dec 4) is our 1st Weekend Warrior Festival, and there is more than one way in which you can participate! Our weekend will kick-off with a special bhagavatam class at 7:45am. This is the first of a 4-part saturday series to inspire the sankirtan spirit and equip us with the practical tools to share our great spiritual wealth.

In addition, here's how you can participate:-

1. Weekend Sankirtan Festival - Sat Dec 4th (11am - 2pm)Join us as we head out on the streets to share the holy names, prasad and spiritual books!

2. 24 Hour Kirtan - 4pm (sat Dec4th) to 4pm (sun Dec 5th)A team of enthusiastic volunteers will be setting up a display table at the 24 hour kirtan being organized in Missisauga, to share these wonderful spiritual books with the attendees of the festival! We specifically need volunteers to help man the table on sunday. If you are interested and available please contact us ASAP

3. Marathon Special Sunday FeastHelp us with our Sunday Feast displays, distribute books yourself, encourage others to do so, inspire your fellow sankirtaneers and support their endeavors by sponsoring books for distribution!

We look forward to serving with you in this glorious festival - Srila Prabhupada Marathon 2010 ki Jai!

In your service,
Toronto Sankirtan Team

"Human life is not for working hard for bodily maintenance, but for reawakening our eternal relationship with the Lord and then going back to Godhead. All this can be achieved by acts of divine sacrifice. The best sacrifice is to please the pure devotee. Fortunately for us, we¹ve been given that chance. Srila Prabhupada has left us with as much service as we like if we like. It is entirely up to us.Let us be bold in his service. Think big. Don't hold back. Go Go Go!" Vaisesika Prabhu

Prakriti sthani karshati...

Submitted by Mangal Aarti dd

I met Zzenie with her friend Luke at the Sunday feast about 2 years ago and it was her first time there. Later she came to a home program we did with HH Bhakti Brhad bhagvat maharaj. While she was listening, she was very young and lost in her youth. A few days ago I realised the power of association of pure devotees and the power of Prabhupada marathon in connecting lost souls when i met her. I walking through a very quiet parking lot trying to find someone to show a book when I saw her once again.It had been 2 years but she had aged so much, her face showed it and she told me she was leaving Toronto and moving back to Jordan in two weeks. I asked her what happened and even though she didn't reply in detail, she was visibly in pain. She said she could not take it anymore and needed a break. So this time I showed her the Bhagavad gita and asked her to read it while she is away as it would give her strength. She agreed to take it with her and gave a donation. It took her two years to come to this point and i was thinking how Krishna attracts everyone, once you come in contact with Srila Prabhupada, you are always in his shelter. Irrespective of rebellious nature of living entity, He catches you when you may think all is gone.
Bhagavad-gita (15.7):
mamaivamso jiva-loke, jiva-bhutah sanatanahmanah shashthanindriyani,prakriti-sthani karshati
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal, fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."There is a great struggle for existence because the living entity conditioned by material nature is under nature's full control (prakriteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah [Bg. 3.27]). Because of his limited knowledge, however, the living entity thinks he is enjoying in this material world. Manah shashthanindriyani prakriti-sthani karshati [Bg. 15.7]. He is actually under the full control of material nature, but still he thinks himself independent (ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate [Bg. 3.27]).

Transcendental Samadhi

It is an opportunity for us to experience what samadhi is. Being absorbed in one activity, that activity being absorbed in giving Krishna to others and feel fortunate making them Krishna conscious. The difficulties that come along with that, the challenges we face in terms of weather, in terms of people's receptivity, in terms of officials perhaps not wanting us to be distributing on the street or shopping centre or wherever and what to seak about the obstacles that our mind poses. This is all what is required to become these things -to overcome these and become a real Vaishnav, to enter into Samadhis. Bhajanandis have to overcome all of these challenges in some other form, we face them in this way and when we practice doing so we become practiced in meditating on Krishna, being absorbed in Krishna. Srila Prabhuapda describes first class devotee in terms of someone who is always thinking in terms of spreading KC,someone who is absorbed in Krishna's pastimes and name. Purity of heart that is required for both is same, only difference is one is enjoying Krishna consciousness and other is giving Krishna consciousness. And this mood of giving Krishna consciousness is the mood of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu... Prabhupada marathon is a wonderful opportunity for us to be absorbed in what prabhupada calls transcendental samadhi in 10th canto. HH Sivarama SwamiNectar of Book Distribution

Necessity of Life

Certainly during those days, it was our center; it was our focus. At least for myself and for many other devotees in our society, there is no doubt that we felt pushed in so many ways with the need to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. It became the ultimate necessity of our lives to see that his books were being distributed.
There is an expression I often think of, namely “necessity of life.” We often tend to think that the meaning of necessity of life is something that sustains life in the body. We often think necessity of life to be food or shelter or maybe air. Water and air are necessities of life. They are necessities that sustain life in the body. But life is eternal, and Srila Prabhupada would often use this term, “necessity of life.” If life is eternal, if life exists outside and beyond the body, then what is the real necessity of life? Life also has a necessity, even without a material body.
Srila Prabhupada would say that this preaching, this book distribution, gave him life. Srila Prabhupada showed by his own example that this is what sustained his life and what continues to sustain his life. It is what he was so much absorbed in. It was his mission to give us this transcendental wisdom in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Caritamrita, and to study these books ourselves, and by realizing the contents of these books, to go out and make others similarly fortunate to appreciate the great value of Srila Prabhupada’s books. This is life.
If we ask how to actually realize what is our necessity, how do we live, how we can be successful, what is real life, the answer is in preaching and spreading the message of Krsna Consciousness.

His Holiness Niranjana Swami

http://connect.krishna.com/node/8843

Devotees are going out everyday, Yajna Gauranga Prabhu, Gaura Candra Prabhu, Mangal Aarti dd, Milind Prabhu and many many more. Please inspire them, encourage them...join the gang. Also if you would like to share any sankirtan experiences please send them our way. Check www.torontosankirtan.blogspot.com for more sankirtan nectar!