Purity is the Force

By Minakshi Devi Dasi

On Sunday June 24th, a couple of temples in the Etobicoke/Brampton area conducted a small Rathayatra.  We had the opportunity to put up a book display outside under a small tent. Even as we were setting up, people were getting attracted to Srila Prabhupada's books.  There was some rain, but people were 'hungry' and interested and within only 20 minutes 40 books were already distributed. One individual was looking at the titles and listening and suddenly noticed that all the titles were by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada - he was simply amazed! The power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books and pure philosophy, something that is usually missing when people go to 'other' temples.

 

Astaprahar Sankirtan at Tagore Centre

Submitted by Minakshi Devi Dasi

On June 16th, we went to the Astaprahar being held at the Tagore Centre in Etobicoke.  It was an extremely hot day and we were already perspiring as we setup the table.  We noticed that the place was practically empty.  In fact during the course of the whole day, there were only about 30 to 40 people in the building.  However, this gave us an opportunity to approach everyone that passed. One lady decided to buy some children's books for her young daughter but would not buy the Bhagavad Gita saying that she is all about her daughter now and when she gets old maybe she will have time.  This was quite funny to hear because as Srila Prabhupada and indeed Prahlad Maharaj has taught us - the time is now - we don't know how much more time we will have on this planet.  In the end 73 books were distributed. Thank you to all the devotees involved in this service to Srila Prabhupada.

Lord Caitanya's Troops at Yoga Palooza

Submitted by:- Keeshori

With the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha, this weekend was packed with Sankirtan. This Saturday we went to a Yoga festival in a West end park to distribute Srila Prabhupada's books at  Yoga palooza festival. Anshul, Anjan and Indresh prabhus along with myself set up the tables and the tent.

I greeted a black bodied gentleman and asked  him to look at the books we got. Keeping the theme of the festival in mind, I offered him 'The Perfection of Yoga ' book and explained to him what it means to be a perfect Yogi and how to practice Bhakti Yoga. I think it made him curious to inquire more.  He flipped few pages and wanted to know who is God and how we relate ourselves to God. Without being very preachy, I simply offered him the Bhagvad Gita, showed him a few verses and told him this can answer all his questions.
He read the contents page and introduction to the chapters . He seemed interested even more  and looked at the nicely displayed vegetarian cook books. He asked why we were promoting vegetarianism.

I said without going into scientific and environmental details, just think why some animals like cows and rabbits are vegetarian and a tiger doesn't even think twice before killing and eating it's prey. Because they simply follow their instinct. Humans don't like to kill , see blood and eat animals like a tiger does. They are not naturally carnivorous. They cheat their own instinct to eat meat, so we are promoting what comes naturally to human beings.  He seemed satisfied with the answer and shared an incident where his friend was freaked at the sight of blood in his plate at a restaurant. I showed him the Higher Taste and told him that first half of the book will explain why we should be vegetarian and second half will give him recipes of vegetarian dishes.
He wanted the books but did not have enough cash. That is where the sankirtan innovation of the mobile credit card machine came in handy. He bought all three books and paid very generously.

Anshul and Anjan Prabhus did an amazing job distributing books as well and with krishna's mercy we distributed 46 books and had an amazing experience of sharing Srila Prabhupada's books!

Jaya Gaura Nitai!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! 

Italian Food Festival

Submitted by Anshul

With Italy qualifying for Euro Cup, the Italian Food Festival, at little Italy, was packed with people and 8 young devotees went out loaded with books, prasad and kirtan to spread some of Lord Chaitanya's love to the pizza-makers!

Devotees had a great time distributing over 23 books (including a few italian ones!), lots dum dums and singing kirtan Italiano style.  

The event was a success and showed huge promise for large scale sankirtan in the coming years. 

Looking to have a few italian phrases mastered for next year's festival!

Transcendental Sales At Guelph Multi-cultural Festival

Submitted by Mahabhagavat Das

A team of over forty enthusiastic volunteers joined together in a well-coordinated effort to take this sublime spiritual knowledge of Krishna consciousness and blissful process of Bhakti Yoga to Guelph on the weekend of 9-10 June 2012. The event was the Guelph Multicultural festival, where we went for the second year in a row. We met old friends from last year, we made new connections, and distributed 171 transcendental literatures, hundreds of pieces of Prasadam and many chanted, danced, and clapped enthusiastically. We had several wonderful conversations centered around Krishna. We are grateful to all who contributed so freely of their time, attention, energy, and personal resources to make this event such a smashing success!

Get The 20%

Sharing a letter sent out by H.G. Vaisesika Prabhu through the 7th Goswami Network:- Let’s go for 20% more book distribution in 2012!

Goals are Potent 

The moment one sets a goal and commits to it in writing, one’s mind begins to figure out how to achieve it. And when devotees set transcendental goals, like increasing book distribution by 20%, the Lord who lives in their hearts gives them all help and guidance.

Try it and see for yourself!

Acting on this principle in January of this year, all the leaders present at the North American temple president’s meeting set the following goal for this year:

All temple leaders in North America work together as one team to increase book distribution by 20% in 2012.

In 2011, N/A devotees remitted $903,613 to the BBT and distributed 714,334 books. Therefore, for 2012, the goals are as follows:

Laxmi: $1,084,336

Books: 857,000

Expenses at the NA BBT are fixed. Therefore, when we increase our Laxmi remittance to the BBT, the BBT is able to print more books, and a wider variety of titles at cheaper prices.

Not only did Srila Prabhupada create the BBT to distribute transcendental books, he also set it up as the instrument for developing ISKCON projects. Therefore, he mandated that half of the profit from BBT go for printing and the other half for funding international ISKCON projects such as new temple construction, the Bhaktivedanta Institute, and so on.

Now Get the 20%! is fast becoming a worldwide movement. Devotees in India, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, after hearing about Get the 20%! are joining in too.

In fact, everyone is invited. No matter where you live, please set a goal to increase book distribution by 20% and to join the effort to increase book distribution. Doing this will bring great happiness to our Founder-Acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and will bring relief to people everywhere who are suffering the ill effects of Kali Yuga.

Join the Sankirtana party!

Let’s go for 20% more book distribution in 2012!

Your servant,

Vaisesika Dasa

(N/A Sankirtana Strategist)

“This is our most important work. All the leaders should tax their brains for increasing the sales of our books. I have always said that if we simply rely on book distribution all our needs will be met.” (SPL to Rupanuga, 11th January 1976

Tamil Carnival Sankirtan

 

By Radhapriya (12 years)

On June 2 and 3^rd, there was a Tamil Carnival in Markham.  The organizers were expecting thousands of people, but the weather did not cooperate – it rained and so there were no crowds and very few people. But we had a beautiful table filled with Srila Prabhupada’s books in both Tamil and English.  At first I was very shy but my mother (Minakshi devi dasi) kept approaching every person that passed and was encouraging people to look at the books and preaching.  Finally I got the courage to do so as well. I spoke to kids and adults and people actually stopped and listened!  Some just passed and said no, but I was still hopeful and kept trying. I distributed Tamil Bhagavad Gitas and Krishna books as well as some kids books. I was so happy everytime someone took a book that I was not even so tired after standing all day.  In the end a total of 200 books were distributed at the Tamil Carnival with the mercy of Srila Prabhupada

Stouffville Market Sankirtan

For the 3 year anniversary of the Monthly Sankirtan Festival (Mary 26th), the sankirtan warriors went to two location- a larger team went to the Yonge and Dundas Square while a smaller group of four devotees headed out to the Stouffville Country Market. This place is a home to the largest farmer's market in the area where inside and outside vendors also sell products ranging from home furnishings to sporting goods and electronics. Because it was a hot-humid day, there wasn’t much traffic of people but on the flip side, longer interesting conversations were possible. We met some really nice people and established some great contacts. A team of 4 devotees stood out through the hot summer sun from 7am-3pm and a total of 25 books were distributed. 

Upcoming Events

Tentative Calendar:-


June 16-17 - Astaprahar Kirtan; Yoga Palooza; Taste of Little Italy


June 23-24 - Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival


June 30 - MSF 3rd Year Anniversary

July 1-2 - Chin Picnic  Sankirtan

July 1 - Canada Day Harinam
July 14-15 - Ratha Yatra Festival

July 21 - MSF; Stouville Flea Market Sankirtan

Aug 4 - Caribana Festival Sankirtan

Aug 18- Masala Mehendi Masti Sankirtan

Aug 25 - MSF

Sep 1-3 - CNE  Sankirtan

Sep 14-15 - Beatles Orillia Sankirtan

Sep 23 - Word on the street Festival

Sep  28-Oct 8 - World Holy Name Week

Book of the Month June - Perfect Questions Perfect Answers!

We are now in our 10th consecutive month for the book club here in Toronto! A big thank you to all who have been a part of the book club, reading and sharing inspirations from the books of Srila Prabhupada.

This month, the book of the month is Perfect Questions Perfect Answers, its only a 100 page book, so we simply need to read about 3-4 pages a day to complete the book. 

This book is a compilation of conversations between Srila Prabhupad and Bob Cohen, a peace corps worker in India. Through the 9 chapters, we will learn about the real goal of life, the modes of nature, the perfect devotee and more...

Starting this month, we are also including one question for each day. We encourage and request you to participate. Anyone, who answers more than 50% of the questions will receive a free transcendental gift. 

Find us on facebook : http://www.facebook.com/groups/205991062834167/

Join our new google group : https://groups.google.com/group/torontosankirtan-bookclub?hl=en

Toronto Sankirtan Newsletter - Summer 2012

We have an exciting summer planned with several sankirtan outings! Check out our latest Newsletter to learn more about whats happening:- Toronto Sankirtan Newsletter - Summer 2012