Transcendental Fireworks - Diwali Sankirtan

Submitted by Minakshi dd

We had the opportunity to do sankirtan at a Banquet Hall where there was a Diwali Event.

We got there at 5:30pm and met with resistance by one of the management as soon as we walked in.  However, we perservered and were able to get our table and get things setup.  Everyone was cooperative except for this one fellow we will call 'Angry Man' who had many objections - only 1 table, only in this corner, No picture of Srila Prabhupada, No picture of Radha Gopinatha, no distributing beyond your table and so on!

Anyhow, with the help of Mayur Prabhu, Vicky Prabhu, Jessica Mataji, Radhapriya and myself we kept approaching everyone and trying our best. 

I will relate a wonderful story. We were approaching many people and Mayur began speaking with one girl probably around 16 or 17 years old.  She really loved the Bhagavad Gita and wanted it badly, but did not have any money; she asked her mother and brother and both did not have (or want to give).  Suddenly it was realized that this girl is the daughter of this man who was objecting and indeed getting very angry at us.  So Mayur really wanted to get this Bhagavad Gita to this girl and told her just take it and have it.  She took the book.  Later in the lobby as we were packing up I went over to our 'Angry Man' to soften him and 'thank' him.  His daughter was right next to him and across from me.  She opened the Gita and asked me "Is this Hindi?" I told her no this is Sanskrit and then here is the phonetic English - the first word of the verse happened to be 'evam' and that this is the word by word translation such as evam=thus.  Suddenly our 'Angry Man' looked over and saw the Bhagavad Gita in his daughter's hands - the shock on his face was priceless.  So I told him that she really wanted the book, fell in love with it but did not have money so we gave it to her as a gift.  He got a little embarrased and asked how much is it - we said, no it is a gift - but he pulled out a $10 bill and handed it to us!  Thus despite all his offensive efforts to block Srila Prabhupada's Sankirtan Movement, a Bhagavad Gita ended up in his household!

 

Another quick incident - I was speaking with an older gentleman and showing him the books by Srila Prabhupada.  It turns out that he was a professor in Nairobi and had read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.  He said he has ready many many books by others and the power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books bacause of their purity and authencity.  We couldn't agree more!

We left the Banquet Hall at 1:30 am and then proceeded to Vicky Prabhu's home where his mother kindly had wonderful prasadam prepared for us. 

Totals for this event:  115 Books including lots of Big Books and $900 Collected.

Thank you to all the devotees that helped in the service of Srila Prabhupada!

This is My Request

The Canadian Sankirtan Newsletter

Click on the link above to view the 1st Issue of the Canadian Sankirtan Newsletter, which was released at the recent Canadian Leaders Meeting in Brighton.

Sankirtan At Garba - Leaving No Stone Un-turned

Submitted by:- Minakshi devi dasi

On Saturday October 13^th we had the opportunity to do book distribution at the Ontario Soccer Centre where there was a Garba Event. Imagine on the one hand loud pulsing live music with hundreds of people dancing with dandiya sticks and on the other hand Srila Prabhupada’s books trying to deliver these souls.  The sankirtan warriors included Mayur Prabhu, Vijay Patel Prabhu, Radhapriya and myself.

A quick incident: I had approached a couple of older men and started speaking to them and showing them the Krishna Book in Gujarati; they came closer to the table and we continued to speak.  In the meantime, another man came closer and said there is no need for these books – ‘everything is in your mind – you control your happiness’. Despite this, I showed them a paragraph about suffering and happiness and they ignored the interrupting man and purchased 2 Krishna Books and 1 small Gujarati book!

A lot of people said ‘we already have these books’ or ‘we already know about Krishna’.  Others had been drinking and we could clearly smell it on them. Anyhow we all persevered and by the end of the night we distributed over 60 books including many Krishna Books and Kid’s books and collected over $400.  Thank you to all the devotees who helped in this service! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Orillia Beatles Festival

This was our 3rd year participating in the Orillia Beatles Festival. Orillia, which is a small city about 1.5 hours away from Toronto hosts this annual festival in the memory of the Beatles - and the Hare Krishna's are an integral part of it. The city management and the festival organizers are very favorable and encourage us to participate every year. They've also provided us with on-stage slots for Kirtan, which have been led by Toronto's very own, Gaura Sakti group.  This year, the festival experienced lower than usual attendance (perhaps cut down by the festival entrance fee)! Still, the low numbers did not deter the sankirtan warriors as they used the opportunity to hit the streets of Orillia for kirtan and book distribution. A total of about 150 books were distributed. This was also the first out of town sankirtan festival where we explored prasadam distribution (Govinda's booth). We setup a booth next to our book tent, and served prasad in various combo meals. Although the sales were not spectacular given the number of festival goers - we made a great foot-in for combining prasadam "sales" with outdoor sankirtan festivals! We hope to bring more of those to action next summer.

Special Kirtan Performance by Gaura Sakti

Sankirtan Nectar from Toronto

One of the most enthusiastic sankirtan devotees in Toronto,  Bhakta Mayur, goes almost every day on sankirtan - whether there is a big festival with a team of 20 devotees, or by himself, his determination to share Srila Prabhupada's books is unshakeable.

Here is an excerpt from a compilation of some amazing sankirtan nectar, which was recently shared on the international book distribution portal.

We also met one boy who was I think about twenty years of age, and Jessica started a conversation near Rosedale garden. The guy said “I tried yoga but it is really hard to get it, and kinda’ boring”, and Jessica handed him a book and said “It’s OK you can just read the rear cover of this book”. Srila Prabhupada writes about the perfection of yoga, how we are not this body and that we are pure servants of Lord Krishna, and how what we really must do is realize this by chanting Hare Krishna. So then she said “let’s chant”, and the young boy and his girlfriend joined us in chanting the Mahamantra. Jessica showed him her beads and she explained what is Krishna consciousness, what the effect of the Mahamantra is in in our daily lives. Really amazing.

A Little Goes a Long Way at Toronto Carribean Festival

As many of you, recently we participated in Carribean FEstival here in Toronto! Here is an article by ISKCON News on the event!

Toronto Caribana

Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Festival

Submitted by:- Mahabhagavat Das

Our second outing to the Multicultural Festival (June 23-24), located in the beautiful Victoria Park, Kitchener-Waterloo was another tremendous team effort, with more than 40 joyful Sankirtan enthusiasts working together. The organizers gave us a much better location than last year and we had enough space to conduct over 14 hours of nonstop Harinam from our "Hare Krishna Hill", one-on-one guided Mantra meditation sessions, beautiful conversations, and much more. Over 1,500 persons received Krishna Prasadam, more than 20 individuals chanted their first round of Hare Krishna Mahamantra, at least 250 people chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra for the very first time, and more than 330 books were taken home in return for generous donations. Above all, we made many new friends, renewed connections with some of our old friends, and it was a great opportunity by the grace of Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada and the spiritual masters to extend ourselves in the service of Krishna.