Simple Spirituality

Dec 29 2019 – Jan 5 2020

Do you have any complexity in your life? Problems of any kind? Anxiety? Stress?

Would you like to explore simple spiritual solutions for the problems of your life? Are you in the Greater Toronto Area?

Announcing a series of public and private events designed to free you from all burdens, all baggage, and all problems.

Where possible, all events will be broadcast live on StartMeeting and Facebook Live.

All events are highly interactive, so come with your questions, and get personalized answers! These are the locations of the public events…

• ISKCON Toronto – 243 Avenue Road, Toronto, M5R 2J6

• ISKCON Scarborough – 3700 McNicoll Ave Uhit 3, Scarborough M1V 4C7

• ISKCON Milton – 317 Main St E, Milton, ON L9T 1P5

• ISKCON Brampton – 173 Advance Blvd Unit 41,42, Brampton, ON L6T 4J4

Daily Events:

• Dec 29 – Jan 6th – Morning Meditation (4:30 AM – 7:00 AM) – North York Private Residence. Come learn to meditate with a group of dedicated souls.
• Dec 29 – Jan 5th 4:00 PM – Daily Bhagavad Gita Readings with Gurumataji – North York Private Residence

Public Events:

• Sun 29 Dec 2019 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class
• Sun 29 Dec 2019 11:00 AM – ISKCON Scarborough – Sunday Feast Class
• Sun 29 Dec 2019 4:30 PM – ISKCON Milton – Sunday Feast Class
• Tue 31 Dec 2019 6:00 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Tuesday Sanga
• Wed 1 Jan 2020 – 4:30 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Srila Prabhupada Festival
• Fri 3 Jan 2020 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class
• Sat 4 Jan 2020 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class
• Sun 5 Jan 2020 12 Noon – ISKCON Brampton – Sunday Feast Class
• Sun 5 Jan 2020 5 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Sunday Feast Class

Private Events:

All private events are by invite only.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Requests?

Please let us know below…

About Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Public Event Synopsis

Sun 29 Dec 2019 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class

ŚB 1.16.23

यद्वाम्ब ते भूरिभरावतार
कृतावतारस्य हरेर्धरित्रि ।
अन्तर्हितस्य स्मरती विसृष्टा
कर्माणि निर्वाणविलम्बितानि ॥ २३ ॥ yadvāmba te bhūri-bharāvatāra-
kṛtāvatārasya harer dharitri
antarhitasya smaratī visṛṣṭā
karmāṇi nirvāṇa-vilambitāni

Translation

O mother earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, incarnated Himself as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa just to unload your heavy burden. All His activities here are transcendental, and they cement the path of liberation. You are now bereft of His presence. You are probably now thinking of those activities and feeling sorry in their absence.

Purport

The activities of the Lord include liberation, but they are more relishable than the pleasure derived from nirvāṇa, or liberation. According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the word used here is nirvāṇa-vilambitāni, “that which minimizes the value of liberation.” To attain nirvāṇa, liberation, one has to undergo a severe type of tapasya, austerity, but the Lord is so merciful that He incarnates to diminish the burden of the earth. Simply by remembering such activities, one can defy the pleasure derived from nirvāṇa and reach the transcendental abode of the Lord to associate with Him, eternally engaged in His blissful loving service.

Sun 29 Dec 2019 11:00 AM – ISKCON Scarborough – Sunday Feast Class

ŚB 1.12.13

तस्य प्रीतमना राजा विप्रैर्धौम्यकृपादिभि: ।
जातकं कारयामास वाचयित्वा च मङ्गलम् ॥ १३ ॥ tasya prīta-manā rājā
viprair dhaumya-kṛpādibhiḥ
jātakaṁ kārayām āsa
vācayitvā ca maṅgalam

Translation

King Yudhiṣṭhira, who was very satisfied with the birth of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, had the purificatory process of birth performed. Learned brāhmaṇas, headed by Dhaumya and Kṛpa, recited auspicious hymns.

Purport

There is a need for a good and intelligent class of brāhmaṇas who are expert in performing the purificatory processes prescribed in the system of varṇāśrama-dharma. Unless such purificatory processes are performed, there is no possibility of good population, and in the Age of Kali the population all over the world is of śūdra quality or lower for want of this purificatory process. It is not possible, however, to revive the Vedic process of purification in this age, for want of proper facilities and good brāhmaṇas, but there is the Pāñcarātrika system also recommended for this age. The Pāñcarātrika system acts on the śūdra class of men, supposedly the population of the Kali-yuga, and it is the prescribed purificatory process suitable to the age and time. Such a purificatory process is allowed only for spiritual upliftment and not for any other purpose. Spiritual upliftment is never conditioned by higher or lower parentage.

After the garbhādhāna purificatory process, there are certain other saṁskāras like sīmāntonnayana, sadha-bhakṣaṇam, etc., during the period of pregnancy, and when the child is born the first purificatory process is jāta-karma. This was performed duly by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira with the help of good and learned brāhmaṇas like Dhaumya, the royal priest, and Kṛpācārya, who was not only a priest but also a great general. Both these learned and perfect priests, assisted by other good brāhmaṇas, were employed by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to perform the ceremony. Therefore all the saṁskāras, purificatory processes, are not mere formalities or social functions only, but they are all for practical purposes and can be successfully performed by expert brāhmaṇas like Dhaumya and Kṛpa. Such brāhmaṇas are not only rare, but also not available in this age, and therefore, for the purpose of spiritual upliftment in this fallen age, the Gosvāmīs prefer the purificatory processes under Pāñcarātrika formulas to the Vedic rites.

Kṛpācārya is the son of the great Ṛṣi Sardban and was born in the family of Gautama. The birth is said to be accidental. By chance, the great Ṛṣi Sardban met Janapadī, a famous society girl of heaven, and the Ṛṣi Sardban discharged semen in two parts. By one part immediately a male child and by the other part a female child were born as twins. The male child was later on known as Kṛpa, and the female child was known as Kṛpī. Mahārāja Śantanu, while engaged in chase in the jungle, picked up the children and brought them up to the brahminical status by the proper purificatory process. Kṛpācārya later became a great general like Droṇācārya, and his sister was married to Droṇācārya. Kṛpācārya later on took part in the Battle of Kurukṣetra and joined the party of Duryodhana. Kṛpācārya helped kill Abhimanyu, the father of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, but he was still held in esteem by the family of the Pāṇḍavas due to his being as great a brāhmaṇa as Droṇācārya. When the Pāṇḍavas were sent to the forest after being defeated in the gambling game with Duryodhana, Dhṛtarāṣṭra entrusted the Pāṇḍavas to Kṛpācārya for guidance. After the end of the battle, Kṛpācārya again became a member of the royal assembly, and he was called during the birth of Mahārāja Parīkṣit for recitation of auspicious Vedic hymns to make the ceremony successful. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, while quitting the palace for his great departure to the Himālayas, entrusted Kṛpācārya with Mahārāja Parīkṣit as his disciple, and he left home satisfied because of Kṛpācārya’s taking charge of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. The great administrators, kings and emperors were always under the guidance of learned brāhmaṇas like Kṛpācārya and thus were able to act properly in the discharge of political responsibilities.

Sun 29 Dec 2019 4:30 PM – ISKCON Milton – Sunday Feast Class

ŚB 3.19.36

तं
सुखाराध्यमृजुभिरनन्यशरणैर्नृभि: ।
कृतज्ञ: को न सेवेत
दुराराध्यमसाधुभि: ॥ ३६ ॥ taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir
ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta
durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ

Translation

What grateful soul is there who would not render his loving service to such a great master as the Personality of Godhead? The Lord can be easily pleased by spotless devotees who resort exclusively to Him for protection, though the unrighteous man finds it difficult to propitiate Him.

Purport

Every living entity, especially persons in the human race, must feel grateful for the benedictions offered by the grace of the Supreme Lord. Therefore anyone with a simple heart of gratefulness must be Kṛṣṇa conscious and offer devotional service to the Lord. Those who are actually thieves and rogues do not recognize or acknowledge the benedictions offered to them by the Supreme Lord, and they cannot render Him devotional service. Ungrateful persons are those who do not understand how much benefit they are deriving by the arrangement of the Lord. They enjoy the sunshine and moonshine, and they get water free of charge, yet they do not feel grateful, but simply go on enjoying these gifts of the Lord. Therefore, they must be called thieves and rogues.

Tue 31 Dec 2019 6:00 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Tuesday Sanga

Bg. 3.13

यज्ञशिष्टाशिनः सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै ।
भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् ॥ १३ ॥ yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt

Translation

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.

Purport

The devotees of the Supreme Lord, or the persons who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, are called santas, and they are always in love with the Lord as it is described in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.38): premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. The santas, being always in a compact of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda (the giver of all pleasures), or Mukunda (the giver of liberation), or Kṛṣṇa (the all-attractive person), cannot accept anything without first offering it to the Supreme Person. Therefore, such devotees always perform yajñas in different modes of devotional service, such as śravaṇam, kīrtanam, smaraṇam, arcanam, etc., and these performances of yajñas keep them always aloof from all kinds of contamination of sinful association in the material world. Others, who prepare food for self or sense gratification, are not only thieves but also the eaters of all kinds of sins. How can a person be happy if he is both a thief and sinful? It is not possible. Therefore, in order for people to become happy in all respects, they must be taught to perform the easy process of saṅkīrtana-yajña, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise, there can be no peace or happiness in the world.

Wed 1 Jan 2020 – 4:30 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Srila Prabhupada Festival

Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the greatest of modern saints. He brought the simplicity of genuine spirituality to the western world. He didn’t invent anything, but simply passed on the original spiritual message without addition or subtraction.

On Jan 1, there is a celebration in his honour. All spiritualists are invited to attend.

Fri 3 Jan 2020 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class

ŚB 4.4.21

मा व: पदव्य: पितरस्मदास्थिता
या यज्ञशालासु न धूमवर्त्मभि: ।
तदन्नतृप्तैरसुभृद्‌भिरीडिता
अव्यक्तलिङ्गा अवधूतसेविता: ॥ २१ ॥ mā vaḥ padavyaḥ pitar asmad-āsthitā
yā yajña-śālāsu na dhūma-vartmabhiḥ
tad-anna-tṛptair asu-bhṛdbhir īḍitā
avyakta-liṅgā avadhūta-sevitāḥ

Translation

My dear father, the opulence we possess is impossible for either you or your flatterers to imagine, for persons who engage in fruitive activities by performing great sacrifices are concerned with satisfying their bodily necessities by eating foodstuff offered as a sacrifice. We can exhibit our opulences simply by desiring to do so. This can be achieved only by great personalities who are renounced, self-realized souls.

Purport

Satī’s father was under the impression that he was exalted in both prestige and opulence and that he had offered his daughter to a person who was not only poor but devoid of all culture. Her father might have been thinking that although she was a chaste woman, greatly adherent to her husband, her husband was in a deplorable condition. To counteract such thoughts, Satī said that the opulence possessed by her husband could not be understood by materialistic persons like Dakṣa and his followers, who were flatterers and were engaged in fruitive activities. Her husband’s position was different. He possessed all opulences, but he did not like to exhibit them. Therefore such opulences are called avyakta, or unmanifested. But if required, simply by willing, Lord Śiva can show his wonderful opulences, and such an event is predicted here, for it would soon occur. The opulence Lord Śiva possesses is enjoyable in renunciation and love of God, not in material exhibition of sense gratificatory methods. Such opulences are possessed by personalities like the Kumāras, Nārada and Lord Śiva, not by others.

In this verse the performers of the Vedic rituals are condemned. They have been described here as dhūma-vartmabhiḥ, those who maintain themselves on the remnants of sacrificial foodstuff. There are two kinds of foodstuff offered in sacrifice. One kind is food offered in fruitive ritualistic sacrifices, and the other, the best, is food offered to Viṣṇu. Although in all cases Viṣṇu is the chief Deity on the sacrificial altar, the performers of fruitive rituals aim to satisfy various demigods to achieve in return some material prosperity. Real sacrifice, however, is to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu, and the remnants of such sacrifices are beneficial for advancement in devotional service. The process of elevation by performing sacrifices other than those aimed at Viṣṇu is very slow, and therefore it has been condemned in this verse. Viśvanātha Cakravartī has described the ritualistic performers to be like crows because crows delight in eating the remnants of food which has been thrown into the dustbin. All the brāhmaṇas who were present for the sacrifice were also condemned by Satī.

Whether or not King Dakṣa and his flatterers could understand the position of Lord Śiva, Satī wanted to impress upon her father that he should not think her husband to be without opulence. Satī, being the devoted wife of Lord Śiva, offers all kinds of material opulences to the worshipers of Lord Śiva. This fact is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in the Tenth Canto. Lord Śiva’s worshipers sometimes appear more opulent than the worshipers of Lord Viṣṇu because Durgā, or Satī, being the superintendent in charge of material affairs, can offer all material opulences to the worshipers of Lord Śiva in order to glorify her husband, whereas the worshipers of Viṣṇu are meant for spiritual elevation, and therefore their material opulence is sometimes found to decrease. These points are very nicely discussed in the Tenth Canto.

Sat 4 Jan 2020 7:45 AM – ISKCON Toronto – Srimad Bhagavatam Class

ŚB 5.12.13

यत्रोत्तमश्लोकगुणानुवाद:
प्रस्तूयते ग्राम्यकथाविघात: ।
निषेव्यमाणोऽनुदिनं मुमुक्षो-
र्मतिं सतीं यच्छति वासुदेवे ॥ १३ ॥ yatrottamaśloka-guṇānuvādaḥ
prastūyate grāmya-kathā-vighātaḥ
niṣevyamāṇo ’nudinaṁ mumukṣor
matiṁ satīṁ yacchati vāsudeve

Translation

Who are the pure devotees mentioned here? In an assembly of pure devotees, there is no question of discussing material subjects like politics and sociology. In an assembly of pure devotees, there is discussion only of the qualities, forms and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is praised and worshiped with full attention. In the association of pure devotees, by constantly hearing such topics respectfully, even a person who wants to merge into the existence of the Absolute Truth abandons this idea and gradually becomes attached to the service of Vāsudeva.

Purport

The symptoms of pure devotees are described in this verse. The pure devotee is never interested in material topics. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has strictly prohibited His devotees to talk about worldly matters. Grāmya-vārtā nā kahibe: one should not indulge in talking unnecessarily about news of the material world. One should not waste time in this way. This is a very important feature in the life of a devotee. A devotee has no other ambition than to serve Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement was started to engage people twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord and in His glorification. The students in this institution engage in the cultivation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness from five in the morning to ten at night. They actually have no opportunity to waste their time unnecessarily by discussing politics, sociology and current events. These will go their own way. A devotee is concerned only with serving Kṛṣṇa positively and seriously.

Sun 5 Jan 2020 12 Noon – ISKCON Brampton – Sunday Feast Class

ŚB 8.20.19

तदासुरेन्द्रं दिवि देवतागणा
गन्धर्वविद्याधरसिद्धचारणा: ।
तत्कर्म सर्वेऽपि गृणन्त आर्जवं
प्रसूनवर्षैर्ववृषुर्मुदान्विता: ॥ १९ ॥ tadāsurendraṁ divi devatā-gaṇā
gandharva-vidyādhara-siddha-cāraṇāḥ
tat karma sarve ’pi gṛṇanta ārjavaṁ
prasūna-varṣair vavṛṣur mudānvitāḥ

Translation

At that time, the residents of the higher planetary system, namely the demigods, the Gandharvas, the Vidyādharas, the Siddhas and the Cāraṇas, all being very pleased by Bali Mahārāja’s simple, nonduplicitous act, praised his qualities and showered upon him millions of flowers.

Purport

Ārjavam — simplicity or freedom from duplicity — is a qualification of a brāhmaṇa and a Vaiṣṇava. A Vaiṣṇava automatically acquires all the qualities of a brāhmaṇa.yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ

(Bhāg. 5.18.12)

A Vaiṣṇava should possess the brahminical qualities such as satya, śama, dama, titikṣā and ārjava. There cannot be any duplicity in the character of a Vaiṣṇava. When Bali Mahārāja acted with unflinching faith and devotion unto the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu, this was very much appreciated by all the residents of the higher planetary system.

Sun 5 Jan 2020 5 PM – ISKCON Toronto – Sunday Feast Class

ŚB 11.29.22

एषा बुद्धिमतां बुद्धिर्मनीषा च मनीषिणाम् ।
यत् सत्यमनृतेनेह मर्त्येनाप्नोति मामृतम् ॥ २२ ॥ eṣā buddhimatāṁ buddhir
manīṣā ca manīṣiṇām
yat satyam anṛteneha
martyenāpnoti māmṛtam

Translation

This process is the supreme intelligence of the intelligent and the cleverness of the most clever, for by following it one can in this very life make use of the temporary and unreal to achieve Me, the eternal reality.

Purport

As described in this chapter, one who desires personal prestige in the Lord’s service cannot be considered intelligent and clever. Similarly, one who is anxious to become a sophisticated transcendental philosopher is not the most intelligent. Nor is one who is expert in accumulating money. The Lord here states that the most intelligent and clever person is the devotee who offers his temporary, illusory material body and possessions to Him with love and without personal motivation. The devotee thus obtains the eternal Absolute Truth. In other words, real intelligence is to actually surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa, without personal desire or duplicity. That is the Lord’s opinion.