Special Programs in Ottawa, Toronto and nearby areas from May 30 – June 8 2025…
His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada since 1971, has contributed significantly to ISKCON for over 50 years, authoring over 10 books and creating the popular Self Realization Course with 29,000 subscribers. Her Grace Vishnupriya Mataji, an ISKCON member since 1978, mentors many and excels in devotional arts.
Two wonderful visiting devotees will be giving a series of lectures in and around Ottawa, Canada. They will also lecture in Toronto, Canada. The programs are from May 30 – June 8, 2025.
Please attend these programs in person or online. Below a short summary of these two exalted personalities.
His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari, (Srila Gurudeva) is a disciple of His Divine Grace Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada since 1971 – he started chanting Hare Krishna in 1969. Having served in Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON for over 50 years, he has rendered many valuable services. He has authored more than 10 books, including his autobiography “Divine Love Memoir“. His ultimate Self Realization Course features a daily thought and a Q&A. It also provides a weekly lesson on the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Online Academy. The course has over 29,000 subscribers worldwide. The course is translated into various languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Russian, Lithuanian, Odia, etc. It is the longest running Internet course in the Bhakti Community Worldwide. Join today at www.joincourse.com.
Her Grace Vishnupriya Mataji (Srimati Gurumata), is a guide and mentor to thousands of souls around the world. She joined ISKCON in 1978. She adopted Krishna Consciousness as a schoolgirl. She dedicated herself fully to Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON at a very young age. She is an expert in many devotional arts. These include deity worship and cooking for Krishna. She reads and explains Srila Prabhupada’s books in a most practical and profound way. She assists Sankarshan Prabhu with his services and also serves as the Temple President of ISKCON Austin.
Recently returning from a transformative trip to India, I found jet lag to be an unexpected ally in my spiritual journey. Embracing early mornings, I engaged in meditation, reading, and serving Krishna. Instead of viewing jet lag negatively, I was able to leverage it to enhance my devotional practices and enrich my daily routine. What a blessing! Jet lag? Bring it on!
I have recently returned to Toronto from a hectic, exhausting, yet ecstatic trip to Bharat Bhumi, also known as India. I was away for a total of 14 days. Out of those, I got to spend 11 in the holy land.
The privilege of meeting, hearing from, and serving the sincere devotees of Krishna is, as always, a life changing experience.
I visited…
Frankfurt
Mantralayam
Hyderabad
Bengaluru
Pune
Mumbai
With a 10.5 hour time zone difference between Toronto and India, that is just enough to get jet lagged. Jet lag gets a bad rap… because the body clock is set to some other time zone. It wakes up at odd hours. It feels sleepy at odd hours and so on. There’s an entire cottage industry to help people cope with and overcome jet lag.
I even tried this app called “Timeshifter” but it was totally impractical for my lifestyle… for example it contained advice to use caffeine, which I avoid like the plague, and melatonin… It required specific times to go to sleep and wake up. There were also specific times to “see” light and to avoid it. This was almost like trying to hack the body and mind. It didn’t sit right with me. Was it really necessary to “overcome” jet lag? I wondered if jet lag can be leveraged for Krishna, for spiritual growth.
When I was in India, the jet lag was a great asset! I managed to wake up early enough to attend Mangala Arati. I completed my Sadhana. I got by with a short nap for the rest of the day. Early mornings, late nights, and the rest of the time spent in serving Krishna and His devotees, perfect!
When I got back to Toronto, for example this morning, I was up at 2AM. I wondered if I should try to go back to sleep… then I remembered that my Guru and Gurumata usually rise at this hour. They complete their japa, meditation on the Holy Names of Krishna on their beads, well before others rise… and then they can spend their whole day serving others on their spiritual journey.
So I decided to follow in their footsteps. After completing my meditation, I still had time to read, not one but parts of 2 books! Anyone who has a corporate career and a family understands the challenge. Finding quality time to read is incredibly hard. I still had enough time to complete Mangala Arati. Then I performed deity worship before getting an early start to the day!
In this way I will leverage jet lag to serve Krishna. And when the jet lag ends? I will simply go back to my earlier routine to serve Krishna!
Jet lag? Bring it on!
Of course, in all success, the credit goes to Guru and Krishna, as long as we are ready to be an instrument!
Now, in case you think that this idea to leverage jet lag in Krishna’s service somehow is mine… it is not.
Srila Rupa Goswami enunciated the principle of “avyartha–kālatvam — being free from wasting time”, this was over 500 years ago…
“ ‘When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one’s behavior: forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord resides — that is, a temple or a holy place like Vṛndāvana. These are all called anubhāva, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.’
My spiritual master has indeed planted the seed of pure devotional service in my heart. However, I cannot claim any success in cultivating devotional service. I am just sincerely trying to practice sadhana bhakti.
And I have examples of great Vaishnavas who travel around the world…
So I brought Prabhupada his breakfast, and then when he was finished I came and took everything out and Prabhupada laid down. So I went back, I said, “Prabhupada’s resting.” So Paramahamsa and I, we laid down. Of course, we fell asleep, we were out, and Prabhupada maybe took 15 minutes or something and he was up. So finally I heard a bell ring. So I went into Prabhupada’s room, and it happened a few times where I would literally try to wake up as I was offering obeisances and exercise my eyes so Prabhupada couldn’t tell that I was sleeping. I sat up, and as soon as I sat up he said, “Why are you sleeping? You’re like dead men. Everyone is awake. The karmis are all at work but not the devotees. No, they’re sleeping.” He said, “They’re sleeping very soundly. Why are you sleeping?” And, of course, when Prabhupada asked why were you doing something wrong, I never had a response because whatever you said, he would just take that apart. So I just said, “Prabhupada, I’m sorry.” “What about Paramahamsa? Why is he sleeping?” He said, “Call him in here.” He goes in and immediately Prabhupada says, “You are a sannyasi. Your business is to minimize bodily demands, minimize sleeping, minimize eating. Why are you sleeping?” Paramahamsa said, “Prabhupada, I have jet lag,” and I thought, “Oh, no!” And Prabhupada said, “Jet lag?” He said, “Well, we just flew from here and done this,” and Prabhupada said, “So I am also flying, I am doing the same thing. I am awake.” Then he said, “All right, go on. Go sleep if you want.“
Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times in less than 10 years… and no one ever recalls a time when he was jet lagged.
Gopal Krishna Goswami, a dear disciple of Srila Prabhupada, traveled from continent to continent. He was always on the altar offering Mangala Arati to the local deities at the temple he was staying at. This was regardless of which time zone he came in from and which time zone he traveled to. I have personally witnessed this, arrived at midnight, 1AM, 2AM, but no, at 4:30am he was on the altar.
My own spiritual master, Srila Sankarshan Das Adhikari, has circled the globe more than 50 times. My Gurumataji Srimati Vishnupriya Devi Dasi has accompanied him. They have never let jet lag stand in the way of their service to Krishna. They are both up early. They chant their rounds and offer their service to Sri Sri Radha Damodar. Then, they follow a full schedule of service all day, working 12-16 hours most days.
So why should I not try to follow in their illustrious footsteps?
The great saint Ramanuja once gave his disciples a mango each and ordered them to eat hidden from view… one disciple couldn’t find a place to hide! What about you? Do you think you can hide?
I heard this from my Gurumata, Srimati Vishnupriya Devi Dasi, one of my primary instructing spiritual masters.
Once upon a time, the great saint Ramanuja, who appeared on this planet more than 1000 years ago, called his disciples and gave them each a mango. He instructed them to eat the mango in a secluded place without being seen by anyone, and report back.
The disciples scrambled, some went to caves, some to forests, some locked themselves into a dark room, yet others hid behind buildings and trees. Some went under a blanket.
One of the disciples though, returned to his spiritual master and apologetically offered that he could find no place where he could be unseen.
Ramanuja heartily congratulated this disciple and was very pleased with him.
Indeed, for every single one of our thoughts, words, and deeds, there are witnesses.
Everywhere we go, we are witnessed by the light of the sun or the moon, the light of the stars, the earth, air, space, and other material elements. These material elements are merely manifestations of the controlling deities.
You may find that hard to accept, but just think about this – do you have a cellphone? Wherever you go, the cellphone network “sees” you, tracks you. If you ever connect to any network, anything you do on that network is seen by all the providers of that network, and if they wish to, they can easily reconstruct all your actions online. Every. Single. Action. Every. Single. Byte. It is all recorded in gigantic datacenters the size of mega cities, in servers and disks with blinking lights, whirring fans, and efficient cooling systems. You are not unseen.
What to speak of man-made networks, there is the Original Network of this Material Nature, with all the material elements, the various gross and subtle manifestations and so on… do you think that the Creator and operators of this network cannot see your actions?
Very specifically, the agents of the personality in charge of death and the ultimate taxes, Yamaraja, such as Chitragupta, are tapped into this network and are recording all our actions. Not one single action goes unrecorded.
मुक्तलिङ्गं सदाभासमसति प्रतिपद्यते । सतो बन्धुमसच्चक्षु: सर्वानुस्यूतमद्वयम् ॥ ११ ॥
mukta-liṅgaṁ sad-ābhāsam asati pratipadyate sato bandhum asac-cakṣuḥ sarvānusyūtam advayam
A liberated soul realizes the Absolute Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental and who is manifest as a reflection even in the false ego. He is the support of the material cause and He enters into everything. He is absolute, one without a second, and He is the eyes of the illusory energy.
Even if we were to be able to escape the material elements somehow, we cannot escape the Super Soul, the Paramatma, who is expanded within our hearts and travels with ourselves, us, the spirit soul, Atma. The very same Paramatma is expanded inside every atom and within the space between atoms.
eko ‘py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham- govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
He is an undifferentiated entity as there is no distinction between potency and the possessor thereof. In His work of creation of millions of worlds, His potency remains inseparable. All the universes exist in Him and He is present in His fullness in every one of the atoms that are scattered throughout the universe, at one and the same time. Such is the primeval Lord whom I adore.
Freedom through Genuine Spiritual Progress 