Vaishnavas CARE Toronto

V-C.A.R.E Month end group prayer.

Dear Devotees,
Please join us online on Zoom for the Month end (last Monday) group prayer for HH GopalaKrishna Goswami Maharaj, Mother Sangita and for our local congregation devotees who have been unwell: Mother Raagini, Mother Dwarka, Nikunj Madhavi Mataji.

Agenda:

1) 2 rounds of chanting
2) Sri Nrisimha Kavach recital for protection

*Time: 7:00 PM - 7:45 PM*
*Date: January 30, 2023 (Monday)*

ISKCON Toronto is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: V-Care monthly group prayer.

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By Melanie (Toronto):

Hare Krishna dearest devotees 🙏🏻
I have received a prayer request for a very kind and gentle devotee Vallabha Chaitanya Prabhu, a Srila Prabhupada disciple residing in Saranagati, BC.
Some of us earlier V - Care members would remember him as one of the first SP disciples we were fortunate enough to care for and serve in Toronto in 2016.
Since then he has moved to BC to live with his brother Vicaru Prabhu in Saranagati.
The last few years were good and his stomach cancer seemed to be in remission, and his health had improved however, within recent months his health has started to decline to the point where he is not able to eat much. Currently he is only able to take in a little fluid and has naturally lost weight and is weak.
Please keep this gentle, loving son of SP in your prayers for good health and pure KC until such a time when the Lord will be ready to bring him back home, back to SP, back to Godhead Krishna. Thanks 🙏🏻
You most humble servant,
Melanie

Hare Krishna,

We just received a phone call from Satya devi dasi. She asked for prayers for our beloved Mother Dwaraka, a long time member of our ISKCON Toronto family and a dear disciple of HH Bhaktimarga Swami. She is known to many as a very sweet, humble and dedicated Vaishnavi. Some of Mother Dwaraka's many services include being a pujari at ISKCON Toronto, an excellent cook, expertly managing her household, home worship, and work.

She was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage and emergency surgery was performed to drain the pressure from her brain at the hospital.

She is currently in the ICU being monitored. Mother Dwaraka was able to respond a little bit to the doctors upon assessment, post surgery. Doctors are saying that she will recover but that it might take her some time, or it might be quick- it is different for everyone. Mother Dwaraka will have to be in the rehab to regain her strength and skills for daily activities afterwards.

Right now, visitors are not allowed as she is still in critical condition. Mother Satya requested to arrange for prayers for now. She will keep us posted as to when visitations will be allowed.

Your Servant,
Taravali Dasi 🙏🏻

On the weekend of March 6-7th 2022, HG Sangita Mataji held a Vaishnavas CARE seminar called, "The Art of Caring for Vaishnavas" for the ISKCON Toronto Community. There were approximately 30 attendees who attended the seminar, including out-of-town devotees from the USA and England. The seminar received a tremendously positive response and one of the local attendees, Bhaktin Vatsala, shared her reflections and experiences from the seminar:

An Appreciation for Vaishnavas CARE
By Bhaktin Vatsala

Being abandoned during old age or at the very last stage of life is not a very surprising feature of our current age of Kali Yuga. As per Srila Prabhupada’s translations and purports in the Srimad Bhagavatam, one of the symptoms of Kali Yuga the absence of a culture of nurturing families and rather the scary presence of simply trying to survive in nuclear families.

I was personally so delighted to see how Srila Prabhupada inspired HG Sangita Mataji, who has been taking care of the departing Vaishnavas in a bona fide, professional, authentic and Vedic way. Her seminar fanned the spark in me to help realize so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to understand in my day-to-day materialistic life. I feel that the service that Sangita Mataji is inspiring us to get involved in will shape our patience, compassion, empathy, tolerance and most importantly it will always remind us that this human form of life must not be wasted in collecting anything which is purely temporary.

As far as I am concerned, all the devotees who are serving departing Vaishnavas are angels in disguise. One of the very common fears amongst the devotees is, “What if I am unable to remember Krsna at the time of leaving this body?” The Vaishnavas CARE team is capable of removing that fear, one devotee at a time, because it is through their actions and deeds that departing Vaishnavas are being reminding about Krsna and His abode.I also deeply appreciate that Sangita Mataji is also training devotees in very nuanced aspects of care like, for example, the body language that volunteers should adopt at the time of counseling, or the art of bringing out emotional thoughts and feelings when someone is in a state of shock or depression.

I am eternally grateful to have come in contact with the Vaishnavas CARE program and consider myself very fortunate to have attended Sangita Mataji’s seminar. It left me inspired to serve Vaishnavas during their times of need. Hare Krsna!

A prayer request. One of Srila Prabhupada's dear disciples suffered a stroke. Urvasi devi dasi was a pioneer of ISKCON in Toronto, serving as pujari and book distributor, and spending endless months selling paraphernalia on the streets to collect the Lakshmi to buy the temple at 243 Avenue Road.

For the past many years, Urvasi has lived in Ojai, California, where she has organized large monthly events with special guests such as Giriraj Swami.
Urvasi was back in Toronto for Ratha Yatra several times; on her most recent visit pre-Covid, she helped out the Govindas booth for the entire festival.

Urvasi prabhu is expected to breathe her last breaths today, so please pray for this intrepid follower of Srila Prabhupada as she enters the final stage of this life's journey!

Hare Krishna dear devotees,

Please join us for the virtual memorial for HG Syamesvari Devi Dasi tomorrow evening. Jahnavi Jivana Devi Dasi has kindly agreed to lead us into kirtan. If you would like to say a few words, please let us know in advance. Thank you very much 🙏

Please also see a recording of the in-person memorial that was held yesterday at the temple. https://youtu.be/PnjK7rKpN1c

More details for tomorrow's virtual memorial:

Hare Krsna Dear Devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

ISKCON Toronto is inviting you for a *virtual memorial session* for Shyameshwari Mataji on *15th June-Wednesday*

Time: *7pm - 8pm*

Let us know if you would like to share few words during the Memorial session for the family

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Meeting ID: 864 4142 7058
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your servants,
Vcare Strategic Team

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Shyameshvari DD program

I Am Learning How To Live

by Jamey Wysocki

I am learning how to live
In a new way
Since that day
You were taken away.

I am learning how to live
With the things left unsaid
Knowing I got to say them
With every tear that I shed.

I am learning how to live
By embracing the pain
Knowing that you live on
Through the memories that remain.

I am learning how to live
Knowing I will never again see your face
And I have peace knowing
You’re in a better place.

I am learning how to live
Knowing you’re in God’s care
It gives me the strength to move on
And makes the pain much easier to bear.
🌹

(elliesway.org)

Grief Is...& Grief is Not...

Sometimes in our grief it can be challenging to navigate the expectations of others around us. We may feel pressured to “move on” or hide our grief from others in fear of being judged. Maybe, even, someone gives you some well-meaning advice that actually makes you feel worse. We have put together the following chart to help you educate family and friends who may not understand what you are going through and as a way to validate your own grief experience. We hope these will help you see that you are “doing grief” the way that is right for you, and that it is ok to struggle, but we are always here to support you.

Grief is...

Grief is … a journey and can sometimes feel pretty messy.
Grief is … wanting to still say your person’s. name
Grief is … having waves of emotion hit you at the strangest times.
Grief is … needing to give yourself a break now and then.
Grief is … asking for support.
Grief is … sometimes putting your needs first.
Grief is … an individual experience.
Grief is … finding what feels right for your journey.
Grief is … sometimes pretty trying.
Grief is … getting out of your comfort zone to find connections.
Grief is … sometimes dealing with the tough stuff.
Grief is … something that grows and changes as we do.
Grief is … normal.
Grief is … feeling foggy somedays.
Grief is … finding your new normal.
Grief is … allowing yourself to do what is right for you.
Grief is … a judgement free zone.
Grief is … taking time to remember your deceased loved one
Grief is … learning it’s ok not to always feel ok.

Grief is not…

Grief is not … a liner set of stages to go through.
Grief is not … moving on and having to forget them.
Grief is not … just getting over your feelings.
Grief is not …always needing to just push through.
Grief is not … having to always do it by yourself.
Grief is not … ignoring your needs and hoping they will go away.
Grief is not … the same for everyone.
Grief is not … feeling the pressure to do things a certain way.
Grief is not … always hard. Somedays might feel more “normal” than others.
Grief is not … isolating yourself because no one understands.
Grief is not … ignoring it and hoping it will just go away.
Grief is not … something that just ends.
Grief is not … something you should have to hide from others.
Grief is not … judging yourself for feeling that way.
Grief is not … struggling to have to keep everything exactly as it was.
Grief is not … sticking to other people’s expectations.
Grief is not … on anyone else’s timeline.
Grief is not … putting their memory on a shelf and walking away from them.
Grief is not … always putting on a mask of happiness.
🌹
Always your servant,
Sangita devi dasi (ACBSP)
Vaishnavas CARE

(healgrief.org)

Hare Krishna dear friends of Vaishnavas Care Toronto!

Welcome to our new page for Vaishnavas Care Toronto! The Vaishnavas Care Toronto group will be closed soon. Please follow us here for the latest news about Vaishanavas, monthly prayer call reminders and more!

Your Servants,
Vaishnavas Care Toronto Management Team