Between October 11^th and 14^th,  ISKCON temple and project leaders from across Canada met in British Columbia at a beautiful mountain conference centre for their annual Canadian Leaders Retreat.

Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Brampton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg sent representatives.

The first day was focused on management and organizational issues and was attended by the temple management group. On the second day members of the local devotee community joined the temple managers. The participants heard very inspirational presentations, enjoyed sumptuous prasadam and relished an evening bhajan gathered around a bon fire under the soaring pines.  They were even surprised by the appearance of a devotee family who played bagpipes for us by the lake.

Some of the presentations over the two days included ideas to increase book distribution, a pictorial review of Vancouver temple renovations, The Canadian National Council accomplishments, exciting Kirtan Vancouver programs, fun at ISKCON Toronto’s Kids Camp, the Canadian Youth Bus Tour 2013, the wealth of resources available through the ISKCON Communications Office and the progress made by the ISKCON Canada Legacy Project.

The main theme of the event was Succession, Innovation and Engaging our Youth. Two second generationTemple Council members from ISKCON Toronto joined Bhaktimarga Swami to lead a panel discussion on how to engage the younger generation and inspire young leaders to come forward to serve in their communities.

Following the theme of the event, second generation ISKCON devotees made several presentations featuring  the ever-expanding and innovative Toronto Ratha Yatra, a vibrant and growing preaching center in Bellingham, the inspiring Saranagati Govardhana Academy,  and other dynamic projects.

The retreat participants also reviewed important matters such as ISKCON Organizational Compliance Requirements, corporate and charitable status issues and financial integrity as well as Harmonizing ISKCON’s Lines of Authority and Srila Prabhupada’s Position Paper.

The meeting ended with two interactive sessions. One on balance in the complex world and becoming fully congruent in Krishna Consciousness throughout  all aspects of life facilitated by the Grihastha Vision Team. The second by Praharana dasi was a creative, interactive session on looking 10 years into the future of ISKCON Canada.