Sarasota Community Kirtan at Unity of SRQ Donates $800 to Charities

I am happy to let you know that in mid-December, thanks to the generosity of our attendees, we made the following charitable donations: $450 to The Friends of the Haven; $250 to The Lovelanders and $100 to our sponsors, The Call & Response Foundation! Thank you all for your compassion and generosity and for remembering that Unity kirtan, in addition to our focus on traditional chanting of the Holy Names, is also about seva – selfless service offered as prayer to the Divine. Since our inception in 2016, every dollar we have raised has been donated to charitable causes.  Thanks to all for making this possible and for believing in our mission!

We hope to see you on Friday nights at Unity of Sarasota, 3023 Proctor Road.  Om shanti, shanti, shanti. 🙏🏼❤️☮️

Sunday Evening Ecstatic Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota!

Please join us on Sunday evening, October 27, for a special Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota on Proctor Road. (Please note that this kirtan will be held in lieu of our normal Friday night kirtan. Please also note that we have relocated to the Unity Enlightenment Center which is the small building closest to Proctor Road, on the left after one enters the main driveway).

We will be celebrating the Indian festival of lights, Diwali, which represents the spiritual triumph of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. FYI, the previously referenced Diwali Festival that was to be held at India Artisans on Fruitville Road has been cancelled.

Unity Ecstatic Kirtan embraces and celebrates traditional chanting of the Holy Names within simple, ancient, sacred mantras that connect us to the Divine love that dwells within us all.

In the spirit of yoga and community all are welcome and encouraged to lead chants arising from any spiritual lineage. This is not musical performance but prayer in the form of song.

Unity Ecstatic Kirtan is a free event and we do accept and appreciate donations that benefit several charities on the Suncoast that serve those with special needs. Sri Ma Jai Ma Jai Jai Ma 🙏🏼❤️🕉

 

Weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota Kicks off Fourth Season!

Please join us on Friday night, October 18 for the return of weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan to Unity of Sarasota on Proctor Road!
As we kick off our fourth year of Unity kirtan, we look forward to sharing those special nights of joyous, traditional devotional chanting of simple, ancient, sacred mantras that connect us to the Divine love that dwells within us all. We also acknowledge with heartfelt gratitude the continuing support of Jennifer Canfield and The Call and Response Foundation and the leadership and staff at Unity of SRQ for their kindness and flexibility.
In the spirit of yoga and community all are welcome and encouraged to lead chants arising from any spiritual lineage. This is not musical performance but prayer in the form of song.
Unity Ecstatic kirtan is a free event and we do accept and appreciate donations that benefit several charities on the Suncoast that serve those with special needs. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. 🙏🏼❤️🕉

Sarasota Weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan Donates $300 to The Loveland Center!

As our third season of weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota draws to a close, I am happy to report that today we made a donation for $300 to The Loveland Center, Inc., a Venice (FL) – based nonprofit serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thanks to all the kind souls who freely share whatever they can within our sweet space at Unity and in doing so make these donations possible. I am blessed for the privilege of chanting the Holy Names with you all. This is yoga – to love all, serve all and remember God. Om shanti, shanti, shanti. 🙏💖🕉️

https://www.facebook.com/pg/LovelandCenter/about/?ref=page_internal

Sarasota Community Kirtan Donates $500 in Support of Special Needs Prom!

In keeping with our tradition of supporting local charities, established with our inception three years ago, yesterday our weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota donated $500 to Night with the Stars Prom, Inc., an annual prom offered at no cost to all special needs residents sixteen years of age and older who reside in Sarasota or Manatee Counties.

This year’s prom will be held on April 12 at Woodland Community Church in Bradenton.  The donation was made possible by the year-to-date contributions offered during our weekly kirtan at Unity. Since day one, every dollar received has gone to charity and that shall continue.

We are beyond blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude for the compassion and generosity of those who chant the Holy Names with us each week at Unity of SRQ.  While Bhakti Yoga is frequently defined as the yoga of devotion, we respectfully suggest that it is also the yoga of love, providing through chanting of the Names, a joyous means to transcend ourselves and to raise the vibration of love, healing and compassion in the world, starting with each other and within our communities.

Blessings to all for your support, enthusiasm and conviction. This is yoga!!!

Ram Ram 🙏💖🕉️

Special Hare Krishna Kirtan and Satsang at Unity of Sarasota – This Saturday Evening!

We are happy to invite you to Unity Of Sarasota on Saturday, March 23 at 6:00 pm for our first Special Hare Krishna Kirtan. The event will be co-hosted by devotees from ISKCON, Tampa and Sarasota Community Kirtan. All are welcome and admission is free.

The evening will start with kirtan, lead by devotees and attendees are welcome to participate in the chanting of responses. Please feel free to bring your drums, shakers and kartals to join in keeping the rhythm. During this time, devotees will also briefly share their thoughts about Bhakti Yoga and the importance of chanting the Names, especially within these often turbulent times.

Following chanting, at 7:45, devotees will offer prasad, sacred and blessed vegetarian food, for all to share. In keeping with ISKCON tradition, prasad is offered freely and at no cost to attendees.

Please keep in mind that like our regular Friday kirtan, this will not be a musical performance but rather an offering of devotion through prayer in song. The evening will be a lovely, joyous and relaxed gathering of singing, sharing and community building. Let’s please acknowledge the kindness and generosity of the Tampa devotees for offering this program and preparing their invariably delicious prasad and show them our gratitude and support by having a great turnout! We hope that this will be the first in a regular series of collaborative events planned and hosted by our communities.

One final note: If you do plan to attend, please RSVP on the event page so that we may get an idea of how much food should be prepared. Thank you.

Haribol

Sarasota Weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity Donates $200 to The Call & Response Foundation

We are happy to report that thanks to the generosity of our sangha at the Weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota, we recently made a donation of $200 to The Call & Response Foundation. This is in addition to a $400 donation to C&R that we made last June and to our regular donations to The Miracle League of Manasota and The Friends of The Haven! Thanks to all for your compassion and the generosity that make this possible.

We are grateful and blessed for the sponsorship of the Call & Response Foundation and we are fully committed towards supporting their mission of illuminating the world through the practice of kirtan. Through their selfless and tireless efforts, they remain an inspiration and reminder that the sacred practice of chanting the Holy Names is a gift through which we may heal each other and the world, one mantra at a time. We love you Jen, Susan and Ed. Thank you! ❤️🙏🏼🎶🕉❤️

No Kirtan on Friday, January 4

Please note that there will be no Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota on Friday, January 4 so that we may all chant with Wah at Garden of the Heart. Please come out and support this annual event. The 2019 Weekly Ecstatic Community Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota shall kick off our third season on Friday night, January 11 at 7:00 pm and each Friday afterwards. Thanks to all for sharing your love of chanting the Holy Names. We are blessed. Happy New Year and Hari Bol. 🙏💖🕉️

Sarasota Community Kirtan Donates $500 to Local Charities Serving those with Special Needs

I am happy to announce that thanks to the generosity of those who chant with us on Friday nights at Unity of Sarasota, we have just donated $250 each to several local charities that serve our special needs – handicapped friends and neighbors. They are The Miracle League of Manasota and The Haven. I have posted links (below) should anyone be interested in finding out more about these wonderful organizations. I am blessed and grateful to be able to share this blessed practice of Bhakti with you all – a practice of devotion and service to others offered as a Divine prayer. Since we started at Unity in January of 2017, we have raised over $3000 with the bulk going to All Faiths Food Bank and now to these special needs charities. I thank all of you who sing the names of God with us, those of you who donate money and those who donate their heartfelt vibrations in song. Finally, I offer in gratitude, a great big thank you to Jen Canfield and her colleagues at The Call and Response Foundation, whose kindness and unwavering financial support have been a sacred gift. Thanks also to the folks at Unity of Sarasota for allowing us to utilize their sweet space for kirtan. I love you all and wish you and yours a peaceful and blessed holiday season. Haribol. 🙏🏼❤️🕉

https://www.miracleleaguemanasota.org/
http://thehavensrq.org/

Friday night Ecstatic Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota is Back!

Ecstatic Kirtan at Unity of Sarasota shall resume this Friday (September 21) at 7pm. Much has happened since we last shared our voices in Divine song. On Friday, we shall chant in gratitude for our blessings but also for the healing of our waters. I have missed you all and look forward to singing the names of God within our sweet space on Proctor Road. Haribol!!!! JB 🙏🏼❤️🕉