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Madhava Smullen is synonymous with ISKCON News. For the last 14 years, he has been the main storyteller for the global ISKCON Community for the news site. 

As a Staff Writer and administrator he started and managed some of ISKCON New’s social media pages (back when social media had just become a thing!) and has written more than 2,000 articles over the years, chances are, he may have written about a project or person you know! 

"I especially loved writing in-depth, uplifting stories about inspir

By Madhava Smullen 

A brand new Crossways Hare Krishna Restaurant has opened in the heart of the busiest part of Melbourne, Australia, serving inexpensive all-you-can-eat vegetarian and vegan meals to the Melbourne community. 

The restaurant opened on Monday, December 6th, with Melbourne temple president Aniruddha Das cutting the ribbon in a low-key celebration. 

Crossways has a major fan base, and people lined up outside as the restaurant was about to open. 

The familiar face of Lord Jagannatha

Planets have been making alignments with the moon as of late. During my evening walk this night I could see when the clouds were not covering. I spotted the moon and also a companion, another heavenly body situated on either side of the moon. I’m quite sure one was Saturn, however, I’m not sure about the other. This unique line up of luminaries reminded me of descriptions of planetary adjustments; when planets queued up at the time of Krishna’s birth. That day is called Janmasthami.

During my st

Why did I do this? "This question often worries us whenever we look back at an outrageous action we took on the spur of the moment. The search for an honest answer leads us to an unpleasant conclusion: my greatest enemy is me. The question then arises spontaneously: who will save me from myself? The wisdom of the Gita answers: "I" This is the verdict of an enigmatic verse from the Bhagavadgita (06.05) whose literal translation of says: not degrade the ego with the ego. The ego is the friend of t

Yamuna devi : A LIFE OF UNALLOYED DEVOTION

Preparing an offering of love

DINATARINI DEVI

Aditya Varna d d

“Someone once asked me what characteristic of Yamuna I found the most extraordinary or unique. I unhesitatingly replied that she was the most non-envious person I had ever met in this life”1

Dear Yamuna devi,

Please accept my humble obeisances All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Once in India Srila Prabhupada said to you “Yamuna you will become as famous as the river Yamuna.” In the mood of a p

By Ravi Ramgoolam

"I want that you all my students shall very vigorously try for this book distribution."  Srila Prabhupada, Letter to Kirtiraja -- Vrindaban 27 November 1971

Mahotsaha Das has proven that the words of our founder Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are still living strong in the hearts of many.  Our beloved Srila Prabhupada’s heartfelt call to all his students of Bhakti Yoga to push vigorously for book distribution is amazingly still being carried down

By Madhava Smullen

With this holiday season upon us, devotees from Alachua as well as from Gainesville’s Krishna House, Jacksonville, and St. Augustine participated in the St. Augustine Christmas Parade in Florida on December 4th.

Hare Krishna devotees were the first part of the parade in 2012, for which they received the first prize trophy for best float. After receiving a trophy in 2013 as well, they have participated annually since only missing three years including 2019 and 2020.

The parade

It was a full day of rain and I’m not used to this, but such is nature.

Special about today, though, is that it’s the birthday of Vrnda. Who is Vrnda? Well, she’s a very sweet and intelligent woman who is doing a lot for this movement. She has an incredible devotional and legal head and is most helpful in so many capacities, most of all acting as the zonal secretary for our North Zone here in North America. She assists me in my GBC responsibilities. GBC stands for Governing Body Commissioner.

It

• FRIENDS WITH OUR MIND

Jai Sriman SriNarayanaya Namaha. 

Yoga is often misunderstood as merely breath control, asanas or exercises; for some it is about practising some rules and regulations based on morality and for others it is cultivation of scriputral knowledge. But the real purpose of Yoga is to fix our mind on the Supreme.

According to Bhagavad-gita, yoga can not be practiced unless we practice mind control. An uncontrolled mind restricts the soul from reaching its natural blissful state, which a practioner is trying to acheive through yoga.

Ou

By Kunkuma Devi Dasi

It’s with a heavy heart and blessings from his family (who aren’t on facebook) that I want to tell everyone that last night December 16 at 11:45pm Hawaii time His Grace Revatinandan ( former Swami) passed away in Honolulu after a short illness which was diagnosed as lymph cancer. He was my partner for 5 years about 6 years after having been married to his first wife Pushpanjali Dasi and having a child Nila Chala Chandra das. He was first cousin to Vishnujana Swami who broug

What did it mean when Srila Prabhupada said that ISKCON cannot be destroyed from the outside, but only from the inside?

Yes, ISKCON can be destroyed from the inside. Srila Prabhupada is referring to a forest fire here. There are two forest fires that Krsna swallows. One of these forest fires is the disagreement that comes about in the spiritual movement in the sanga of the devotees. And so, this is highlighted as something that can destroy our movement from within. As long as there is a core g

It was the first sunny bright day in weeks, so a number of us took full advantage. We took to De Boville Slough, which has a dyke running along to one side and then edges along Pitt River. Bears do frequent the area.

We strolled for two-and-a-half kilometres and then returned, making it a five kilometre stretch of glory-walk. We talk as we walk, and sometimes get silly. It is a component of my daily reality to get down to dealing with grave matters, but I have found it necessary for equilibrium

By helping us see that we are meant to become like our Lord because we are his parts. Just as he has forgiven us, we should forgive others.

Bhakti wisdom is also to understand that we are eternally the part of Krishna, mamaivansho jeeva loke. Just as we are parts of God, we are meant to be godly. If we look at our own lives we have committed so many misdeeds in this life and previous lives. There are so many reactions that we could have got for those misdeeds. One reaction to past misdeeds is t

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 11:

“In the Hari-bhakti-vilasa there is the following statement about self-surrender: ‘My dear Lord, a person who has surrendered himself unto You, who is in firm conviction that he is Yours, and who actually acts in that way by his body, mind and words, can actually relish transcendental bliss.’”

“In the Nrsimha Purana, Lord Nrsimha-deva says, ‘Anyone who prays unto Me and takes shelter from Me becomes My ward, and I protect him always from all sorts of cal

From Back to Godhead

In believing our senses, how far do we go?

“Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!”

The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if he found himself standing before God on judgment day and God asked him, “Why didn’t you believe in Me?” Russell replied, “I would say ‘Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!’”

When philosophers or scientists complain about lack of evidence, they mean empirical evidence or evidence that can be interpr

A fresh snowfall descended recently and has blanketed the surface throughout most of the province. Nature, it seems, speaks to us all the time. With the whiteness of snow, the message is “be introspective,” “be pure,” “be still,” “be calm.” When spring comes around the message is “move about,” “clear the space,” “dance and sing,” “stretch,” “grow.” When summer rolls in I hear it saying “take in the sun,” “relax,” “swim,” “play.” And when autumn ushers in it says “breathe,” “eat,” “sleep,” “smell

Prabhupāda: Abhijñe, one who knows. We should approach person who knows things very well, abhijñaḥ. Kṛṣṇa is abhijñaḥ, svarat. So similarly, Kṛṣṇa’s representative is also abhijñaḥ, naturally. If one associates with Kṛṣṇa, if one talks with Kṛṣṇa, he must be very abhijñaḥ, very learned, because he takes lessons from Kṛṣṇa. Therefore Kṛṣṇa’s knowledge is perfect; therefore, because he takes knowledge from Kṛṣṇa, his knowledge is also perfect. Abhijñaḥ.

And Kṛṣṇa talks. It is not that it is fictit

By Jyotisvara dasa 

What is this conference all about?

Consciousness has been the most elusive object in all scientific explorations of reality. With gradual advances in modern science, it is increasingly receiving the singular focus simply because all our perception of reality is rooted in it. 

Despite incredible success in Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience as well as basic sciences like physics and biology, we have practically no clue as to how information translates int