Re: Le Cow Quote Du Jour # 12

Here is the text of an article sent to Chakra Wed morning

SELF RELIANT COW PROTECTION

by

Madhava Gosh

I read with interest Garuda's article on Self Sufficient Cow Protection. I am
happy seeing the topic discussed, even more so by someone making a serious
attempt to reconnect with the Earth. I am moved to respond and will address
aspects of 4 topics in this reply - cow protection, self sufficiency, mules
versus oxen from the perspective of draft animals, and mules versus oxen from
the perspective of cow protection. The hardest part will be to restrain
myself
from voluminous quoting.

COW PROTECTION

One quote and I'll let it go at that:


TRANSLATION
The brahmanas, the cows and the defenseless creatures are My own body. Those
whose faculty of judgment has been impaired by their own sin look upon these as
distinct from Me. They are just like furious serpents, and they are angrily
torn
apart by the bills of the vulturelike messengers of Yamaraja, the
superintendent
of sinful persons.

PURPORT
The defenseless creatures, according to Brahma-samhita, are the cows,
brahmanas,
women, children and old men. Of these five, the brahmanas and cows are
especially mentioned in this verse because the Lord is always anxious about the
benefit of the brahmanas and the cows and is prayed to in this way. The Lord
especially instructs, therefore, that no one should be envious of these five,
especially the cows and brahmanas. In some of the Bhagavatam readings, the word
duhitrh is used instead of duhatih. But in either case, the meaning is the
same.
Duhatih means "cow," and duhitrh can also be used to mean "cow" because the cow
is supposed to be the daughter of the sun-god. Just as children are taken care
of by the parents, women as a class should be taken care of by the father,
husband or grown-up son. Those who are helpless must be taken care of by their
respective guardians, otherwise the guardians will be subjected to the
punishment of Yamaraja, who is appointed by the Lord to supervise the
activities
of sinful living creatures. The assistants, or messengers, of Yamaraja are
likened here to vultures, and those who do not execute their respective duties
in protecting their wards are compared to serpents. Vultures deal very
seriously
with serpents, and similarly the messengers will deal very seriously with
neglectful guardians.

Ref. VedaBase => SB 3.16.10

SELF SUFFICIENCY

I don't like and don't use the term self sufficiency in the context of farming
projects. I prefer the term self reliant, but "self sufficient" is so deeply
ingrained in devoteespeak I decided to see how Srila Prabhupada used it. I
read the 200+ quotes in VedaBase for "self sufficiency" and "self sufficient"
and offer the the following samples. First I read the quotes in Srila
Prabhupada’s books. The following is representative of the great majority of
quotes:

The Supreme Lord Krsna is described herein as atmarama. He is self-sufficient,
and there is no need for Him to seek happiness from anything beyond Himself. He
is self-sufficient because His very transcendental existence is total bliss.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.11.4, SB 1.11.5, SB 1.11.4-5

There are also a few uses as represented by :

Everyone, from the aquatics to the highest form of human being -- from the ant
up to Brahma, the first creature of this universe -- is searching for peace.
That is the main objective. Lord Caitanya said that a person who is in full
Krsna consciousness is the only peaceful man because he has no demands.. That
is
the special qualification of a person who is in Krsna consciousness. He is
akamah. Akamah refers to those who have no desire, who are self-sufficient, who
have nothing to ask and who are fully peaceful. Who are they? They are the
devotees who are situated in Krsna consciousness.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => TYS 9: The Real Peace Formula

That use of self sufficiency here has to do with consciousness, not external
arrangement.

Lastly (and I am consciously skipping the quote about a demon being self
sufficient because I don't understand how it fits in) there are only a
couple
quotes about those wanting to be self sufficient:

By the grace of the Lord, each and every planet is created fully equipped. So
not only is this earth fully equipped with all the riches for the maintenance
of
its inhabitants, but also when the Lord descends on the earth the whole earth
becomes so enriched with all kinds of opulences that even the denizens of
heaven
worship it with all affection. But by the will of the Lord, the whole earth can
at once be changed. He can do and undo a thing by His sweet will. Therefore no
one should consider himself to be self-sufficient or independent of the Lord.

============ REF. SB 1.16.24


Therefore the jugglery of science is gradually leading people to a godless
civilization at the cost of the goal of human life. Having missed the goal of
life, materialists run after self-sufficiency, not knowing that material nature
is already self-sufficient by the grace of God. Thus creating a colossal hoax
in
the name of civilization, they create an imbalance in the natural
self-sufficiency of material nature.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Adi 5.51

So reading the books, one could easily come to the conclusion that use of
"self sufficiency" is not appropriate when talking about socio-economic
arrangements. However, I read on, into the more time and circumstance
oriented
letters and talks. As would be expected, there are again numerous
references to Krsna as being self sufficient, and to what true self
sufficiency is for individuals:

Dhananjaya: [break] ...isn't self-sufficiency...
Prabhupada: Self-suff... There is no self-sufficiency. Self-insufficiency.
Always remember that. Unless you become perfect in Krsna consciousness, there
is
no self-sufficiency. All self-insufficiency. Hare Krsna.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- September 3, 1975, Vrndavana


Then how does the term enter devoteespeak? When Srila Prabhupada was in
America, the alternative culture movement was strong, with an emphasis on
independence from the mainstream military/industrial complex, and this was in
the minds of many devotees joining the movement.. Frequently it is the
devotee
who first mentions self sufficiency and Srila Prabhupada then responds to that
usage:

Siddha-svarupa: Actually there is.... There is two factions in the Chinese
schools now. One is saying to.... They're both materialistically based, but one
is trying to stay on a position of self-sufficiency economically and not take
from other countries or even trade, and the other school is to industrialize.
And they're always fighting with their...
Prabhupada: Oh, there are two schools?
Siddha-svarupa: Yes.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Siddha-svarupa: And the school who is more for self-sufficiency in agriculture,
they also have brought out the.... In the last eight years or so they've
brought
to the surface more spiritual ideas.
Prabhupada: Hm. So there is a section who'll support.
Siddha-svarupa: Yes.
Prabhupada: Who can support our movement.
Siddha-svarupa: Yes.
Prabhupada: So we have to capture them.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk -- March 15, 1976, Mayapura

Still a good idea.. Where once alternative culture movements were fueled by
anti Vietnam War sentiment, today they are spearheaded by environmentalists,
many of whom see the struggle as being one against globalization. Self reliant
localized devotee communities could be centers of spiritual and material
inspiration for this growing movement. Even Al Gore is positioning himself as
the environmental candidate. Using "self reliant" here, I am not disputing
that Srila Prabhupada used "self sufficient" to describe agrarian based
societal organization. He does, as in the following quotes, one of which
also
warns against the danger of ISKCON rural communities becoming merely suburban
in texture::

But I can understand the financial position of New Vrindaban so the best thing
will be to stop any more influx in New Vrindaban until the place is
self-dependent. The whole idea of New Vrindaban is that men who are living
there
should produce their own food, of which milk is the principal thing. Unless
that
position is achieved it will not be advisable to ask anybody to go there.
Better
to ask them to go there if they are willing to work and produce their own food.
Otherwise, nobody should be advised to go there.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Kirtanananda -- Los Angeles 31 July, 1969

Prabhupada: Yes. (break) ...encouraging in our society to take to agriculture
to
support this center. I am purchasing land in Vrndavana and Mayapura to become
self-sufficient. Whatever production you make, you be satisfied. Little
vegetable, little grain and little milk. That is sufficient.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => HIGHLIGHTS: Perform sacrifice and become
self-sufficient...king grants land, taxes are in-kind and based on
production...paper curr

If only it ended there. Read on:

Regarding your points about taxation, corporate status, etc., I have heard from
Jayatirtha you want to make big plan for centralization of management, taxes,
monies, corporate status, bookkeeping, credit, like that. I do not at all
approve of such plan. Do not centralize anything. Each temple must remain
independent and self-sufficient. That was my plan from the very beginning, why
you are thinking otherwise? Once before you wanted to do something centralizing
with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere the whole thing would have
been killed.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Karandhara -- Bombay 22 December, 1972

So here he is clearly talking about temples, not farm communities. It gets
even more complicated:

In this part of the world also, we have got several buses which are going all
over your country and doing nicely. Yesterday I have seen one Sankirtana bus
presented by Rupanuga Maharaja, complete with kitchen, shower, and deity room.
It is completely self-sufficient and can keep 8 to 10 men. Their program is to
remain on the road going from town to town and village to village.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Madhudvisa -- New Vrndavana 7 September, 1972

So does self sufficiency mean self contained as a traveling bus, or
producing foodstuffs living on the land? You couldn't have two more mutually
exclusive lifestyles. One tied to the land, the other completely untied.
You
see the problem; not with the concepts involved, but the usage of the term.
Srila Prabhupada’s points are crystal clear if taken in context in case by
case. It has more to do with the insufficiency of the language; in English
the
same term can be used differently at different times. In any case, it is not
the concept of sustainable Earth based economics that I am uncomfortable
with.
I am with Srila Prabhupada cent per cent on this. It is the term itself that
is so fraught with cultural baggage and spiritual inexactitude. Was Srila
Prabhupada himself attached to the term? Not really, as is seen in the
following quotes where he discusses the concept but uses another label:

Prabhupada: Yes, increase farm projects. It is very nice project.
Self-dependent. Very good. Krsna personally, He lived in village, farm, cows,
calves, land, Govardhana Hill. It is very nice. Land, in America, you have got
so much land. Produce vegetable, grains, milk, eat sumptuously, no economic
question. Prepare very nice product.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Garden Conversation -- June 14, 1976, Detroit

Keep amongst yourself and produce. Produce food grain, produce cotton, mustard
seed. Self dependent, no use... And we don't require motorcar. Bullock cart is
sufficient. There is no need of going anywhere.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => HIGHLIGHTS: Energy problems will be solved as soon as we
are localized...oxen will solve problem of transport...ISKCON should be id

So an alternative, " self dependent" is used by Srila Prabhupada that could
serve equally as well. So why do I prefer the term self reliant? In a
nutshell, because it is used by proactive environmentalists. I was visiting a
community that has earth sheltered housing, windmill generated electricity,
geothermal heating, organic gardens, composting toilets, etc. They expressed
to me they don't like the term self sufficient because it implies cutting
yourself off from others, and they feel they have a responsibility to the
rest of the world. They are also preachers of a sort, and I believe that
Srila Prabhupada would want us to continue interacting with world, not just
cut ourselves off from it. Book distribution for instance. The localization he
refers to is economic localization, not social isolation. After two decades
of
failed farm projects, there is just too much cultural baggage with the "self
sufficient" term and I would prefer a fresh start, using a term that it
already
being used by some in the section of population Srila Prabhupada suggested
attracting.


MULES VERSUS OXEN AS DRAUGHT ANIMALS

This has debate has been going on for a long time. America was settled with
oxen. Horse and mule power became more prominent with the rise of
industrialization. ((((((((((NOTE TO EDITOR at this point I am writing two
ends
to this paragraph a.) to be used if the Farmer's Barn Book excerpts are posted
as a separate article, which is what I would prefer. b.) would be used if
the
excerpts are included in the body of this article))))))))))))))))))) a.) I
have
submitted an article to Chakra of excerpts from the Farmer's Barn Book by
Clater
published in 1843. It covers most points. I got it out of The ISCOWP News
Volume 10 Issue 3. b.) Following is an article of excerpts from the Farmer's
Barn Book by Clater published in 1843. It covers most points. I got it out of
The ISCOWP News Volume 10 Issue 3.

MULES VERSUS OXEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COW PROTECTION

Mules are fine if someone is a vegan whose only interest is draft power.
However, as soon as you start drinking milk in a self reliant community, cows
need to be breed and calves will be born, 50% of them oxen. Actual protection
includes feeding them, whether they are worked or not. Which makes a mule an
extra mouth to feed. What to speak of a mule, also needed is a breeding mare
and a jackass. Mules are sterile. They are the offspring of a donkey sire
and
a horse dam. More mouths to feed. If you buy them from outside, then where
is the self reliance?.

Garuda cites the not distant enough mess that occured in New Vrindaban's cow
program as the tainted fruit of tractor usage. I agree. Tractors represent
the intrusion of industrial society into rural communities, making them
dependent on industrial production for survival. Due to my well known
interest in sports, a devotee suggested I watch a recently released video
called "The Cup". It is in Tibetan with English subtitle. It is the story of
a Tibetan monastery in India and how they cope with change in the modern world
into which they have been thrust by the Chinese. The cup in the title is a
reference to the World Cup, the once every 4 year world wide tournament of
National soccer teams. It is a plot device used to show what happens when
young monks are not totally isolated from the mainstream.. Notable is when
the monks go to get the satellite dish and TV to watch the finals (sorry,
sort
of ruining the suspense here but have to in order to make my point), they use
a
tractor to haul it. This is heavy symbolism by the film makers in that without
tractors replacing renewable energy in the farms, there wouldn't be the excess
energy floating around society to produce television. Also interesting was the
Lama's reference to the rice that the Chinese are bringing into Tibet. This
is
the real genocide - religious persecution is one thing, but displacing
agrarian
workers by cheaper oil produced rice is a death blow to the root of society.

Getting back to New Vrindaban, the question would be how did the project leave
aside oxen and go with tractors? The major step was replacing oxen with
horses
and mules, idling the oxen. The minor step was from mules to tractors. So
while I appreciate Garuda's interest in carrying forward Srila Prabhupada’s
vision of farm communities, I hope he would reconsider his conclusions
concerning use of mules. Even his statement about Amish style Krsna
communities bears rethinking. I have great respect for horse and mule powered
Amish farms, and acknowledge we have an abundance we could learn and emulate
from them, but it is difficult to ignore that part of their profit comes from
the slaughter of nonproductive cows and oxen. Devotee farms will not only be
lacking that income, but will have additional expenses in maintaining those
very animals.

Even with their competitive economic advantage over cow protectors, the Amish
are struggling to maintain their farming heritage. In our area they have saw
mills and do logging operations, sell baked goods and make crafts for
tourists, and are the labor pool for prefabricated modular housing. The fact
is that at present 50% of Amish are no longer involved in farming. They can't
make enough money from agriculture to pay for the their farms. If even the
Amish can't make it these days, how can devotees protecting cows expect to?
And how can devotees living in urban and suburban environments, who
realistically won't be moving to farming communities, support cow protection?
That is a whole other article, but here is a hint:

You say we must have a gosala trust, that is our real purpose.
krsi-goraksya-vanijyam vaisya karma svabhava-jam, [Bg 18.44]. Where there is
agriculture there must be cows. That is our mission: Cow protection and
agriculture and if there is excess, trade. This is a no-profit scheme. For the
agriculture we want to produce our own food and we want to keep cows for our
own
milk. The whole idea is that we are Iskcon, a community to be independent from
outside help.

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Yasomatinandana -- Vrindaban 28 November, 1976

Very nice! Hopefully, there will be questions about how we can progress with
the Cow Protection programs-goshalla trusts