Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

theist

Members
  • Content Count

    13,225
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by theist

  1. From the Sampradaya Sun. How is Ghee Being Adulterated? BY: MANEKA GANDHI Jul 20, BIHAR, INDIA (TIMES) — Ghee from India could contain all kinds of rendered animal fat. Some years ago it was discovered that owners of Vanaspathi oils were putting cow and pig lard into the oil. There was a furor which died down after a few months and no one knows till today what happened to the Jains who owned the enterprise - but I have little doubt that they got off and a few bureaucrats and policemen are richer. Ghee (from Sanskrit ghrta meaning "sprinkled") is clarified butter, sacred to the gods. On June 13, a ghee manufacturing unit was raided by the health officers and police of Agra. Hundreds of tins of ghee were found in the Jharna nullah locality. The so-called ghee was being manufactured from animal fat boiled in huge iron pans. "25 big drums, 150 tins and four furnaces, knives and country pistols were recovered from the site" a police official said. "Animal hides of cows, monkeys, donkeys, horses and dogs hanging by the trees and bones littered showed the scale of manufacturing being carried out clandestinely for years." Now comes the standard Indian part - "Police said at least 50 people must have been working there in the sheds but none could be caught, probably because the information about the raid was leaked to them." Agra Municipal corporation’s animal husbandry department Chief B.S. Verma said that residents of the locality had complained for years about the spurious manufacturing unit, but the department could not find the unit. TV channels aired footage filmed at ghee manufacturing plants. The footage confirmed that across India, animals were being rendered and their fat added to ghee. The ghee plants had dead animals all around, animal fat boiling in big drums and slabs of fat hanging from the ceilings. Members of ISKCON collected samples of commercial ghee in Pune and sent them to be tested at the Anatech Laboratory and research centre in Bangalore. The tests based on the Fancier-Transbraned Infrared spectrum replication showed beyond a doubt that the ghee contained animal fat. This laboratory, which has analyzed hundreds of ghees, said that of all the brands in India, Amul was the best brand for ghee and butter, with even Nestle adulterated with about 5% vegetable oil fats. They said that most ghee, including Amul, was a mixture of cow and buffalo milk Unfortunately most labs in India do not have the equipment to test. They can simply say that the ghee is adulterated. Why is ghee being adulterated? Firstly, because there is no milk. India prides itself on being the world’s largest producer of leather so all the cows are being killed off rapidly to service the hundreds of leather units in Chennai, Kanpur and Kolkata - which kill lakhs of cows and calves. Recent raids have found that only 30% of the "milk" we drink, is milk. The rest is a mixture of soap, urea, earthworm fat, oil and whiteners. So if there is no milk, how does one get the ghee? 450,000 tonnes of ghee are supposedly made every year, 80% of which is eaten and the rest offered to the gods in rituals that include marriage and death. This is an impossible figure - the actual ghee would be less than a quarter. The second reason is that milk products like ghee only have a 5% profit margin so the only way to be profitable is to use animal fat. If you insist on ghee, make your own. Boil milk. Keep taking the cream off. When the cream is cold, take a wooden stick and churn it. The water separates and the rest becomes unsalted butter. Melt the butter over low heat gradually in a heavy-bottomed pot. Do not stir. Cook until it is a clear golden liquid. It may bubble and foam may form on top which you’ll need to skim off and discard. Remove from heat while the liquid is a clear gold. Any darker and it’s overcooked. Take a large sieve and line it with 4 sheets of cheesecloth or muslin. Place it over a clean dry pot. While still hot, carefully strain the ghee through the cheesecloth-lined sieve into the pot. Transfer the strained ghee carefully into a clean glass jar and shut tightly. Ghee at room temperature looks semi-solid. Ghee can be stored for extended periods without refrigeration, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation. Always use a clean utensil to scoop out ghee.
  2. JNdas, it is very nice to see you posting here a little more frequently even amongst your busy schedule. Hope you can keep it up.
  3. To be indifferent to something does not mean to be against that thing. Main Entry:in·dif·fer·ent 1: marked by impartiality : unbiased2 a: that does not matter one way or the other b: of no importance or value one way or the other3 a: marked by no special liking for or dislike of something <indifferent about which task he was given> b: marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something : apathetic <indifferent to suffering and poverty>4: being neither excessive nor inadequate : moderate <hills of indifferent size>5 a: being neither good nor bad : mediocre <does indifferent work> b: being neither right nor wrong6: characterized by lack of active quality : neutral <an indifferent chemical>7 a: not differentiated <indifferent tissues of the human body> b: capable of development in more than one direction ; especially : not yet embryologically determined
  4. Parts of the vedas are mundane. Mundane referring to 'worldly'. They regulate worldly life in a way that is spiritually progressive so in that way the purpose of the vedas is essentially spiritual. But understand this point, IT IS KRISHNA WHO TELLS ARJUNA TO BECOME INDIFFERENT AND NOT ME. Krishna is the goal of vedanta. Once you reach the goal you no longer need the ladder. Of course not everyone reaches the goal at the same time so to keep the ladder in place is necessary. I am not advocating the kicking away of the ladder. But I am saying it is a mistake for one to cling to the ladder when he has already climbed to the top.     I highly doubt that a PHd professor spends much time sentimentaly pinning of his days in kindergarten. Of course he does not bemoan those days but they now have no more relevance for him personally. Acknowleding the Supreme is good. Acknowledging the Supreme person is much better. And better still is total surrender to Him in love. dharmic way is best. But Krishna is telling us to surrender to Him uterrly and quit building castles made of sand here in the material world. Yes He is to be known by the vedas and focused upon exclusively with love and devotion.
  5. Yes it is a generalization about America but I have lived here all my life and Americans gorge themselves on milk products as well as meat and it is a very materialistic and coarse culture and I see no evidence of finer brain tissues being developed from all the dairy consumption. I do recognize the exceptions as well. Your point is well taken OmHari. A side note on McDonalds. Did you know that McDonalds has a presence in India. In fact there is one on the main road from Dehli to Agra call Mathura Road. It is located near the turn off from Mathura road to Vrndavan. I stayed in MVT while in Vrndavan and one day Gargamuni das who was enterting the gate to MVT just before me turned to me while pointing to a discarded McDonalds wrapper littered on the ground before the gate and remarked, "this is the most obscene thing I have seen". It was shocking to me also, such a thing lying in the Holy Dust of Ramana Reti where Krishna plays with His calves and cowherds.
  6. A dramatic post Ganshprasad but the philosophical point is lost in the sentimentality. Religion without philosophy is sentimentalism. We need both. No one said anything about chopping down the tree for God's sake. The tree still exists for others who need to get the fruit. The analogy breaks down here because after tasting the fruit of the Holy Names one no longer needs to seek any other fruit. No need to return to the tree personally. But like I said the tree still stands for others who are to water and prune the tree and harvest it's fruit. There will always be more people wanting to go to heaven or get rich without acknowledging their eternal dependence on the Supreme Person, the one without a second, Sri Krishna so don't worry. You end your post with a Jai Sri krishna yet you are arguing against His very words in the Bhagavad-gita. Does that make sense to you? Please read this post from Dasomi to clear your confusion.
  7. Milk... Krsna's Miracle Gift To Mankind BY: MAHANANDA DASA Jul 19, USA (SUN) — Vegan or not Vegan, which is correct? " The protection of cows maintains the most miraculous form of food, i.e., milk for maintaining the finer tissues of the brain for understanding higher aims of life." Srila Prabhupada In response to the article posted on Sampradaya Sun promoting veganism in ISKCON temples, I would like to present our view of milk drinking that we have accepted from our spiritual master. Despite the evils of modern dairies and the cruel methods of obtaining milk from the mother cows, or despite the unwanted chemicals that store bought milk might introduce into your body and cause ill effects, still, we do not condemn drinking milk nor support veganism as part of our philosophy. Quite the contrary. The glories of drinking cow's milk are everywhere in Srila Prabhupada's books. And though this may cause some doubts in the minds of those who have embraced vegan-ism, we as devotees faithfully follow the advice of our teacher, though it is sometimes contrary to fads or scientific theory. To sometimes reject scientific evidence is basic to a devotee's understanding of how to reach real knowledge of the actual condition of the living entities, both spiritually and materially. In a few years, vegans may become milk drinkers, or theorist may change their minds many times about the affects of milk, but a devotee remains steady and accepts the Vedic version as it is handed down through disciplic succession. Among the few thousands references to milk in Srila Prabhupada's books and lectures, I would like to point out a few here that will give a different perspective of drinking milk than that of the vegans. Srila Prabhupada says. ''Cow has got special importance because it supplies milk, and milk is very essential food that is... From the childhood, a child lives on milk, and there are many saintly persons, they also live by drinking milk. Milk is very important item in the human society, and it supplies all vitamins. " Also he says "But He's (Krsna) speaking of go-raksya for our special material benefit, that if we protect the cows, we can have the facility of drinking milk, which will help us in keeping our health in order and developing very nice brain tissues to understand spiritual subject matter." Of course, like the vegans, we condemn the inhuman treatment of the cows at the dairies and slaughterhouses. Srila Prabhupada says "the cow's calf not only is beautiful to look at, but also gives satisfaction to the cow, and so she delivers as much milk as possible. But in the Kali-yuga, the calves are separated from the cows as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The cow stands with tears in her eyes, the sudra milkman draws milk from the cow artificially, and when there is no milk the cow is sent to be slaughtered. These greatly sinful acts are responsible for all the troubles in present society. People do not know what they are doing in the name of economic development." Srila Prabhupada also instructed us, "Milk is compared to nectar, which one can drink to become immortal. Of course, simply drinking milk will not make one immortal, but it can increase the duration of one's life. In modern civilization, men do not think milk to be important, and therefore they do not live very long. Although in this age men can live up to one hundred years, their duration of life is reduced because they do not drink large quantities of milk. This is a sign of Kali-yuga. In Kali-yuga, instead of drinking milk, people prefer to slaughter an animal and eat its flesh. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His instructions of Bhagavad-Gita, advises go-raksya, which means cow protection. The cow should be protected, milk should be drawn from the cows, and this milk should be prepared in various ways. One should take ample milk, and thus one can prolong one's life, develop his brain, execute devotional service, and ultimately attain the favor of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is essential to get food grains and water by digging the earth, it is also essential to give protection to the cows and take nectarean milk from their milk bags." Another reason for milk's consumption is given here. "Animal fat is available in the form of milk, which is the most wonderful of all foods. Milk, butter, cheese and similar products give animal fat in a form which rules out any need for the killing of innocent creatures. It is only through brute mentality that this killing goes on. The civilized method of obtaining needed fat is by milk." Our position on milk drinking as taught in the Vedic literature is summed up in the following words spoken by a disciple of Srila Prabhupada (Madhudvisa dasa), who was with his spiritual master speaking to a Dr. Muncing..... Madhudvisa: "One thing that we would like to mention, as our spiritual master says, there is a definite, according to the Vedic scripture, there is a definite link between consumption of milk and development of fine brain tissues. And if your department of knowledge has some research in that area, we think it would be a great service to mankind if they can be informed how they can develop fine brain tissues. Fine brain tissues which are needed for coping with the problems of this day and age. Not that simply if I disagree with you we'll just fight. There has to be fine brain tissues in order to say, 'Let us sit down and talk about this together. ' And we say, not we, but according to the scripture, there is a definite link between the consumption of milk products, not just milk, but cheese and all different milk products, the consumption of milk products and development of the necessary intellect. This is why, as our spiritual master said, the highly intelligent people of India have lived predominantly, not just drinking milk, but everything they ate was cooked in milk products. The vegetables, rice, even if rice was boiled, milk was put on, ghee was put on the rice. So that is like an unavoidable essential in their diet, not simply from the palatable standpoint, but actually from the relationship between the physical and the metaphysical progress." I have submitted this document in all humility to the Vaisnavas. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. "The cow delivers milk, the miracle of aggregate food values." (Srila Prabhupada) Sincerely, Mahananda dasa ---------- Apparently Mahananda dasa did not pay attention to his own article. Here again is the first sentence: Mahananda dasa needs to understand the difference of protecting cows and exploiting cows. Another question is ifthis commercial milk is so essential for the development of fine brain tissues why is America so lacking in spiritual consciousness?
  8. Equivalant to meat eating is a nonsense proposal IMO.
  9. No one should think in terms of personally being better because no one is the body. The identities of meat eater and vegetarian have no relation to the soul. Exactly. We seek to end the vicious cycle of of slaughter and be slaughtered that people are revolving on. Who is in the cow body being slaughtered? Most likely a meat eater from a past birth. And what happens to the one killing and eating the cow body today? He gets slaughtered and eaten in some future birth. The same with the abortion madness. It is not that we should have some feelings for the cow and not the humans who abuse them. A devotee is not selective in this way. Nor is he puffed up about anything. But we can't fake feelings of compassion. Does this mean we have to wait until we are pure before we can offer advice on this matters? No we must intervene as we can, where we can rather we are a little puffed up or not. Yes knowledge must be spread. Mis-information has been spread for 60 years or more by the slaughter industry. They have infected the whole western world with their propaganda from hell. I also think PeTA is doing a great job. Right. certainly. Not to give food to a starving man makes one implication in his death. And knowledge is that key.
  10. Right, but humans bite into animals far more than animals bite humans. Think on this statistic. In the USA alone 1 million animals are slaughter per HOUR for food. 9 BILLION animals are slaughtered per year in the USA. No one more dangerous than a human meat eater with a good set of teeth.
  11. Perhaps but I don't know that. It all news to me. So I have no opinion on that.
  12. Therefore in the Western world at least we must be vegan. It is a small but necessary austerity. This so-called absolute need for cows milk or death will result is just an Indian myth. This is exactly the same argument the cow slaughters said about meat. They brainwashed everyone to the point that as a child we all thought we had to have meat at every meal. I have been a vegan (with the exception of occasional temple prasad for 38 yrs. app. My health has only greatly improved upon ceasing milk consumption. There is no such thing as a milk deficency. Death will surely come but being a vegan won't hasten it.
  13. Yes I have heard it and reject it outright.Like Supersoul is taking score of which atoms in the giant milk pot came from which cow and therefore He awards a few brownie points to those cows. It in the same line as the stealing money from the "karmis" on "sankirtana" is okay but the victim gets some ajnana-sukriti. never mind this mode of ignorance practice succeeded in turning off the western countries to Krishna consciousness and left Iskcon with the reputation of being a cheating religious cult. A better example would be the stealing of flowers from others property and offering them to Krishna in the name of "It's really Krishna's property and the ownersa get punya from it". I was in Hawai when this uproar came from the neighbors of the krishna temple who were tired of having devotees picking flowers out of their yards in the middle of the night. Prabhupada told the devotees to stop stealing flowers and fruit in a letter that got read during morning prasad and then immediately ignored. It is not cow protection as described in the scriptures. Now doesn't it make sense for those preaching cow protection to actually practice cow protection? Example is better than precept. The real question is why are there only a handful of protected cows in America and the West in general? Prabhupada's plan was farms would supply the temples with milk from protected cows. It seems devotees want to enjoy the milk prasad in the name of doing it for Krishna and ignore the part about protecting krishna's cows. Do these devotees think Krishna's is callous to the suffering of the cows because He needs our banana milk offering at night so badly? If you (general you Dasomi) are convinced of your position still then how about proving it by just offering a small amount to krishna and sharing the maha by only taking a few drops? You won't do that because the milk you are offering is really for you, right? In either case as far as I am concerned all the commercial milk drinkers that support the slaughter industry with one side of your mouth by drinking commercial milk (including organic and free range) and then preach to others about cow protection out of the other side should just keep the whole mouth shut on this issue. Milk from protected cows or none at all. Jaya Gopala Jaya Govinda!
  14. Bump to top. I want to keep this visible until the event day. The thought of someone wanting to attend but going on the wrong day is very trouble some. I used to hitchhike from Portland Oregon to attend this festival in the very early 70's when Srila Prabhupada would also come and ride on Lady Subadra's cart and also speak to the crowd which then was as large as 10,000 people. Many of the best moments in my little life are from those festivals in Golden Gate park. Jaya Lord Jagannatha!
  15. Which is more important to you? Drinking milk from enslaved, mistreated and ultimately slaughtered cows or foregoing the drinking of such milk until it can be obtained from protected cows? I am so tired of this phony talk of the cow as our 'Blessed Mother' etc. etc. by people who support the enslavement and ultimate slaughter of said "Mothers". Stop supporting and promoting cow slaughter Kurma das (not the chef). Vegans, Vegetarians, Milk and Cows BY: KURMA DASA (NOT THE CHEF) Jul 17, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — There has been much discussion recently about devotees converting to be Vegans under the instructions of their voted-in ISKCON guru. Practically everywhere in Srila Prabhupada's books we learn about the importance of the Cow, as our mother and her milk and by-products as quintessential for development and growth, particularly in children. Aside from this is another very important issue in regards to the acceptance of prasadam at ISKCON temples around the world, which is that we are to accept with respect whatever prasadam is offered. The temples are not a facility for placing orders for special diets ...no! Prasadam is a very deeply spiritual experience, it's not that we can rock up to the prasadam room or hall, and place orders. However this is certainly what is happening here in Australia. Devotees who are taking to this Vegan diet on the advice of guru are changing operations to make the temple work for them, rather than them accepting the way that the temples have operated since Srila Prabhupada inaugurated them. This creates confusion for devotees at the Temples who do not adopt Vegan-ism. ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's Society and everything to be said and done has already been fixed by Srila Prabhupada. Devotees are neither Vegan's or Vegetarians, we are servants of Srila Prabhupada and His instructions. And His instructions are that cows and cow's milk as prasadam are important parts of our Krishna Consciousness Movement and lives. Instead of converting to Vegans, why not work out better ways to take on the burden of protecting more cows?
  16. Well I don't know anything about this child of Cebu. But the point about worshipping different saints to get material benedictions fits the thread. One can get material benefits by going straight to the Supreme person and asking for them. He may or may not give them to you but one thing is for sure, no demigod has any benediction to give other then what Krishna gives them to give. So Krishna is the only benefactor rather we know it or not. But whose to judge the soul that wants benedictions from God. We all do. We all are imperfectly motivated in our seeking out the Lord. Some want heaven and some want liberation. We are all selfish. Okay we admit we are selfish. What to do? First thing is to know what the real self is. What is in our real best interest? We must learn to act in the best interest of our real self and not this false identity. One who is selfish in this way will only ask saints or demi-gods or God Himself to give them knowledge about the Lord. Material benedictions including liberation are ultimately all useless so why bother with the demi-gods other than to be respectful. Krishna taught the residents of Vrndavana that He is their only shelter.
  17. Apparently then the Catholics have taken to a type of demigod worship. No where has Jesus Christ instructed to do this. But hey why should they let that stop them. Forget the fact that Jesus said we can not worship the things of the material world and Love God at the same time;" No man can have two masters..." By Jesus's personal example even liberation or salvation from hell and suffering is not the goal. The only goal Jesus showed the world was to surrender one's will to the will of God and serve at His pleasure.
  18. So it is clear that for transcendentalists any vedic rituals that are aimed at satisfying some demigod for material gain hold no attraction because they are not interested in obtaining material things. So we can lay such instructions aside irrespective if they come labeled "vedic" or not.
  19. TRANSLATION BG 4.25 Some yogīs perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them, and some of them offer sacrffices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman. PURPORT As described above, a person engaged in discharging duties in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is also called a perfect yogī or a first-class mystic. But there are others also, who perform similar sacrifices in the worship of demigods, and still others who sacrifice to the Supreme Brahman, or the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord. So there are different kinds of sacrifices in terms of different categories. Such different categories of sacrifice by different types of performers only superficially demark varieties of sacrifice. Factual sacrifice means to satisfy the Supreme Lord, Viṣṇu, who is also known as Yajña. All the different varieties of sacrifice can be placed within two primary divisions: namely, sacrifice of worldly possessions and sacrifice in pursuit of transcendental knowledge. Those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness sacrifice all material possessions for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, while others, who want some temporary material happiness, sacrifice their material possessions to satisfy demigods such as Indra, the sun-god, etc. And others, who are impersonalists, sacrifice their identity by merging into the existence of impersonal Brahman. The demigods are powerful living entities appointed by the Supreme Lord for the maintenance and supervision of all material functions like the heating, watering and lighting of the universe. Those who are interested in material benefits worship the demigods by various sacrifices according to the Vedic rituals. They are called bahv-īśvara-vādī, or believers in many gods. But others, who worship the impersonal feature of the Absolute Truth and regard the forms of the demigods as temporary, sacrifice their individual selves in the supreme fire and thus end their individual existences by merging into the existence of the Supreme. Such impersonalists spend their time in philosophical speculation to understand the transcendental nature of the Supreme. In other words, the fruitive workers sacrifice their material possessions for material enjoyment, whereas the impersonalist sacrifices his material designations with a view to merging into the existence of the Supreme. For the impersonalist, the fire altar of sacrifice is the Supreme Brahman, and the offering is the self being consumed by the fire of Brahman. The Kṛṣṇa conscious person, like Arjuna, however, sacrifices everything for the satisfaction of Kṛṣṇa, and thus all his material possessions as well as his own self-everything-is sacrificed for Kṛṣṇa. Thus, he is the first-class yogī; but he does not lose his individual existence.
  20. Jada Bharata was playing deaf and dumb so no he was leading kirtana or anything. The point of AM's comment was to indicate that he did not want to become entangled in material or religious life and instead wanted only to remember the Lord. This is why he had no interest in the sacred thread ceremony. Some fanatics will always point out some tiny dark spot on the radiant full Moon but the wise will simply treat them like an annoying mosquito buzzing in their ear while trying to listen to some Krishna Katha.
  21. What rituals are needed? There are the standard practices of sadhana bhakti-yoga but that is not what is being talked about in the above verse and purport. Making attempts to go to heaven or to gain wealth, education, children ect. is never necessary. But such practices that aim at these goals by respecting the higher authorites is better than not respecting the higher authorities. They are regulating and purifying. But one can come to understand they are not needed at anytime for the soul and he can substitute bhakti-sadhana at any point as there are no purifying process needed for the chanting of the Lord's names. Even sadhana bhakti rituals become unnecessary as one develops spontaneous loving service. The question of how does one know is not really applicable because it is not an intellectual choice. You practice till you actually fall in love with Krishna and then the love takes over. Sahaji's are those that assume prematurely they are on this level. We should always try to stick to the standard practices and see the higher levels of devotion as a goal that lies ahead. Some devotees as acartyas keep up the practices even when they have no more need to practice just to teach others by example. As for myself I have never been determined enough to keep up the most basic levels of practice so I know I am below the level of vaidhi bhakti. Here is a perfect answer to that question.
  22. Whoa bro!!!! I didn't see this sentence first time through. This is way way off track melvin. I know you are generous by nature but let's not get crazy. :eek3::eek3::eek3::eek3::eek3:
×
×
  • Create New...