Use of dairy products in poojas (MahaShivratri)

[Guest guest]

Dear Chandraprakash,

 

You ask a very poignant question. I will share my thoughts.

 

The goodness of milk is not just a religious belief. It is a fact you can verify for yourself.

 

Physically speaking, milk is a great source of protein that is easy to digest. A diet comprising only of fruits and milk gives all the nutrition needed by one and keeps one very calm and relaxed. Normal food

 

Fruits and milk are a very saattwik food. The plant giving fruits may feel some pain because of wind and other weather factors. Even when the fruit is cut off, the planet may feel pain. Still, the emotions of a plant are far more subtle than those of a human being. The gunas that get into the fruits from the plant are far subtler than the gunas that get into food cooked by a human being. The emotions of a cow are denser than a plant's, but subtler than a human being's.

 

Milk given by a humanely treated cow is definitely superior, but even otherwise milk is superior to a lot of substances.

 

Pain and suffering from inhumane treatment is one thing and what they feed is another. A being with a subtle mind can tolerate pain more than others and the mind reacts to pain differently. But the food goes the core of one's being. We are what we eat. Wrong food affects the mind of a being and changes the nature of the mind itself. The milk given by a normal cow embodies its motherly love and compassion and fills the drinker with such qualities. But milk given by a cow treated with hormones is different. These days they feed cows with hormones, chicken and other meat also. All these slowly change the basic nature of cow's mind. If milk from cows not treated with hormones and not fed chicken is used, that will be a lot better.

 

If you have a chance to pay more and buy milk from a local farm where cows are not treated with hormones and chicken and treated humanely, it is a good idea to use that milk in religious activities as well as own use.

 

If a temple can afford it, keeping some cows and getting milk from them is a good idea. This happens at a lot of big temples in India anyway.

 

One bottomline is that everything is slowly more and more corrupted in Kali yuga. Even fruits are laced with artificial chemicals and pesticides. Even milk in western countries contains chicken fat and hormones. All food contains heavy and dangerous chemicals. More and more, we shun copper and other metal containers and use plastic, thermocoal and other dangerous materials to store food and heat food (and end up consuming small quantities of those materials). We use microwave radiation to heat food. The food and drinks going into us contain gradually more dangerous chemicals that slowly dull the mind. What can we do? Kali will get denser and denser. We can put brakes now and then and slow it down, but we cannot stop it.

 

Best regards,NarasimhaDo Ganapathi Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org

 

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Chandra Prakash

Narasimha PVR Rao ;

Saturday, March 08, 2008 11:27 AM

Re: MahaShivratri

 

 

Dear Narasimha,Thanks to you and Ajit for the clarifications. I had sent an e-mail yesterday about a related topic yesterday but it has not been posted as yet, so I am resending it.As I was watching the Shiva Abhishekam at the temple with milk, curd, ghee etc. an issue came up and I would appreciate your opinion/thoughts on it.Use of dairy products (milk, curd, ghee) is extolled in our tradition and is encouraged as part of a saatwik lifestyle. However, in this Kali yuga, the reality is that the cows that provide these dairy products for our consumption and use in religious rituals, suffer terribly throughout their life and meet a painful end. This is specially true in large dairy operations in America but I suspect it would be true elsewhere too.So, how do you reconcile the religious beliefs/doctrine and the reality of today's life, with respect to using diary products.I am providing a link to a website that was sent to me by a friend. Note: The documentaries on the website, specially "Earthlings" are quite graphic and may not be for everyone but they do depict a reality that is going on these days. http://veg-tv.info/Main_Pagewarm regards,Chandraprakash

Narasimha PVR Rao <pvr Cc: Chandra Prakash <vedicstudentWednesday, March 5, 2008 8:39:49 AMRe: MahaShivratriNamaste,As Ajit Krishnan has clarified correctly, Maha Shivaratri is to be observed on the night of March 5 (Wednesday - today) in the entire north America.Some temples in USA are observing it on Thursday night, but there ARE some temples that are observing it correctly on Wednesday.Happy Maha Shivaratri to all of you!Best regards,NarasimhaDo Ganapathi Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homamSpirituality: Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.netFree Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.orgSri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org---- Chandra Prakash <vedicstudent wrote: > Dear Narasimha,> > Thank you for your enlightening and inspiring posts. > > Could you please clarify when we are supposed to celebrate MahaShivratri this year in America. I looked up in JHora and thought it was Wednesday, March 5. Chaturdashi starts around 3 pm EST on March 5 and ends on Thursday, March 6 around 2 pm EST. I assumed that you would fast and pray the night of March 5 but our temple priests insists that we need to celebrate it on the midnight of March 6, when, in fact, it will be amavasya during the entire night...> > Thanks once again,> Chandraprakash