Monthly Report on Food Relief Program

[Jahnava Nitai Das 2]

In case anyone is interested, our monthly report on the Ashram's food relief program is available online at:

 

http://www.indiadivine.com/food-relief.htm

[Tarun 6]

ISKCON temples such as Alachua are still throwing away so much prasAdam.

Am I at fault to think prasAd is non-different than KRSNa?

And that prasAd should be honored even if it's a few days old?

kutas tvA ~ wherefrom this notion has come? My imagination?

[Maitreya 0]

Couple months back I was chanting japa by Tulasi's greenhouse.Another temple guest struck up a conversation.Right off he told me he was a prophet.I thought "Oh no, just one more crazy person.."

 

The he said,"You know I really like these Krishna people,except they are putting God in a coffin."I asked him to explain, and he pointed to the dumpster and said,'They are putting Him in there by the ton.

 

Krishna=prasadam

Dumpster=coffin

 

"Hmmm....maybe not such a crazy fellow afterall."

 

I don't know why that is.The cooks at this temple are really good and I always clean my plate.

[Sirona 1]

About prasadam being thrown away:

 

If Catholics celebrate the communion they use wafers that can be stored without rotting; And if there are rests they are kept in dignity in a shrine to make adoration possible, for Catholics believe that God is present in the food.

 

So before anyone makes the remark I know that you are not Cathilics but anyway I'd suggest:

 

1) Use food that does not need to be thrown away

2) Find a place where you can keep the rest in dignity

 

Yours, Sirona

[amanpeter 0]

Originally posted by Sirona:

About prasadam being thrown away:

 

If Catholics celebrate the communion they use wafers that can be stored without rotting; And if there are rests they are kept in dignity in a shrine to make adoration possible, for Catholics believe that God is present in the food.

 

So before anyone makes the remark I know that you are not Cathilics but anyway I'd suggest:

 

1) Use food that does not need to be thrown away

2) Find a place where you can keep the rest in dignity

 

Yours, Sirona

When all the food one consumes is prasadam (offered) there is always the potential for familiarity leading to a certain amount of disrespect. Sometimes offerings are less than proper due to haste compelled by hunger. Freshness and taste may become an issue, leading to `older` perhaps `less attractive` prasad being rejected.

 

This Sunday at ISKCON Toronto the servers ran out of everything but rice. As usual, of course, many Indian people carried out several large containers while many more tossed almost full plates into the garbage. My fault for coming so late, but I really don't see why it must be like this.

 

Fortunately for me, at least, I have few reservations about procuring the Lord's mercy from that which has been discarded by others...valaya

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by amanpeter (edited 09-07-2001).]

[Jahnava Nitai Das 2]

Some people really respect prasadam. Here is a quote from the food relief report that shows the respect these peole had:

 

I would like to briefly share with you some of the details of our most recent food distribution which was held in the village of Randiya in Orissa (photos accompany this article). We started the distribution around 11 am, and went on till the evening, when there was no longer enough light to continue. This particular village in Orissa is very poor, and the people there belong to the 'Adivaasi' community (tribals). The staple diet of these people is plain rice and salt. They never eat such things as vegetables, dhal, etc. In fact when we served them dhal, subji and chutney these people said they had never eaten these things in their life. They told us we were giving them "king's food" and that they had never tasted such a delicious meal. On that day over 1,000 people were fed, mostly young children (some of whom you can see in the photos). Since the distribution went on from late morning till night, many of these children returned for a second time in the evening.

 

You would be amazed to see how much rice these small children were eating. Their leaf plates were piled so high that there was no place for us to serve the dhal, vegetables and chutney. After eating everything, they again filled their plates full to take home for other family members who had gone to the fields to work and were unable to attend.

 

When we finished in the evening, not a single grain of rice was left over. If we had cooked twice this amount of food they would still have finished everything. Afterwards, the villagers helped us by assisting in cleaning the area and washing the pots. Everyone was eagerly asking, "When will you be doing this again in our village?" We promised them that we would return next month.

 

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by jndas (edited 09-07-2001).]

[shvu 1]

 

Excellent.

 

Cheers