Dear devotees,
I send all my love from the Colombian coast, where we spent
a few days of much meditation with our native brothers of different villages.
When I was in the last Mela in Germany ,
I was surprised with a vegan prasadam recipe made by the devotees of Italy . From
that moment I asked my office to distribute this recipe, because for a while we
decided along with Gurudeva Atulananda that our Govinda restaurants should
offer vegan options, since the most important part is the distribution of
prasadam to everyone.
We know that the Vedic culture is not vegan, but it is a
culture full of commitment to the protection of animals, especially cows.
Vedically it is unthinkable that a Vaishnava could be involved in the suffering
of animals and that has not changed, the devotees have unconditional love for
all their fellow brothers in animal bodies, because they understand the law of
karma in its entirety. The difference is that the modern world, influenced by
developments in the Age of Kali, presents devotees with different circumstances
that did not exist before. Today animals are exploited and abused in most
cases, especially in industries related to meat and dairy. Therefore, any one
attitude and decision taken in this regard should be completely humble and
respectful toward those who have gone another way, as the subject of
vegetarianism and veganism has been very special among animal protection. This
is a general law, not only in this case but in any aspect of the life of a devotee;
one should never appear before others as if your life’s philosophy is the
highest and everything else that everyone does is nonsense.
We are not strictly vegan, but we love all vegans love, even
more so to those who are activists for animal protection. We can not become
vegan because we come from a culture that worships cows, who consume dairy
products and offer them to God. However there is one thing we should be clear
on and that is that we must be very conscious and avoid consuming any dairy
product that comes from animal suffering and what to say of offering it to Sri Krishna
at the altar. We are not vegans, but we can not be accessories in the
mistreatment of animals and consume products from the market that are marked
with suffering. We should try to get natural milk for our farms and temples as
far as possible and make rich homemade preparations to offer to the deities.
In our family we have two GoShalas, which are sites for the
protection of cows: one in India
by Lalita Madhava, where they care for more than 200 cows and another in Italy , on the
farm, where we have five cows. It is a small-scale effort, so we must also
commit ourselves to our dairy consumption in the least harmful way as possible.
There is another very important point in the act of offering. A little cow
whose milk is offered to God is purified immediately, just from connecting with
the divine in that manner. So the life of an animal, a fruit or a vegetable
happens to have a complete purposeful sense because their life is meant for God.
Thus, Vaishnavas attempt to implement a full criteria to situations, and they
don’t just say "do not eat anything that comes from animals", because
in that case you could question to the point of asking where does the fertilizer
of the vegetables you eat come from? If the answer is "cow" then the
origin is the animal and if the answer is "chemicals" then do not
consume any animal, but then you are damaging Mother Earth with those very
chemicals.
The solution to all this is to do the best you can, in the
most conscious manner and offer everything to Krishna ,
as he is the enjoyer and the ultimate controller of all things.
If something does not work perfectly, Krishna
handles it in such a way to harmonize it and help souls in their spiritual
growth. Most important of all is love, love for all living beings, that means
acting as a well wisher of others and killing someone is totally contrary to
the position of a well-wisher. The conclusion of this discussion is that we
deliver everything we do to God and have faith that we always stay connected to
it, either directly or indirectly.
All that is done in connection with God and His holy name is
completely beneficial to the person involved and who is around. This is my message
today, short words I hope will help out for all those who have been confused
with these issues.
A big hug.
Your always wisher,
Swami B. A. Paramadvaiti.
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