Government Stops Kali Sacrifice

[Guest guest]

The whole idea of not sacrificing is to show that we understand that

all living creatures are individuals and we understand that. If we

dont kill them near a temple but then kill them in a butchers place,

then how does it matter where they die. I dont eat meat nor have I

seen any sacrifices personally with my eyes. But I have known from

friends that when an animal is killed the non-vegetarians in the

village will be waiting for the caracass like urchins waiting near a

temple running and collecting coconut shrads when we break one.Its

all the same. So the animals will be killed and eaten anyway.

What we need is awareness and an attempt to take the attitude from its

animalness. Its only then it really helps.

 

There is a story. After shankaracharya had his time cleaning up the

land of krura, people moved from offering live animals as sacrifices

to making images of the animals from flour and offering them. If the

people dont understand things in its principle, its more or less the

same. But flour animals are better than live animals. In the case

below, there is no difference.

 

So, it doesnt matter much for us or for the animals. Someday they will realise it. They have to.

 

- Seshadri.

[Guest guest]

Better than killing Muslims.

-

devi_bhakta

Thursday, April 18, 2002 9:01 AM

Government Stops Kali Sacrifice

ORISSA, INDIA, April 17, 2002: A government minister has helped save

the lives of 1,000 animals that were to be sacrificed at a temple

here. The goats and sheep are slaughtered on Maha Bishuva Sankranti

day as an offering to Goddess Kali. Federal minister Maneka Gandhi

intervened and convinced priests to abandon the ritual at the Bayani

Thakurani, or Goddess Kali, temple in Orissa state. Some warned it

would bring ill fortune but they agreed despite protests from

thousands of devotees. A number blocked the road in protest. One

animal was sacrificed as a symbolic ritual, reports Sify News. The

other 999 are likely to meet a less public death at the hands of the

local butchers.For

details:http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_568662.htmlWhat do you

think? Good news or bad?To from this group, send an email

to:shakti_sadhnaaYour use of

is subject to the

[Guest guest]

Oh Yes. We need to pass this message to the Bush Administration in USA

as well and to the NATO alliance sitting in Europe and lastly to the

Vajpayee government. along with a message to the families of the

victims who have lost their lives when the train was torched alive.

-

Eve _69

Thursday, April 18, 2002 5:22 PM

Re: Government Stops Kali Sacrifice

Better than killing Muslims.

[Guest guest]

What's the point to stop these 999 animals from being sacrified to

Kali Ma, when they are going to be killed anyway it seems...at the

butcher!!!? It'd be better for them in this case to die at Kali Ma's

feet and be liberated!

 

JAI KALI MATA!!!JAI HANUMANJI!!!JAI PHIL COLLINS!!!

 

Phil Das Bhakta

 

, "Eve _69" <eve__69@h...> wrote:

> Better than killing Muslims.

> -

> devi_bhakta

>

> Thursday, April 18, 2002 9:01 AM

> Government Stops Kali Sacrifice

>

>

> ORISSA, INDIA, April 17, 2002: A government minister has helped

save

> the lives of 1,000 animals that were to be sacrificed at a temple

> here. The goats and sheep are slaughtered on Maha Bishuva

Sankranti

> day as an offering to Goddess Kali. Federal minister Maneka

Gandhi

> intervened and convinced priests to abandon the ritual at the

Bayani

> Thakurani, or Goddess Kali, temple in Orissa state. Some warned

it

> would bring ill fortune but they agreed despite protests from

> thousands of devotees. A number blocked the road in protest. One

> animal was sacrificed as a symbolic ritual, reports Sify News.

The

> other 999 are likely to meet a less public death at the hands of

the

> local butchers.

>

> For details:

>

> http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_568662.html

>

> What do you think? Good news or bad?

>

>

> Sponsor

>

>

>

>

>

>

> shakti_sadhnaa-

>

>

>

> Terms of

Service.

[Guest guest]

I was curious about this and looked for the original article. I found

it here: http://news.sify.com/cgi-

bin/sifynews/news/content/news_fullstory.jsp?

BV_SessionID=@@@@1993506351.1019209847@@@@&BV_EngineID=cadcdkhjmggibem

gcfkmcgedng.0&article_oid=11254200&page_no=1

 

This is a very long link! (sorry)

 

In my seeking I also found this link for Orissa news sources:

 

http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Asia/India/Orissa/News_and_Me

dia/

 

This may be of some interest to people looking for news. It honestly

took me quite a little research to find the original article on

sifynews. Perhaps I am simply unfamiliar with that site.

 

As to my opinion: this seems like a complex issue. Religion is a

living thing, meeting the needs of people in every age. Thus rituals

change. I read a wonderful novel about American Indian rituals that

spoke of how no ritual is ever repeatable, even if simply because the

rattle used to call the spirits grows older, more brittle, it's sound

is never exactly as it was when it was first used.

 

I'm curious about the Goddess's purported need for not 1 but 1,000

animals sacrificed in Her name. Obviously this act grew out of a need

or an important symbolic guesture. I cannot discern here what was

addressed by this specific act. Therefore, I cannot say if this act

is exactly needed by the devotees for a specific purpose, or, if the

purpose was more clearly understood perhaps another act would make

more sense.

 

I am struck by the sheer numbers involved. Forgive my ignorance,

please, but that seems like a lot of dead animals. Are they then fed

to the people? Are there enough people that this would serve them? If

one of the underlying purposes here is to have animals donated in

order to feed all of Her people in that area, and have that done

under the unifying circumstance of ritual - well, that makes sense to

me.

 

Also, these animal rights activists; are they locals? Are they even

Indians? If this is a movement imported from/by leftist vegetarians

raised in comfort in America (and that describes me somewhat) then I

have some problems with this. If this is a concern of a new

generation of local descendants, then that has more credibility for

me. As I said, I believe that religion changes to meet the needs of

the people in every age.

 

However, I am disturbed, though again underinformed, about the

representatives of the faith threatening the ill will of the Goddess.

I don't like, on principle, the idea that a deity will desert Her

people if Her rituals aren't followed, even when devotees are

prevented from following them by local authorities. That feels like a

fear based power play to me. But, I don't really know the whole story.

 

Bright Blessings to all.

 

prainbow

 

, "devi_bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote:

> ORISSA, INDIA, April 17, 2002: A government minister has helped

save

> the lives of 1,000 animals that were to be sacrificed at a temple

> here. The goats and sheep are slaughtered on Maha Bishuva Sankranti

> day as an offering to Goddess Kali. Federal minister Maneka Gandhi

> intervened and convinced priests to abandon the ritual at the

Bayani

> Thakurani, or Goddess Kali, temple in Orissa state. Some warned it

> would bring ill fortune but they agreed despite protests from

> thousands of devotees. A number blocked the road in protest. One

> animal was sacrificed as a symbolic ritual, reports Sify News. The

> other 999 are likely to meet a less public death at the hands of

the

> local butchers.

>

> For details:

>

> http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_568662.html

>

> What do you think? Good news or bad?

[Guest guest]

The story I referred to was "Ceremony" by Leslie Marmon Silko. I find

it to be a provocative and intriguing novel. Here is a link to a

discussion of it:

 

http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/hhr93_2.html

 

The first thing that this analyst writes after a quote from the book

is:

 

"The above passage from Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony

emphasizes the important role that storytelling plays within the

Pueblo culture. It also accurately summarizes the repeated attempts

of white groups to decimate the Pueblo culture by destroying its

ceremonies."

 

I feel that this is related to the main thread because you can

destroy a people by destroying their rituals or killing off their

language. But also, ceremonies/rituals change from within the culture

and it's difficult to say whether that is for good or ill.

 

Here's another passage she quotes (I am shamelessly trying to

intrigue you further! )

 

"Ts' its' tsi' nako, Thought-Woman,

is sitting in her room

and what ever she thinks about

appears.

She thought of her sisters,

Nau' ts' ity' i and I' tcs' i,

and together they created the Universe

this world

and the four worlds below.

Thought-Woman, the spider,

named things and

as she named them

they appeared.

She is sitting in her room

thinking of a story now

I'm telling you the story

she is thinking."

 

The other fascinating thing about this little novel is that in it

self, it is written as a ceremony. On the first page I remember it

has one word "Sunrise."

 

Then it opens to the first chapter. On the last page, after the story

is completed there is a final page, blank except for this

word: "Sunset." In this way, the ceremony of the story itself is

opened and then closed.

 

I see parallels to the Devi Gita and other written works that also

serve as religious rituals in themselves as they are intended to be

chanted. They are the stories. They are also the ritual.

 

This is a very rich area of thought and exploration for me. Many

thanks to devi bhakta for raising the issue.

 

Namaskar

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

, "prainbow61" <paulie-rainbow@u...> wrote:

> I was curious about this and looked for the original article. I

found

> it here: http://news.sify.com/cgi-

> bin/sifynews/news/content/news_fullstory.jsp?

>

BV_SessionID=@@@@1993506351.1019209847@@@@&BV_EngineID=cadcdkhjmggibem

> gcfkmcgedng.0&article_oid=11254200&page_no=1

>

> This is a very long link! (sorry)

>

> In my seeking I also found this link for Orissa news sources:

>

>

http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Asia/India/Orissa/News_and_Me

> dia/

>

> This may be of some interest to people looking for news. It

honestly

> took me quite a little research to find the original article on

> sifynews. Perhaps I am simply unfamiliar with that site.

>

> As to my opinion: this seems like a complex issue. Religion is a

> living thing, meeting the needs of people in every age. Thus

rituals

> change. I read a wonderful novel about American Indian rituals that

> spoke of how no ritual is ever repeatable, even if simply because

the

> rattle used to call the spirits grows older, more brittle, it's

sound

> is never exactly as it was when it was first used.

>

> I'm curious about the Goddess's purported need for not 1 but 1,000

> animals sacrificed in Her name. Obviously this act grew out of a

need

> or an important symbolic guesture. I cannot discern here what was

> addressed by this specific act. Therefore, I cannot say if this act

> is exactly needed by the devotees for a specific purpose, or, if

the

> purpose was more clearly understood perhaps another act would make

> more sense.

>

> I am struck by the sheer numbers involved. Forgive my ignorance,

> please, but that seems like a lot of dead animals. Are they then

fed

> to the people? Are there enough people that this would serve them?

If

> one of the underlying purposes here is to have animals donated in

> order to feed all of Her people in that area, and have that done

> under the unifying circumstance of ritual - well, that makes sense

to

> me.

>

> Also, these animal rights activists; are they locals? Are they even

> Indians? If this is a movement imported from/by leftist vegetarians

> raised in comfort in America (and that describes me somewhat) then

I

> have some problems with this. If this is a concern of a new

> generation of local descendants, then that has more credibility for

> me. As I said, I believe that religion changes to meet the needs of

> the people in every age.

>

> However, I am disturbed, though again underinformed, about the

> representatives of the faith threatening the ill will of the

Goddess.

> I don't like, on principle, the idea that a deity will desert Her

> people if Her rituals aren't followed, even when devotees are

> prevented from following them by local authorities. That feels like

a

> fear based power play to me. But, I don't really know the whole

story.

>

> Bright Blessings to all.

>

> prainbow

>

> , "devi_bhakta" <devi_bhakta> wrote:

> > ORISSA, INDIA, April 17, 2002: A government minister has helped

> save

> > the lives of 1,000 animals that were to be sacrificed at a temple

> > here. The goats and sheep are slaughtered on Maha Bishuva

Sankranti

> > day as an offering to Goddess Kali. Federal minister Maneka

Gandhi

> > intervened and convinced priests to abandon the ritual at the

> Bayani

> > Thakurani, or Goddess Kali, temple in Orissa state. Some warned

it

> > would bring ill fortune but they agreed despite protests from

> > thousands of devotees. A number blocked the road in protest. One

> > animal was sacrificed as a symbolic ritual, reports Sify News.

The

> > other 999 are likely to meet a less public death at the hands of

> the

> > local butchers.

> >

> > For details:

> >

> > http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_568662.html

> >

> > What do you think? Good news or bad?

>>hi every one,

>>i strongly oppose killing of animals for secrifice for the

godeses .it is bad,but due to ignorence or stupidity it is

continuously going on since time immemorial?earlier during the period

of great Ramachandra,it was being doene by some persons called

rakshasas,or asuras etc.Same time i also strongly opose the killing

of animals,for any reason whatever it is,whether it is for secrifice

or to fill the humen belly?if,by protests,or Govt ban on animal

secrice,if you can save the animals life it is very good.But in what

way and how long,you can save them from the men who are waiting to

kill and eat them like wolfs,or hunter dogs.if any one can save the

life of poor animals,who are being killed in tons and transported to

every big city to supplied them to feed the unending humem hunger,he

will not be less than god himself.because at this time only the

supreme power of god can save them against humen cruality.

Please do not mis understand my feelings,i am totally against animal

(or humen)secrefice,but i am emphesizing thta the quantity of animals

being killed without secrefice is many times more than that

of ,animals being killed for secrifice.

so all animals are to be saved,and unjustified killing shall be

stopped with immidiate effects.

spsharma

spsharma