AW: sad-acharity and ISKCON

[Guest guest]

>There is difference between the incindental help which doesn't cost any

>extra endeavor or money and a big organized programm of such help where the

>endeavors are made mostly to benefit the people's bodies and no attempt is

>made to benefit them from point of view of the real self interest.

 

With due respect, your last statement is begging a question.

 

If you admit that there is a way to spiritually benefit people without them

even knowing that they are dealing with devotees, why do you see an

organized endeavor to spiritually benefit them as beneficial to merely their

bodies?

 

Please refer to SB 3.29.23 purp.

 

>So to me

>we're discussing about putting the proper balanced understadning of

>engaging in charity or any other activity that is by itself purely

>material.

 

If proper behavior and compassion to other people and living entities

purifies ourselves of our complacence as "already liberated devotees" --

even if this in itself were the only end result of this activity, how can we

call such it "purely material"?

 

In other words, how can a purely material activity possibly bring about our

spiritual emancipation? (Which "dana", or charity does bring about,

according to Lord Krsna in BG 18.5.)

 

>Someone was stating that Srila Prabhuada was crying seeing people in

>certain situations but they fail to see how he was crying about the

>situation of every living being conditioned in the material world.

 

This is an artificial dichotomy. The fololwing excerpt clearly shows that

Srila Prabhupada's compassion for people's bodily condition did not exculde,

but was indeed combined and caused by his concern for their spiritual

well-being:

 

''®r…la Prabhup€da had his dark glasses off. He sat in a chair, and Upendra,

his servant, gently massaged his legs. Ghanay€ma spoke about the social

conditions in East Germany-people could be seen standing in long lines to

get the basic necessities of life. When ®r…la Prabhup€da heard this, he

became overwhelmed by compassion. Tears came to his eyes. He said that

because of the officially atheistic position of the government, material

nature would withhold the necessities more and more. 'They will not get even

milk, butter, and sugar,' ®r…la Prabhup€da told us sadly. I was moved by his

deep concern not only for the spiritual welfare of the conditioned souls but

their material well-being as well."

 

Srila Prabhupada and His Disciples in Germany - Vedavyasa dasa, Chapter 20

 

And if it was true for him -- why it should not be true for his followers?

 

>The devotee may incidentally help others on a

>bodily level but the higher is his spiritual level the less time, taste or

>expediency he has to engage in or even combine the altruistic and

>devotional activities.

 

Again an artificial dichotomy.

 

As we could just discern from Srila Prabhupada's own example, the higher one

gets spiritually, the less time, taste and expedience he has for calculated

analysis of how to behave with other people -- exactly because his behavior

and emotionals become the highest altruistic principle in themselves and

spontaneously flow towards their welfare.

 

>As an example you may take Srila Prabhupada's life and see how much of his

>time was spend in wellfare work other than preaching and translating

>(highest welfare work).

 

Right.

 

And this is why he did what he did and wrote what he wrote on so many

occasions in so many purports and letters and to so many people regarding

the utter importance of mass prasadam distribution and an ideal behavior of

devotees as a most important way to spiritually uplift of people in general,

right?

 

Your servant,

Madana-mohana das