Introducing varnasrama

[Guest guest]

Tulsi Priya dasi wrote

 

> May I make a suggestion? Let's banish all talk of how difficult or slow

> the process is. It saps my energy just thinking about it. Let's simply

> talk about HOW we can actually get started right now. I vote for the idea

> of everybody 1) starting a small garden and 2) forgetting about health

> insurance.

 

Not that I want to damp your enthusiasm, mataji, and in principle I agree

with several of your points, but simply making a little garden and

forgetting about health insurance is just one of a thousand little steps

which can and need to be taken to introduce VAD. Here in Mayapur, most

grihasthas including myself have their own little garden and I have no

health insurance, but that does not mean that we have an ideal society here

or that we are now self-sufficient. And to be very honest, when my wife had

to be operated last year in Switzerland, I was really glad that she had a

health insurance (paid by her father) when I saw her hospital bill: A

whopping 10 000 Swiss Franks (about 6000 USD) for ten days! So for the time

being, it may not be such a bad idea to have health insurance if you live

in a country such as the USA or Switzerland unless, of course, you have some

savings for emergency or the community has their own hospital like

Radhanatha Swami in Bombay. But even there they dont treat devotees for

free. How can they? The building is huge, with many nurses, doctors and

employees and they have a huge overhead.

 

> It requires a huge leap of faith to depend on Krsna as the

> healing herb for your health concerns, but our goal in life is to depend

> on Krsna as our only shelter. If I get sick enough to go the hospital, I

> expect everybody on this conference to take up a collection for me, or

> else I'll just have to die at home.

 

Goodluck mataji, and again all glories to your faith and idealism. Hope that

you will never get sick because I have seen a devotee bloop because he

donated all his belongings

to ISKCON when he joined and ended up completely bitter when no one was

willing to give him money when he fell chronically ill.

 

 

> There are people in this country with little previous experience in

> farming who are now making a very good living that way. According to

> Jeavons, there are women in villages in India who not only grow their own

> families' food, but who even get a little cash income from their land. But

> almost every time I've mentioned that I want to become self-sufficient, I

> get this line: "It's very hard."

 

Mataji, it is hard, believe me. I live in India and everyday we see these

farmers struggling to simply earn enough to buy a kilo of dall or some

vegetables for their family. How many of these farmers or ladies come to me

and others for a loan, a job, an old shirt or a donation, particularly to

cover unexpected medical expenses. Dont think that everyone who lives on a

farm or has his own little garden will live happily ever after.

 

> Personally, I don't think it's any harder than working a "regular job." I

> hate "regular jobs". I hate them so much I have vowed never to work

> another one again. I am not going to become a commercial farmer (I don't

> think) but I have an idea of how I can live comfortably and simply from

> the land, mostly by getting rid of a lot of superficiality from my life. I

> am inviting friends to join me.

 

You have "an idea how you will live comfortably and simply from the land"

but having an idea and making it a reality are two different things.

Chankaya Pandita says that the wise man does not reveal his plan before it

is successfully executed. Again your fierce determination "to take action

now" is commendable and I wish you all success.Still I cannot help but

remember Harikesha Prabhu who shouted in a lecture last year "I refuse to

die before I build the Mayapur temple". Where is he now? Somewhere, in the

South of France in the nice house that he purchased for himself and his

wife. There he wants to lead a private life, perhaps have a few kids, write

a book, make music and also make some money so he can maintain himself.

 

What happened to his enthusiasm about simple and self sufficient living?

In1983 he published a brochure on self sufficiency and he was extremely

fired up about the idea. And so were all the devotees in his zone. He

purchased farms in several countries and for years he tried to enthuse the

devotees to gradually become self sufficient. However, as beautiful and

attractive as the concept sounded, it turned out to be not exactly

feasible. I suspect that complete self sufficiency is not possible.

Particularly, if you dont have many like minded people and a wast expanse of

land which ISKCON simply does not seem to have.

 

How can one single little farm ever become completely self sufficient? In

your little garden, can you produce your own cloth, iron (for cooking

utensils, lamps, tools and construction materials) , sugar, salt, spices

etc. etc. If your land is not big enough you may not even be able to produce

enough of wood to make a house. In other words, even people who are somewhat

self sufficient are likely to depend on other peoples help in so many ways.

There will always be trading and buying and thus you will never be really

self sufficient. For real self sufficiency every village would have to make

its own paper and everyone would have to make his own copy of Prabhupadas

books manually. Does not sound very practical to me.

 

Again, all glories to your determination, mataji but are you willing and

able to make your own paper, produce your own wool and linen and above all

are you willing to give up your fridge, your phone, your car and your

computer? Honestly. Even stalwarts like Madhava Gosh Prabhu seem to not be

completely averse to TV or technology as we can gather from his occasional

references to NFL league games or various movies. I lived in a bamboo mud

hut for a year and I have to admit I much prefer the brick building I am

presently living in, particularly in April and May when Hurricane storms

have the roofs of bamboo cottages fly off like dry leaves. My point is.

Simple living is an idyllic ideal but in actual practice it is tough and

austere and not everyone is able to live that way.

 

In conclusion, I would like to say that to be overly idealistic may also

mean that one is naive or unrealistic and to say "I will try" with quiet

determination may be more wise than publicly declaring that one is now ready

to die to establish a self sufficient homestead and live there happily ever

after. I feel you went a bit overboard when you wrote to Samba

 

> You are hurting yourself with words, Prabhu. Don't say "try". To "try"

> implies failure. If you tell yourself you will do it, never mind for good

> or for bad right now, but just that you will do it to the best of your

> ability, and never give up, how can you not succeed? You say you are

> convinced about VAD.

 

What's wrong with trying? I do not get it. Samba wrote "me and my family are

very keen to start VAD and we are looking for land for this". What 's so

terribly wrong with this that you have to give him a long lecture implying

that - unlike you - he is probably not yet ready to give up his life for

VAD? And why should "to talk about trying to introduce VAD" sap your energy?

It does not sap mine.

 

OK. Maybe you are just trying to enthuse us. Or maybe you are trying to urge

us dull blockheads to finally get the point that actions speak louder than

words. Fair enough, and again, all glories to you. But let now actions speak

louder than words. You please renounce electricity and all electronic

gadgets and be satisfied with whatever produce comes from you own homestead

or from your neighbours. Be self sufficient and show us the way.

 

Prabhupada was not able to create a fully self sufficient community in his

lifetime, other gurus and GBCs were not able to do it. Maybe you will. We

will see soon I guess, now that you have made a public commitment. If you

succeed I will be the first one to offer obeisances to your lotusfeet.

 

ys Anantarupa das

 

 

 

 

> Granted, I cannot be a village of one. But if I

> live as self-sufficiently as possible, as happily as possible, I will

> attract others to do the same, and before you know it a village will grow

> up around me.

 

Just do it, then we will talk more.

 

> As for cultural, material, and spiritual needs, you don't need masses of

> people, that's against the principle of plain living. The more you

> simplify your life, the less you are dependent on everything except what

> you need just to keep body and soul together.

[Guest guest]

>

>

> I find that the mentality of being considered blooped not so prevalent as

> before, especially if you can say you're doing some kind of preaching.

 

Good. Do need to update my categorisations from time to time I guess.