prasada to poor people; some relevant quotes

[Guest guest]

>ISKCON is by necessity pluralistic and we have to live with that while

>trying to remain very faithful to the desires and orders of Srila

>Prabhupada. Not easy, especially when there are different understandings of

>what constitute the desires and orders of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Yes, just see how recently we have seen on this conference several

misconceptions presented as the ultimate conclusion of Srila Prabhupada. For

example:

 

1) Prasadam distribution should be done only in the temple, devotees should

not go out and distribute prasadam. It is an offense against the spiritual

master to do otherwise.

 

Yet Prabhupada says "We can organize for distribution of prasadam all over

India, in factories, schools, and so on. "

 

2) Prasadam distribution must be accompanied by preaching.

 

Yet Prabhupada says it is not necessary and that even Lord Chaitanya did not

preach to the masses but only gave them kirtan and prasadam:

 

"Lord Caitanya never spoke philosophy in public. When he met big scholars

like Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya he spoke philosophy, otherwise for the mass of

people, kirtana and prasadam distribution. So continue this program, it is

very pleasing to Lord Caitanya."

 

3) Prasadam feeding directed to the poor should not be done as it is

discriminating based on their material circumstances.

 

Yet Prabhupada answers, "But America has money. Here they have no money. So

preference should be given in India. They're poor."

 

Just see how some fanatics have taken a few lines from Prabhupada's writings

to condemn an entire field of devotional service and countless devotees

participating in it. We were told that anyone feeding prasadam to the poor

was committing offenses to Srila Prabhupada. We were told that anyone who

distributed prasadam outside the temple was also committing offenses to

Srila Prabhupada. We were given a list of quotes about how distribution of

ordinary food is mundane, and therefore distribution of prasadam must also

be mundane (what a conclusion!). One senior devotee even suggested as

evidence that we refer to all of Prabhupada's criticisms of

"daridra-narayana seva" (i.e. worshipping the poor as God Himself) as proof

that we should not distribute prasadam to the poor. They failed to see that

Prabhupada's criticism against daridra-narayana seva was because of the

mayavada conclusion that the living entity is himself God.

 

Rather than trying to positively increase the distribution of prasadam, some

senior devotees would rather ridicule devotee's sincere efforts at

devotional service by labeling their prasadam distribution as "Food for

Death". They think that it is a funny joke, but they fail to see that there

are people (individuals) working hard to engage in this service sacrificing

their lives to distribute the mercy of Krishna to the world.

 

Anyone who would ridicule a devotee's sincere effort at service is certainly

not very advanced. I would expect more from the leaders of ISKCON.