Remnants.

[Guest guest]

Home Base: Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Navadwip Dhama, Nadia, WB, INDIA

Camp: Sri Radha Madhava Candan Yatra Boat Festival, ISKCON Mayapur, India

 

> Hare Krishna..please allow me to include a small illustration in this

> discusion: scenario: the guru has finished respecting prasada, it is in a

> public meeting, many visitiors and first time guest are present. A

> dreamy-eyed, smiling devotee dives for the guru-s plate and with out

> discrimination, begins to offer remenants to one and all, including the

> new-comers. They blissfully offer a new person a piece of chewed orange

> peel,"It's mercy!" exclaims the sincere devotee. The other person is

> seeing this as an act from outter space. What is going on? "It's been in

> "HIS" mouth!" the totally unaware devotee exclaims. With a horrified

> expression, mentally shrieking "cult!cult!" the terrified person gets

> up and heads out of the door....this is a "real-life" discription of a

> drama witnessed on various stages through out ISKCON..... I feel sorry for

> the uninformed guests and new-comers. The prasad of one's Guru IS mercy

> and it IS sacred, but only with discrimation should it be distributed, as

> Maharaja has correctly outlined.

 

Yes. Time, place and circumstances must also be considered. I wasn't giving

that so much though, but Malati Devi has rightly brought up this other

aspect as well. How people see it when food from someone else's plate is

handed out. They don't understand the philosophy and may misunderstand the

whole thing as come kind of outlandish cultish thing. So this is a very

important reason why one should not distribute to anyone but disciples in a

discreet situation away from mundane eyes.

[Guest guest]

Home Base: Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Navadwip Dhama, Nadia, WB, INDIA

Camp: Narasimha Caturdasi (Appearance) Festival, ISKCON Sri Mayapur, India

 

> Dear Jayapataka Maharaja,

> please accept my humble obeisances.

> All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

>

> Some devotees from our congregation would like to ask,

> what is a proper behaviour in the case, when guru is sick,

> or suffering from worms or parasits. What should be done

> with prasadam remnants? Sometimes devotees get so fired ip,

> and they eat remnantas and offer to others,"since guru is

> a pure devotee, everything is pure."

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> your humble servant,

> bhakta Oleg.

 

Even if an advanced devotee is sick his remnants are still considered

spiritually potent. However when someone eats his remnants the devotee gets

karma from that. So usually when someone is sick then his remnants are not

distributed as we want the devotee to get healthy and dumping extra karma on

him/her won't help things.

 

When Srila Prabhupada was not feeling well he was especially careful to ask

us that people not be allowed to touch his feet as that also drains energy.

 

I hope that this finds you in good health.

 

Your well wisher,

 

Jayapataka Swami