philosophical treatise od FOOD

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Taking into account replies from Niscala d.d. and Gokula das - thank you

very much.

 

The problem in ISKCON today is one of not enough enthusiasm to work only

oxen on the land in order to maintain subsistance farming.

 

This is what Rohita prabhu has refered to as the lowest kind of occupation

in the eyes of westeners. I quite agree with him. This influence is very

strong and we need to break it.

 

It is not easy to break it. It is not possible to break it just by being

philosophical Alone and quoteing Srila Prabhupada only on the points that

you have mentioned. THER IS SOMETHING MORE WE CAN DO IN THIS CONNECTION!

 

I do not find it surprising that so many sanyassis in our movement are

interested in this programme to turn agriculture into profits for devotees.

This is what is lacking.

I do not accept the arguement that if we make any money we will all be in

maya! No. There have been perpetual aguements in ISKCON for years that

devotees leave ISKCON because they do not have enough money to survive and

have to go outside in order to make enough money to run their ISKCON

programme. We DO need a programme to solve economic problems - that's why a

committee was formed called social and economic development.

 

Therefore we have to readdress this situation and intelligently look at ways

of solving it.

 

Because you (some of you) are able to survive on subsistance farming like

you are advocating and not make "money" but rather a living it doesn't mean

others will be able to jump straight into this mode. Not at all. Indeed I

would suggest that this is the very reason there are so few householders

engaged on Krsna's properties. We all have different needs and we needn't be

so dogmatic as to say you all have to live on subsistance farming. This is

Kali Yuga and we have to be extremely intelligent how to preach.

 

My experience is in this age of Kali, that there has to be some easier way

to make ends meet than expecting everyone to survive on subsistance farming.

They are not attracted. There should be the facility at the very least to

make a good living - without having to go outside - so that different

devotees can fulfill there diferent needs i.e., to make more in order to

facilitate preaching programmes, donate to worthy causes that sanyassis

might be trying to acheive, and maybe go to India once in a while, visit

family members, etc., etc.,

 

Why shouldn't our "money " come from agriculture. This is not unreasonable

or unphilosophical. It is not against the sastra. Indeed I would go as far

as to say that it is incorrect conditioning to suggest that devotees can't

or shouldn't make a good living from agriculture. Bhaktissidhanta Maharaja

drove in a fancy car in 1922 to promote preaching! A lot of people

critisised him but he was adamant, and I always like to see this picture

when I go to Srila Prabhupada's room at Bhaktivedanta Manor.

 

He would be very favourable to this idea of making "money" from garbage,

selling it to others and growing the most opulent foodstuffs on it and

offering it to KRSNA. Srila Prabhupada actually instructed us to do this.

This is preaching and this is I feel the preaching of the modern day that we

need to persue to show people how simple it is to live on the land by

utilising everything Krsna has given us, not just some of the things.

 

Abhirama prabhu agreed on the train. That this must have been what was

happening in the Lost City of Dwaraka! In those times they had good kings,

good government. They did not advocate throwing garbage into landfill and

stool into massive holes in the ground! or tipping it in the sea. They knew

how to deal with it in such a way as to elevate everyones consciousness and

health. Even the bungee class would have been better off than he finds

himself today. I advocate that we try and again elevate everyone to this

consciousness of how to serve Krsna by offering everything back to HIM -

from whence it all came. Not just some things....(and we'll forget about the

other things we don't want to talk about because maybe there are

untouchable.)

 

I was taking a print out of the arsenic poisoning problem from Divya Singh

prabhu on Mayapur developments the other day and he was saying that

generally in ISKCON we don't want to have to deal with stool problems -

that's up to the Sudras, not the brahmanas. I dissagree. This is not a

philosophical approach. Bhagavatam says: "a brahmana should become a teacher

regardless of what his department of knowledge is." 1.1.44. Therefore we

need brahmanas to guide the Sudras on the subject of sanitation and garbage

control for if handled properly will be the cause of the elevation of

everyones CONSCIOUSNESS and ABUNDANT health. The opposite will be the

reverse, as we see it today.

 

In agricultural and health terms this is extremely important, as we see all

over the world, as explained previously on this conference, that we are

robbing Mother Nature of her rightful claim. This will not please her and

She will protest. There will be very definate reaction if we treat our

"Mothers" in the wrong way i.e., Mother Bhumi and the Cow who is a

personification of Mother Earth. (AS Hare Krsna dasi mentions the Cow

herself will never really complain but Her origin will! MOTHER EARTH and we

will have to bear the consequences.

 

Divya said he thought the arsenic poisoning was man-made. Yes, I made this

point in Mayapur in 1996. Because of the lack of top soil and humus to hold

water, there is so much pumping of water out of the ground to maintain crop

production. This is solely due to bad agricultural management and the use of

chemicals in place of organic matter as we have heard from Howard all those

years ago. Mother Nature is unstoppable in issuing devastating reaction to

our misdeeds, therefore we have to serve her and worship her and by so doing

maybe we will be granted some forgiveness.

 

Now, to encourage householders back to the land, like the example of

Bhaktissidhanta Maharaj I advocate the use of some particular machinery if

need be to instigate this mamouth task of creating fertility on our farms.

Which is the real wealth. These few items have already been discussed

before. Some farms don't need them, they may already have some fertility but

MOST DO NOT and all TEMPLES HAVE A GARBAGE PROBLEM therefore to increase the

inheritance our children will receive we should return this to the land in

order to increase the wealth of the future.

 

We may say, Oh we have enough fertility (highly unlikely) we don't need to

mess about with garbage.. but What if the next farmer comes along after you

are gone and doesn't know how to maintain that fertility and use it all up.

Then he will starve. We have to leave an inheritance of fertility for our

children and an education of how to perpetuate this. This is PERMANENT

AGRICULTURE.

 

I would advocate the use of the disc harrow machine in preference to the

PLOUGH! The PLOUGH as we know it does more harm than good in many many

cases. For example to spreading of the worst kind of weeds. I have just

mulched an entire allotment patch for a householder at Bhaktivedanta Manor

with a mixture of straw and grass cuttings from the Manor lawns. In two

weeks he will be able to plant, weed free.

 

The are only a very few pieces of machinery needed for organic farming and

if you have enough man power you don't need the machines at all. Prabhupada

was not against the use of machines, but he said do not leave them idle, and

don't come to rely on them. Still they are very useful to achieve an end,

just like the car which we all use, or should I say beginning - fertility.

 

Thus in this light the "machine" will not make us bankrupt nor will it

facilitate the killing of any cows. Rather if utilized properly it will

encourage cow protection and the use of more sustainable methods.