To all cow conference members.

[Guest guest]

I received 380 back dated emails the other day. No

problem there, it made good reading, and it made me

realise in what stage is the conference I have

entered.

 

But first, I would like to introduce myself, even

though I have been on the conference for a few weeks

now.

 

After private emails with Chayadevi I realise I put my

foot in it in many ways. It is also true that I was

placed on this conference by her, without any

introduction, on the strength of the discussion

document I have mailed to you all. Knowing full well

the effects it would have I feel it was not entirely

responsible for this to happen without an

introduction, as I approach our issue from a very

different angle to many of you. Regardlessly, I am

very happy to be here and I hope things will work out.

 

My name is Mark Chatburn, I am from the rural heart of

England, and after being a brahmacari in ISKCON in

Israel and the US in 1988&9, I left and spent a few

years living in rainbow hippy communities working with

cows, horses, etc.

Finding the liberal nature of the communities to be

excessive I moved on to do a degree in Agroforestry.

My final year thesis was on what would be the land use

effects of a 10%, and increasing, UK vegetarian

population. I had contacted the main US ISKCON cow

protection devotees many times, but got blown out as

my approach was secular and commercial. I have worked

closely with Syamasundra dasa and Rhada Krsna dasa at

Bhaktivedanta Manor. I am now working closely with

Hanuman Prasek Swami, who has seriously taken to my

approach. During my time working oxen and milking cows

at the Manor, I found that ISKCON was so pent up on

debating philosophical nuances that it could never

focus on the nuts and bolts of an economic farming

system - so I took to working on this with a passion

that can only be described as devotional.

 

I have now presented you my findings. They are in a

secular format, which can be appealing to us all.

After reading so many of the past emails I would like

to say that I believe I have mechanistic answers to

the problems that have been put forward. As with most

mechanistic solutions they are based on inputs,

processes and outputs, following an

input/output/activity-based cost/benefit analysis. Any

business must do this to start with to assess the

mathematics of the system and its viability as a

system.

I say this with the most modesty I can muster, but it

seems so clear to me that with ISKCON although the

vision is there, the methods to obtain it are very

murky and polemic. That is why I am presenting a

business structure to focus on the actual

implementation of a viable system.

 

I know devotees and know they will do very little

unless they have a philosphical vision to back up

their activities, that is why I have gone no further

in asking for the costings I am after until a

consensus can be reached on what I am proposing.

 

I would be very happy if people would read my

discussion document and come to a consensus about it's

workings. I believe if a mechanistic platform can be

reached then the non-mechanistic will have more

chances to function.

 

Yours in the best of faith, Mark.

 

 

 

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