Saranagati Farm tax credits

[Guest guest]

COM: Vipramukhya Swami wrote:

 

> [Text 2786384 from COM]

>

> Hare Krsna dasi, you have an "attitude" about the Saranagati farm.

>

> I am living in England and am the temple president of Bhaktivedanta Manor. I

> am not a resident of Canada, but I'm presently visiting. I can see you have

> already made up your mind - and my impression is that you have justified

> your "blood money" theories in such a way that no matter who says what to

> you it will not change your mind. That's too bad.

>

> I am going to Sarangati today with Bhaktimarga Swami, and we will send a

> report to Balabhadra Prabhu as a favor to the GBCs of Canada. If you want to

> find out what's going on, you can contact Balabhadra. If he wants to discuss

> it with you, that's up to him.

>

> Your servant,

> Vipramukhya Swami

 

Dear Vipramukkhya Maharaja,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Here is my original post from "A History of Cow Abuse in ISKCON" Nov 8, 1999:

 

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6. Later in 1996, I learned that devotees at Saranagati Farm in Canada were

accepting a $11,000 per year tax exemption in return for grazing beef cattle

for

slaughter on their land:

 

Fri, 19 Jan 1996 11:15:51 -0800

What is a horror to me and to just a few other devotees who own stock in

Saranagati, is that each year the Saranagati Corporation provides a letter to

the owner of the cows for his signature. This letter states that Saranagati

land

is used for cattle grazing for his cows. With this letter Saranagati is able to

file tax returns as grazing land or farm property, thereby reducing our

property

taxes from an estimated eleven thousand dollars per year to under five hundred

dollars. This is formally called our Farm Status. From my viewpoint, Saranagati

has been directly receiving profit from the slaughter of cows since its

founding

in 1987. My viewpoint is not shared by the majority of old timers at the farm,

who are also voting Directors, for a variety of twisted and well thought out

excuses. Saranagati has two Swamis living there, Jagadisha Maharaja, and

Dudhidhara Maharaja, who is a voting Director, and they have never been up in

arms and demanded a stop to this practice, to my knowledge.

 

************************

 

The first thing is to confirm or deny whether this is still going on.

 

The second thing is to decide whether or not that this is something that Srila

Prabhupada would have approved of.

 

The third thing -- if it is decided that Prabhupada would endorse taking tax

credits for grazing beef cows -- just continue the practice.

 

The third thing -- if it is decided that Srila Prabhupada would disapprove of

taking tax credits for grazing beef cows is to apologize for our failure to

uphold the principles of cow protection, make appropriate public apologies, and

work to find a new program for devotees to sustain themselves. Such a new

program might actually expand their preaching opportunities.

 

***********

 

So Maharaja, where would you fit in, in this process? You will gather

information, but you will not make any public statement about whether you

consider it to be a spiritually sound practice. Rather, we should ask

Balabhadra prabhu.

 

Is that what you are saying -- that you don't want to make any more public

statements on this situation?

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi