Guest guest Posted October 27, 1999 Report Share Posted October 27, 1999 How to go about encouraging devotees to feel responsible for the cows on their local farm... This is the problem with a communal herd, everyone feels it is someone else's responsibility- like a communal car, no one feels it's theirs, so they don't bother to put oil or water in it, but still they use it, so what happens then? (We have experienced this in several locations, and the communal car never lasted long) We use the milk or labour of these animals, so we each have a responsibility to make sure each one, along with its offspring,is properly protected. It is not enough to assume the person in charge is doing so, because we have seen the result of such an assumption. It has been abuse and neglect, and now we can add to the list, slaughter. Just like we were told, the communal car is Krsna's, so we each should show our devotion to Him by looking after it, so these cows are actually Krsna's, so we can definitely show our devotion to Him by looking after cows, because they are by nature VERY dear to Him! Cars aren't. This risk is only there because we do not have varnasrama, where the cows are the property and means of livelihood of the vaisya class, who naturally take excellent care, as one would a very essential car- belonging, from a social point of view, to oneself."Proprietorship turns dust into gold"- is that how it goes? In the meantime "to ensure the good fortune of the cows" in our communal herds, we have to cultivate the higher consciousness that they are Krsna's, that they are VERY dear to Him, and we have a responsibility to ensure they are never neglected, as users of their milk or labour, or even if not, then as devotees of Krsna. The cow ministry made a statement which I am simply expanding on, it was in the guidelines: "...every devotee who drinks milk, has a responsibility to the cows..." So it may not be possible for every devotee to actually be out there in the field making sure the cows are alright on a regular basis, but they should make sure someone does, by propagating the importance of it, encouraging those so inclined to do so, by protecting their right to do so, which may become jeopardized as they see and report abuse, and when abuse has been reported by such persons, to take it seriously, and to take whatever steps are needed for rectification. So education is the beginning, there are SO many quotes about the importance of cow protection, the special relationship of the cows to Krsna, how He can only be pleased if the cows are well-cared for. These can be compiled, printed up, sent to each farm and a GBC regulation made that every farm devotee read them. Then volunteers asked for, for observation of herd. (I would say volunteers, not GBC appointed officials, is better, because service attitude to the cows is the likely motive of a willing volunteer. Anything forced is artificial) . It may be argued that the motive of the volunteer may be to discredit the one in charge, by making up stories of cow abuse. But this is only possible if the entire community is uninterested in the welfare of the cows, and so does not know if the stories are true or not. Through education this is not likely to be the case. So if there is any doubt there can be an investigation team of caring devotees determining the validity of the reports, then taking steps for rectification. This will greatly reduce the possibility for abuse, in all its forms, to continue. YS, Niscala The investigation team should also be volunteers for the same reason. Then how to ensure they are not volunteering for the purpose of discrediting the manager? At least one friend of the manager should be encouraged to be part of the team, so the report will be unbiased. Being a part of this team need not be time-consuming. Only when there is a problem of abuse with nothing being done about it, or there is doubt as to the validity of claims of abuse, will the team be required at all. Hope this is of help. ____ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 1999 Report Share Posted October 30, 1999 - Noelene Hawkins <niscala99 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> COM: Cow (Protection and related issues) <Cow (AT) bbt (DOT) se> Tuesday, October 26, 1999 8:10 PM Abuse solutions > So education is the beginning, there are SO many quotes about the > importance of cow protection, the special relationship of the cows to Krsna, > how He > can only be pleased if the cows are well-cared for. These can be compiled, > printed up, > sent to each farm and a GBC regulation made that every farm devotee read > them. Yes, this is part of the first manual book to support the standards whose writing is part of the fund request to the GBC as well as ISKCON Foundation. Then > volunteers asked for, for observation of herd. (I would say volunteers, not > GBC > appointed officials, is better, because service attitude to the cows is > the likely motive > of a willing volunteer. Anything forced is artificial) . > It may be argued that the motive > of the volunteer may be to discredit the one in charge, by making up stories > of cow > abuse. But this is only possible if the entire community is uninterested in > the welfare of > the cows, and so does not know if the stories are true or not. Through > education this is > not likely to be the case. I think the counting encouraged in the standards was never limited to any partivular persons. > So if there is any doubt there can be an investigation team of > caring devotees determining the validity of the reports, then taking steps > for > rectification. This will greatly reduce the possibility for abuse, in all > its forms, to > continue. Yes, that was the idea of the investigation team as designed in the standards. > The investigation team should also be volunteers for the same > reason. Then how to ensure they are not volunteering for the purpose of > discrediting > the manager? At least one friend of the manager should be encouraged to be > part of > the team, so the report will be unbiased. > Being a part of this team need not be > time-consuming. Only when there is a problem of abuse with nothing being > done about > it, or there is doubt as to the validity of claims of abuse, will the team > be required at > all. Yes that is given in the Standards. It is a matter of implementation. The ideas are all there in the standards. The implementation has not kicked in. Your servant, Chayadevi > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.