A humble letter to Prabhupada through his devotees.

[Guest guest]

Dear Prabhupada - to be found in his words and the

understandings of his devotees,

 

In the 23 years since you left us many things have

changed within the environment that you were working

in in the first world. There is, for example, a now

10% vegetarian population in the UK and elsewhere.

There is mad cow disease, and now an epidemic of foot

and mouth disease. People are much more aware of

spiritual and environmental issues. Your devotees have

progressed in many areas and regressed in others.

 

You state many times that the two pillars of Vedic

society are built on the care of the cows and the

brahmanas. In your ISKCON the brahmanas are well cared

for, but the cows seem to have been put to one side.

There are a few succcesful examples of self sufficient

communities, as you envisaged, but mostly there are

terrible cases of failed projects wherewithin the cows

have suffered.

 

I have looked carefully at this issue, even making it

the thesis of an Agroforestry degree. My findings seem

to indicate that the cow protection enterprises are

constantly in financial problems. There are huge first

world expenses to deal with - land mortgages, capital

expenditures, running costs, life-providing wages,

etc,.

 

You say the Vedas provide all advice, from spiritual

to material. What would be the instructions for your

devotees, and for those who are more materially

inclined, in the pursuit of farm animal protection?

 

What do you mean by not-for-profit? Did that mean we

should make a loss or draw even only? How can we form

self sufficient communities when our energies are side

stepped in the pursuit of paying off the mortgage?

What about the 10% karmi vegetarian population, would

it be good to sell them the milk we produce at the

price it costs us to produce once all the maths have

been accounted for?

 

As you put men and women into the temple when they

should be seperate, would you sanction a

time-place-circumstance compromise wherein those who

follow your words to the letter can live in self

sufficient communities, with no thought of material

profit (nor of paying an unsustainable mortgage), and

another more materialstically-inclined farming system

that assures lifetime cow protection in its quality

standards, but at the same time needs to pull a profit

to satisfy investors, or to pay off a

carefully-financed cooperative business plan?

 

If a major problem is poor financial accounting and

lack of ability to raise funds, would you sanction

that people should pay the cost price of the products

that the farming system yields, thereby allowing the

costs to be met without the worry of financial

defecit?

 

I know that these are very materially-based questions,

but I seem to think that a mechanistic approach to a

worldly system is helpful and common sence, above that

then a non-mechanistic approach would only enhance the

latter.

 

Could you please help me with my questions?

 

 

Yours in the best of faith,

 

 

Mark Chatburn

 

 

 

 

 

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