Grains

[Guest guest]

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

 

Please accept my respectful obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada and to all his faithful servants.

 

As I regularly see on the health conference questions regarding grains or

beans prepared in factories and sold in shops, I feel so surprised that

devotees eat these things. The question whether these may be good for your

physical health or not is not very relevant. The actual problem is that any

food prepared by karmis is bad for your spiritual health, as it affects your

consciousness, especially grains and beans. Offering these things to Krishna

may not solve the problem, as Krishna is a person, not just a machine meant

for accepting anything we put before Him.

 

In 1966 in New York Srila Prabhupada posted on the Temple's door the famous

basic principles of spiritual life that all of us have read many times. One

of these is: "All initiated devotees i Should not eat foodstuffs cooked by

non-devotees." Sometimes devotees feel that these are austere instructions

for strict & advanced devotees, but remember that Srila Prabhupada gave

these instructions in 1966 to very new devotees.

 

Once in Mayapura Srila Prabhupada emphatically said, "No one may buy

anything from the market. If they eat these things they will fall down! No

one should eat anything not offered to the Deity."" (Transcendental Diary

1-9: Sri Dhama Mayapur)

 

Another time in Germany Srila Prabhupada said that, "Under no circumstances

should we eat grains prepared by non-devotees" (SPDG 14: Prabhupada at

Schloss Rettershof)

 

In ISKCON's official Deity worship manual, Pancaratra Pradipa, is the

following quotation from Hari-Bhakti-Vilasa:

"Food (especially grains) which is cooked by non-Vaisnavas or by sinful

people, or which has not been offered to Visnu, is the same as dog meat."

(1.13: Gathering Items for Worship (upadana))

 

There are many other things that Srila Prabhupada said on this subject, but

to end this list, I would like to tell you an instructive event that

happened where I live, in New Zealand. Recently some people studying the

working conditions in New Zealand factories set a few hidden video-cameras

in some food-factories. They were surprised and horrified to see some

workers spitting or blowing their noses into the preparations, some even

passing urine into the cooking pots. This was shown on television.

 

Similarly, regarding jam, tomato paste, etc. Do you think they bother to

carefully wash the hundreds of tons of fruits and veggies, sort the rotten

ones ... How many worms, rotten fruits, dirt, etc ... are there in jam or

tomato paste? Of course once it is processed we cannot see anything, it is

an advantage for the manufacturer ...

 

The whole point of our movement is to try to maintain and increase our

consciousness of Krishna, and simultaneously avoid anything that may

decrease it. His consciousness of Krishna is by far the most precious asset

of a devotee, and he / she should be constantly vigilant not to loose it.

 

Thank you.

 

Your servant,

 

Caitanya Nitai dasa