Guest guest Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 Sat Nam, This dairy farmer really, really gets it! We are what we eat, and milk from such a cow would be medicine (check your Ayurveda: Milk, Honey, Ghee and Almonds are great builders of Ojas) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1> He's got, at least, a moon Gong, an earth Gong, a sruti box type thingy, he uses chimes, and he chants.... Ya gotta love this! Blessings, Dharam Singh Millis, MA www.gongsongs.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 13, 2009 Report Share Posted March 13, 2009 oh!! but I hope the cows aren't always chained up like that and allowed to graze in open pastures. that too will make them happy On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 9:38 AM, d h a r a m <pranahsaurus wrote: > Sat Nam, > This dairy farmer really, really gets it! We are what we eat, and milk > from such a cow would be medicine (check your Ayurveda: Milk, Honey, > Ghee and Almonds are great builders of Ojas) > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1 > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1> > > He's got, at least, a moon Gong, an earth Gong, a sruti box type thingy, > he uses chimes, and he chants.... Ya gotta love this! > > Blessings, > Dharam Singh > Millis, MA > www.gongsongs.com > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2009 Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 Sad to see the animals on such short chains, gong or no gong! Sat Nam Joan On Friday, March 13, 2009, at 05:38 AM, d h a r a m wrote: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2009 Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 Thank you for Gong in Fattoria! How great! I think the chains are only on the cows while he milks them, then they roam outside. I bet the milk in those cows is tasty and they are relaxed to the max! Thanks for sharing this Dharma Singh. Sat Nam, Gurumukh Kaur Note: Gurmukh of LA is in Washington DC for 2 days - March 25th, 26th. We have a few spots left if you want to do a workshop with her - check out my web site. Peace! Elizabeth Greathouse, Owner http://www.YogaHouseStudio.com 202 285 1316 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 14, 2009 Report Share Posted March 14, 2009 Sat Nam, Dharam, Great video, the cows seem to really enjoy the gong. Did you understand the mantra he was chanting at the end of the video? Peace Love & All Light, Guru Sadhana Seva Philly, Pa Kundaliniyoga , d h a r a m <pranahsaurus wrote: > > Sat Nam, > This dairy farmer really, really gets it! We are what we eat, and milk > from such a cow would be medicine (check your Ayurveda: Milk, Honey, > Ghee and Almonds are great builders of Ojas) > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1 > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlxBfVkeCF4 & NR=1> > > He's got, at least, a moon Gong, an earth Gong, a sruti box type thingy, > he uses chimes, and he chants.... Ya gotta love this! > > Blessings, > Dharam Singh > Millis, MA > www.gongsongs.com > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Hi, He sang the Hare Krishna, Hare Rama chant. Alisa in CT Kundaliniyoga , " sadhana72002 " <sadhana72002 wrote: > > Sat Nam, > > Dharam, > Great video, the cows seem to really enjoy the gong. > Did you understand the mantra he was chanting at the end of the video? > Peace Love & All Light, > Guru Sadhana Seva > Philly, Pa > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Indeed, there is nothing " happy " about dairy farming. http://www.goveg.com/whatsWrong.asp The cow is also kept pregnant her entire adult life and separated from her calves when they are only a few days old. Male calves are immediately put in small crates and raised as veal. These animals are killed in the same slaughterhouses as animals raised for meat. We already know that as yogis, we have a responsibility to understand what we are putting in our bodies, and what impact our food choices have on ourselves, as well as our environment. Unless you are raising your own cows or buying products from a reliable and humane source that cares for their animals, be aware that consuming dairy products is not karma-free. It supports a horrific industry. Sat nam. Nimrita Kundalini-Yoga , " Guru Ram Kaur " <grk wrote: > > Sat Nam > > This dairy farmer is keeping these poor animals chained, standing up in small stalls - unable to lie down or have access to the outside. No milk from such cruel practices can be good for anyone, and anyone with a conscience would not partake of it. I wonder if the dairy farmer would feel happy if he were living chained up in a small stall - and how much better he would feel if someone played the gong for him! > > With blessings > > Guru Ram Kaur > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Sat Nam, The man playing the Gong is Massimo Piazza, Gong and sound healer brought in by the farmer. A good guy. That would make this farmer a guy who is trying to do things better. Many years ago in Mexico I met the first person who was what we now call a "vegan". He didn't wear leather shoes/belt or eat flesh, so as to not cause harm in any way. It caught my attention as I had hunted and knew intimately what death was about, and was at a huge crossroad in my life. I think it is possible to live in this non-harming way if it is warm where one lives, and there is plenty of fruit to glean, or grass ;o) . However, I lived in Fairbanks, AK where you'd be pretty challenged to not have, at least, some dairy (Yogi Tea, anyone?). One needs the fat in the colder climates. The Native peoples in this region even have larger than normal livers so as to handle their almost totally NON-vegetable diets. So, the idea of walking around in cotton shoes wasn't going to fly. I'd have to cause some harm just to walk around, be it in leather shoes or synthetic shoes created in a plant that spewed PVC laden gasses into the collective air supply, that employed 7 year old children for 14 hours a day. Then I have to put on those shoes just to walk to my car............................. You wanna talk about what driving a car does? Do you really wanna? How about living in a house made of trees? (I knew a guy, a Christian who live in a hole in the ground. He made his own tools and totally went off grid, to totally observe Ahimsa, non-harming. He truly loved Jesus and wanted to emulate that example. Bless him! God Bless him! He is walking his talk. He was 70 when he made this decision. He may write a book and may not. My point is living in America almost guarantees that one's very existence is a crime against mankind and all of nature. Try and argue against that. Sometime Liberals, and I am one, and you armchair gurus really piss me the F*#k off. Lighten up for once! Your minds create enough toxicity everyday to kill a small rodent. Don't nail one dairy farmer to the post who is trying to bring some consciousness to his trade and do something a little better than what is expected and assumed. I doubt if he gets paid one cent more for his milk because he does this. Gimme us all a break. Dharam Millis, MA If you don't see God in all, you don't see God at all -YB mmmmmm wrote: Indeed, there is nothing "happy" about dairy farming. http://www.goveg.com/whatsWrong.asp The cow is also kept pregnant her entire adult life and separated from her calves when they are only a few days old. Male calves are immediately put in small crates and raised as veal. These animals are killed in the same slaughterhouses as animals raised for meat. We already know that as yogis, we have a responsibility to understand what we are putting in our bodies, and what impact our food choices have on ourselves, as well as our environment. Unless you are raising your own cows or buying products from a reliable and humane source that cares for their animals, be aware that consuming dairy products is not karma-free. It supports a horrific industry. Sat nam. Nimrita Kundalini-Yoga , "Guru Ram Kaur" <grk wrote: Sat Nam This dairy farmer is keeping these poor animals chained, standing up in small stalls - unable to lie down or have access to the outside. No milk from such cruel practices can be good for anyone, and anyone with a conscience would not partake of it. I wonder if the dairy farmer would feel happy if he were living chained up in a small stall - and how much better he would feel if someone played the gong for him! With blessings Guru Ram Kaur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 You can gong crack, too, but I'm still not gonna smoke it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Baba brother ji,. There was a time in the huge war over abortion when the best response I ever saw on a bumper sticker was "if you don't believe in abortion, don't have one". Same applies to milk. I also remember a time when nothing excited vegetarians more than talking about meat! Let's move in the affirmative, or at least move on? Yeah, changes need to made in many, many ways, but at the same time it's a perfect world. All is as it should be, or at least one needs to relate to that perspective at some point in one's evolution, sooner or later........at some point. There are blessings all around, is all I'm trying to say. Dharam Millis, MA Baba wrote: You can gong crack, too, but I'm still not gonna smoke it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 You can crack a gong and it won't be playable. Gurubandhu Kundalini-Yoga , " Baba " <baba_sf wrote: > > You can gong crack, too, but I'm still not gonna smoke it. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Sat Nam Prithi If these cows are kept in the way you describe that is great. However, it is important to understand that most cows are not kept in such a way and there is still a great deal of cruelty in the dairy industry quite apart from that particular aspect. As Nimrita has commented, cows are kept constantly pregnant, with their calves being taken away from them and the male calves killed for meat. The disgraceful practices in slaughterhouses need no further comment and that is also where the poor dairy cow ends up after her useful milk producing life is over. If we aspire to the yogic way of life - with one of the most basic tenets being AHIMSA - non violence - how can we in good conscience consume dairy products? Added to this you have the health implications. Milk is not the wonderfully healthy food it is advertised to be. Contrary to all the pro-milk publicity, milk does not make strong bones or healthy children - see the report 'White Lies' from the Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation (VVF) - in fact osteoporosis is most prevelant in those areas of the world where most dairy is consumed. Milk is certainly alkaline but it produces a highly acidic response in the body - to return the body to its required alkaline state, calcium is leached from the bones into the blood stream. The majority of cows are milked while pregnant so all the hormones which flood their bodies are passed into their milk (not to mention the antibiotics). The growth hormone IGF1 in cows is identical to the growth hormone IGF1 in humans. That is also what is being consumed. You can see the implications. Then there is the permitted level of pus cells in every pint. Thanks to our scientists, cows are producing 5 times the normal amount of milk - their udders frequently are stretched to near ground level and they frequently suffer from mastitis (hence pus in milk). And so on and on and on ......... I would urge everyone to read the 'White Lies' report produced by Dr. Butler of VVF which can be ordered from their website - www.vegetarian.org.uk There are so many delicious and healthy alternatives to milk from cows - rice milk, oat milk, soy milk to mention just a few - and they are readily available in supermarkets (at least in the UK). If not, they can certainly be found in health food shops. With blessings to all Guru Ram Kaur UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2009 Report Share Posted March 20, 2009 Hey yogis, solutions are what people want to hear about, because after a while we all started hearing about problems with the mild substitute soy milk, and then you found folks wanting non or low fat soymilk. Low fat soymilk.....Oh my goodness! I'm gonna break my leg just trying to get away from you. What's next, the Middle East? Torture? Fourteen year old mothers? This party ain't goin' no where. Where's the joy? Build up agni (digestive fire) with yoga and meditation. Take care of that. After all, one's age is a function of their ability to digest, not so much one of their age. It is not, and never was, my intent to promote dairy with my video submission. Some of you got that, and much more. I was sharing a video about the value of the gong. Pretty simple. The Gong as a tool for healing, whatever and whoever. Start a new subject line if you got an axe to grind. There is a lot of evil in the world but lets try and see some good whenever possible. I do believe in silver linings, or else I would have long, long ago dug myself a hole in the ground, and maybe gonged some crack!......thanks Baba ;o) Blessings, Dharam http://gongsongs.com/links The ultimate paradox is that negation becomes affirmation -Rollo May Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 21, 2009 Report Share Posted March 21, 2009 John Lennon said, “There are no problems, only solutions.” I say, “Joy is a tricky topic!” Joy as a peak experience happens to everyone sometimes, to quote philosopher, Ken Wilber, “even Nazi’s love their children.” Joy, as a stable state is a reflection of living from upper triangle chakras (which intrinsically include and are supported by the lower triangle) and is the essence of Grace shining through the heart. We do the best we can from where we are. Yogi Bhajan gave us tools to learn to distinguish what chakra we are speaking from, or what chakra a person is listening to us from. That understanding is the path to peace and a function of the digestion of disowned aspects of ourselves. The fullness of the sound of the gong brings the mind to stillness. I recently purchased a 28” paiste gong and I highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience joy, find a gong and sing with it! I loved that the cows were moo-ved to join in with their voices! Sat Nam! Sat Dharam Kaur/Susan Brown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sat Nam Guru Ram Kaur, Milk has it's pros and cons. It creates mucus. In today's dairy industry, some cows are not treated as well as can be. Many people are allergic to milk and there are other reasons. In ayurveda, milk is often used as a " carrier " . Many prescriptions are formulated with milk as the carrier including using milk with triphala. In fact, milk has mucus producing properties. With certain herbs, milk can have mucus reducing properties. Milk can have a soothing effect on the whole digestive system and nervous system. YB has one recipe using milk, honey and jalapenos for colds. Without milk, this would irritate the whole digestive mucus membranes. YB also gave recipes to us like Yogi Tea. People asked him about using soy milk and substitutes instead of milk. He just said that he is just giving us the recipes like he got them so did not make a commitment either way. I think he was saying that the choice is ours and see for ourselves. I know one Ayurvedic vaidya who says that the cow milk in India will not give one allergies. I do not know if this is true but it is something to think about. One reason for allergies is the physical emotional relationship that occurs when someone eats or comes in contact with a certain stimulus and the body overreacts. This can occur because of the stresses in our society but also because of the things normally found in products that contain milk such as chemicals used making pastries, white sugar, etc. People react to those and it carries over to reaction to the milk, eggs, wheat, etc. GuruBandhu Kundalini-Yoga , " Guru Ram Kaur " <grk wrote: > > Sat Nam Prithi > > If these cows are kept in the way you describe that is great. However, it is important to understand that most cows are not kept in such a way and there is still a great deal of cruelty in the dairy industry quite apart from that particular aspect. As Nimrita has commented, cows are kept constantly pregnant, with their calves being taken away from them and the male calves killed for meat. The disgraceful practices in slaughterhouses need no further comment and that is also where the poor dairy cow ends up after her useful milk producing life is over. If we aspire to the yogic way of life - with one of the most basic tenets being AHIMSA - non violence - how can we in good conscience consume dairy products? > > Added to this you have the health implications. Milk is not the wonderfully healthy food it is advertised to be. Contrary to all the pro-milk publicity, milk does not make strong bones or healthy children - see the report 'White Lies' from the Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation (VVF) - in fact osteoporosis is most prevelant in those areas of the world where most dairy is consumed. Milk is certainly alkaline but it produces a highly acidic response in the body - to return the body to its required alkaline state, calcium is leached from the bones into the blood stream. The majority of cows are milked while pregnant so all the hormones which flood their bodies are passed into their milk (not to mention the antibiotics). The growth hormone IGF1 in cows is identical to the growth hormone IGF1 in humans. That is also what is being consumed. You can see the implications. Then there is the permitted level of pus cells in every pint. Thanks to our scientists, cows are producing 5 times the normal amount of milk - their udders frequently are stretched to near ground level and they frequently suffer from mastitis (hence pus in milk). And so on and on and on ......... I would urge everyone to read the 'White Lies' report produced by Dr. Butler of VVF which can be ordered from their website - www.vegetarian.org.uk > > There are so many delicious and healthy alternatives to milk from cows - rice milk, oat milk, soy milk to mention just a few - and they are readily available in supermarkets (at least in the UK). If not, they can certainly be found in health food shops. > > With blessings to all > > Guru Ram Kaur > UK > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Rai Kaur ji, You bring some good points into the mix and, of course, being a vet you've got my attention as I've always loved the science, except under Bush ;o). Neutrality and objectivity is it's cornerstone. May I add some more science to the mix? Sound effects the minds and bodies of humans, yes, but it also simply effects matter, and the very molecules of the environment. Doesn't matter whether you're a knuckle dragging bipedal hominid (like my brother), a cow, a fire hydrant, or the marble parkarma of the Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple), where the very buildings hold the vibrational memory of the Shabad Guru and nearly around the clock chanting for hundreds of years. The molecules there are completely different than anywhere else I've ever been (and no, I'm not doin' peyote....). Sound, whether heard or not, effects everything, and either blesses it or makes it ugly (check the Masaru Emoto link below). In the beginning was the Word. Some call it a big bang. Some say AUM. The Gong, according to one long Tall Yogi, and I paraphrase, "is not an instrument, it is God". (I don't mean to bring religion into this, and use the God Card, but......) Dr. Hans Jenny documenting the effects of sound on matter in his study of cymatics. Check it out at.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3csi-2Hrzhg & NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY6z2hLgYu go to 4:30min mark Additionally, Masaru Emoto ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaru_Emoto ) had something to say about one intentions and thoughts with regard to how they effected the formation of ice from water. The gongs Massimo is using the the video.... a New Moon Gong - 210.42 Hz and a Earth Year Gong - 136.1 Hz No where near the 8,000 Hz, or 1,000 - 3,000 Hz you make note of, and I would scarcely call it a "grating noises, like metal rubbing on metal", or "AIRCRAFT NOISE AND SONIC BOOM". You do make note of 1 Hz, which is so sub-subsonic and funky that I don't even know if the most tricked out sub-woofer can reproduce that without melting. Some people don't like Gong. Many people do, so one certainly can't make any generalizations about humans. I imagine some Cows like it (judging from the nuzzling one gave the gong), and some cows don't. My cats seem to find it interesting and sometimes can be found sleeping right in front of the speaker when I put on a recording of some gong, which I run 24/7. I play a gentle, grounding style. No appetite problems here with me or my cats, btw. Molly's a lil' pig! http://www.gongsongs.com/lunar/Wahhao.mp3 http://www.gongsongs.com/lunar/Lunar-sample.mp3 Sat Nam, Dharam Millis, MA "Different strokes for different folks" -Sly Sylvester Rai Kaur Khalsa wrote: Sat Nam, All - I've been reading this thread with interest for the past week or so from the unique perspective of a practicing veterinarian and a practicing yogi for well over three decades. I watched the video of the cows being "gonged," and my initial reaction was one of alarm. Having learned from Yogi Bhajan, and from life, that emotional "reactivity" is notably ineffective, I centered myself instantly, watched the remainder of the video from a considerably more neutral place, and then meditated on it all for a while. After meditating, reading all your posts, chatting with a few colleagues, and just plain thinking, I've concluded that my initial reaction was likely quite appropriate. Meditating with a gong for a yogi can most definitely be a blissful experience, but a cow is not a human, and the bovine response to life simply cannot be compared to ours. There are different incarnations for a reason. Dairy cows are lovely simple beautiful creatures who would not be particularly up lifted by attending a performance by the New York Philharmonic. I understand this farmer had the best intentions in attempting to decrease his cows' stress level and likely believes that the deep essence of the gong's resonance would vibrate into the cows' subconscious minds in a profoundly peace-inducing way, but introducing loud unfamiliar sounds into their already less than bucolic environment intuitively seems counterproductive. If anyone is interested in reading some science on the subject, I'm enclosing some notes from a few published papers (with citations to others) I sought out on the subject. I understand that it may be difficult to consider the sound of a gong as "noise," but remember your incarnation 1. ARTICLE: Milkproduction.com Behavior Mary Beth de Ondarza, Ph.D Published: January 02, 2001 "Noise Cows are more sensitive to noise than people are. Cow's ears are most sensitive to high frequency noises (8000 hz) while people are most sensitive at 1000-3000 hz. For this reason, cows may be more sensitive to grating noises, like metal rubbing on metal, than people would be. Intermittent and strange noises are especially stressful to cows. If they normally live a quiet life, cows will be more sensitive than if they always have a lot of different noises around them. In a Texas study, a ringing telephone significantly increased the heart rate of the calves on pasture." 2. JUNE 1988 EFFECTS OF AIRCRAFT NOISE AND SONIC BOOMS ON DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE: A LITERATURE SYNTHESIS Engineering and Services Center U.S. Air Force Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Department of the Interior "Dairy cow Exploding paper bags causes cessation of milk ejection. (Ely, F., and W.E. Peterson. 1941. Factors involved in the ejection of milk. J. Dairy Sci. 14(3):211-223) General noise reduces feed consumption, milk yield, and rate of milk release. (105 dB) (Kovalcik, K., and J. Sottnik. 1971. The effect of noise on the milk efficiency of cows. Zivocisna Vyroba 16:795-804) Tractor engine sound (97 dB) increased glucose concentration and leukocyte counts in the blood; reduced level of hemoglobin. (Broucek, J., M. Kovalcikova, and K. Kovalcik. 1983. The effect of noise on the biochemical characteristics of blood in dairy cows. Zivoc. Vyr. 28(4):261-267). General noise (1 kHz, 110 dB) causes an increase in glycemia, nonesterified fatty acids, creatin; decrease in hemoglobin and, thyroxin concentration Broucek, J., M. Kovalcikova, and K. Kovalcik. 1983. The effect of noise on the biochemical characteristics of blood in dairy cows. Zivoc. Vyr. 28(4):261-267)." 3. Noise pollution By Green Living Tips Published 04/13/2008 Noise pollution - an underrated environmental problem "In dairy cows, excessive noise reduces feed consumption, milk yield, and rate of milk release" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Sat Nam Rai Kaur Khalsa Ji, Thank you for your post. If I may add my two cents, I just wanted to say how much I agreed with your post. It was very informative, not only for the whole question about cows and gongs, but also taking great care in not responding to anything when in a non-neutral space. Something for me to keep in mind. This being said, I appreciated your perspective--it's not about us, but rather, about the cow, and its probable perception of the gong. The gong, in a barnyard environment, really isn't an appropriate environment--with all the sounds of pumps, cows mooing, farm equipment, cats meowing, plus everything else that goes on in a farm (I grew up on one), I don't see how the sound of a gong could help. It wouldn't help us either, really--imagine a Kundalini Yoga class in a barn and you'd get the idea. I did, however, see a documentary on television where they were playing classical music (the calmer pieces) and the researchers noticed a beneficial effect on the cows. They also noticed that they gave more milk. Also, in the book, " The Secret Life of Plants " , it was shown that harmonious music, such as classical music and easy listening (I'd like to add Kundalini Yoga music to this!) had a beneficial effect on plants as well, whereas disharmonious music, like rap, heavy metal, rock and such, made the plants grow away from the speakers or even die. Being interested in the sound current for some time now, I think it's important to distinguish between the sounds emanating from the gong versus conventional music--the former carries an organic sound, rich with tones and overtones mixed together harmoniously, whereas the latter has clear, precise notes in a linear sequence--both are quite different sounds. So, I think your post is absolutely accurate when you mention that a gong may very well be noise to a cow; I'm adding that conventional music, and not gongs, are beneficial to cows, especially in a barn environment. Blessings, Nadh Singh Kundalini-Yoga , " Rai Kaur Khalsa " <vmd3ho wrote: > > Sat Nam, All - > > I've been reading this thread with interest for the past week or so from the unique perspective of a practicing veterinarian and a practicing yogi for well over three decades. I watched the video of the cows being " gonged, " and my initial reaction was one of alarm. Having learned from Yogi Bhajan, and from life, that emotional " reactivity " is notably ineffective, I centered myself instantly, watched the remainder of the video from a considerably more neutral place, and then meditated on it all for a while. After meditating, reading all your posts, chatting with a few colleagues, and just plain thinking, I've concluded that my initial reaction was likely quite appropriate. Meditating with a gong for a yogi can most definitely be a blissful experience, but a cow is not a human, and the bovine response to life simply cannot be compared to ours. There are different incarnations for a reason. Dairy cows are lovely simple beautiful creatures who would not be particularly uplifted by attending a performance by the New York Philharmonic. I understand this farmer had the best intentions in attempting to decrease his cows' stress level and likely believes that the deep essence of the gong's resonance would vibrate into the cows' subconscious minds in a profoundly peace-inducing way, but introducing loud unfamiliar sounds into their already less than bucolic environment intuitively seems counterproductive. If anyone is interested in reading some science on the subject, I'm enclosing some notes from a few published papers (with citations to others) I sought out on the subject. I understand that it may be difficult to consider the sound of a gong as " noise, " but remember your incarnation > > > 1. ARTICLE: Milkproduction.com > Behavior > Mary Beth de Ondarza, Ph.D > Published: January 02, 2001 > > " Noise > > Cows are more sensitive to noise than people are. Cow's ears are most sensitive to high frequency noises (8000 hz) while people are most sensitive at 1000-3000 hz. For this reason, cows may be more sensitive to grating noises, like metal rubbing on metal, than people would be. Intermittent and strange noises are especially stressful to cows. If they normally live a quiet life, cows will be more sensitive than if they always have a lot of different noises around them. In a Texas study, a ringing telephone significantly increased the heart rate of the calves on pasture. " > > > > 2. JUNE 1988 > > EFFECTS OF AIRCRAFT NOISE AND SONIC BOOMS ON DOMESTIC > ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE: A LITERATURE SYNTHESIS > > Engineering and Services Center > U.S. Air Force > > Fish and Wildlife Service > U.S. Department of the Interior > > > " Dairy cow > > Exploding paper bags causes cessation of milk ejection. (Ely, F., and W.E. Peterson. 1941. Factors involved in the ejection of milk. J. Dairy Sci. 14(3):211-223) > > > General noise reduces feed consumption, milk yield, and rate of milk release. (105 dB) (Kovalcik, K., and J. Sottnik. 1971. The effect of noise on the milk efficiency of cows. Zivocisna Vyroba 16:795-804) > > > Tractor engine sound (97 dB) increased glucose concentration and leukocyte counts in the blood; reduced level of hemoglobin. (Broucek, J., M. Kovalcikova, and K. Kovalcik. 1983. The effect of noise on the biochemical characteristics of blood in dairy cows. Zivoc. Vyr. 28(4):261-267). > > > General noise (1 kHz, 110 dB) causes an increase in glycemia, nonesterified fatty acids, creatin; decrease in hemoglobin and, thyroxin concentration Broucek, J., M. Kovalcikova, and K. Kovalcik. 1983. The effect of noise on the biochemical characteristics of blood in dairy cows. Zivoc. Vyr. 28(4):261-267). " > > > > > 3. Noise pollution > By Green Living Tips Published 04/13/2008 > Noise pollution - an underrated environmental problem > > " In dairy cows, excessive noise reduces feed consumption, milk yield, and rate of milk release " > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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