Guest guest Posted July 23, 1999 Report Share Posted July 23, 1999 To All, Thank you for your thoughtful insights on the question of meat-eating. My concern, however, wasn't about the eating of meat per se (many sources say even the Buddha ate meat). Nor was it about the slaughter of animals for meat. My problem is, rather, with the specfifc ceremony to Kali, held in the Dakshineswar temple, that involves the beheading of a goat. It is my understanding--through Ms. Harding's book--that this practivce is current and accepted. Again, what offends me is not the slauhtering of an animal (relatively insiginificant, when compared to this country's slaughterhouses). And while it is true a few worshippers DO eat the meat, the purpose of the ceremony is to placate Kali. This, to me, is senseless and misguided at best. ac \ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 1999 Report Share Posted July 23, 1999 Allan Carpenter <ALLANC Ramakrishna <Ramakrishna > 23 July 1999 17:02 [ramakrishna] Meat-Eating ALLANC (Allan Carpenter) To All, Thank you for your thoughtful insights on the question of meat-eating. My concern, however, wasn't about the eating of meat per se (many sources say even the Buddha ate meat). Nor was it about the slaughter of animals for meat. My problem is, rather, with the specfifc ceremony to Kali, held in the Dakshineswar temple, that involves the beheading of a goat. It is my understanding--through Ms. Harding's book--that this practivce is current and accepted. Again, what offends me is not the slauhtering of an animal (relatively insiginificant, when compared to this country's slaughterhouses). And while it is true a few worshippers DO eat the meat, the purpose of the ceremony is to placate Kali. This, to me, is senseless and misguided at best. ac \ --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- ONElist: your connection to online communities. ------ Sri Ramakrishnaye Namah Vivekananda Centre London http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 1999 Report Share Posted July 23, 1999 I was once thiking that we honour watever we eat or use. We call cow our mother for we drink her milk just like we drink our mother's milk. We take the share of cow's milk which is for her calf. That's why we call her mother. We worship nature n respect nature for it gives us all we require to survive. Once there was some discussion on list abt offering of dhaturaa,bhang to Lord Shiva. These r offered for Lord Shiva drank the poison to save this world. These things or meat etc are offered so that he may remove these from society. Similarly a Sadhak who consumes these during sadhana is doing the same thing . He does it so that these evils be removed from society. I think such yogis are called as " Shiva Yogis " . People mistake these sadhakas or Tantriks for someone who consumes liquor n eat meat . I am thinking offerings (not meat) offered can symbolize love towards lord. Also as Maa Kaali was born to fight against Rakta bijaa n she drank all the blood so that it may not fall on the ground ( Every drop of blood which fell on ground turned in to another Raktaa Bijaa ). She became so violent in battle that she became out of control than Lord shiva came forward to offer his head to her . It is only than that Maa stopped. It can be that beheading of Goat symbolizes that. ( I don't know if am right abt this story abt Maa Kaali for heard it from some friend ). On Fri, 23 Jul 1999, Allan Carpenter wrote: > ALLANC (Allan Carpenter) > > To All, > > Thank you for your thoughtful insights on the question of meat-eating. > My concern, however, wasn't about the eating of meat per se (many > sources say even the Buddha ate meat). Nor was it about the slaughter of > animals for meat. > > My problem is, rather, with the specfifc ceremony to Kali, held in the > Dakshineswar temple, that involves the beheading of a goat. It is my > understanding--through Ms. Harding's book--that this practivce is > current and accepted. Again, what offends me is not the slauhtering of > an animal (relatively insiginificant, when compared to this country's > slaughterhouses). And while it is true a few worshippers DO eat the > meat, the purpose of the ceremony is to placate Kali. This, to me, is > senseless and misguided at best. > > ac > > \ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 26, 1999 Report Share Posted July 26, 1999 Allan, Your concern was for a goat sacrifice ritual still conducted at the sacred Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar, which became a world famous pilgrim centre by the hallowed memory of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna. I fully understand your concern. But please remember that this temple is in a place where the ordinary people including the Brahmins consumed mutton, almost as their staple food. Basically, this custom must have originated from the idea of offering their best staple food to their beloved deity. The simplest way of providing a balanced diet in an affordable price for the common man is to resort to the non-vegetarian food. Hence the meat offering still continues there as there is still a lot of meat eating going on in that part of India. During Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna` s time, he never used to visit Kali Temple shrine on the days of sacrifices through the south coutyard of the Nat Mandir to avoid the scene of the sacrificial post there. But he never objected to it either. Takur was a " builder " ; not a " destroyer " . He guided the followers from the station where they stand. In Him everything is positive. If you can eat meat by killing a goat, why don`t you first kill the goat in front of your Mother and offer it to Her and eat Her prasad ? Swami Vivekananda is also educating in this line his beloved disciple, Sister Nivedita when she was horrified and objected to the sacrifices in temples. But I was told that in spite of the big hue and cry by the public, in Calcutta Newspapers, regarding the transfer of the Kali temple administration to the authorities of the RK Mission, the venerable monks of the Order are keeping aloof on this issue mainly because of this animal sacrifice. Belur Math cannot run an institution where animals are killed in front of the shrine ! This represents the modern concerns like yours and mine. But a meat eating Kali devotee will innocently ask why not the whole process of his eating be started ceremoniously and ritually at the benign presence of his Beloved Mother. Every one needs a place to lean upon in this world of misery and uncertainty. Kali is definitely was a Goddess of the ordinary poor. Ramaprasad and Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna ratified the this Kali worship of the ordinary poor in a sublime way proving the efficacy of worship irrespective of the fact that they are elegant symbols or ordinary symbols. So this controversy of animal sacrifice will vanish once for all if we try to see the mental attitude by which worships are offered to the Lord Almighty. - Allan Carpenter <ALLANC <Ramakrishna > Friday, July 23, 1999 7:18 PM [ramakrishna] Meat-Eating > ALLANC (Allan Carpenter) > > To All, > > Thank you for your thoughtful insights on the question of meat-eating. > My concern, however, wasn't about the eating of meat per se (many > sources say even the Buddha ate meat). Nor was it about the slaughter of > animals for meat. > > My problem is, rather, with the specfifc ceremony to Kali, held in the > Dakshineswar temple, that involves the beheading of a goat. It is my > understanding--through Ms. Harding's book--that this practivce is > current and accepted. Again, what offends me is not the slauhtering of > an animal (relatively insiginificant, when compared to this country's > slaughterhouses). And while it is true a few worshippers DO eat the > meat, the purpose of the ceremony is to placate Kali. This, to me, is > senseless and misguided at best. > > ac > > \ > > > --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- > > ONElist: your connection to online communities. > > ------ > Sri Ramakrishnaye Namah > Vivekananda Centre London > http://www.btinternet.com/~vivekananda/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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