Please help - question!

[Guest guest]

I have asked several people about this & no one has been able (or at all willing) to answer me -

 

I am a vegetarian & agree with the Hare Krishna stance on diet - but why then is silk use not prohibited? Silk worms are killed in order to obtain the fiber, why is this considered okay if eating meat is not?

 

Thank you for your time! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

Silk worms or any worms should not be killed uncessarily.

 

Why do you say they are killed? By whom?

 

They should be killed. I didn't know that silk came from worms. I'll never but silk again if that's true.

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

ops typo in the above message.

 

WORMS should NOT BE killed.

 

[Guest guest]

Here is a bit I have cut & pasted regarding how silk is obtained:

 

"The silkworm constructs its cocoon by weaving the filament into figures of eight held together by sericin, a gummy substance. The hardening of the cocoon is affected by heat and moisture. Excessive amounts will degrade the quality of the final product. Normally a moth emerges from the cocoon in a little over a week by producing a liquid which dissolves the sericin. Because this process disrupts the threads of the cocoon, most silkworms are killed before they emerge. The survivors are allowed to mate to produce more eggs.

 

The cocoons containing the dead silkworms are softened by being placed in very hot water. This releases the end of each filament, which is then combined with the ends of other cocoons to make a continuous thread for weaving. (It is estimated that about 110 cocoons are needed to make a tie, about 630 to make a blouse)."

 

[Guest guest]

The Chinese first domesticated silkworms about 5000 years ago. According to Chinese legend, silk was discovered when Emperor Huangdi ordered his wife Xilingshi to find out what was damaging his mulberry tree. She found white worms eating the leaves and spinning shiny cocoons. When she dropped a cocoon into her hot tea a slender thread of silk unwound itself from the cocoon.

 

The silkworm is so called because it spins its cocoon from raw silk. The cocoon is made of a single continuous thread of silk from about 300 to 900 meters (1000 to 3000 feet) long.

 

If the caterpillar is left to eat its way out of the cocoon naturally, the threads will be cut short and the silk will be useless, so silkworm cocoons are thrown into boiling water, which kills the silkworms and also makes the cocoons easier to unravel. A worker finds the end of the thread and places it on a winding bobbin. Then a machine unrolls the cocoon, winding the silk from five cocoons together to make one silk thread. Then the thread is woven into cloth.

 

It is interesting to note that one ounce of silkworm eggs contains 40,000 eggs (1,500 eggs per gram). These worms will eat 3,500 pounds (1500 kilograms) of mulberry leaves, and will spin cocoons which will produce 18 pounds (8 kilograms) of silk thread. It takes 1700 to 2000 cocoons to make one silk dress or about 1,000 cocoons for a silk shirt.

 

Each year countless silkworms are boiled alive in order to make silk. Silkworms produce endorphins, a chemical response to pain, and worms are sensate. Humane alternatives to silk include nylon, milkweed seed pod fibers, silk-cotton tree and ceiba tree filaments, hemp and rayon.

 

[Guest guest]

I didn't know that silk was from aninmal.

 

I will now not buy silk.

 

Thanks for the knowledge.

[Guest guest]

 

I was so shocked & disappointed when I learned of how it was made.

I find a lot I like in this movement, but the hypocrisy of not killing animals for food but allowing animals to be killed for clothing is bothering me. Even worse is that no one will come forward & discuss it with me. I have tried to contact our local temple & others & no one will respond to me...

[Guest guest]

Like me, others may not know that silk comes from animals.

 

So you should gently educate them on this matter.

[Guest guest]

they may not know. In that case I would hope that they would tell me this & look into it. (many members i have asked have told me they would ask someone, then that person says they will ask someone else & so on til the issue disappears completely) When the temple ignores me I feel like they dont care & they want me to go away (that may not be so, of course - but I do expect that they would at least respond to me, which has not happened).

[Guest guest]

Can anyone point me in the direction of someone who can answer my questions? I would really appreciate it! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

We are more concerned about animals than insects, bc they are more developed in consciousness. Therefore there is no strict prohibition against silk.

 

But nonviolence (ahimsa) is mentioned several times in the Gita by Sri Krsna as being a godly quality. (10.5, 13.8, 16.2, 17.14).

 

Srila Prabhupada: Real ahimsa means not checking anyone's progressive life. The animals are also making progress in their evolutionary life by transmigrating from one category of animal life to another. If a particular animal is killed, then his progress is checked. If an animal is staying in a particular body for so many days or so many years and is untimely killed, then he has to come back again in that form of life to complete the remaining days in order to be promoted to another species of life. So their progress should not be checked simply to satisfy one's palate. This is called ahimsa.

 

So therefore, we should not only be concerned about violence to animals, but towards all creatures, such as spiders, ants, etc.

 

Ahimsa (nonviolent) silk, in which the silkworms are not killed, is available in India.

[Guest guest]

I have been really disappointed by my lack of response. The *one* email I recieved was appreciated,but the idea was broached that at least the silk is a gift to krishna, if it is not killed for its silk, what good is it to krishna? This bothered me - and made me think - well, a pig does nothing of benefit that I can see, but krishna does not want to be offered that pig to eat. What is the difference?

So - I appreciate your response very much! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

And I did not even know about ahimsa silk! I googled it & was pleased to find the info! I hope that more people who do not want to give up silk will turn to this as a humane alternative!

 

Thank you very much for your response! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[rohit007]

Silk earlier (vedic age) used to come from discarded cocoons, so no killing took place, but in the present age scenario it should be discarded, any violence is to be discarded.

[sanjesh431]

Dear Followers, I am a 25 yr old graduate belonging to Brahmin community, fed-up with my life.

Can anyone tell me how to become Sanyasi ?

Neither I am able to succeed in life on my own ideas or with my parents suggestions, rather going for some self-destructive ways, I want to dedicate myself to Lord Krishna.

I didn't take this step in some hurry-burry circumstances.

I am clear about my decision.

So, plz guide me the formalities or procedure for joining the ISKON or any hindu communities.