chocalate

[Guest guest]

Why can't we eat chocolate as isckon devotees.

[livingentity]

the other day in this thread Two Regulative Principles

[Guest guest]

Srila Prabhupada said we should not eat chocolate. But there is no shaastra talking about chocolate, because it is something from south-america or africa, I don't know. Some people say chocolate is good for health and some say it is an intoxicant. The same thing about red wine. I wouldn't use wine, because our scriptures say it is not good. How can we judge food wich is not described in the shaastra's?

[theist]

I think it may contain caffein. I don't use it because it is mixed with cow's milk. Try carob.

 

I mix carob with soy milk and banana in a blender. Quite tasty.

[livingentity]

Yes, chocolate contains caffeine. Acts like a speed type drug on me - I bounce off the walls and my heart goes 100 miles an hour. Not a very pleasant experience.

 

Causes too much of a disturbance on the mind.

 

Carob is indeed the best thing to use if you desire that taste without the side effects.

[Guest guest]

 

when ISKCON first started, the devotees were eating

lots of chocolate, all the time, chocolate milk,

cookies,cake,halava, etc.

 

Prabhupada put a stop to that.

[livingentity]

Chocolate can be very addictive too. Too much attachment.

[Guest guest]

Grape juice gives the same health benefits as red wine. Dr Weil said this.

[livingentity]

since most wines are made from grapes!

[Guest guest]

haribol !!

i'm initiated by Narayan Maharaj and we can eat chocolate... but not carrots !

However we have to be careful because it can be addictive. i think we should individually know what is good for us or not. for example, ginger is not forbidden but can agitate the genital organs...

i think it's better not to be too fanatical about that... try to follow the rules given, but if you love so much chocolate and that it cause a problem in your mind, try to gradually get rid of it.... like illicit sex, ....things change gradually.

personaly i wouldn't emphazise on that kind of rules for a new comer , the important thing to do is to chant the maha mantra, that's all.

i think us devotees should emphazise on the positive aspects and not on the "it's forbiden to do that" mentality.

Sunanda Dasa

[theist]

I have heard this carrot prohibition before. That carrots are like meat or something because of the color. Can you explain why some Gaudiya's forbid carrots? Is it the color?

[livingentity]

also tomatoes but in all my HK cookbooks there are recipes with both items so I do not understand.

[theist]

I think there is some story in one Purana,(which one?)about cow's blood going into the earth a causing vegetables to become red or something. I hope someone who actually knows will post the story in full.

 

What about beets, radishes and watermellons? I mean really.

[livingentity]

actually turnips? Either way, beets you can have..ick, ick, ick!! But yes, what about watermelon and radishes? I always see watermelons on the altars!?!

[theist]

well I snatched this up from the web. unfotunately it doesn't say where its from. Carrots are cows?

 

ANSWER:

 

First of all it is not vegetarian to eat onions and garlic. They have

discovered 21 different types of slow poison in both. So they are not so

innocent. Once, in Satya Yuga the risis were performing gomedha and asvamedha

sacrefices for the wellfare of the whole universe. A cow or a horse would be

cut into pieces and placed in the fire. Afterwards the risis would utter

mantras and the same animal would come alive in a beautiful young

body.

One time the risi who was about to perform a gomedha sacrefice, his wife was

pregnant. She had a very strong desire to eat and she had heard that if, during

pregnancy one has a desire to eat and does not fullfill this, then the baby

that will be born will always have saliva coming from its mouth. Very strange,

she desired strongly to eat meat, thus she decided to keep one piece of meat of

the cow's body that was offered in sacrefice. She hid it and was making a plan

to eat it very soon. At that time the risi was finishing the sacrifice and

uttered all the mantras for the new young cow to come to life. However when he

saw the new cow, he noticed that there was a little part missing from her left

side. He went into meditation and realized that his wife had taken away a piece

of meat during the sacrifice. Now his wife also understood what happened and

quickly threw the meat far away. Due to the effect of the mantras uttered by

the risi there was now life in this piece of meat. Then the blood of this meat

became red lentils, the bones became garlic and the meat became onions and

carrots. Thus these foods are never taken by any vaisnava because it is not

vegetarian. Plus it is in the mode of ignorance.

 

Svami BV Madhava

 

 

 

[livingentity]

I will never be able to look at a carrot the same way again!! I had gotten a very nice recipe from a HK cookbook that is made from potatoes and carrots but now....

 

Are kidney beans considered red lentils? I knew about the red lentils prohibition so I have avoided any type of red colored beans not really knowing.

[theist]

LOL, LE don't buy into these things. Were there no carrots lentils garlic or onions growing around the world before this hungry Brahmana's wife snatched a chunk of meat?

 

All this talk of carrots makes me want some juice.

[livingentity]

I can get some pretty vivid images after hearing such things and now carrots are going to well, just seem different somehow; you know suspect!!

 

The potato carrot dish is exceptionally good however. Nice Indian spices etc., very aromatic! Makes a very nice offering.

 

I am still curious about tomatoes! I read somewhere about them being prohibited but they are also included in lots of HK book recipes.

 

Carrot juice! I have not had any for a long time. I used to go to a fantastic vegetarian store in Santa Barbara that had to best juice bar ever! I miss California sometimes very much. Nevada just has not caught up yet.

[theist]

one of the best investments you can make is a basic centrifugal force juicer. I have used my ACME for years and it still runs great. I know there are other brands out there as well. Pays for itself fairly fast.

[stonehearted]

In Honolulu in 1974, Srila Prabhupada cooked a Sunday feast for the devotee and guests. Bali Mardan and I helped with kachoris. Srila Prabhupada made a preparation with eggplant and tomatoes that was indescribable. I've never had anything like it since. Watching him cut the tomatoes was a revelation.

[livingentity]

I actually have been thinking about a juicer lately. I saw one at costco last week but funds are low right now.

 

Can't remember where I read the tomato thing but since I see them in all our cookbooks I have not followed it.

 

stonehearted - I have a recipe for an eggplant tomato dish - I wonder if it is based on the one you were so fortunate to watch Srila Prabhupada prepare.

 

You witnessed many Srila Prabhupada pastimes didn't you? I encourage devotees like you to write memories before they become lost with the passing of time. I encouraged Jayaradhe to do this also.

[stonehearted]

le: stonehearted - I have a recipe for an eggplant tomato dish - I wonder if it is based on the one you were so fortunate to watch Srila Prabhupada prepare.

 

Babhru: Is it baked? If so, let's see if it's familiar.

 

le: You witnessed many Srila Prabhupada pastimes didn't you? I encourage devotees like you to write memories before they become lost with the passing of time. I encouraged Jayaradhe to do this also.

 

B: Thanks. I've been working on it. I'll probably put up a Web site this summer. I have a domain name but need time to design it and create the content--lots of links to other Gaudiya vaishnava sites.

[atma]

Babhru: In 1972, Srila Prabhupada came to Honolulu to install our Deities, Sri Sri Pancha-Tattva and to give sannyas initiation to one of his disciples, Siddha-swarupa, who became Siddhaswarupananda Goswami. Prabhupada was in Hawaii for 10 days, and every day he commented on the beautiful tulasi plants. At that time, taking care of Tulasi devi was my life's work. I started taking care of her at the beginning of 1970 when Hawaii had the first tulasi plants in Iskcon. Prabhupada told Govinda dasi how pleased he was with our big tulasis. We had a bunch of them in front of the temple and lining the sidewalk up to the temple. Prabhupada also said Tulasi was crowding the sidewalk a little, and he said, "It's an offense to brush against Tulasi." Another time he teased us by saying that it was an offense to step on her shadow. The next night the brahmacaris were trying to leap over her shadow across the whole sidewalk. Govinda dasi asked Prabhupada, "What should we do?" Prabhupada laughed and said, "Don't live. Don't die'."

Every day Govinda dasi gave me reports about how pleased Srila Prabhupada was with Tulasi Devi's care and I got a little impatient since I had been doing this work for two and half years. One night I said, "Govinda dasi, I would like to hear this things firsthand." Gaursundar, Govinda dasi's husband, was protective of Srila Prabhupada when he was in Hawaii, and we weren't allowed to get very close to Prabhupada. But Govinda dasi grabbed me by the arm, dragged me out to the car, and shoved me in the back. Gaurasundar was in the driver's seat, and Prabhupada was in the passenger seat. Govinda dasi said, "this is Babhru, he does all the work for Tulasi devi." Prabhupada gave me a great big smile and said, "That is very nice. We should always engage our body and our mind in Krishna's service." And I knew at that minute that to him I was transparent.

[gHari]

Braveheart is hording culinary secrets:<blockquote>"Watching him cut the tomatoes was a revelation."

</blockquote>

Then please do reveal given momentous revelation.

 

P.S. Babhru Prabhu, I know you always speak exactly so I am having difficulty putting the great big smile and pat on the back together with the likely much too humble word "transparent" in the previous post. He never saw me, nor I him. That is transparent.

 

gHari

[stonehearted]

Regarding my being transparent to him, I used it not in the physical sense, but in the more figurative sense that he could see through my pretense at being immersed in Krishna consciousness because I spent all my time either on sankirtan or caring for Tulasi. American Heritage Dictionary give this among its definitions for transparent: "Easily seen through or detected; obvious." Perhaps it would be more precise to say that my pretense was transparent to him, but that's not exactly the point, either. He saw and appreciated the service, as he always did, but he also let me know that he could read my heart.

 

The revelation? He cut the tomatoes so quickly and precisely, and as I watched, it was clear that his attention was focused 100% on where the edge of the blade met the skin of the tomato he was cutting. This was the essence of devotional service: full attention to whatever service we are given by Krishna (regardless of how small it may seem) with an eye to giving Him pleasure. That's a quick way to summarize what I saw at that moment, but there's more to it. It's a future project.