Dear Maharaj,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!

All glories to you!

HpS - ASA - Hare Krsna!    Hare Rama!   AgtSP   paoho.  Oooof!    Mataji, we have been trying to contact you for weeks!    You wanted to have little individual discussion about initiation, no?       Our regular Yahoo account is working like 15% of the time here in Vrndavana. So please write to us at our old address.  [email protected] with copy to one of your protectors, father, uncle, big brother... nice devotee guy.

Maharaj, I just recently had a very intense discussion with one of my mentors about cow protection. Basically it started with a comment I made about being anti-vegan. Since our preaching centre advocates veganism as a form of cow protection, I got somewhat reprimanded. Anyways, until then I didn't really know the full details of how cows are treated in the farms and it really had an effect in my consciousness. Of course, living in the temple gives me some difficulty in practicing veganism although when I cook I don't use milk. And I don't know what I'll do when I get to cook the morning breakfast for the deities because I must cook for the devotees as well. 

All of this gave me inspiration to get a farm here in Ontario for our temple. I mean, as soon as I voiced this desire to my mentor I was told to not act on something based on a strong emotion. So instead, I came home and started to listen to other senior devotees about the subject matter. From the sounds of it, maintaining cows on a farm is a lot of work! But it's a desire I have aquired and what I can do about it for now is to educate to the best of my ability the few people I know. It's funny though, another point brought out in the discussion was that Prabhupada, of course put a lot of emphasis on cow protection and he said that one should either preach or produce. Since my ability in book distribution is almost non existent I got so happy from hearing these words. I think I would be more happy with the "producing" half of our movement. It's still Sankirtan, however, a diffent form of it. 

So, I guess I just want some advice on this subject and if it would be something that can be focused on in the near future. When I feel like I'm about to give up, Krishna swoops in with a rush of inspiration. I really needed it.

Thank you so much and how are you by the way?

HpS - ASA - Hare Krsna!    We are trying to find our little, little, place in Vraja.  We get up early. Chant Japa. Try to access internet with our thumb drive, which has been 90% failure, but then this Blog is working, so we answer the letters here as a priority, and then try to go on with our American Bhagavata Curriculum, Bhakti-vaibhava studies.  Our Group starts Canto Two, Chapter Three today.

Our health is O.K.   Fighting little alergy (in Vrndavana (Ha! Ha! Ha!)).

Cows.   So many purports. I think if you go to the ASA Archives, www.jayarama.us, then you will find a ABC Index, and there you will find a few citations on cows, milk.   Vegan diet is O.K. if you don't do preaching or give administratvie advice to the King, but if youi need psychological power then you have to drink milk.   Best use of a bad bargain:   Find the nnicest dairy you can, some are worse to their cows than others.  If you can support a Vedic place, then do it!    We use the milk to fight for better life for the cows. Like the example of the $100 bill from the Upadesamrta.   I think it is text three.

We think nice way to start is to get the devotees to co-operate to buy and orchard.   Then they can visit it at times to prune, pick etc.  Some local Dude can keep an eye on it. Different trees for different seasons.  If it is left alone for even a few years it will spring back.  Then as soon as we are accostomed to the country somebody who has lived there for some time can start with cows for the community.

At 20 cows the number of deaths equals the number of births.  If half are ladies, and cow gives milk naturally 1/3 of her life, so there will be 3-1/3 cows giving milk, which is easily enough for 20 families (of 4), so every family has to watch out for one cow.   Practical, but takes time to develope, starting with apples!

That's our ASA Opinion!     Makes us smile.   O.K.   Back to Japa and look for you letter at [email protected]

I see you are in India!!! I recently got a book by Bhakti Vikasa Swami. I have not read it yet but it is about Vamshidasa Babaji. His samadi is in Majitpur, Bangladesh. This is very random info but very interesting!! Hare Krishna.

your aspiring servant,

bhaktin Rashmin

HpS - ASA - AGTSP!   Yes, is SUPER book!