namahatta.org - Congregational Development Ministry

by Vasumurti das

In his book, Holy Cow, author Steven Rosen (Satyaraja dasa) does an expert job of explaining the philosophy and history of the sankirtana movement to nondevotees. He begins by quoting Srila Prabhupada as saying, "Real philosophy is nothing more than this: 'friendliness to all living entities.'"

Rosen explains that devotees do not artificially renounce the material world, but rather engage it in Lord Krishna's service. Offering one's food to Krishna is a standard Vaishnava practice, which Rosen compares to the Eucharist in Christianity—sacramental food.

Pandu das shared the following on Pariprashnena.com:

I just composed the following e-mail in response to a "hot dog sale," which I intend to send to my office of about 200 people during lunchtime today:

I am starting to spread the news, promoting the concept of if you aren’t a vegan, and you drink milk from commercial sources, you are contributing to a system that slaughters cows. To offset that, you need to donate regularly to cow protection programs.

Visitors to my blog may have noted that I have added a widget in my sidebar where the connection to my fundraising page for GEETA ( an organization that protects cows) can easily be gotten to. GEETA is one of many cow protection programs that will accept your donations.

By Bhakta Jerry

I remember a particular day in freshmen biology class very well. We were informed of our next assignment: a bug collection. Here I am, studying the science of life, surrounded by dead animals stuffed and hanging on the walls, surrounded by many species petrified in jars, smelling the aroma coming through the window of cooked animals from the Burger King down the street, and now I am being forced to partake in the study of life by killing more creatures. Is it any wonder why vegetarianism, based on the principle of non-violence, is a shock to Westerners?

Reprinted from The Spiritual Scientist
By Radheshyam Das (M Tech IIT, Mumbai, Director, IYF),
Chaitanya Charan Das (BEE &TC, Editor, The Spiritual Scientist)

A two inch tongue can kill a six foot man. This traditional saying is being confirmed by modern obesity statistics. The prosperity of the Indian middle class is showing up - in a not-so-pleasant way in the burgeoning waistline, of over 25% of urban Indians. Obesity is the cause of diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks, strokes and a variety of other chronic diseases. Unlike infectious diseases which are curable, chronic diseases need lifelong care, leading to enormous expenditure.

The same trend is seen globally. Obesity, if left unabated, is set to overtake smoking as the number one cause of preventable death in USA.