shackle@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu (David Henry Fetter) wrote: >Madhudvisa dasa chiseled onto a granite tablet: >>gmoore1@umbc.edu (moore geoffrey ( undc)) wrote: >>>: The villagers have land, cows and bulls. They milk the cows, plow the >>>: fields and transport the produce with the bulls, and they grow food grains >>>: and vegetables on the land. They make simple but comfortable dwellings >>>: from readily available ingredients: bamboo, mud, cow-dung, and so on. >>>and disease. and a bad water supply. >>No they have wells and rivers.. They are careful with the water.. Of >Rivers lke the Ganges, an open sewer? Wells full of typhoid? How >marvelous! The Ganges water is pure and it has been scientifically proven.. I've heard they think there's some sort of radiation in there that kills the germs... But it's pure because it is a spiritual river coming from the lotus feet of Krishna... In any case it's pure.. >>course sometimes there are problems, but not generally. Disease is there >>but we have disease as well, ours is different to theirs -- that's all. >>They don't get AIDS, they don't have heart attacks, they don't have stress >>related problems, they don't get cancer... >And that's because if infant mortality and diseases of childhood >don't get them, they're geriatric from hard work and hard life by >age forty, assuming they live that long. Just great. They don't work _any_where_near_ as hard as Americans! On average they are working about three hours a day. More in the planting and harvesting season. But they have plenty of "leasure time" which they can use for making spiritual advancement. They don't have to fight the traffic jams, inhale the smog, and be subjected to all the pressures of our "advanced" society. And lots live longer than 40. They have a different outlook on life. They don't mind dying so much. They know death is only a change of body and they have a good idea where they are going to after death... Westerners can't understand it... >>>: Everything is clean and civilized. They are cooking very nice food with >>>: the produce of the land and the milk from the cows and their lives are >>>: full and happy. Although they are busy working the land, cooking, >>>if you like milk and beef every day of your life. >>They are vegetarians, so they don't eat beef. Their diet is so varied. You >>can make so many things with milk products, grains, fruits and vegetables. >>You have no idea. The Indian vegetarian diet is completely satisfying and >>healthy. I've been a Hare Krishna for ten years now and I have always been >>completely satisfied by the food. There's no comparison to the dull, >>unhealthy western diet... >I don't know what you were eating, but it's not what I eat. >>>: cleaning, bring water from the well, washing cloths, etc., still they are >>>: nowhere near as busy as we are in the Western world. They have time to >>>: think and time to serve God. When I saw this I was amazed. My Western >>>Ah, yes. God. That's what this article is about. >>>Isn't there also polygamy and wife-beating in this great village? >>>permitted by god? >>There are generally more women than men and in Vedic society a women is >>always protected. In her youth she is protected by her father, then here >>husband, then her elder sons. So in the past a man could marry more than >>one wife if he could protect more than one woman. It is not allowed now. >Sure, and next you'll tell me that Suttee is no longer practiced, either. >BULLSHIT! And murder is not practiced in the United States? I guarantee there are _many_more_ murders in the States than wife-burning's in India. It is a criminal offense and there are criminals everywhere... >>Wife beating is not allowed or encouraged, "protection" is encouraged. >More bullshit. De facto, it's both allowed and encouraged, as is >wife-killing, usually by burning alive. What a wonderfully civilized >bunch the Hindus are! My article has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the criminal activities of some Hindus. It's about plain living and high thinking. It present s the idea that you can live quite comfortably and happily without all the modern so-called necessities,, There are criminals everywhere [even in the United States] >>>: amenities we take for granted. There is no running water, no hot water, >>>: no electricity, hardly any furniture, no household gadgets, no carpets, >>>no telephones. no fire department. and wait... plenty of drugs, >>Mostly they don't take drugs in the villages, it's against their religion. >>And I don't think not having a fire department is really a problem. >You don't think so because your thatch hut hasn't burned your children >alive in it for its lack. >>>and that guy with a big house on the hill. but what has he got other >>>than five wives, large parties, food.... >>There is a sense of community in the villages. They do things together. >>They work the land together, they cook together... It's more like a big >>family. There are religious men and they are respected... And they have >>big parties to celebrate Krishna's birthday and many other religious >>festivals... but everyone's invited! >Yippee! Does that include the Muslims, or are they persecuted and stoned >to death just as they've been since Islam came to India? Once again this article is about plain living and high thinking... It has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the politics of India... >>>: us? The television and video are a direct line to the consumer society, >>>only if you buy the TV, and watch it. >>>: All the products and services are supposed to make life easier or to give >>>: one more pleasure. But the thing is these products and services were not >>>: created to help the public... they were created to make money for >>>: someone... that’s the capitalistic way of things. >>>they were created to help the private. >>>the village also makes it's "own" food. so that's not really an argument. >>>and the people have jobs for their own income. >>Yes, but it's much simpler. Life doesn't have to be so complicated. >Are you just typing this in by telepathy from your squalid little >bamboo-and-cow-shit hut? As someoone unimaginably rich by the standards >of those poor Indian villagers, you've got no call to fawn over how >wonderful they have it. If you *really* thought it was so wonderful, >you'd be in that filthy little hamlet yet. Well I would like to be typing it from Vrndavana, the village where Krishna spent His childhood. It's a very special place and it's full of places that remind you of Krishna. There is a very special river, the Yamuna, even more sacred than the Ganges. It's not so far from New-Delhi, maybe I could get a NNTP News-feed from there? I'm looking into it! Thank you for your response. Hare Krishna! Thank you. Hare Krishna! Madhudvisa dasa (madhudvisa@krishna.org) /sudarsana All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!
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