Annual GBC Ministry Report

Annual Ministry Report 2011

ANNUAL
MINISTRY REPORT 2011

Submitted by: Ministry of Cow
Protection and Agriculture

1.
Please write a summary of the achievements in your Ministry during
2011
in the following categories:

a)
 Education and Training
In 2011, I traveled to Mayapur
for the 2011 GBC meetings. I was given a ½ hour time slot on
the first day of the GBC meetings and used Srimad Bhagavatam 1:17:3
as my topic of focus.

I wanted
to bring attention to the fact that the great majority of milk and
dairy products offered to the Deities in ISKCON temples are coming
from sources which exploit the cows. These sources separate the
calves from their mothers at a very young age and then kill the cows
themselves when they become economically unviable. Many devotees are
using the excuse of ajana sukriti to justify these practices, but
what is happening is that ajana sukriti is becoming the accepted
standard of cow protection in ISKCON instead of actually practicing
life-time cow protection and thus showing the example of real cow
protection.

During the
GBC meetings in Mayapur I would go the goshalla every morning to
check on the cows and oxen. There is slow progress being made in the
Mayapur goshalla.

It will be
nice when the devotees themselves take care of the cows in the
goshalla instead of having hired men from outside to do 98% of the
service to the cows

From
Mayapur I travelled to Vrindavan for several days and stayed at the
Goshalla. I spent a good deal of time with the cows and managers of
the goshalla. The main problem in Vrindavan goshalla is the complete
lack of land for growing food for their almost 300 animals. All the
food for the herd is bought from outside at a great deal of expense.

Also a lot
of the oxen and bulls are tied up for most of the day and night which
prohibits them from practicing their natural function of grazing and
consequently they also have no physical exercise.

From
Vrindavan I traveled to Ukraine.

I landed
in Kiev and was taken to the temple and asked to give the Sunday
Feast lecture. That evening I took a train north to participate in a
Varnashrama conference organized by Dhanesvara Prabhu. It was a
three day affair and there were between 60-70 devotees from all over
Ukraine and parts of Russia.

There is a
great deal of interest in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia concerning cow
protection, getting back to the land and trying to implement what
Srila Prabhupada has labeled as “simple living and high
thinking.

The
conference was wonderful and the devotees went back to their
respective places very inspired.

After the
conference I was taken to the local temple and gave class while
waiting for the evening train back to Kiev.

I was in
Kiev for about 4 more days and gave class in the temple every morning
and also three or four classes to various groups of devotees.

I was
taken to a family who live about 30Km from Kiev and who have 4
cows/oxen and who are attempting to live as closely to the land as
possible. When they visit the temple they bring milk from their cows
for the Deities in Kiev temple. I gave some basic training to a young
bull they had.

I was also
taken to another devotee who has 10 cows/oxen and lives about 100 Km
from Kiev. He did not have such a good facility and no association
with the devotees, but was very receptive to take care of his cows
nicely. He had two oxen who we suggested be sent to Oleg prabhu in
his project close to Nicoliev, Ukraine for training. Several months
later the 2 oxen were sent to Oleg prabhu for training.

After Kiev
I traveled by overnight train to Nicoliev to Vraja Bhumi Dhama where
Oleg prabhu has a project and is trying to develop a village with the
cows/oxen in the center. At last count he had 69 animals in his
herd. There are between 7 and 10 families in this village. Oleg’s
cows are very well taken care of and he is training his oxen and
slowly engaging them in agricultural work. I continued to helphim
train some of their oxen.

Oleg
prabhu is producing milk for the temple in Nicoliev and another
temple in a city named Hebron about 1 ½ hours away. In this
way these two temples do not have to purchase milk from unprotected
cows. There is also discussion of producing milk for the temple in
Odessa, which on a good weather day is about 3 hours away.

I was also
invited to be interviewed on a TV show in Hebron which was aired
during the morning hours. Similar to a show in America like “Good
Morning America”. We were interviewed for 30 minutes on Live
TV and our message of cow protection was received nicely by the TV
crew.

I was
scheduled to stay with Oleg prabhu for about 10 days and during this
time we would be celebrating Gour Purnima on March 19, 2011.

On March
17, I developed a disease which very rapidly paralyzed my body.
Within 36 hours I was 90% paralyzed. On Goura Purnima I was taken to
the hospital in Nicoliev and due to the fact that I was a foreigner,
they really could not do any medical procedures. My wife was
notified in America and she immediately made plane reservations and
flew to Kiev where I was taken to the temple. More on this can be
found in f) Other.

As far as
traveling for 2011 was concerned, I was also supposed to have gone
to the Ukraine festival last September but that was cancelled due to
my disease. I had planned to go to all the farms in America, but
that journey was also cancelled.

My main
activities since I contracted Gullian-Barre Syndrome have been
reading and answering letters on email and participating in
conference calls and meetings with ECOV (a non-profit NV based
organization concerned with cow protection and developing NV as Srila
Prabhupada envisioned), NV Master Planning and on-going management
and GVIC (Global Varnasrama Initiative Committee). I am in the
process of writing a book on cow protection. As each chapter is
finished it will be printed and made available for distribution.
When all the chapters are finished they will be compiled and made
into a complete book on cow protection.

I am able
to do some light work now and I am training a young devotee here at
New Vrindavan on all aspects of cow protection, especially working
with the oxen.

b)
Publications

ISCOWP
News publication in PDF file
Archives
http://www.iscowp.org/newsletter-index-pdf.html

600
hard copies mailed out 3 times a year mostly in USA, 800 distributed
3 times a year (2400 total hard copies distributed yearly) and
available in downloadable PDF file on ISCOWP web page. These
newsletters contain reports of my travels as well as practical and
philosophical articles about cow protection.

c)
Website

International
Society for Cow Portection Cause

www.causes.com/cowprotection

6,102
members

On the
ISCOWP cause page we post pictures and bulletins and links to the
e-newsletters as they are published. We wish to be more active
on this page this coming year. The format keeps changing and it has
not been user friendly. Just recently, they are changing the format
again which is suppose to be more user friendly.

International
Society for Cow Protection on
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/internationalsocietyforcowprotectioniscowp

4,521
people like this 1,500 average weekly users

ISCOWP
Facebook page has albums of the visited countries and the
cow
protection activities there as well as philosophical quotes
and entries by other cow lovers and organizations.

Vrindavan
Album

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150546753709471.394627.138008309470&type=3

Ukraine
album

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150547059949471.394677.138008309470&type=3

Ox
Training

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150549497359471.395007.138008309470&type=3

ISCOWP
Website

www.iscowp.org

New site
launched n 2010. Many pages of educational materials on cow
protection and ox training, All ISCOWP newsletters available here:
from 1990 to 2007 in html, 2007-2011 in PDF, e-newsletters announced
as they are published and much more.

Life With
the Cows and Land

www.iscowp.blogspot.com

On the
ISCOWP blog we post pictures and links to the e-newsletters as they
are published.

E-mail

balabhadra.iscowp@gmail.com

I spend
approximately 2 hours a day answering questions, reporting, and
advising and counseling. There are still inquiries and questions that
I never get to. I am also now updating our Facebook page on a regular
basis and hope to learn how to do the same for our Cause page.

ISCOWP
Update E-newsletter

Archives:

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs001/1102923281326/archive/1103269798068.html

Reports on
my travels, activities on the ISCOWP farm, links to other cow
protoection programs. 900 members with more joining every week.

d)
Resources

The
funding for the Cow Protection Ministry comes from the GBC as well as
periodic donations from other sources.  In 2011 the Ministry
received a MATCHING FUNDS grant from the ECOV Corporation located in
New Vrindavan.  This year some of that helped with the emergency
situation of medical problems.

Also,
while traveling I do receive some donations for my Giriraja Deity. 
These donations are used during those particular trips for Giriraja
as they are given to Him.  Most of these donations are small and
to transfer the currency to U.S dollars would lose too much value, so
these funds are used in the country of origin mostly.

The ISCOWP
farm is used as a training facility.   We are currently
training 1 team of oxen and one teamster. During the summer
months we receive many guests who want to see the cows and our
gardens. It is also the main office for ISCOWP and the Ministry.

 e)
Challenges

 

The
biggest challenges the Cow Protection Ministry faces are many.

1) 
Lack of funds for traveling and preaching.

 

2) 
Lack of funds for developing literature in any medium for training
programs and general educational purposes.  The development of
these educational materials requires that different people involved
are taken care of so they may devote their time whole heartedly in
this service.  If they cannot be taken care of then the service
is part time at best and the development of the educational materials
is greatly slowed down.

3)Lack of
support from the ISKCON leaders which leads to a lack of
understanding about the importance of cow protection as a lifestyle
in the Krsna Consciousness community.  Srila
Prabhupada wanted a farm connected to each city temple so the Deities
and devotees would be taken care of with all bhoga coming from their
own farms.  Whatever great men do, others will follow. Without
the active support of the leaders then the majority of the rank and
file devotees will not be so inclined to help establish rural
communities and farms. 

4) The
standard practice within ISKCON of purchasing milk products from the
slaughterhouse diary industry. There are many ISKCON leaders who
actively preach that it is alright to purchase dairy products from
cows who are going to the slaughter house based on the Ajana
Sukriti principle.  By putting little to no importance on
developing a Krishna Conscious lifestyle support system, the same
ugra karma entanglement for ISKCON devotees will continue to be
propagated.

f)
Other

On March
17, I developed a disease which very rapidly paralyzed my body.
Within 36 hours I was 90% paralyzed. On Goura Purnima I was taken to
the hospital in Nicoliev and due to the fact that I was a foreigner,
they really could not do any medical procedures. My wife was
notified in America and she immediately made plane reservations and
flew to Kiev where I was taken to the temple. A friend of the Kiev
temple is a doctor in one of the hospitals and arraignments were made
for me to go to the hospital for examinations. Again, because I was
a forienger and also had no medical insurance not much could be done
except basic evaluation.

Because I
was scheduled to fly back to America in 2 days the focus was to get
me some more strength to make the flight and to also relieve some of
the pain. I was kept in the hospital and given some intravenous
drips and a series of regular injections during the next 24 hours. I
was then discharged from the hospital and with the help of my wife
and Kiev devotees boarded the flight back to America.

Upon
returning to America the pain all over my body became so intense that
my wife and daughter took me to the hospital in Wheeling, West
Virginia which is close to where we live at New Vrindavan. I was
immediately transferred to a larger hospital in Morgan Town, West
Virginia where I was assigned to the neurological department for
evaluation. Within a couple of days I was diagnosed with a disease
called Gullian-Barre Syndrome which is an auto-immune disease. It
attacks the sheaths of the nerves and eats them away which makes it
impossible for the nerves to send signals to the muscles, hence
causing paralysis. After the arms and legs are affected the next
stage can be that the respiratory system is also paralyzed and the
person needs a respirator to breath. Fortunately for me the disease
did not affect my breathing.

I spent
the next 9 days in the hospital in Morgantown and was treated for the
cause of the disease. I was then transferred to a rehab hospital ½
hour from home where I spent the next 21 days undergoing basic rehab.

All the
doctors say this disease can be 100% cured but the time period for
the cure is usually 9 months to a year and sometimes longer for the
nerve coverings to grow back which will then allow the muscles to
function again. During this time period there is extensive physical
and occupational therapy.

After
being discharged from the rehab hospital I was assigned out-patient
care and 3 different nurses came to the house at least 2 or 3 times a
week for several months to help with all the exercises I needed to
do to help the muscles maintain some muscle tone. There are certain
points of evaluation which I needed to pass in order to move on to
the next phase of therapy. After, the home care there is out-patient
physical and occupational therapy at the hospital.

The day
after I was discharged from home care, my wife helped me do some
outside walking. Unfortunately, during this walk I tripped and fell
forward onto my face. Because I did not have the strength to block
the fall my face was all cut up and I had two black eyes and also two
cracked ribs.

Anyway, I
am now at 10 months into recovery and by Lord Krsna’s mercy I
have 80% use of my arms and legs again. The remaining problems are
with the use of my arms and hands. The doctors all say that the arms
and hands especially will be the last to return to normal use because
the musles are so small.

2)
Please share your vision for the activities of the Ministry for
2012.

 Vision

The vision
for the Cow Protection Ministry for 2012 is to help the devotees
understand the importance of only using dairy products from protected
cows.  It is paramount that ISKCON stops supporting the
slaughterhouse dairies.   In Bhagavad Gita, Krsna explains
the two different types of people……Divine and Demoniac.  As
long as ISKCON is supporting the demoniac society then we are just
hurting the establishment of Krishna Consciousness around the world. 
People in general are favorable towards Krishna Consciousness, but
they see that the devotees have not applied the knowledge in
Srila Prabhupada’s books into a lifestyle with its own Krishna
Conscious support system.  Basically, as long as ISKCON
continues to purchase dairy products from slaughterhouse dairies, we
are not practicing what we are preaching…in this case, Cow
Protection.   Srila Prabhupada told us…”Example is
better than precept.”  As long as ISKCON is not
showing the example themselves, then people in general will not have
full faith in what we are preaching, what to speak of the devotees.

Training
of oxen will continue to be a big part of the vision of the Ministry
for Cow Protection and Agriculture.  Without establishing the
importance of the bulls and showing their importance, then cow
protection is only 50% at best.

 

Establishing
Cow Protection Ministry representatives around the world is an
ongoing ministry vision. Syamasundara prabhu is doing a great
job as the European Cow protection Minister. We are actively
speaking with devotees in different parts of the world to act as
representatives of the Cow Protection Ministry. Special emphasis is
being currently given to Spanish speaking countries.

Progressive
goals

 

The
progressive goals for the Cow protection Ministry are to travel
and spread the importance of cow protection within and without
ISKCON. It would be necessary to be able to travel to countries
which have not already been visited. I am having regular skype calls
with a devotee in Chile who is very eager to help organize Chile and
other devotees in Spanish speaking countries.

 

Many
people have asked me to write books on cow protection.. This is also
going to be given more and more of a priority.

To
increase our participation on Facebook and other social networking
sites, specifically the cause page, which has 6,102 members

Development
of DVD’s on all aspects of cow protection and Agricultural
development. Especially the training of oxen and the different work
they do.

To develop
a You Tube channel specifically for educational material on cows and
cow protection.

 

The plan
for the spring and summer of 2012 is full time teamster training with
the oxen and agriculture at the ISCOWP Farm.

Traveling
to the different farms in America for evaluation and training of
their projects.

Writing
and printing of educational material for distribution.

Needs

 

I need the
blessings and help of all the ISKCON leaders as well as the rank
and file devotees to firmly fix cow protection as a reality in
ISKCON as a lifestyle and not just something which is read about in
Srila Prabhupada’s books.

 

Of course
more funds are required.  I have a corporate donor who will
match donations up to a total of $20,000 given by the GBC and any
ISKCON leaders to the Cow Protection Ministry.   So
whatever the GBC will give, that donation will be matched up to
$20,000.

3)
If you have any message for the GBC Executive Committee, please
write
 it here:

 

My humble
request is that the GBC set the example in helping to really
establish cow protection as a viable lifestyle in ISKCON. The
offering of dairy products from slaughterhouse dairies only supports
demoniac activities of Kali Yuga and should be banned as substances
which are offered to the Deities.

TRANSLATION

The cow is
also as beneficial as one could draw out religious principles from
her, but she is now rendered poor, without any calf and being beaten
by the leg of a Sudra, she is too much distressed with tears in her
eyes and being too weak she is hankering after some grass on the
field.

PURPORT

The next
symptom of the age of Kali is the distressed condition of the cow.
Milking the cow means drawing the principles of religiosity in liquid
form. The milk means cow’s milk because it is liquid form of
religious principles. The great Rishis and Munis would live only on
the subsistence of milk. Srila Sukadeva Goswami would go to a
householder while milking the cow and he would simply take a little
quantity of it for subsistence. Even fifty years before nobody would
deprive a Sadhu for a pound or two of milk and every householder
would spare milk like water. For a Sanatanist (the follower of Vedic
principles) it is the duty of every householder to have cows and
bulls as household paraphernalia not only for drinking milk but also
for deriving religious principles from her. The Sanatanist worships
the cow on religious principles as much as a Brahmin is so respected.
The cow’s milk is required for the purpose of sacrificial fire
and by performing sacrifices the householder can only be happy. The
cow with her calf is not only beautiful to look at but also it gives
satisfaction to the cow and happily she delivers milk as much as
possible. But in the Kali Yuga the calves are separated from the cow
as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these
pages of Srimad Bhagwatam. The cow stands with tears in the eyes and
the Sudra milkman draws artificially milk from the cow and when there
is no milk the cow is sent for being slaughtered. These great sinful
acts, of the human being, are responsible for all the troubles in the
present society. They do not know what they are doing in the name of
advancement of economic development. The influence of Kali will keep
them in darkness of ignorance and inspite of all endeavours for peace
and prosperity of the human society at large, they must try to see
the cows and the bulls happy in all respects. Foolish people do not
know how happiness is earned by making the cows and bulls happy but
it is a fact by the law of nature. Let us take it from the authority
of ‘Srimad Bhagwatam’ and adopt the principles for all round
happiness of the human-kind.

The main
points in this verse I would like to bring attention to are:

1. That
   Srila Prabhupada points out two reasons for keeping cows for milk.

1. Milk
   for drinking

2. Deriving
   religious principles.

2. The
   cow’s milk is required for the purpose of the sacrificial fire
   and by performing sacrifices the householder can become happy.

3. For
   the Sanatanist (a follower of Vedic Principles) it is the duty of
   every householder to have cows and bulls, not only for drinking milk
   but also for deriving religious principles. The Sanatanists
   worships cows based on religious principles and respects brahmanas.

4. The
   cow’s calf is not only beautiful to look at but also gives
   satisfaction to the cow, and so she delivers as much milk as
   possible

These are all positive points Srila Prabhupada is asking us to
follow.

Now, Srila Prabhupada points out what we should avoid in regards to
milk production and why.

From this same purport.

1. But
   in the Kali-yuga, the calves are separated as early as possible from
   the cows for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of
   Srimad Bhagavatam.

2. The
   cow stands with tears in her eyes.

3. The
   sudra milkman draws milk from her artificially

4. And
   when there is no milk the cow is sent to the slaughterhouse.

Now from
this same purport Srila Prabhupada tells us why we should avoid milk
from these sources.

1. These
   greatly sinful acts are responsible for all the troubles in present
   society.

2. People
   do not know what they are doing in the name of economic development.

3. The
   influence of Kali will keep them in darkness of ignorance.

At the end
of the purport Srila Prabhupada mentions how peace and prosperity can
be brought to all humanity

1. Despite
   all endeavors for peace and prosperity, they must try to see the
   cows and bulls happy in all respects.

2. Foolish
   people do not know how one earns happiness by making the cows and
   bulls happy, but it is a fact by the law of nature.

3. Let
   us take it from the authority of Srimad-Bhagavatam and adopt the
   principles for the total happiness of humanity.