I have seen many devotees eating non offered foodstuffs, specially in India. What is your take on this? Do you eat bhoga or not? Do you go to restaurants? What is your excuse?
My experience, having had to raise children on my own, is that sometimes is just not possible to offer everything properly.
So, I'd say that it comes to a personal commitment and circumstances, if you easily can and you don't, then you are at fault.
If you try hard and you sometimes fail due to impending circumstances, then what can you do?
Somebody might criticize somebody else for offering with just "Sri Vishnu" mantra. He in turn will be criticized by not eating maha prasadam from a regular temple, and this one in turn might be criticized by a south indian brahmana for not doing the 100 thousand mantras, acamanas etc they do.
If Krishna says, they offer me with love a flower etc, he is not demanding a particular ritual but the offering of love, in whatever manner is presented according to the devotee circumstances.
>>I have seen many devotees eating non offered foodstuffs, specially in India.
Have you been to places outside India? You will find more proportion of devotees eating bhoga outside India. I can vouch for that having been to many places around the world. Some of it is also got to do with practical issues like very few govindas or devotee restaurants outside India. Atleast there are pure vege (no onion, garlic) restaurants in India and in worst case you can offer up that food to the lord from your plate. Not ideal but the lord will accept according to SP. But I know many devotees outside India who compromise (sometimes due to very few pure vege restaurants) and routinely eat onion, garlic food and sometimes even "vegeterian food" in non-veg restaurants. Having said all these, I do feel that life as a devotee outside India (especially devotees not living in devotee community) is tougher and one must be sympathetic to them. However, it is possible if one is firm. One can subsist on fruits when one is travelling for example.
No, I just meant that from I have seen devotees in India are not so strict about eating outside or offering before eating. The west is just the west...the wild west.
Yes, you can also offer supermarkets, trucks, maybe the whole world, or the universe for that matter but then what else is there to offer with devotion? It is also "isvaro ham" mentality.
True. But you know? Some karmi's don't want to eat foodstuffs prepared or offered to the deities by ISKCON devotees. They think it is some dark magic what is put over it. So actually the offering crop plantation idea is kind of good thinking. It is offered to Krsna with devotion. And in this way you give others (non-devotees) the chance to taste the nectar of the Lord. What Prabhupada used to say is:"The biggest mercy you can get is when you share mercy" :)
Yes I have seen that too. People not wanting prasadam because it will transform them. One guy even said, I dont want it because It will make me a hare krishna. He is right!
>>I remember when brahmacaries we used to offer a whole crop plantation, while passing by going on traveling sankirtan so >>that karmis ate "prasadam" :)
Unless the crop production belongs to us (that is is placed under our care temporarily) how can we offer it? It is not ours. Although the gesture is very nice, but I am afraid I dont find it bonafide. Can you please provide evidence of it being valid.
You offered it just to annoy us so that is not offered with love and devotion so maybe Krsna didn't accept it...and we can always offer imaginary things :)
You can touch the offering with tulasi wood, put dried tulasi leaves (what i do), or mentally offer tulasi on the preparation before you offer it. Must offer tulasi with bhoga or Krishna won't accept it!
aaaaah now we undertand cause it's not the best standard hehe. and why you don't believe in Krsna? you never did or you did once and now you stopped believing?
