patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it."
- The Bhagavad Gita (9.26)
Even food and its preparation serve as a valuable spring board for deep spiritual strength, realization, and meditation in Eastern practice. The following information explains both the simple and the complex in making the routine eating process the most spiritually enriching for the body, mind and soul. Such intention and devotion to God in eating is not only considered the perfection of vegetarianism, but also the gateway to true liberation.
Cooking for the Lord
Preparing the Foodstuf
'Un-offerables' and Substitutions
Making the Offering
Mantras for offering Food
Honoring Prasadam
Special Obervances, Fasting, and Ekadasi
Cooking for the Lord
Guests visiting the Bhakti Yoga Club Sunday Love Feast are often puzzled by the ceremonial offering of vegetarian dishes to the picture of Lord Krishna on the altar--and understandably so. After all, what does the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Lord want with our little plate of rice and vegetables? Has He suddenly become hungry? Hasn’t He created countless tons of food? Isn’t God self-sufficient? Does Krishna really need those offerings of food?
In fact, Krishna does ask for those offerings, not because he needs our rice and vegetables, but because He wants our devotion. In the Bhagavad-Gita (9.26) He says,“If one offers me with love and devotion a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.�
When Krishna asks us to offer Him food, we should understand that He is actually inviting us to reawaken our eternal loving relationship with Him. At first we comply in a mood of faith mixed with duty; later, as our realization matures, we do it with affection and love. Just as anybody naturally offers the best he has to his beloved, the devotee offers Krishna his wealth, his intelligence, his life, and his vegetarian food!
Krishna is the ultimate beloved of everyone, but how can we offer gifts to a beloved that we hardly know? The Vedic tradition can guide us. If you would like to try, but cannot follow all of the procedures, you can remember that when the great devotee Hanuman and his companions were building a bridge of large, heavy stones for King Rama, (an incarnation of Lord Krishna), a little spider also pleased the Lord by carrying the largest pebbles he could! Strive but do what is fitting !
Preparing the Foodstuff
The Purchase: For a devotee, shopping in supermarkets requires care and attention. There is more to it than simply avoiding obvious meat, fish and eggs. Sometimes the obvious is overlooked within our preparation, as well. Here are some helpful suggestions:
1. From the shopping to the cooking, it is important to meditate on pleasing Krishna(God).
2. Choose offer able foods in the mode of goodness ,such as grains, beans, milk products, vegetables, fruits and nuts.
3. Look for the freshest and best fruits and vegetables.
4. Take time to read every label. Keep in mind that this may not be so easy to ascertain. Do not assume that products stay the same; they change.
5. Try to watch out for rennet (made from the lining of a calf’s stomach and used to make cheese), gelatin (boiled bones, hooves and horns, used to set foods), lecithin (if it is not marked ‘soy lecithin,’ it may come from eggs), and animal fats. Many products have it.
6. Try to avoid products with blank labels , that are made from cooked grains , and that are overly processed.
7. One must cook in clean surroundings.
8. One should have as little external distraction as possible. (its helpful to put on some devotional music or chanting)
9. Make sure the family pet is not in the kitchen while you are cooking or offering.
10. Refrain from tasting the food while preparing it, for you are cooking it for the Lord and want Him to be the first to enjoy the preparations. Out of devotion and love, we place ourselves second in enjoying the gift of food.
'Un-offerables' and Substitutions
There are also a number of products with specific characteristics that make them unsuitable for offering to the Lord. Mushrooms are un offerable and you will not find them in the Vedic kitchen. According to Ayur-Veda they increase the mode of ignorance. They have very little nutritional value, as well.
Onions and Garlic are also on the unofferable list. Although their medicinal values are highly praised in the Ayur- Veda, transcendentalists are recommended not to consume them because they strongly increase the mode of passion, which leads to loss of concentration, patience and tolerance. Besides the commonly known types of Drugs--caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, etc...also Coffee, Black tea and Cocoa are considered intoxication due to their effect on the mind. According to the Ayur- Veda these substances shorten life span.
A number of these items can easily be replaced. In In the Vedic kitchen we use Asafetida (hing) instead of onions and garlic. Chocolate and other cocoa products are easily exchanged with Carob, a powder coming from the fruits of the Carob tree (Ciratonia siliqua). Other surrogate coffees such as Chicory substitute pleasingly for real coffee. There are hugh varieties of Caffeine-free Herb and Fruit Teas that make it comforting to renounce unhealthy black tea.
Making an offering is a transcendental experience of lovingly preparing food as a meditation and spiritual service to the Divine.. Such a process provides a deep, loving and personal connection with the Lord, as well as a beautiful meal that feeds both the soul and the body!The foodstuffs that have been intentionally offered to the Lord are called prasadam, or Divine "mercy". The most important aspect in any offering is in having a mood of deep gratitude and devotion for the Lord's pleasure. The simple and advanced techniques mentioned here provide methods of spiritualizing your food, regardless of your facility, time, or resources.
Mini Offering:
Often times we must eat out in a public restaurant, at school, or on the run due to a busy schedule. The mini offering practically suits a sincere spiritualist in such a way as to simplify the ritual, yet still offer vegetarian foodstuffs to the Lord.
Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu, Sri Vishnu
This mantra can be used discreetly and in accordance to time, place, and circumstance. This name of God can be spoken with folded palms and in devotion of heart as you meditate on the foods you wish to offer to God.
If one is inclined and capable, the Srila Prabhupada Pranati, Gauranga Pranati, and Maha Mantra can also be recited as a shortened version of the regular ritual offering. (see Mantras for Offering Food)
Advanced Offering:
This offering is for advanced practitioners and is performed at the Bhakti Yoga Club Sunday Program. One who is interested in learning how to integrate the advanced offering at home can assist and observe on Sundays, while recieving personal explination of the following methods and preparations:
The Home Altar: First, reserve a special place for the offering. It can be a tabletop or an entire room converted into a temple. (The altar consists of a raised platform with a picture of Lord Krishna and His eternal consort Srimate Radharani on it, a picture of Lord Caitanya and His eternal consorts (the pancha-tattva), and a picture of the spiritual master. The spiritual master accepts the offering of the disciple and offers it to his own spiritual master, who in turn offers it to his spiritual master. In this way the offering ascends through a succession of spiritual masters, until it reaches Lord Krishna. Devotees who have not been initiated yet, or who have received initiation from Srila Prabhupada, use a picture of Srila Prabhupada. Devotees who are disciples of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples use a picture of their own spiritual master.
The Mantras: The After you have finished the preparations, place a portion of each on new plates or bowls that you have purchased just for this purpose. Bring the dishes to your home altar and place them before the picture(s) of the Lord. One should clap the hands three times to begin the offering, bow down before the Lord on the altar, and while ringing a bell lovingly recite the food offering mantras. The offering should remain for the Lord for about 5-10 minutes.
The Transfer: When you finish offering, clap three times seeking permission with gratitude and in closure of the ceremony. Take the dishes back to the kitchen, transfer the food (now prasadam) into normal eating bowls, and wash the Lord’s offering plates. All the food prepared is now considered prasadam. After carefully putting the offering plates away, distribute the prasadam and enjoy the taste of the transcendental realm! Before the meal, you can recite the prayers for honoring prasadam.
Mantras for offering Food to the Lord
The devotees of Krishna recite three prayers for offering their food to the Lord. They each are repeated three times. (The first is the pranama-mantra of their spiritual master.) For disciples of Srila Prabhupada and uninitiated devotees this is Srila Prabhupada’s pranama- mantra, the Srila Prabhupada Pranati:
nama om visnu-padaya
krishna presthaya bhu-tale
srimate bhaktivedanta-
swamin iti namine
namas te sarasvati deve
gaura-vani- pracarine
nirvisesa- sunyavadi-
pascatya- desa- tarine
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter of His lotus feet. Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.�
The second prayer is offered to Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of the Lord as a devotee, and is known as the Sri Gauranga Pranama:
namo maha -vadanyaya
krishna- prema- pradaya te
krishnaya krishna- caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah
“O most munificentincarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimate Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
The third prayer comes from the Visnu Purana (1.19.65) and addresses Lord Krishna directly:
namo brahmanya- devaya
go- brahmana- hitaya ca
jagad- dhitaya krsnaya
govindaya namo namah
“My Lord, You are the well- wisher of the cows and the brahmanas, and You are the well- wisher of the entire human society and world.�
After reciting these prayers it is custom to chant the Maha- Mantra three times.
The following prayer is recited before taking prasadam. It is part of the Gitavali written by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur--the father of Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master.
sarira abidya- jal, jodendriya tahe kal,
jive phele visaya- sagore
ta’ra madhye jihwa ati, lobhamoy sudurmati,
ta’ke jeta kathina samsare
krishna baro doyamoy, koribare jihwa jay,
sva-prasad-anna dila bhai
sei annamrta pao, radha- krishna- guna gao,
preme dako caitanya- nitai
Jaya Nimai, jaya Nitai!
Bhagavad Prasadam ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
“O Lord! This material body is a place of ignorance, and the senses are a network of paths leading to death. Somehow, we have fallen into this ocean of material sense enjoyment, and of all the senses the tongue is the most and uncontrollable. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world. But You, dear Krishna, are very kind to us. You have sent this nice prasadam to help us conquer the tongue; therefore let us take this prasada to our full satisfaction and glorify Your Lordships Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and in love call for the help of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda.�
Special Observances, Fasting, and Ekadasi
The Vedic tradition places equal emphasis on both feasting and on fasting for the Lord’s pleasure. Corresponding to these observances is a listing of events of honorable mention and the ways in which we can observe them respectively.
Ekadasi: The eleventh day of both moon phases is called Ekadasi (ekadasi=eleven). This day is especially suitable for withdrawing from the routine of daily activities and intensifying one’s spiritual practice. Twice a month, devotees take the opportunity to simplify and cleanse their consciousness, as well as their digestive systems, with more pronounced spirituality and less quantity of simple prasadam.
It is important not to partake of grains and the mentioned items as it is understood that sinful reactions are much more highly concentrated in them on these days. One receives great blessings and removal of sinful activity by honoring the holy day of Ekadasi.
On Ekadasi days one must refrain from eating all grains and beans, including corn, bean sprouts, peas, soy bean and sesame seeds. Be careful with the spices that you use as well, as most are cut with a type of grain flour. (It is best to simplify spicing to black pepper and salt on this day.) Be careful about the oils you use , as Canola, and most vegetable oils, and margarine contain or are made from corn. Do not use tamari, nutritional yeast, cornstarch or soy sauce. Avoid wheatgrass juice and all wheat and rice products as well.
Some good Ekadasi sustainables include potatoes, steamed veggies ,salads, dairy products, fresh fruits , nuts, and sunflower seeds. Olive oil is wonderful for cooking and for dressings, as well as pure butter and most fresh herbs.
Fasting: There are a few options that devotees choose according to time, place and circumstance. One may fast completely from all water and food for the entire day, one may have only water and fruit, one may fast until noon, and honor grain free ekadasi prasadam for the duration of the day or one may just honor grain free ekadasi prasadam all day as sacrifice in observance.
‘Breaking’ the Ekadasi fast is just as important as strictly honoring it. If one does not break at the appropriate time, the benefits are nullified. The Vaisnava calandar instructs at what time to break each fast.(for the Tucson area) If you make a mistake, or forget about the holy day, you can observe it the next day properly and still receive benefit.
Try to observe Ekadasi the best that you can in your food choices, and improve and increase your spiritual process of chanting, hearing, and reading about the Lord. Performing any one or more of these activities is highly beneficial! Ekadasi days are good days to visit the temple, honor the deities and the devotees and partake of the grain free prasadam offered.
Other Observances: The Vaisnava calendar lists the fasting days in honor of the appearances and disappearances of the Lord, and significant personalities within our succession. These are days to honor the qualities and pastimes of the Lord and His representatives with reverence, love , affection, and appreciation. The most prominent dates for devotees are Gaura Purnima, Sri Krishna Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada’s appearance and disappearance days. It is nice to honorably prepare special offerings in celebration or in the spirit of these events, and to kindly distribute prasadam for the pleasure of others.
For a calendar of dates ,events, and fasts for 2004, click here.
Yours
Dinesh
Blog:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.com
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