Tattva-viveka
Prasadam and diets
Shyamananda Das - May 23, 2010 6:32 am
Hare Krsna!
I'm wondering about the principle of prasadam and observing diets. Some time ago I decided to not eat sugar, even if devotees would give me sweets. By hearsay I have heard that my Gurumaharaj has said that the first level is to just take any prasad, the next is to eat healthy and the last is to eat only maha-prasad or leftovers from other devotees. But I wonder, if a devotee gives me a laddu, is it Krishna consciously correct to say no, just because it's materially unhealthy?
I would be thankful for help! :Big Grin:
Guru-nistha Das - May 25, 2010 1:45 am
Hm, I suppose you could accept the laddu, mentally honor it and then give it to another devotee. Double sukriti! 
But I know what you mean. It's a fine line but I think the motivation behind trying to be healthy is what the whole issue hinges on. If your motivation to stay healthy is connected to you being in a better condition to do your service, then I think it's wonderful. But if it's more of an anartha in the guise of something else, then it's a problem.
You could accept maha-prasad every once in a while too instead of completely renouncing it. I don't think it's that bad for you if you have two laddus a week or something.
Shyamananda Das - May 25, 2010 9:50 pm
Thank you, Guru-Nistha. The maha-prasad solution feels right. Of course, my official motivation for keeping good health is to be more of a relief to the vaishnava community and less of a burden. But what my underlying motives are, I don't even dare to explore.
Guru-nistha Das - May 27, 2010 5:20 pm
I have actually been looking into some raw food cooking, just to balance out our diet with some fresh stuff. We have started baking whole wheat and rye breads and we have bread and home-made raw yogurt for breakfasts nowadays.
My Guru Maharaja also mentioned recently that he'd like us to start cooking simpler, healthier and lighter lunches, like bread, soup and salad etc.
What would be nice would be to cook a separate very opulent lunch for the Deities and a separate simple meal for the devotees but since we have so much to do right now, it wouldn't be practical.
Anyways, some thoughts on healthy prasad.
Madan Gopal Das - May 28, 2010 11:51 am
What would be nice would be to cook a separate very opulent lunch for the Deities and a separate simple meal for the devotees but since we have so much to do right now, it wouldn't be practical.
Why not the one meal for the deities and devotees on the simple side; soup, salad, bread?
Guru-nistha Das - May 28, 2010 4:02 pm
Because the Lords like their ghee and sugar!
Madan Gopal Das - May 28, 2010 4:31 pm
They really like Guru-nistha's gulabjamon juicy like bhakti!!!
Maybe a simple offering with a manasa side of bad for physical bodies bhoga? (gulabs, sweet rice, puris, pakoras, rasagulla... you name it! Sky is the limit!!!)
What's that sound? Just my deities complaining that they're not fed well...
Guru-nistha Das - May 29, 2010 2:34 am
It's just not the same to do it in the mind. Maybe if I was like Gopal Bhatta Goswami, but I got to practice a couple of maha-kalpas for that...
Gopesh Dasa - May 29, 2010 11:26 pm
Don't know if it can be of any help, but I find it excellent, very great taste..... sugar and salt free!!!
New conception of Raw Food... (not really new) http://www.rainforestcreations.co.uk/
Tadiya Dasi - June 3, 2010 5:45 pm
Interesting discussion Shyamananda & others.
I have been thinking about this subject, as I have met more and more devotees with 'special diets', including a devotee friend who is following the 'sugar free diet' like yourself Shyamananda. I've never been fully comfortable with the 'standard devotee diet', i.e. lots of ghee, sugar and heavy stuff. On my own, I tend to naturally gravitate towards more of a very simple raw food diet. But I also realize that it's not for everyone, and I certainly don't believe for a second that such a diet is making one more advanced spiritually or is in anyway needed in the context of bhakti. It's more like this: I'm aware of my own (quirky ) preferences when it comes to diet and I will allow myself to have them when it's just me in my kitchen and I don't have to worry about feeding anyone else but myself. I certainly wouldn't go around promoting one way of eating as 'rule' or as a standard for everyone to follow - as long as it's prasadam, I think you're doing just fine.
What I'm trying to say here is that we - as conditioned humans, as sadhakas - will have our uniques tastes and dislikes and habits (some like to eat, some don't so much), and those can be factored into the way we eat (and what we eat), but I guess we should keep in mind that we are all different and what works for one, might not be for everyone.
The question then becomes: Is my (personal) diet and the way I eat favorable to bhakti or unfavorable? Is it helping me or is it a distraction, or worse, does it hamper my practice?
Personally, I think Krishna gives a good general guideline in the Gita, where he says:
"O Arjuna, yoga is not attained by eating too much or eating too little." (6:16)
You can't go wrong with that. 
Besides, there is such a diversity in devotees regarding their diets and eating habits in sastra as well - we have the Goswamis who did not really eat, or Vishnupriya who did not eat much, and then we have descriptions in Cc of prasadam filled feasts where Nityananda eats unlimited amounts and where Mahaprabhu personally feeds the devotees, with his own hand even (and it's a big hand ) and takes great pleasure in doing so. So, it's not so much about eating per se...It's more about what sustains you, in a spiritual sense. It's about what (or for who) you are living for, eating for.
Coming from Mahaprabhu's hand - I would gladly accept anything, even gulab jamuns :He He: (I hate gulab jamuns), and I would not give a second thought to health/calories/fat grams/sugar/etc. I guess that's what we are striving for, to have that kind of awareness and level of Krishna-consciousness: to be eating from his hand and to be so dear to him that he takes personal interest in feeding us (it's said that the highest form of prasadam is one that just comes to you, i.e. Krishna directly arranges it for you).
Just my two cents.
Bijaya Kumara Das - June 4, 2010 1:50 am
Hare Krsna!
I'm wondering about the principle of prasadam and observing diets. Some time ago I decided to not eat sugar, even if devotees would give me sweets. By hearsay I have heard that my Gurumaharaj has said that the first level is to just take any prasad, the next is to eat healthy and the last is to eat only maha-prasad or leftovers from other devotees. But I wonder, if a devotee gives me a laddu, is it Krishna consciously correct to say no, just because it's materially unhealthy?
I would be thankful for help!
His Divine Grace was asked similar by a disciple about sugar and his reply was if it is offered it has changed so eat the prashadam. This has been scientifically proven by Dr. Hodo ?? spelling may be wrong but he is Japanese and took pictures of various effects on water touched by differing sound vibrations and the molecules were rearranged by each differing sound. I am not at home so do not know the exact web site now. email me if you would like it
P.S. every thing you eat is converted to sugar so the body can use it. Stay away from the fake sugars for most are made with protein chains that need to be converted to be used by the body and the body takes the first thing available from the blood stream (vessels) and many people are getting strokes.
Bhrigu - June 7, 2010 8:30 am
Personally, I tend to go with the idea to let mahaprasada override personal diets. The idea is to honour the mahaprasada. If we impose our own conditions on it, it might be seen as our wanting mahaprasada that honours us. Since most of us live in an environment where we can control our everyday prasada as much as we want, I don't think our health is ruined if we eat "unhealthy" prasada once in a while while visiting a temple, taking part in a feast or the like.
Babhru Das - June 7, 2010 6:30 pm
His Divine Grace was asked similar by a disciple about sugar and his reply was if it is offered it has changed so eat the prashadam. This has been scientifically proven by Dr. Hodo ?? spelling may be wrong but he is Japanese and took pictures of various effects on water touched by differing sound vibrations and the molecules were rearranged by each differing sound. I am not at home so do not know the exact web site now. email me if you would like it
The man's name is Masaru Emoto, and his water Web site is hado.net. Many scientists question the integrity of his research, especially since he's selling water for $35 for eight ounces. But his idea is nice, and if it were to catch on, perhaps more people would vibrate more pure sounds. In the meantime (just in case), let's offer everything to Krishna with a kirtan performed by Mahaprabhu's sincere devotees.
Brahma Dasa - June 23, 2010 7:33 pm
Here's a Sanga pertinent to this discussion.
Krsna's Diet is Bhakti
Gopakumara Das - June 24, 2010 2:12 am
The idea of prasadam molecules changing sounds like absolute nonsense and naivete. Really...can people truly believe this? If its bad for you, and you eat it in great amounts... it will hurt you. Thats it.
So how about this....honor it with your heart, as a special thing, taste it as a blessing, and then distribute it to others ASAP... so others can benefit. Do this fast..because it will always stay spiritually pure...but it may also materially rot.
Brahma Dasa - June 24, 2010 3:41 am
Prasadam means mercy--so by Krsna's will his mercy is distributed through the act of honoring and sharing Prasadam.
The essence of prasada is mercy.
Krsna's mercy is aprakrita-non material even though it may be received through things made of material elements such as books, tapes, videos, food, or the deity. When Krsna's mercy is distributed through material objects they are said to become spiritual. In this way prasada is spiritual food.
In my opinion the idea that the molecules are somehow changed in the act of offering prasada is a material conception.