Hari Bol!!
I am came into Krishna Consciousness few months back.I gave up meat eating.But problem is my family is non veg.My father forces me to eat non veg...i refuse to him...explain to him why not to eat but still he asks me to eat or else he threatens to throw away my books from which i am reading all this... :(
I can't dishonor him...he is my father so i can't argue with him or protest against him as in bhagavad gita krishna says "Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence."
what should i do???? Please help me matajis and prabhu jis!!.... :'(
i don't want to eat non veg...i want to serve lord krishna :'(
Replies
Hare Krishna, Follow 5 simple step.
1. Do your japa regularly.
2. Read Bhagvad Gita Regularly.
3. Offer beautiful vegetarian dishes to Lord Krishna & then give it to your family member. It will change their consciousness.
4. Say 'NO' to Non-veg - every time your father tells you to eat non-veg, tell him 'NO'. After his repeated forceful attempt, one day he will get convinced that you have fixed your mind not to change.
5. Serve Tulasi & Cows regularly.
Maya in some form or the other will try to allure us to do sense enjoyment or wrong deeds. We have to say 'NO' to all Maya's Allurement.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji,
PAMHO.
You appear to be very young and thats why still under the control of your parents. Father may be forcing you, if you dont eat what can he do? Throw away your books? YOu can always buy another set.
Maybe you can trade with them - fine I will eat meat, you come to the temple with me, hear the lecture, eat the prasadam, do darshan, meet devotees. Do not tell them to judge or prepare them for anything. Try to bring them into KC as well, quietly. Do this for a month. Then make them speak with senior devotees in the temple who will explain to them. This will help you.
On the side, dont eat non veg. Simply say you dont like the taste anymore. There must be some foodstuff you dont like to eat and that is established in your family that you dont like it. Same way, dislike nonveg from now on. Dont get into philosophy of why you dont want to eat. Simply I dont like the taste. If they force, by now you would be having your own tactics of getting your way with them.
You dont have to disrespect them. You have to be firm with them about your priorities in life.
Another thing you can do is chant very sincerely telling Krsna your problem and asking for the way out.
My experience is - when we face hurdles in devotion, it is only to make our resolve stronger. Once we are determined enough, the hurdle disappears. Krsna makes arrangements for conducive environment.
BEst of luck,
Haribol,
Your servant,
Radha Rasamayi DD
If someone tells you to do something that goes against the principals of Krsna consciousness then it is your duty to disobey regardless of who it is. Not all devotees are lucky enough to be born into a family of devotees and in worst case scenario are born into a family of demons. In cases such as these one should try and respect as much as possible but never compromise one's service to Krsna or self respect. In Bhagavad Gita it says that once one wholly surrenders to Lord Sri Krsna one is not obligated to any other living being.
Hare Krsna
Not to make light but Haha I went through that in my own way. :-) 30 years later I heard from a friend of my Dad's that when my Dad ate meat he said to his friend not to tell his sons because they were devotees. Miracles can happen :-)
I do not yet understand India, but here in America it is already common to be veggie. I kind of led the way with a ton of people since I was 15...... now I never argue because everyone knows veggie is the way to go, especially with the new UN report that the planet is about to face irreversible catastrophic climate change and we MUST stop farming animals for the planet. You can tell them that you are following he UN. Meat eating must stop for the planet to survive.....
Chanting work's with or withOut the recipient's awarenes perhaps by elavating Hi's exp. Of awareness/ Chonchusness He will become educated via, direct exp. It's the I ISKCON Way. Waiking-up all spirit souls. You have this potential,
4-6: am. 11 to noon, & 6:-7: for example are prime chanting times, for exp. Of opptamum peace & potancies. As prescribed trust the mantra trust the chanting practices trust in Krishna's understanding of your needs & chant as a service for Krishna, not as a plee for your own needs. Krishna is not an impersonal energy He is a personal individual and the perfection of personalities.
& potancies. This us the understanding! Do The Work, chant
Pranams. I find your post shocking. I had heard of a devotee coming from muslim background being forced to eat meat but didn't expect it to happen to someone from hindu family. Maybe speak to someone close to your dad like uncle, grandfather, etc. to convince your father.
Please don't eat meat. it is grossly sinful. Maybe you can pretend to be eating and then throw it away.
For books I suggest you can buy a second hand ipad which costs around INR 10K and use ibooks. ibooks are close to as good as paper and no one know what you reading.
hare krishna ji,
if some one gave birth to you that doesn't mean they "own" you....when u r willing to respect them...they must respect your feelings too.
plus i believe when you have a goal in life and its more important than anything, any thing that obstructs it must be removed off.
elders is not depending on age its depending on the knowledge and experience...
i believe you r 18 plus and you exercise you own rights
no one can "FORCE" you to do anything . your life belongs to you and they have no rights on it.....when you tell no it means a clear cut NO....
pray to sri ugra narashima to remove your obstacles in kc....keep chanting dont lose hope...hari bol
I don't think anyone can force anything on anyone. There are so many things in life which we decide ourselves.
Likes and dislikes about food we eat is up to you that is minimum. You are not a small kid now.
It is upto you if you respecting elders is a great idea. But we do so many other things which they don't like us doing.. Are you following A to Z all that your father says?
We just like to put the blame on someone most of the time.
I also feel bad about your condition that you are so much controlled by your dominating father. Had you respected him.. you would not be even complaining here about him. Would just listen to him and follow his instructions..without complains.
Sri Rama didn't even make one negative comment about HIS father or complained that HIS father was dominating or ordered him to go to jungles.. He simply smiled and followed whatever father said.
Hare Krishna.