I was so grateful this week to receive my first delivery of ahimsa milk. As I watched the pure white liquid beauty come to a boil I reflected how we in the line of Bhakti are so pained by the wholesale slaughter of cows and other animals for food. That so much violence is inflicted on innocent creatures is an indication of the low level of consciousness in society at large. Ahimsa means “non-violence”; the cows are not sent to slaughter after they stop giving milk. They are loved, cared for and protected until the end of their natural life.
So I was grateful to have truly ahimsa milk, and in that mood offered the milk to Krishna before taking my first sip. It’s a way of offering sincere thanks, of saying grace. After the offering the food is called prasadam – which means blessing or grace. When we offer our food to Krishna first, the food changes. Not so much externally – although some find that prasadam does actually taste differently – but subtly, spiritually. By the offering, the karmic reactions accrued in the gathering and cooking of the food are removed.
Prasadam represents the exchange of love. The offering is a way of expressing love, and receiving love. Then, when we share it with others, it’s a way of giving love. Prabhupada said once – “Prasadam means foodstuffs which is offered to Krishna first. This is civilization. If you say, “Why should I offer?” that is uncivilized. It is gratefulness. If you offer to Kṛṣṇa, then you are conscious that these foodstuffs, these grains, these fruits, these flowers, this milk, it is given by Kṛṣṇa.”
Being a vegetarian is an essential first step for spiritual life. It means you are taking a stand for compassion, for a healthier you, and an ecologically balanced planet. A good start. The next step is to practice offering that food to the Supreme. Krishna says in the Gita, “If one offers me, with love and devotion, a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” By the offering we are taken to the next level of our evolution as human being, our development of a deeper knowledge and experience of transcendence, and of our identity as spirit soul.
Only prasadam, or grace, can do that. So offer it up! Offer it with your heart and then eat with gratitude to your full satisfaction. And be happy in knowing that this simple act of offering and eating can bring about profound change – for ourselves, others and this great but troubled world we live in.
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