It has become alarmingly apparent that commercially farmed soils around the world are lifeless and inert. This is because the dependence on chemical or unnatural intervention in the soils, the produce may look the same but it’s nutritional value is lost. The only way to undo this damage is, heal the soil for a few years with cows, bulls and calves.
A friend of mine related a story of a dentist who notice that in the 1940’s the clients jaws began to show signs of deformity (most people need teeth braces today) , it was a time of transition when people started to move from villages to cities and this change unknown at the time was contributed to “factor x”. It was later discovered that this was due to the lack of vitamins that were originally available in normal village life and diet.
Today however, no land is “normal” as the infiltration of chemical fertilizers/pesticides has infiltrated every inch of the globe and thus contributed to the increase of modern diseases – diabetes and cancer.
Gadgets, cars, planes, toys, homes, appliances…we consume at a phenomenal rate, no other species does so at this scale, yet the other species are sometimes blamed for environmental destruction, the reality is that we as consumers are in every case connected to the wholesale destruction of the very planet we live on at the same time we are proud of what we have made thinking that we have outdone the Creator.
It is a bleak picture, but despite the amount of chaos, our Mother Earth continues to sustain us. She has been advised to do so by Lord Krishna Himself. A common sense old saying is “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Having listed all the problems above is useless without providing a solution which begins with the seven purposes of ISKCON. Within the context of this article we will pay attention to item no. 6 below.
Srila Prabhupada founded ISKCON in July of 1966. The incorporation document states Seven Purposes of ISKCON:
- To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
- To propagate a consciousness of Krishna as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
- To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, and thus to develop the idea, within the members, and humanity, at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
- To teach and encourage the Sankirtan movement of congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
- To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
- To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
- With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.
The solution is thus “To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
In several other articles on this site there is scientific evidence showing the link between cows and the land, this is not just one thing but multi dimensional. Cows provide the following:
- Fertilzer
- Biomass
- Beneficial bacteria, enzymes and vitamins, it is accepted that B12 is found in the ruminant digestive system.
- Food (not only milk, but organic food grown on cow fertilized land)
- Development of healthy ecosystems giving water.
As mentioned above, it will take a few years to heal the soil with cows, bulls and calves, but better if all your produce was free from industrial expensive inputs like pesticides and fertilizers dependent on the finite resource of oil. The fact that oil supply is not eternal is an obvious marker indicating that industrial farming is not sustainable. The only logical way forward is to use traditional methods which are being recognized as a sustainable.
India must take the lead- not one cow, bull or calf should be allowed to be killed, they are vital to our existence, for the cow dung and urine they produce is more valuable than gold. Pilot models of farming using only natural inputs from cows are already in place and will serve as models for the future of sustainable farming and ISKCON should lead the way in demonstrating these models. A cow, bull or calf is never to be killed to kill them is as good as killing us all.
Ironically few notice that what the cows give us is more output with less input, they naturally eat only grass -give milk and produce fertilizer we humans eat all manner of things except grass and produce stool that full of disease. Thus cows are worship-able entities and must be protected.
Source: http://mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/cows-vital-sustainable-agriculture/
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