TEXAS FAITH 88: Why do we say grace over a meal, including at Thanksgiving?

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

We are only two days away from Thanksgiving, when many of us will join others for a wonderful meal around a table. Presumably, many will say thanks and offer a prayer.

The writer Anne Lamott offered her observations about saying grace in this Parade article. The piece is based upon her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers.

Here’s one quote from her Parade essay that struck me as realistic and pertinent:

“We’ve all been held hostage by grace sayers who use the opportunity to work the room, like the Church Lady. But more often, people simply say thank you — we understand how far short we must fall, how selfish we can be, how-self-righteous, what brats. And yet God has given us this marvelous meal.”

She has her take on saying thanks, which I rather like. But why do we say grace over a meal, including a traditional one like the Thanksgiving dinner?

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

What I practice is often called the kitchen religion.  For example, last Sunday our temple held a festival wherein we had a 1000+ preparation feast.  Sacred food is part of our every day life, for spirituality should not be a once a week event but rather 24/7.  

How can we do this practically? Everyone has to eat, and food is produced by the mercy of God.  We cannot eat nuts and bolts from factories.  So out of respect, food should be first cooked and offered to God.  This offering is not simply an affair of respect.  Cooking for someone is a natural way to express love.  So in the intermediate stages such an offering may be out of respect, but in the advanced stage it is out of love. 

Love means that acts are done selflessly for the other person's benefit.  Sacred literature proclaims that one can offer pure foods - vegetarian food - to God and He will accept if it cooked and offered with love.  That is what called a karma free diet: no one is harmed, and even the soul in the vegetables that are offered are benefited.  Such food is called prasadam.

One is example is that of a wife who eagerly awaits for her husband to return from war.  On the day of his return, she goes to the grocery store buying ingredients for the food that she thinks that he would like.  She then cooks that food and lovingly serves him when arrives at home.  So her shopping and cooking and serving are all being done with the meditation pleasing her husband.  So similarly one can shop, cook and offer food to God with loving feelings.  Therefore not only moment of saying grace is sacred but the entire endeavor down to the trip to the grocery store becomes a spiritual meditation.  By offering vegetarian food not only is the turkey thankful but even God Himself is pleased to see that we are following His commandment of Thou shalt not kill.

 

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 87: After the election, how do we become one?

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

By the time this answer gets posted, Election Day will have arrived. The presidential campaigns will have made their closing arguments. Supporters will have advocated for their candidate. And, if polls are any guide, Americans will be pretty evenly divided.

So, barring another Florida, America will wake up Wednesday with one side joyously happy and another bitterly disappointed. Or, that’s how core supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will feel. The losing side will be tempted to demonize those who voted for the winner. And the winner’s supporters will be tempted to gloat about the victory.

Neither response will help the country move forward as one. Neither response will help us move beyond the politics of division. And neither will help us realize that we really function best as a country when we balance individuality with community.

With that in mind, here’s the question for this week:

“What is the message that different faith traditions can send about the importance of being one?”

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Everyone speaks about some so-called brotherhood, but generally there is no mention of the father. Unless we can recognize the supreme fatherhood of God, we will never realize any sort of brotherhood or unity. As long as people speak in terms of ‘my’ God and ‘your’ God or ‘there is no God’ there will be no factual brotherhood whatsoever.

In the United Nations, for instance, all the nations have their particular national ambitions, and consequently they cannot be united.

In a Krishna Conscious, or God Conscious, society, individuals have the mutual goal of giving pleasure to the Supreme Father. The ripples caused by stones thrown in a pool at one point do not interfere with other ripples. Rather, they create strength.

Similarly, the God Conscious help each other rather than compete. A true leader protects all prajas (those born in his kingdom) - not just the Caucasians or African Americans, but all creatures - from injustice. Thus there is the most often ignored commandment, thou shalt not kill.

In regard to oneness, advaita, in theism the Vedas exclaim unity in diversity. Hence the oneness of God must not overshadow His diversity. God is in everything but God is not so impotent that He loses His own individual existence. Just as the sunlight spreads everywhere but the Sun planet continues to exist.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 86: Do we thirst too much for political leaders?

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

“I have spent the last several days in Colorado, interviewing voters in that very swing state. If predictions hold up, we are down to only a handful of states that matter now to each campaign.

Last week, both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama campaigned in Denver. Romney drew 10,000 people at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Obama drew 16,000 in City Park.

By all reports, the crowds were enthusiastic. If you like politics, this is when campaigns turn fun and bubble over with energy.

But as this campaign draws to an end after more than a year of rallies, debates, speeches, ads and strategy sessions, I have also been thinking of something else:

Do we thirst too much for a leader?

I love our democracy as much as the next person. And I really like the thrill of a campaign. But it has been 10 months and many dollars since New
Hampshire and we still haven’t selected the next president. At moments during this marathon, it has felt like we spend too much time and energy searching for a leader, almost like a people who want a king to come fix their problems for them.

What do you think? Is this just democracy-in-action? Or are we too hungry for a leader?”

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

I do not have much faith in our democracy. We do not know what is an ideal leader, so our enthusiasm is misplaced. One proper leader is far better than hundreds of ministerial puppets put into a position in an X Factor-like fashion. A proper leader is toned by training and responsibility, rather being swayed to win the popularity contest.

The working class are like the legs of the social body, the business class the stomach, the political leaders the arms which protect. The best political systems are when the leader takes guidance from morally upstanding spiritual philosophers who are unconcerned with financial gain. Such philosophers are the head of the social body.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 85: With more Americans not identifying with any faith, what’s the future of religion?

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

“The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion is growing at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 –are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in polling by the Pew Research Center. In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all U.S. adults. They include self-described atheists and agnostics but increasingly people who say they are spiritual but have no particular religious affiliation. This large and growing group of Americans is less religious than the public at large on many conventional measures, including frequency of attendance at religious services and the degree of importance they attach to religion in their lives.

With few exceptions, they say they are not looking for a religion that would be right for them. Overwhelmingly, they think that religious organizations are too concerned with money and power, too focused on rules and too involved in politics. The growth in the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans – sometimes called the rise of the “nones” –is largely driven by generational replacement, the gradual supplanting of older generations by newer ones.

These findings invite two questions:

What is it that the institutions of religion are not providing a growing number of people? And if this younger generation remains unaffiliated as it ages, what’s the future of religion?”

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

Doubt is being taught in growing numbers.  Doubt is a sign of intelligence.  But blind doubt, such as rejecting spirituality without an extensive investigation, is a sign of ignorance, as is blind faith. Due to the blind doubt in the minds of populace, people are not apt to accept religious institutions.  This is because most religious institutions present a doubtful presentation of God.  A God who is far from perfect in His own personality and character.  A character that is presented as envious, a being who causes meaningless eternal suffering.  For if hell is eternal there is no meaning to it, for there is no point of correction.

Vague conceptions of the soul where some living things have a soul and for some reason other living things do not.  All to be blindly accepted.

The second cause is that this is the instant gratification fast-food culture, without wisdom for long term gains.  So religion is only seen as to possibly have some long term gain and therefore it is seen to be of little value.
What are the institutions not providing?  Well first of all, philosophically weak religious theologies.  People generally go to a university to study philosophy rather than a religious institution. Because they do not expect to find sound logic and philosophy there, but rather just blind faith.

Faith should be supported by reason and experience.
The second item that is lacking is transcendental experiences. Because people are not experiencing the happiness of spiritual life they are unsure about its relevance to their daily life.

   If the priests who are teaching still rely on cigarettes, alcohol, wealth, adoration, fame, and so on, to satisfy their starving hearts, how then will they be able to feed the hungry souls of their congregation.

Therefore in as much as he is hungry for the temporary we can understand how much he is really tasting of the sweetness of the eternal.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

Dangerous paramours of the mind

 

Police say man stabbed ex’s new boyfriend as they slept in her Fort Worth home

Similarly Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam fifth canto chapter six warns the yogi of the dangerous paramours of the mind.

nityaṁ dadāti kāmasya
cchidraṁ tam anu ye ’rayaḥ
yoginaḥ kṛta-maitrasya
patyur jāyeva puṁścalī

4. An unchaste woman is very easily carried away by paramours, and it sometimes happens that her husband is violently killed by her paramours. If the yogī gives his mind a chance and does not restrain it, his mind will give facility to enemies like lust, anger and greed, and they will doubtlessly kill the yogī.

An uncontrolled mind and an unchaste wife are the same. An unchaste wife can kill her husband at any time, and an uncontrolled mind, followed by (paramours) lust, anger, greed, madness, envy and illusion, can certainly kill the yogī. When the yogī is controlled by the mind, he falls down into the material condition. One should be very careful of the mind, just as a husband should be careful of an unchaste wife. – purport by Srila Prabhupada

5. The mind is the root cause of lust, anger, pride, greed, lamentation, illusion and fear. Combined, these constitute bondage to fruitive activity. What learned man would put faith in the mind?

Purport:

The mind is the original cause of material bondage. It is followed by many enemies, such as anger, pride, greed, lamentation, illusion and fear. The best way to control the mind is to engage it always in Kṛṣṇa consciousness (sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ). Since the followers of the mind bring about material bondage, we should be very careful not to trust the mind.

TEXAS FAITH 84: The morality of drone warfare

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

“Drone warfare. It’s become a major new way to fight battles. Except those doing the fighting may be in a cubicle in a town here in the United States. In fact, the chances are they will be working here, far from the battlefield.

Of course, the good news is the soldiers operating the drones are not in harm’s way. Nor are they spending months, if not years, away from their families in a distant country.

But they are using the advances in technology to track and kill people halfway around the world. This new form of warfare has raised a number of moral questions. This collection of posts from Andrew Sullivan on the subject provides an insight into some issues in play. And here is another link worth looking at from the Wall Street Journal.

Also, the Journal reported this week in a front-page article that there is not much international law on this subject. That vacuum matters in numerous ways, but especially when it comes to determining whether we are actually declaring war on nations that only tacitly give us approval to use drones in their countries.

I am not looking for applications of international law here, but I would like to hear how your faith informs your thinking about drone
strikes. So, here’s this week’s question:

What moral issues, if any, give you pause about drone warfare? ”

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

In the ancient Vedic culture, a true soldier is brave. The leader stands in front of the battle. Battles happen on battlegrounds, rather than cities. Generals would fight those of similar abilities. No merchants, laborers, or others could become soldiers, rather only those who have the qualities of a soldier and life- long training of a soldier are allowed to fight.

Thus the fighting does not involve anyone but actual brave warriors. Like the ancient samurai, there was a code of honor. Enemies would even dine together during evening as fighting took place only during the day.

Drone warfare is a sign of the times. In this age there is no sense duty but rather only cowardice. Duty means behavior that benefits all. But as selfishness increases, we abandon duty for immediate personal benefit.

The only way members of society can develop behaviors that are dutiful is by becoming spiritually satisfied. As long as there is no spiritual satisfaction, people will abandon higher principles for fleeting personal benefit.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.

TEXAS FAITH 83: Is separation of church and state an idea to keep religious people out of the public arena?

Dallas Morning News,

Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.

“In a conference call with Christian conservatives, Gov. Rick Perry dismissed the separation of church and state as an idea advanced to drive “people of faith from the public arena.” The governor went on to say Satan is using it to keep Christians from actively engaging in public policy. “The idea that we should be sent to the sidelines I would suggest to you is very driven by those who are not truthful, Satan runs across the world with his doubt and with his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there is driven – is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena.”

The governor’s take on theology and American history got mixed reviews – at best – from our Texas Faith panel of pastors, teachers, theologians, lay leaders and religious experts. The recent conference call was an effort to motivate conservative Christians to vote their values in November. Perry used language familiar to social conservatives – “spiritual warfare” and “Christian soldiers” and a growing tide of “secularism and atheism” – in warning of those making “efforts to remove any trace of religion from American life.”

The premise of the governor’s comments is that separation of church and state is sometimes invoked simply to discourage people (read it: people whose ideas you don’t like) from getting involved in politics and public policy. Is that true? And, perhaps more to the point, how do we make sure that doesn’t happen? In our political debate this election season, what’s the proper balance between warning against theocracy and encouraging faith in the public square? The Texas Faith panel had some ideas.”

NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas 

I have a musical group and in the past we have been denied venues on the grounds of secularism.  You can sing about anything under the sun.  But you cannot sing about the one who is above the sun.

What is the balance? Religion without philosophy is simply sentiment and sometimes fanaticism, and philosophy and science without religion is simple mental speculation.  Therefore discussions involving religion should be philosophical rather than sensational.

To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.