A KARMA-FREE DIET

Karma Free Diet

2008-10-14T01:55:00.001-07:00

Karma Free Diet

The Sanskrit word karma means "action", or more specifically, any material action that brings a reaction that binds us to the material world. Although the idea of karma is generally associated with eastern philosophy, many people in the West are also coming to understand that karma is a natural principle, like time or gravity and no less inescapable. For every action there is a reaction. According to the law of karma, if we cause pain and suffering to other living beings, we must endure pain and suffering in return, both individually and collectively. We reap what we sow, in this life and the next, for nature has her own justice. No one can escape the law of karma, except those who understand how it works.

To understand how karma can cause war, for example, let´s tale an illustration from the Vedas. Sometimes a fire starts in a bamboo forrest when the trees rub together. The real cause of the fire, however, is not the trees but the wind that moves them. The trees are only the instruments. In the same way, the principle of karma tells us that the United States and the Soviet Union are not the real causes of the friction that exists between them, the friction that may well set off the forest fire of nuclear war. The real cause is the imperceptible wind of karma generated by trhe world´s suppososedly innocent citizens.

According to the law of karma, the neighborhood supermarket or hamburger stand (the local abortion clinic too, but that could be the subject for another book) has more to do withtyhe threat of nuclear war than the White House or the Kremlin. We recoil with horror at the prospects of nuclear war while we permit equally horrifying massacres every day inside the world´s automated slaughterhouses.

The person who eats an animal may say that he hasn´t killed anything, but when he buys his neatly packaged meat at the supermarket he is paying someone else to kill for him, and both of them bring upon themselves reactions of karma. Can it be anything but hypocritical to march for peace and then go to McDonald´s for a hamburger or go home to grill a steak? This is the very duplicity that George Bernard Shaw condemned:

We pray on Sundays that we may have light
To guide our footsteps on the path we tread;
We are sick of war, we don´t want to fight,
And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead.

As Srila Prabhupada says in his explanations of Bhagavad-gita, "Those who kill animals and give them unnecessary pain—as people do slaughterhouses—will be killed in the same way in the next life and in many lives to come... In the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is stated clearly ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ Nonetheless, giving all kinds of excuses, even the heads of religion indulge in killing animals and, at the same time, try to pass as saintly persons. This mockery and hypocrisy in human society brings about unlimited calamities such as great wars, where masses of people go out onto the battlefields and kill each other. Presentlythey have discovered the nuclear bomb, which is simply waiting to be used for wholesale destruction." Such are the effects of karma.

Those who understand the laws of karma, know that peace will not come from marches and petitions, but rather from a campaign to educate people about the consequences of murdering innocent animals (and unborn children). That will go a long way preventing any increase in the world´s problems we need people with purified consciousness to perceive that the real problem is a spiritual one. Sinful people will always exist, but they shouldn´t occupy positions of leadership.

One of the most common objections non-vegetarians raise against vegetarianism is that vegetarians still have to kill plants, and this is also violence. In response it may be ointed out that vegetarian foods such as ripe fruits and many vegetables, nuts, grains and milk do not require any killing. But even those cases where a plant´s life is taken, because plants have less evolved consciousness than animals, we can presume that the pain involvedis much less then when an animal is slaughtered, what to speak of the suffering a food-animal experience throughout its life.

It´true vegetarians have to kill some plants, and that is also violence, but we do have to eat something and the Vedas say, jivo jivasya jivanam: one living entity is food for enother in the struggle for existence. So the problem is not how to avoid killing altogether—but how to cause the least suffering to otherceatures whle meeting the nutritional needs of the body

The taking of any life, even that of a plant, is certainly sinful, but Krishna, the supreme controller, frees us from sin by accepting what we offer. Eating food first offered to the Lord is something like a soldier´s killing during wartime. In a war, when the commander orders a man to attack, the obedient soldier who kills the enemy will get a medal. VBut if the soldier kills someone on his own, he will be punished. Simelarly, when we eat only prasada, we do not commit any sin. This confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (3.13) "The devotees of the Lord are released from all kind of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, eat only sin."

¨You can judge a nation by how it´s treats it´s animals.¨

Mahatma Ghandi

¨As long there are slaughterhouses there will be always war.¨

L. Tolstoy

¨I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.¨

Henry David Thoreau

¨A dead cow or sheep lying in pastureis recognized as carrion. The same sort of carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher´s stall passes as food.¨

J. H. Kellog

¨It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.¨

Albert Einstein

¨As long as man massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who saws seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.¨

Pythagoras

¨The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.¨

Mahaparinirvana Sutra, a Buddhist scripture

¨And the flesh of slain beasts in his body will become his own tomb. For I tell you truly, he who kills, kills himself, and whoso eats the flesh of slain bests, eats the body of death.¨

The Essene Gospel of peace

Sweet Carrot Halva

2006-06-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

This nutritious dessert, made from grated carrots simmered in milk, is flavored with spices, nuts, and raisin. It is delicious served plain or with heavy cream or yogurt.

Serves 6
3 cups carrots, peeled and grated
3 cups milk
1 cinnamon stick or piece of cassia bark(optional)
1 tbsp vegetable ghee or oil
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup unsalted pistachio nuts, chopped
¼-1/2 cup blanched almonds, slivered or chopped
1/3cup seedless raisins
8 cardamom pods, split and seeds removed and crushed
heavy cream or plain yogurt, to serve

1. Put the grated carrots, milk, and cinnamon stick or cassia bark, if using, into a large, heavy-based saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, or until the mixture is thick (with no milk remaining). Stir the mixture frequently during cooking to prevent it from sticking.

2. Discard the cinnamon stick. Heat the ghee or oil in a nonstick skillet, add the carrot mixture, and stir-fry over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the carrots take on a glossy sheen.

3. Add the sugar, pistachios, almonds, raisin, and crushed cardamom seeds, mix well, and continue frying for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve warm or cold with heavy cream or yogurt.

The quickest and easiest way to grate this quantity of carrots is by using a food processor fitted with the appropriate blade. This mixture may be prepared ahead of time and related in the microwave when required. Use greencardamoms as these have the best flavor.

Indian Vegetarian Recipe

2006-05-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

The Indian make great use and show creative flair in using their staples of rice, lentils, fruit, nuts, milk, legumes, and vegetables to make a seemingly endless array of dishes from biryanis and curries to pilaus and paneers that delight the appetite.

Indian Chickpea Stew
Preparation time: 20 minutes + overnight soaking
Total cooking time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Serve 6

1 1/2 cups (330 g) chickpeas
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
20 g ghee or butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
810 g can chopped tomatoes
¾ cup (185 ml) vegetable stock
2 cups (80 g) chopped English spinach
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves

1. Soak the chickpeas in cold water overnight, then drain. Place in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cook for 1-11/2 hours, or until tender. Drain.

2. Dry-fry the garam masala, ground cumin and coriander in a frying pan over medium heat for 1 minute.

3. Heat the ghee in a large saucepan. Add the fries spices, onion, garlic, turmeric and ginger and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 5-minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the chickpeas and tomato. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Place 2 cups (500 ml) of the mixture and the stock in a food processor and process until smooth. Return to the pan, add the spinach and coriander and cook until wilted. Season.

Nutrition per serve: Protein 11 g; Fat 6.5 g; Carbohydrate 25 g; Dietary Fibre 9.5 g; Cholesterol 8.5 mg; 864 kJ (205 cal)

Cancer

2006-03-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

Further evidence of the unsuitability of the human intestinal tract for digestion of flesh is the relationship, established by numerous studies, between colon cancer and meat-eating. One reason for the incidence of cancer is the high-fat, low-fiber content of the meat-centered diet. This results in a slow transit time the colon, allowing toxic wastes to do their damage. States Dr. Sharon Fleming of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, “ Dietary fiber appears to aid in reducing…colon and rectal cancer.” Moreover, while being digested, meat is known to generate steroid metabolites possessing carcinogenic (cancer-producing) properties.

As research continues, evidence linking meat-eating to other forms of cancer is building up at an alarming rate. The National Academy of Sciences reported in 1983 hat “ people may be able to prevent many common cancers by eating less fatty meats and more vegetables and grains.” And in his Notes on the Causation of Cancer, Rollo Russell writes, “ I have found of twenty-five nations eating flesh largely, nineteen had a high cancer rate and only one hade a low flesh, none had a high rate”
Some of the most shocking results in cancer research have come from exploration of the effects of nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are formed when secondary amines, prevalent in beer, wine, tea, and tobacco, for example, react with chemical preservatives in meat. The Food and Drug Administration has lableled nitrosamines “ one of the most formidable and versatile groups of carcinogens yet discovered, and their role… in the etiology of human cancer has caused growing apprehension among experts.” Dr. William Lijinsky of Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted experiments in which nitrosamines were fed to test animals. Within six months he found malignant tumors in one hundred percent of the animals. “The cancers,” he said, “ are all over the place; in the brain, lungs, pancreas, stomach, liver, adrenals, and intestines. The animals are bloody mess.”

Tofu balls with salad
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 10 minutes
Serve 4

Salad dressing
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup (80 g) roasted unsalted peanuts.
2 tablespoons tamari
1/3 cup (80 ml) lime juice
2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

300 g hard tofu, roughly chopped fresh garlic chives
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 stem lemon grass, white part only, sliced oil, for deep-frying
50 g mixed lettuce leaves
1 small Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways and sliced diagonally
1 small red onion, sliced
½ avocado, sliced

To make the salad dressing, place the garlic, peanuts, tamari, lime juice and brown sugar in a food processor or blender and process until smooth, adding 2-3 tablespoons of water to achieves the desired consistency. Transfer to a bowl.

Put the tofu, chives, sweet chilli sauce, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to bowl and form the mixture into 12 golf ball-sized balls.

Fill a wok or deep heavy-based saucepan one third full of oil and heat to 180C (350F), or until a cube of bread drpped into the oil browns in 15 seconds. Cook the tofu balls in batches for 2 minutes, or until browned. Remove, drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Put the lettuce, cucumber, onion and avocado on serving platter and arrange the tofu balls on top. Serve immediately with the dressing.

Nutrition per serve
Protein 15 g; Fat 30 g; Carbohydrate 15 g; Dietary Fibre 4.5 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; 1950 kJ (465 cal)

Physical Effects of Meat-Eating

2006-03-08T20:10:00.000-08:00

Ample food grains can be produced through agricultural enterprises, and profuse milk, yogurt, and ghee can be arranged through cow protection. Abundant honey can be obtained if the forests are protected. Unfortunately, in modern civilization, men are busy killing the cows that are the source of yogurt, milk, ghee; they are cutting down all the trees that supply honey, and they are opening factories to manufacture nuts, bolts, automobiles, and wine instead of engaging in agriculture. How can the people be happy? They must suffer from all the misery of materialism. Their bodies become wrinkled and gradually deteriorate until they become almost like dwarves, and a bad odor emanates from their bodies because of unclean perspiration resulting from eating all kinds of nasty things.

Numb Hot Tofu
This highly aromatic, tongue tingling taste comes from the Sichuan peppercorn. It's good idea to always keep a jar of freshly ground Sichuan pepper on hand in the kitchen, as well as on the table, either by itself or blended with ground sea salt.

2 tablespoons oil
3 slice ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
125 ml (1/2 cup) water
3 1/2 cakes firm tofu (about 400g or 13 oz), cubed
160 g (1 cup) frozen mixed vegetables (peas, corn, carrots)
6 shiitake mushrooms, chopped
2 taespoons ground Sichuan pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
1 spring onion (scallion), minced
1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Sauce
3 teaspoons sweet hoisin sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon wine

In a bowl, stir together all the sauce ingredients and set aside
Heat the oil in a wok until smoking hot, then add the minced ginger and garlic, and stir-fry 10 seconds.
Add the sauce, stir a few times, then add the water, and stir again to blend. When sauce bubbles to a boil, add the tofu, mixed vegetables and mushrooms and stir-fry to mix flavours. Cover, lower heat to medium, and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.
Add the Sichuan and black peppers, stir to blend, cover, then let smmer 1 more minute before adding the cornflour mixture. Stir until gravy thickens then bring to the boil again.
Remove from heat, stir in the spring onion, chilli ans sesame oil, and serve.

Serves 4

Do Animal Have Souls?

2006-03-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

Srila Prabhupada: Some people "We believe that animals have no soul." That is not correct. They believe animals have no soul because they want to eat the animals, but actually animals do have a soul.

Reporter: How do they know that the animal has a soul?

Srila Prabhupada: You can know, also. Here is the scientific proof…the animal is eating; you are eating; the animal is sleeping, you are sleeping; the animal is defending, you are defending; the animal having sex, you are having sex; the animal have children, you have children; they have a living place, you have a living place. If the animal’s body is cut, there is blood; if your body is cut , there is blood. So, all these similarities are there. Now, why do you deny this one similarity, the presence of the soul? That is not logical. You have studied logic? In logic there is something called analogy. Analogy means drawing a conclusion by finding many points of similarity. If there are so many points of similarity between human being and animals, why deny one similarity? That is not logic. That is not science.

Vegetable Quiche
1 cup cauliflower(cut in flowerets)
1/2 cup sliced carrots
3/4 cup sliced zucchini
3/4 cup water-packed artichoke hearts
12 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated monterrey jack cheese
1 tablespoons cornstarch
3 teaspoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon hing(optional)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of turmeric
Crust:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons water

Blend together flour, cheese, and butter. Texture will resemble wet sand. Add water a little at a time. Pat mixture on bottom and along sides of 9-inch quiche pan. Bake at 400F for 8 minutes.

In frying skillet heat ghee and add hing. Add cauliflower and carrots, and stir untill they are evenly coated. Cover and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini and cook 5 more minutes.

In large bowl combine sour cream, constarch, salt, pepper, and tumeric. Add Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup monterrey jack cheese. Fold in vegetables and artichoke hearts. Pour into quiche pan and top with remaining monterrey jack cheese. Bake at 400F for 40 minutes or untill the edges of the quiche are dark and the center is slightly golden.

Allow the quiche to set about 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

An Ideal Diet

2006-03-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

The purpose of food is to increase the duration of life, purify the mind, and aid bodily strength. This is its only purpose. In the past, great authorities selected those foods that best aid health and increase life's duration, such as milk products, sugar, rice, wheat, fruits, and vegetables.
Anmal fat is available in form of milk, which is the most wonderful of all foods. Milk, butter, cheese, and similsr products give animal fat in a form which rules out any need for the killing of innocent creatures....Protein is amply available through split peas, dal, whole wheat, ect.
The best food is the remnant of what is offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gita the Supreme Lord says that He accepts preparations of vegetable, flour, and milk when offered with devotion. Of course, devotion and love are the chief things which the Supreme Personality of Godhead accepts.
Therefore to make food antiseptic, eatable, and palatable for all persons, one should offer food to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Kofta Ball in Tomato Sauce
Sauce:
3 pounds tomatoes(preferably Italian, plum type)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon hing
1 medium carrot, cut in 8 pieces
2 teaspoons salt
2teaspoon sweet basil
1 teaspoon turbinado sugar
1/4 teaspoon black peper
2 bay leaves
1 pound spahetti

Heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add hing and fry for 30 seconds. Add carrot pieces and fry for 1 minute. Stir in the blended tomatoes and the remaining seasoning. Raise the heat and bring to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carrot pieces and bay leaves.

Kofta
2 cups grated cauliflower
2 cubs grated cabbage
1 1/2 cups garbanzo bean flour
1/2 teaspoon hing
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon corriander powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
pinch of cayenne
ghee or oil for deep frying

Heat ghee in a wok or 2-quart saucepan. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Roll in 24 balls, 1 inch in diameter. Place as many balls in the ghee as possible, leaving enough room for them to float comfortably. Fry over medium heat for 10 minutes, untill the kofta is a rich golden brown. Drain on colander.

Place the kofta in the tomato sauce 5 minutes before servicing. If after sitting the kofta soaks up most of sauce, add a little water to produce more liquid
Cook spaghetti as directed on box. Serve kofta and sauce over spaghetti.
Serve 4

A HIGHER TASTE

2006-02-18T23:28:00.000-08:00

Health and a Meatless Diet

Today, With increasing evidence of diet’s critical effect on good health and longevity, more and more people are investigating this question: Is the human body better suited to a vegetarian diet or one that includes meat?
In the search for answer, two areas should be considered the anatomical structure of the human body, and the physical effects of meat consumption.
Since eating begins with the hands and mouth, what can the anatomy of the herbivorous creatures, are designed for grinding and chewing vegetable matter. Humans lack the sharp front teeth for tearing flesh that are characteristic of carnivores. Meat-eating animals generally swallow their food without chewing it and therefore do not require molars or a jaw capable of moving sideways. Also, the human hand, with no sharp claws and with its opposable thumb, is better suited to harvesting fruits and vegetable than to killing prey.

Digesting Meat

Once within the stomach, meat require digestive juices high in hydrochloric acid. The stomachs of humans and herbivores produce acid less than one-twentieth the strength of that found n carnivores.
Another crucial difference between the meat-eater and the vegetarian is found in the intestinal tract, where the food is further digested and nutrients are passed into the blood. A piece of meat is just part of corpse, and its putrefaction creates poisonous wastes within the body. Therefore meat must be quickly eliminated. For this purpose, carnivores posses alimentary canals only three times the length of their bodies. Since man, like other non-flesh-eating animals, has an alimentary canal twelve times his body length, rapidly decaying flesh is retained for a much longer time, producing a number of undesirable toxic effects.
One body organ adversely affected by these toxins is the kidney. This vital organ, which extracts waste from the blood, is strained by the overload of poisons introduced by meat consumption. Even moderate meat-eaters demand three times more work from their kidneys than do vegetarians. The kidneys of a young person may be able to cope with this stress, but as one grows older the risk of kidney disease and failure greatly increases.

Nutrition Without Meat

Many times the mention of vegetarianism elicits the predictable reaction, “ What about the elephant? And the bull? And the rhinoceros?” The ideas that meat has a monopoly on protein and that large amounts of protein are required for energy and strength are both myths. While it is being digested, most protein breaks down into its constituent amino acids, which are reconverted and used by the body for growth and tissue replacement. Of these twenty-two amino acids, all but eight can be synthesized by the body itself, and these eight “essential amino acids” exist in abundance in nonflesh foods. Dairy products, gains, beans, and nuts are all concentrated sources of protein. Cheese, peanuts, and lentils, for instance, contain more protein per ounce that hamburger, pork, or porterhouse steak. A study by Dr. Fred Stare of Harvard and Dr. Mervyn Harding of Loma Linda University made extensive comparison between the protein intake of vegetarians and flesh-eaters. They concluded that “ each group exceeded twice its requirement for every essential amino acid and surpasses this amount by large margins for most of them.”
For many Americans, protein make up more than twenty percent of their diet, nearly twice the quantity recommended by the World Health Organization. Although inadequate amounts of protein will cause loss of strength, excess protein cannot be utilized by the body; rather, it is converted into nitrogenous wastes that burden the kidneys. The primary energy source for the body is carbohydrates. Only as a last resort is the body’s protein utilized for energy production. Too much protein intake actually reduces the body’s energy capacity. In a series of comparative endurance tests conducted by Dr. Irving Fisher of Yale, vegetarians performed twice as well as meat-eaters. By reducing the nonvegetarians’ protein consumption by twenty percent, Dr. Fisher found their efficiency increased by thirty-three percent. Numerous other studies have shown that a proper vegetarian diet provides more nutritional energy that meat. Furthermore, a study by Dr. J. Iotekyo and V.Kipani at Brussels University showed that vegetarians wee able to perform physical tests two to three times longer than meat-eaters before exhaustion and were fully recovered from fatigue in one fifth the time needed by the meat-eaters.

Vegetarian Recipe

Minestrone Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup tomato (skinned and chopped)
1/3 cup garbanzo beans (soaked overnight)
1/4 cup basil leaves
1 parsley spring (chopped)
9 cups water
1 carrot (peeled and diced)
1 celery stalk (diced)
1 cup shredded cabbage
salt
freshly ground peper
1/2 cup barley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon hing

Heat oil in large saucepan, add hing and cabbage. Saute for 1 minute.
Add tomatoes, chickpeas, basil, parsley, and water.
Bring to boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
Add carrots and celery, and cook for 20 more minutes.
Add remaining ingredients, except for cheese. Cook 45 more minutes. Add salt to taste.
Let the soup stand for 15 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and serve hot.
Serves 6.