Hope This Meets You — in Good Health — the Newsletter of the ISKCON Health and Welfare Ministry
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Hope this Meets You — in Good Health — The Newsletter of the ISKCON Health and Welfare Ministry Issue No.9 / 2003 Message from the Minister Message from the Minister THE HEALTH AND Welfare Ministry is making gradual progress due to the assistance of many talented and dedicated devotees. The news- letter’s editorial offi ce is now in ISKCON Radhadesh in Belgium and Tattvavit Dasa, Rupa Sanatana Dasa, Kancana-vali Devi Dasi, and Yadurani Devi Dasi are assisting in all aspects of the editing, proof- Issue No.9 / 2003 reading and layout. Devotees such as Ram Prasad and his wife Raga- manjari Devi Dasi continue to submit articles to the magazine as well 3 Quotes from the Previous Acaryas as assist the devotees in their health care in Australia. We welcome the articles that Nimai Nitai Dasa, from Boston, has submitted. 4 Ayurveda as it is — Kaviraja Nimai Nitai Dasa Dr Liladhara Gupta, a graduate from Ayurvedic medical college whose father has treated devotees for many decades, is traveling extensively 9 Caffeine — grounds for concern? around the world educating the devotees in preventative health care practices. Many Ayurvedic doctors, such as Sri Krsna Caitanya Dasa — Dr Chris Fenn along with his staff at the Bhaktivedanta Hospital, assist the devotees around the world in their health care. 12 Ayurveda for parents and children — Chandrakanti Devi Dasi In North America, Samik Rsi Dasa promises to help to organize the many devotees who are professionals in the health care fi eld. In Russia, 14 Keeping your eyes bright many devotees are publishing books and articles on health, as well as — Prahladananda Swami setting up institutes for training devotees in different health fi elds. 16 Herbal help Many other devotees are doing signifi cant service in the gradual de- velopment of education, treatment and care for the needs of ISKCON — Raga Manjari Devi Dasi and Rama Prasad members in the fi elds of health and welfare. Although I couldn’t men- tion them all, I would like to thank them. 18 News — Prahladananda Swami 19 Letters Subscriptions Disclaimer The subscription cost for two issues of this newsletter is US$7.50. ● The articles in this magazine do not necessarily represent the Please send, along with your name and address, a money order in views of the editors or the Health and Welfare Ministry. US dollars to: ● This magazine is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe. ISKCON Health and Welfare Ministry ● The information contained herein is in no way to be considered c/o ISKCON Radhadesh as a substitute for consultation with a duly licensed health-care Château de Petite Somme 5 • 6940 Septon (Durbuy) professional. Belgium Credits Editors The Ministry’s mailing address is: His Holiness Prahladananda Swami ISKCON Health and Welfare Ministry Tattvavit Das Taraka Devi Dasi c/o ISKCON Radhadesh Kancana-vali Devi Dasi Château de Petite Somme 5 Rupa Sanatana Das 6940 Septon (Durbuy) Layout Belgium Yadurani Devi Dasi Subscriptions Sivananda Dasa Please send all correspondence to this address. Bhaktin Linda Contributions are welcome for upcoming newsletters. 2 — Hope This Meets You in Good Health Hope This Meets You in Good Health — 3 Srila Prabhupada on health Make the best use God’s energy, and when it is utilized in more. Children can commit the mistake of a bad bargain God’s service, it is no longer a bad bar- of taking more, but adults, they can- gain, it is a good bargain. not commit. Children can digest. All day they are playing. So, anyway, we should Dr Wolfe: Can one say that the soul and — Garden conversation with professors life are identical? June 24, 1975, Los Angeles take care of our health also. Sanatana Prabhupada: Yes. Identical. Life is the Goswami was suffering from itching symptom of the soul. Because the soul is very much, and Caitanya Mahaprabhu You must take care was embracing him. So these were wet there, therefore life is there. And as soon of your health the soul is not there, there is no more itches. After itching, they became wet. life. There is sun in the sky, and the light Prabhupada: Why everyone is cough- So Sanatana’s body was all covered with is there, sunshine. When the sun is set, ing? What is the diffi culty? Yesterday wet itches, and the moisture was stick- there is no more light; it is dark. also I heard. What is the diffi culty? ing to the body of Caitanya Mahaprab- Dr Pore: Is the body, then, to be re- Devotee: I think there’s a cold going hu. So he felt very much ashamed. And sisted? Is the body to be disciplined, to around. he decided, “Tomorrow I shall commit be resisted, to be ignored? Is that what Prabhupada: But you have no suffi - suicide instead of allowing myself to be you’re suggesting? cient warm cloth, so you are affected. embraced by Caitanya Mahaprabhu.” Prabhupada: Ignored? That you must arrange. You must take So the next day Caitanya Mahaprabhu Dr Pore: How do you treat the body? care of your health. In the Bhagavad- inquired, “You have decided to com- Prabhupada: Make the best use of a bad gita it is said, yuktahara: you should take mit suicide? So do you think this body bargain [laughter]. It is a bad bargain. food just to maintain your health nice- is yours? You have already dedicated But we have to utilize it. ly. Similarly, other necessities of body this body to Me. How you can kill it?” Dr Pore: When you say, then, that every- must be taken care of. If you become Of course, from that day, his itches were thing is a part of God, you make an ex- diseased, then you can execute Krishna all cured. But this is the decision, that ception of the body, the body is not. consciousness? Just like Brahmananda our body, those who are Krishna con- Prabhupada: No, why? Body is also could not go today. So we must be care- scious, those who are working for Krishna, part. That I explained. ful. Better eat less than eat more. You’ll they should not think that the body be- Dr Judah: Maya-sakti. not die by eating less. But you may die longs to them. It is already dedicated to Prabhupada: Yes, it is another energy. eating more. People die for over-eating, Krishna. So it must be kept very care- Dr Pore: Oh, I see. not for under-eating. This should be the fully, without any neglect. Just like you Dr Judah: The inferior energy of Krishna. principle. Medical science always for- are taking care of the temple because it Prabhupada: Everything is God’s ener- bids eating more than you require. Vora- is Krishna’s place. We should not be over gy, so the body is also God’s energy. cious eating is the cause of diabetes, and careful, but some care we should take so So best use of the body is God’s ener- under-nourishment is the cause of tu- that we may not fall diseased. gy should be utilized for God. Then the berculosis. This is the medical science. — Srimad-Bhagavatam class 1.8.37, body is spiritualized. The body is also So we should not take under, neither April 29, 1973, Los Angeles 2 — Hope This Meets You in Good Health Hope This Meets You in Good Health — 3 AYURVEDA AS IT IS Suddha Ayurveda in the lineage of the Bhagavata kavirajas Kaviraja Nimai Nitai Dasa sreyas ca preyas ca manusyametastau samparitya vivinakti dhirah sreya hi dhiro ’bhipreyaso vrnite preyo mando yogaksemad vrnite We can accept either that which is immediately appealing (preyas) or that which is permanently benefi cial (sreyas). The wise, after careful consideration, accept that which is enduringly salutary, whereas those whose judgment is poor prefer fl eeting gain and pleasure . — Katha Upanisad 1.2.2 PREYAS IS THAT which is pleasant to the senses and instantly agree- Ayurvedic marketplace. Our practice of Ayurveda has been pro- able to the mind, but what is enjoyed in this way satisfi es only vided without charge since 1982, and we neither sell nor en- our lower nature and does not lead ultimately to our eternal dorse products for profi t. We are simply attempting to obey the welfare. Sreyas leads to our ultimate good, even if it is momen- following instruction of our superiors: tarily unpleasant and difficult for the mind to accept. In the ayurvedena bhakta-sevanam kuru following pages we will discuss some principles of Ayurveda, ayurvedena abhaktebhyo pracaranam kuru holding fi rmly to sreyas. “Serve the devotees and edify the non-devotees The sole purpose of this article is to promote a better under- through Ayurveda.” standing of Ayurveda; it is not meant to secure profi t or to cultivate a following. Both would be achieved with greater ease In observing this concise injunction on the internal purpose by catering to the deceptive distortions that abound in today’s of Ayurveda, we are striving to present in clear terms the con- 4 — Hope This Meets You in Good Health Hope This Meets You in Good Health — 5 fidential teachings of the Bhagavata lineage, known as uddhas human is subject: confusion (bhrama), inattention (pramada), (pure) Ayurveda. According to the Bhagavata kavirajas (suddha deception (vipralipsa), and impaired perception (karanapata- practitioners), the ultimate goal of Ayurveda is not to preserve va). A detailed discussion of these four defects would occupy or restore health, but rather to facilitate bhakti-yoga sadhana, much of the allotted space for this article, and thus we must the discipline of spiritual cultivation.