Baba
Serving hungry animals
Note: This letter is only for those who have reverence for Guru and try to follow His guideline.
Namaskar,
This letter addresses how some set aside their first spoonful of their meal - i.e. human food - as an offering to animals. We have examined why this is harmful to those animals, as well as why such an offering is merely a token offering and does not stand as true service. For more about all this topic, the first two sections offer a complete background and links to those letters are appended below.The following are new aspects of this discussion.
Bird houses and animal sanctuaries:
feed animals animal food
Here we investigate safe and meaningful ways of offering food to animals whereby we are rendering real service to those creatures. In some places, people set up bird houses / bird feeders and this is a very effective and appropriate way to feed the animals. The only requisite is to put bird food in those feeders and then the birds will come. So this is a very positive way to serve those birds.
And a similar method can be used with respect to other animals. Find an appropriate place and feed them the food they normally eat - i.e. not human food - and those animals will be benefited. This everyone can do in their own locale with the wildlife (birds and animals) of the region. That is an excellent way to serve those creatures and this can be complemented by maximum participation in PCAP activities.
And in those regions where animals sanctuaries have been established, one can leave food for the animals there as well - if it is allowed. And the main theme all along is not to feed them human food, but food that is part of their natural diet. Then that will be true service to those animals.
The dogma only arises when people think it is fine and well to serve human food to those unsuspecting animals. That is when harm is done and that is when those humans are going against neo-humanistic principles.
Ecological reason behind spoonful dogma
When this practice of serving a spoonful of food to animals was first started, then those rishis had the best interests and welfare of those animals in mind. And the system worked well. The foods those rishis were offering those animals were simple grasses and leaves. The animals could easily eat that food and get the benefit. Plus the common people saw and they too became involved in offering food to those animals in the spirit of service.
Times have changed. With all the ecological destruction, the natural habitat of those animals has been decimated and with the growth of materialism and convenience foods etc the human diet has changed drastically. Now feeding a spoonful of human food is just one dogma. Because that spoonful is not enough to satisfy an animal's hunger in most cases; plus the food that is being offered is harmful to those animals.
Thus what began as a meaningful practice that served animals has now turned into senseless dogma that harms those creatures.
Why spoonful of human food is not neo-humanistic
1. The food that is set aside often contains spices, sugars, and oils that are harmful to an animal’s health and well-being. Those animals - birds, dogs, & monkeys etc - are not meant to eat salty, oily, sugary foods etc. That is not animal food. If they eat that food they will get sick, suffer from disease, and die a slow, painful death.
2. In some cases, that food just gets wasted because it gets washed away in the rain, or there are no birds or street dogs around, or a person lives on the 10th floor so animals cannot reach their home etc. Plus we have to remember that any food that has become rancid will create terrible harm to the animal.
3. There are many big animals such as elephants, tigers, rhino, and other wild creatures that have voracious appetites. Serving a huge animal one spoon of food is essentially a meaningless endeavor.
By all this, we can easily conclude that the prevailing dogma in certain parts of India of setting aside a spoonful of human food is neither practical nor neo-humanistic. It is just a meaningless ritual that can bring much harm to animals.
As Ananda Margiis, we must stand up to the high ideals of neo-humanism and engage in meaningful endeavours to help all living beings. That at is the mission of Prevention of Cruelty to Plants and Animals (PCAP) & Cheap Literature (CL). Plants and animals are the manifestation of Parama Purusa and we should serve them with that ideation.
“Bhúta-Yajina: Bhúta Yajina means services rendered to any created entity of the manifested world. For example, watering trees, serving cattle, undertaking scientific explorations and doing anything for the sake of welfare.” (1)
Conclusion
The real solution lies in administering a distinct call to action and awakening people’s awareness to the plight and dire situation of animals and plants in today’s modern world. Token offerings are meaningless. Once people are educated about the problems then properly organised efforts can be made.
To this end, Baba has graciously given the guidelines for the formation and development of PCAP & CL – that wing of Ananda Marga for Prevention of Cruelty to Plants and Animals (PCAP) & Cheap Literature (CL). By this way, a dynamic movement can be made to truly improve the condition of non-human life forms.
Although, Baba has given this ideal long back, it is yet to be properly developed. As things are now, if any new person sees that some in Ananda Marga are making token food offerings by the spoonful of human food to relieve animals of their suffering etc, they will think we are completely dogmatic and impractical.
So now is the time to inculcate the neo-humanistic ideals which Baba has given and truly develop meaningful programs under the banner of PCAP & CL. If in these beginning stages, we do not have a lot of resources, that is understandable. By taking proper steps, invariably the support – both human and financial etc – will follow.
First and foremost, we should not be involved in this dogma of putting a spoonful of human food aside thinking that our duty is complete. To the degree people suffer from that mind-set is the degree to which they are lagging behind from the real service work that needs to be done.
Involving regularly in PCAP activities and feeding small amounts of animal food to the animals on a daily basis - in accordance with local laws and ordinances - is a fine and accepted pathway to serve.
Namaskar,
In Him,
Sahadev Malakar
The overall spirit behind offering one spoonful of food to animals is very good, but unfortunately nowadays the practice has become dogmatic. Here is a solution to again make this a dharmic endeavour:
- (a) Purchase a stock of dry food to serve to animals and keep this in your home.
- (b) Whenever you sit down for a meal, first take Brahma bhava (Cosmic ideation) and take a small amount of that dry food from your main stock (i.e. container A) and place it in small container, i.e. container B.
- (c) Before each meal take a small amount from container A and put it into container B, until a moderate amount of food has been collected in container B.
- (d) When time permits, take container B outside and place it in a strategic place where animals can find it and safely eat.
- (e) By this regular practice, those animals are served and the person serving with proper ideation will gain mental expansion. The outcome will be more love and affection towards the entire creation.
~ In-depth study ~
Who is doing this dogma
Most commonly we see this happening with B group in Bengal. They are the ones most involved in this dogma of offering their first spoonful of human food to animals - as if by this way they are fulfilling their duty of serving animals. They are propagating this dogma amongst their new people and Wt trainees. Sadly, they have wholly embraced this Hindu dogma and made it their own - such that now they consider it as a standard practice of Ananda Marga.
One other curious fact is that in certain regions of Bengal, our Dadas have pools / ponds with fish in them and they charge local fisherman to come and fish those ponds. That means those Dadas are making a profit by allowing fisherman to come and kill those fish.
So on the one side, each day when they eat they follow the dogma of setting aside a spoonful of food to "help" animals, and then for the sake of a few rupees, they grant fisherman the opportunity to come and kill the fish that live in ponds on Marga land. The whole scene is marked by rampant hypocrisy and duplicity.
Mut'hia: a fistful dry grain
special way to serve and feed others
Here is an old village tradition for serving food to humans. Whenever a children's home was set-up in a village area, then one of the staff at the children's home would go round to the various village homes and ask them to donate a food each month. The system is known as mut'hia and here is how it was done.
Before each meal, the members of a household would each grab a fistful of the most commonly used staple food (dry grain) of that area. And they would all deposit their fistful of food into a larger container. This would continue all month long. And by the end of the month, a substantial amount of food would be collected, maybe 5 - 8 kg or so. Around that time the representative from the children's home would return and pick-up that food donation. And by this way everyone would be benefited.
The children's home would collect ample food from the villagers to properly feed the boys and girls in their home. And those villagers who participated in mut'hia were blessed to serve. So for them it was mind-expanding as each and every day they were consciously involved in the welfare of those kids by grabbing a fistful of dry grain and putting it in a collection pot. So this is one very old and effective way to serve humans and provide them food.
List of foods harmful to animals: Scroll down to the very bottom to get a link for the list of foods that are harmful to animals.
== Section 2: Links ==
Earlier letters on this topic:
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