Since September 11, life for most people has changed, especially those living in America. Instead of the comfortable feeling of security, fear has entered into the consciousness of many. Fear and the unexplainable question of, "How can this happen?" The traditional diet of Americans is steak (cow) and potatoes. In this issue read about the connection between slaughtering animals and war.

The barn roof at Vrajapura Farm has been completed to provide shelter for the cows this winter. This is all due to the contributions of ISCOWP members who are knowledgeable about the value of cow protection. Thank you so much!

Cow Protection is not just a sentiment. To provide cow protection efficiently and properly involves knowledge and training. Each newsletter issue provides information to broaden the reader's knowledge of cow protection.

Letters

ISCOWP Update

Gita-nagari Ox Power Unit

Why September 11? Animal Slaughter = War

IMCPA Update

Realizations of a Teamster in Training page

Resources

From: "Noma T. Petroff" npetroff@bowdoin.edu
To: "billy bob buckwheat" d_4h@hotmail.com; Cow@pamho.net; IMCPA@pamho.net; "iscowp"
iscowp@earthlink.net;
Subject: Online Veterinary help - Cornell Univ. Ag school
Date: Friday, October 27, 2000 4:51 PM

I had the amazing experience yesterday of walking past a plaque listing American Civil War soldiers on my way to lunch and meeting a man who asked for directions. who turned out to be Pete White, (Maurice E. White), who teaches veterinary science at Cornell University, which is considered to have one of the best Agriculture Schools in the country. (Kamala dasi, who took care of cows on many ISKCON farms went to school there.)

Anyway, he told me about an online veterinary diagnostic site which he had set up. It is highly technical, but it may be able to give devotees practical information on what is the problem with their cow or bull. Please check it out.

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/consultant/consult.asp

You may also be interested in some of the other links from the veterinary school:

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/main/

Pete White was also interested in the Amish and quite interested to hear about old cows and oxen on Hare Krsna farms. So it was quite an exchange of information.

Hare Krsna dasi

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Ox Mower

From: "Iscowp" <iscowp@earthlink.net>
To: "Syamasundara (das) (Bhaktivedanta Manor - UK)" <Syamasundara@pamho.net>; "cow"
<cow@pamho.net>
Subject: Re: Ox mower
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 11:13 PM

Dear Balabhadra Prabhu,
I was very interested to see and hear about the ox speed grass mower. Do they still make them. Do you have any e mail addresses of anybody who has some for sale, especially if they don't mind exporting them.
ys syamasundara dasa

Dear Syamasundara Prabhu,
As far as I know they are not made anymore. There is a father and son about 1 hour from Gita-nagari who reconditions them for a living. I don't know if they would export to England. I'll call them and find out. The mower in question is a McCormick-Deering # 9 High Gear. The last I checked (several years ago) they were asking $650 US for a completely reconditioned mower with metal or rubber tires (your choice).

Have you tried to research mower makers in your part of the world. There is a book titled "Tools for Agriculture" put out by Intermediate Technology publications. They are the publishing arm of International Technology Development Group which is based at 103/105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH, UK ISBN# 1 85339 100 X

When I was in Belarus the devotees had a mower that was made in Poland. Maybe you can contact the farm in Poland to see if they have contacts.

You may also want to place a letter of inquiry in Small Farmer's Journal for contacts in your part of the world. The magazine is a wealth of information and well worth the subscription. Their address is:
Small Farmer's Journal
P.O. Box 1627
Sisters, Oregon 97759 USA
e-mail address: agrarian@smallfarmersjournal.com

The mower's address is:
B.W. Macknair & Son
3055 U.S. HWY 522 North
Lewistown, PA 17044 USA
717-543-5136

Balabhadra das

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Sulky Plow

From: Syamasundara (das) (Bhaktivedanta Manor - UK) <Syamasundara@pamho.net>
To: <ISCOWP@pamho.net>
Subject: Sulky Plough
Date: Monday, October 22, 2001 1:20 AM

Do you know where I can buy a new Sulky plough in the USA, if in fact they still make them. I have not had much luck surfing the net.

ys syam

From: "iscowp" <iscowp@earthlink.net>
To: <Syamasundara@pamho.net>
Subject: sulky plow
Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 12:46 PM

For Used Plows and Parts:
Balster's Implements & Parts Co.
118 Third Street
Scotch Grove IA 52331
(319) 465-4141

B.W. Macknair and Son
3055 US Highway 522 North
Lewistown, PA 17044
(717) 543-5136

NEW PLOWS
Pioneer Equipment Inc.
16875 Jericho RD
Dalton OH 44618
(330) 287-0386 Voice mail
(330) 698-3200 Fax

White Horse Machine
5566 Old Philadelphia Parkway
Gap PA 17527
(717) 768-8313

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Yokes - Publications/Plans

From: Noma T. Petroff <npetroff@bowdoin.edu>
To: iscowp <iscowp@earthlink.net>
Subject: Tillers' Catalog - Yokes and Yoke Making
Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 12:10 PM

I think this information should be of interest to ox power farmers. It would be good if you could order several items listed here and examine them.

Hare Krsna dasi

http://www.wmich.edu/tillers/catalog/yoke.html

Neck Yoke Design and Fit.1992 -- by Richard Roosenberg
This paper gives more detail on how the humble neck yoke works than any source we know. It analyzes the importance of the draft (or drop of the hitch point below the neck seats) and describes the consequences of the draft on bow movement and beam seating on the neck. The depth of draft has varying consequences depending on the nature of the load. Understanding this helps readers appreciate different yoke styles and their best uses. Yoke dimensions common to American neck yokes are described relative to the bow widths. This paper includes concepts essential for improving yokes along with a bibliography of traditional yoke knowledge.

Garden
We canned over 500 jars of produce for winter storage and gifts for our members. Tomato puree, tomato sauce, tomato chunks, tomato chutney, tomato soup, salsa, beans, bean subj, chard subj, zucchini subj, squash subj, applesauce, and apple chunks are the different types of produce we canned. We dried boxes full of sandwich bags of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and lavender. Tomatoes were are largest amount of dried produce. We have stored in several bushel baskets potatoes, squash and sweet potatoes. All this produce is stored in our root cellar which is part of our house.

Just up until a few weeks ago we were still getting produce from the garden. Kale and brussels sprouts were still providing tasty meals. The deer population this year is very large and at this time of year they are very hungry. They ate every thing a few days ago.

Next year we want to plant berry bushes to make jams, more lavender for sachets and other products, and more herbs for medicinal products. Also more eggplant, potatoes, and sweet potatoes since these crops grew well and their taste was so superb.

In preparation for next years garden we have taken much manure from the barn area and placed in the garden. This is a first year garden and we did not put any manure in it before we planted. Balabhadra wanted to see how it would do without it and where the weak soil areas might be .

Additional Teamsters
Gauranga Prema das is here from South Africa to learn the principles of Vaisnava farming. Balabhadra is teaching him how to utilize the oxen to collect firewood for the winter fires. The additional 28 acres that we acquired this year has proven to be good training grounds for logging with oxen. Logging by oxen requires ability and once it is mastered, a good foundation for other activities with the oxen is acquired.

Gauranga Prema exchanges his training for labor on the farm. Another brahmacari, Bhakta Eli, comes with him 3 days a week to do the same. This arrangement is proving helpful in completing many farm chores.

Barn Roof
We are very pleased with how the barn is developing. As you know, last year we collected money to cement the barnyard since the cows were in deep mud. In the process of cementing, poles were installed in the cement with the hope they would support a roof the following year if we could collect enough money. This year we collected for the roof and were able to put a 27 gauge green tin roof up and connect it to the old barn roof. The cement floor in the old barn connects to the new barn floor. Now the cows have full covered access to both barns. Under roof, 185 feet long by 60 feet wide is now the size of the combined barns. The cows have access to a thirty foot width for eating and lounging, and the other 30 feet is for storing hay and equipment.

Frank Guzeck, a local resident, has been the carpenter working on the barn and it was his idea to connect the roofs. He has done a very creative and innovative job on the outside as well as the inside of the barn. The land is mostly hilly here, so when constructing it is more of a challenge than when the ground is flat. The barn has the character of an old barn but with all new materials.

Mike securing nailers for the new tin roof on the barn

Frank, Butchy, and Mike screwing new green tin roof on the new barn. Great crew.

On the whole the farm is shaping up and looking more presentable. We hope by next winter we will have the old barn painted, our house fully painted, the other two residences painted, a cow path installed to the barn, the new barn completed, and an equipment shed for all the ox drawn machines that are rusting in the weather. Once this initial "set up" stage is over we hope to get more into training, using the farm as a center for preaching, and developing income from farm based products.

We are eternally grateful to all our members who have donated to the construction of this barn with the purpose of giving comfort to the cows. In our financial report we will give thanks and recognition to all donors.

A manual by Paramananda das & Vaisnava das
Now available through the courtesy of Hare Krsna dasi

This unit was built in 1985 as a project of Gita- nagari's Adopt- A- Cow program, to demonstrate the value of working oxen using improved alternative technology. For about five or six years, the oxen provided all the heating requirements for 60 residents of the farm. Residents selectively cut trees on the hillsides, and oxen pulled them down to the ox power unit, where they were sawed to the wood-stove specifications for the temple and various homes. The oxen then delivered the cord wood to each location around the community. In the early 1990's the use of the unit was abandoned as Gita- nagari shifted its focus away from self- sufficiency. But the unit, well- sheltered, can still be inspected at Gita- nagari where the community welcomes interested visitors.

If you would like to have this manual please contact us (see page 2). The manual is well illustrated by Sarva Siddhi Ratha das. Excerpts from the manual's introduction follow to give you an idea of its content.

"In this article we will describe how we built an ox-driven, sweep-powered generator. The concepts behind the design and operation of this unit are not new or complicated. Throughout history all over the world, man has used the same principles to produce power from draft animals. Traditionally, the mechanisms used to produce power have been made of wood, but we have constructed our generator from metal components, with the objective of maximizing the strength and efficiency of the unit. Five oxen pull the tongues which a circular motion. Then, the motion is geared up, and the direction of the rotation is changed so that we end up with a shaft spinning at 765 rpm that will provide 60 horse-power. By using various types of pulleys off the final shaft, any range of speed can be achieved to drive any type of equipment desired.

To construct a machine similar to ours, you must have access to certain raw materials and the facility to convert them for usage. The sizes and strength of the components used in this unit have been carefully engineered and coordi-nated, so that any reduction of the given specifications will undoubtedly result in failure. In our case, many of the parts we used were not new, but we made it a point to be sure that used components were of good quality. Precision is essential. At one point, we ran into a lot of trouble with a used 2 3/16" shaft that was 4' long, but 1/10000" out of round.

Much of the work involved can be done with basic metal working tools, but there is also a lot of work that must be done by skilled machinist. We did most of the work ourselves with an oxy-acetylene torch, electric arc-welder, drill press, and similar tools. In addition you must have access to a metal lathe. We were lucky to have a neighbor who does this work as a second job, so we avoided paying the inflated prices of a specialty metal-working machine shop. What follows is a section-by-section description of how the unit is constructed."

"Thus, as the oxen are pulling on their individual small cables, the pull is transferred to the large cable, and it is immediately taken up by the others. We underestimated the importance of these eveners at first. However, after a few weeks of running our power unit, we noticed that the oxen had to walk a little to far forward to get a good pull. So we shortened the larger cable by about 18" around. Thus, each of the smaller cables got pulled by a little. The result was astounding: our oxen were able to pull much more easily and much harder with half the attention by the driver. After this, one driver was more than able to handle the whole unit single-handedly."

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Some of our members have called to get our understanding of the September 11 tragedy. The following
quotes connect animal slaughter , specifically cow slaughter, to war and tragedy. In reality, cow protection
is at the forefront of preventing such incidences . The quotes are from talks and purports of Vedic
scriptures by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of the International
Society for Krsna Consciousness, and various religions and authors/philosophers.

The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do onto you," Is one of the uniting principles in the world's major religious traditions. In Judaism, it is taught, "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen." (Talmud, Shabbat 31a) Christianity teaches, "Whatever ye would that men should do to you, do you even so to them." (Matthew 7:12) The followers of Islam declare, "No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself." (Sunnah, Hadith) In Confucianism it is said, "Surely it is the maxim of loving kindness: Do not unto others that which you would not have them do unto you." (Analects 15.23) Buddhism also teaches, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.' (Udana-Varga 5.18) And finally, in the world's earliest religious scriptures, the Vedic literature, we find, "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done unto you."(Mahabharata 5.1517)

The world of science echoes the world's religions with its own equivalent of the Golden Rule. Newton's Third Law of Motion says that "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." While Newton's law applies only to material nature, the implications run deeper still, extending to the most subtle levels of existence. In the East, this is called the law of karma.

In a very fundamental sense, too, this law relates to our treatment of animals. The violence in society is at least in part the result of our merciless diet and abuse of the natural world around us. In karmic terms, violence begets violence. In dietary terms, you are what you eat.
Food for the Spirit, Steven Rosen

Not to hurt our humble brethren (the animals) is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission--to be of service to them whenever they require it... If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
--Saint Francis of Assisi (mystic and preacher)

Prabhupada: [...] But in the western country the cows are specially being killed. Now the reaction is war, crime, and they are now repentant. And they will have to repent more and more.
Jayatirtha: So the wars and the crime are a direct result of the cow slaughter.
Prabhupada: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. It is a wholesale reaction. All these crises are taking place.[...]
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Room Conversation with Mr. & Mrs. Wax, Writer and Editing Manager of Playboy
Magazine -- July 5, 1975, Chicago

"Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
--Albert Schweitzer

In this age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals.
SB 4.26.5

To be nonviolent to human beings and to be a killer or enemy of the poor animals is Satan's philosophy. In this age there is enmity toward poor animals, and therefore the poor creatures are always anxious. The reaction of the poor animals is being forced on human society, and therefore there is always the strain of cold or hot war between men, individually, collectively or nationally.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.10.6

"Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is--whether its victim is human or animal--we
cannot expect things to be much better in this world... We cannot have peace among men whose hearts
delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in
killing we set back the progress of humanity."
--Rachel Carson

We are the living graves of murdered beasts, slaughtered to satisfy our appetites. How can we hope in this world to attain the peace we say we are so anxious for?
--George Bernard Shaw (Living Graves, published 1951)

As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
Pythagoras (6th century BC)

We don't want to stop trade or the production of grains and vegetables and fruit. But we want to stop these killing houses. It is very, very sinful. That is why all over the world they have so many wars. Every ten or fifteen years there is a big war -- a wholesale slaughterhouse for humankind. But these rascals -- they do not see it, that by the law of karma, every action must have its reaction.

You are killing innocent cows and other animals -- nature will take revenge. Just wait. As soon as the time is right, nature will gather all these rascals and slaughter them. Finished. They'll fight amongst themselves -- Protestants and Catholics, Russia and America, this one and that one. It is going on. Why? That is nature's law. Tit for tat. "You have killed. Now you kill yourselves."

They are sending animals to the slaughterhouse, and now they'll create their own slaughterhouse. [Imitating gunfire:] Tung! Tung! Kill! Kill! You see? Just take Belfast, for example. The Roman Catholics are killing the Protestants, and the Protestants are killing the Catholics. This is nature's law.
>>> Ref. VedaBase => JSD 6.5

Slaughterhouse Civilization
As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields."
-Leo Tolstoy

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian. We feel better about ourselves and better about the animals, knowing we're not contributing to their pain.
--Paul and Linda McCartney

Panca-gavya, the five products received from the cow, namely milk, yogurt, ghee, cow dung and cow urine, are required in all ritualistic ceremonies performed according to the Vedic directions. Cow urine and cow dung are uncontaminated, and since even the urine and dung of a cow are important, we can just imagine how important this animal is for human civilization. Therefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, directly advocates go-raksya, the protection of cows. Civilized men who follow the system of varnasrama, especially those of the vaisya class, who engage in agriculture and trade, must give protection to the cows. Unfortunately, because people in Kali-yuga are mandah, all bad, and sumanda-matayah, misled by false conceptions of life, they are killing cows in the thousands. Therefore they are unfortunate in spiritual consciousness, and nature disturbs them in so many ways, especially through incurable diseases like cancer and through frequent wars and among nations. As long as human society continues to allow cows to be regularly killed in slaughterhouses, there cannot be any question of peace and prosperity.
>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad Bhagavatam 8.8.11

To kill cows means to end human civilization.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.4.9

The cow's calf not only is beautiful to look at, but also gives satisfaction to the cow, and so she delivers as much milk as possible. But in the Kali-yuga, the calves are separated from the cows as early as possible for purposes which may not be mentioned in these pages of Srimad Bhagavatam. The cow stands with tears in her eyes, the sudra milkman draws milk from the cow artificially, and when there is no milk the cow is sent to be slaughtered. These greatly sinful acts are responsible for all the troubles in present society.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.17.3

According to Manu, the great author of civic codes and religious principles, even the killer of an animal is to be considered a murderer because animal food is never meant for the civilized man, whose prime duty is to prepare himself for going back to Godhead.

He says that in the act of killing an animal, there is a regular conspiracy by the party of sinners, and all of them are liable to be punished as murderers exactly like a party of conspirators who kill a human being combinedly. He who gives permission, he who kills the animal, he who sells the slaughtered animal, he who cooks the animal, he who administers distribution of the foodstuff, and at last he who eats such cooked animal food are all murderers, and all of them are liable to be punished by the laws of nature.
Srimad Bhagavatam 1.7.37

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ISKCON Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture

We have submitted 3 proposals for the ISKCON Governing Body Commission concerning cow protection for their March 2002 meetings. One proposal concerns a budget for the Ministry. At present there is no budget to cover the Ministry's services to ISKCON. The second one addresses last year's problems with the management of two cow protection centers in India, Mayapur and Vrndavan. Vrndavan has made progress in implementing steps for a solution, but Mayapur has not. Therefore this proposal addresses the urgency of finding solutions.

One of the ways to support a cow protection program is to sell milk from the cows. If this becomes the prominent means then there is danger in falling into the commercial dairy pitfalls. The only way a commercial dairy makes a profit is to cull (kill) its unproductive animals. It is imperative that such programs find other prominent means of income. Cow urine and dung are also a means of income and can become the prominent ones. Please read the following correspondence.

From: Nirguna To: ISCOWP (Balabhadra Dasa & Chaya Dasi - USA)
Subject: News from Lavanga. Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 2:30 AM

Hari Bol Chayadevi Prabhu, All glories to Srila Prabhupada, Following is the text of a letter from Lavanga Latika that I received yesterday: "A friend of ours who is a research scientist in Agriculture and an independent consultant in organic agriculture and who was at the Daund ISKCON farm for a few months advising them, was just visiting and he told me how he was at the Rajasthan Goseva Sangh working with them for 10 years. At first by selling their milk and raw cow dung they could barely make ends meet, but last year following his plan they earned 32 lakhs from cow urine medicines and selling composted gobar in bags. They have their own clinic for cow urine medicines. He can really teach a lot of valuable things for cow protection. He says of primary importance is cow urine, then gobar, lastly milk as a side product.

In Daund he said that they grew 13 acres of wheat only on cow urine spray and had a wonderful crop . Now somehow I have to get the figures of how many tons of wheat and times of spraying from Sanat Kumar who is in charge there. This is very important to know how to use cow urine. For growth just 5 % in water is used and for pest repellent 10%. We are starting cow urine medicine here with our devotee farmer who is just getting over malaria with a temperature of 105. So there is a lot of hope for the future in cow urine and dung. Never mind the milk.

I got in touch with Sanat Kumar and they grew 6 tons of wheat with 10% urine sprayed weekly on the crop. Our friends name is Manohar Kahke , he is MSC but did not learn anything of value in college but by practical experience in organic farming."

The third proposal concerns the recognition of a committee to formulate Vaisnava Rural Development Guidelines. We have been working on these guidelines with the help of the COM Cow conference members. Realizing that we can not finish the formulation by the GBC proposal deadline for this year we are slating its completion for next year's deadline.

Like the standards, these guidelines can be used by any group interested in developing a community based on Vaisnava understanding and cow based agriculture. Some interesting excerpts from this proposal:

PROPOSAL NAME: Rural Development Land Committee

PRESENTATION OF PROPOSAL:

Whereas: Most ISKCON farm communities are struggling to maintain their land, cows and devotee families, Whereas: There is no Vaisnava Rural Development Guideline to guide not only the maintenance but further development of ISKCON farms,

Whereas: To reinvigorate ISKCON farm communities in accordance with the wishes of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the ISKCON Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture and an international ISKCON Rural Land Development Committee are currently formulating a Vaisnava Rural Development Guideline,

Whereas: The guideline presents sustainable principles and practices of land use that encourage participation in lifetime-protected cow-based agriculture and provides tenure security for the participants,

PRESENTATION OF RESOLUTION:
Resolved, That the GBC body approves the ISKCON Rural Development Committee be established to formulate the Vaisnava Rural Development Guideline for ISKCON rural land management.

EXPLANATION:
Please give answers to the following questions:
2) Why this proposal is important for the success of ISKCON?

Cow protection is a foundation principle to the establishment of a potent spiritual ISKCON. Without viable ISKCON farming communities cow protection can not become established.

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Bt Gauranga Prema das (in training at Vrajapura Farm)

Have you seen the movie called "City Slickers"? If you have then you'll have a pretty good idea of what my first experiences were like here on the farm. Externally, I got my foot stepped on by a cow and nearly had a team of oxen trample right over me (thank God they're well trained and stopped by voice command). While internally I realized that this service requires a whole lot of patience, intelligence and love.

I'm from South Africa and have been living in a Hare Krsna Temple for 5 years now. For those of you who don't know what this monastic lifestyle involves, I did things like cooking, cleaning, teaching, organizing, and managing besides your daily religious practices. Of course there's much more, but something I never got to look at is how I was "getting things done." When I started working the oxen, I got to see my behavior more closely.

First lesson I learned was that a student would like to learn from someone that makes learning and working an enjoyable and exciting experience. No one likes to learn and work with someone who is grumpy and keeps yelling and hitting him or her. This reminded me of my accounting teacher I had in high school, old Mr. Hughes. He was infamous for giving students a hard time, yelling, and boring uninspiring lectures. But, guess what? I'm realizing that for most of my life I'd been dealing with people the same way that Mr. Hughes had. I'm seeing a whole side of me which I never had to deal with for so much of the day. Anger, all bottled up inside. For me I'm seeing that if something didn't go my way, I'd have to "FORCE IT", just like old Mr. Hughes. Just like if I'm lifting something that's really heavy, my next attempt is usually out of anger, which could easily lead to injury. If something doesn't go my way, maybe resists a little, the natural thing to do (at least in my case) is administer some pressure or force, not intelligence. The question one could ask is, "why is this door not opening?" or "why doesn't it work?" And 9 out of 10 times there will be an answer.

While working with Agni and Shyam (ox team) I'm learning that when something doesn't go "MY" way then it's probably my fault. That is something that I've not considered before, however it is something the oxen are aware of. For instance, while hauling firewood from the forest there are so many obstacles. Sometimes the oxen see a ground hog hole in the ground which I haven't seen, and they go left instead of my instructions to go right. There are so many ways one can achieve the desired result with patience and intelligence. I need to remind myself that Agni and Shyam have been doing this longer than I have. They are in the mode of goodness and I'm not. So instead of doing the instinctive action of applying Force, I'm learning to stop to re-evaluate the situation and use my God given intelligence. I know this is not new to many of you, but to me, I've learned an important lesson. And this is something I'm now trying to apply in every situation. This anger comes from unsatisfied lust, which comes from contemplation of the senses; at least this is what the Bhagavad-Gita is teaching us. "When one contemplates the object of the senses, attachment develops and from attachment lust. And when lust is unsatisfied anger which leads to loss of intelligence."

Of course it did happen and it may happen again that I did thrash it out with the boys and yell out of anger not love. And when it did happen I lost intelligence and just wanted to "make them" go my way not trying to find out why they stopped. You know, I realize that I have to develop a good loving relationship with them because I have to deal with them tomorrow and the day after and after. So to get them to do what I want by force and no real love cannot last for a long time. This will spoil our relationship. This is just like our relationship with Krsna (the name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead). He doesn't put on a show about His real position or pretend or force us to do anything because He knows He has to deal with us eternally. He doesn't fake a caring, loving relationship like we do. If we meet someone for one day we can be very nice to that person, but if that person is not so nice towards us it's very difficult to maintain that pretense. But Krsna has to always deal with us. So He acts out of love. And I see that I need to come up to the level of loving the oxen, the cows, because they can sense pretence. Just like if someone just wants to be your friend so that he can enjoy your wealth and keeps telling you nice things, this is disturbing. So the oxen also are not happy when I'm just praising them and speaking nicely to them so that they'll do what I want them too. They can sense that I am not really caring for them.

Gauranga Prema driving Agni and Shyam up the hill with the load of firewood.

When we first turn to God it's out of fear, then once we develop some knowledge, out of duty, but ultimately we have to approach Him out of Love. Similarly we need to follow the same formula with these animals that are situated in the mode of goodness. First we may hear about the karmic reactions for mistreating the cows and oxen and start making better arrangements for them out of fear. If we want to love the cows we'll naturally want to develop knowledge about them. What they like and dislike and in this way try to please them. Because they are animals in the mode of goodness, they know how to reciprocate with our attempts at loving them. But the problem is that most times I'm not in the mode of goodness. Now I've a lot of homework to do, and it starts with me.

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