Danda 1995 - Suhotra Maharaja Archives

Answer by Suhotra SwamiSeptember 2, 1995Srila Prabhupada used to tolerate pains like tooth-aches. But his own fatherused painkillers in his old age. Some of the most senior devotees in ISKCON whoare troubled with migraine headaches use pain relieving medicines, otherwisetheir service would be impeded. That painkillers are demoniac is, I would say,a very opinionated stance. Let that person prove it by citing sastra.CHECKING THE MEDICINESQuestion from Mahendra dasSeptember 3, 1995Should we check for animal ingredients in the medicines which are prescribed bya karmi doctor?Answer by Suhotra SwamiSeptember 3, 1995If you think that there may be such ingredients within, yes.CHRISTIANSQuestion from Punya Palaka dasSeptember 6, 1995I was asking you about the monasteries in the morning because I got a letterfrom my wife - she heard from Vrndavani m., wife of Jayagurudeva prabhu, aboutone monastery they recently visited in Switzerland; there were young ladiesthere, waking up at 1 a.m., for hours chanting prayers, offering dandavats,living rigid life (?) as "real yoginis"... So she asked me, "Does it mean thatlove for Jesus can also be real? And that it helps them to endure tapasya andfind some pleasure in living with him? Otherwise how could they live like this?"How would you answer that? You already explained that waking early is natural,living in the monastery is a kind of occupation in the West, and that the monksand nuns don't follow the four principles. So is it just another kind of sensegratification and nothing else?And it's a fact that I had many friends in the Czech Republic who wereconverting to Christianity at the communist times, at the risk of persecution,looking for some higher goals of life, discovering the forgotten tradition...Some of them have become preachers. But thein ideal is "Love thy neighbour",with praying to God for others' welfare, thanking Him, and helping each other -in more or less sinful activities (without serving Krishna; although they saythey serve God in this way). I have no doubts they cultivate bodily conception,lacking the spiritual philosophy. Does this mean they are actually demons, ifthey hesitate to take to Krsna consciousness "having once surrendered (mentally)to Jesus"? Because they don't adhere to any authority?Answer by Suhotra SwamiSeptember 2, 1995The fact that someone rises early and performs austerities is not necessarily asymptom of even the slightest spirituality. During the Vietnam war, the VietCong (Communist guerrillas) unwent horrendous austerities for many years. Ifthey were lucky, they could eat one bowl of rice per day ... but often they