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FARM ÄCÄRYA Why Devotees Should Care for a

Green Transition Radhamadhav Das, PhD

Cover art: Joy Datta Proofreading and editing: Aditi-devé däsé and Daivéçakti-devé däsé For correspondence please email: [email protected] To check for the latest version of this booklet, to order a printed copy or to read it online please visit www.nectarpot.com

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Second edition, Nov 2015

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All Glories to Çré-Çré Guru & Gauräëga!

The three main purposes of this booklet are: 1.

To inform devotees about the great urgency for a wide and fast green transition.

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To encourage devotees to recognize this as a unique opportunity to serve the mission of Mahäprabhu.

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To offer practical solutions.

Note: The term ‘green transition’ refers to a transition to sustainable life-systems. This includes not only the environment, but also the economy, the society and all other human life systems. 2

Prelude “The cottage in the grove on the bank of Rädhä Kunòa, the great Govardhana hill, the banks of the Yamunä river, the Kusuma Sarovara lake, the Manasa Gaìgä stream, the daughter of Mount Kalinda (the Yamunä river) with her many waves, the Vaàçé Vaö Banyan tree, the town of Gokula, the holy place Dhéra Saméra, the trees and creepers and reeds of Våndävana, the different varieties of birds and deer, the cooling breeze from the Malaya mountains, the peacocks, the bumblebees (…)”

e saba choòato kaìhi nähi jäu e saba choòato paräna häräu

“I shall not go anywhere where these stimulants of devotional service are missing. Without them, I shall give up my life.” – Çréla Bhaktivinode Öhäkura, Çaraëägati, Rädhä-kunòa-taöa. 3

laukika vaidika yata kichu kåñëa-çakti sabära sammäne haya kåñëe dåòha-bhakti “By respecting both earthly and transcendental energies of Kåñëa, one’s devotion to Kåñëa becomes fixed.” (Caitanya-bhägavatam 2.18.184)

“Rather than considering the earthly energies of Kåñëa as mundane, one should consider them transcendental and pray to them for devotional service to Kåñëa.” – Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Prabhupäda in his purport to the above verse.

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“Civilization will collapse very soon, all over the world.” “Our farm projects are an extremely important part of our movement. We must become self-sufficient by growing our own grains and producing our own milk, then there will be no question of poverty. So develop these farm communities as far as possible.” “If these farms become successful then the whole world will be enveloped by Krishna consciousness. (…) Krishna is the Farm Äcärya. Baladeva is holding a plough, and Krishna is holding the calf.” “The Kåñëa consciousness movement will go down in history as having saved mankind in its darkest hour.”

– Çréla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swamé Prabhupäda Morning walk, November 29th, 1975. Letter to Rupanuga, December 18th, 1974. Letter to Hari Sauri, August 10th, 1977. Conversation, London, 1973.

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1. The Problem: System Collapse Ahead “Civilization will collapse very soon, all over the world.” This may sound like just another doomsday slogan, but these were in fact the words of Çréla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swamé Prabhupäda in 1975. Today, this statement rings truer than ever. We have just peaked in global oil production in 2005 and we have no plan how to replace oil. Unless we achieve a wide and timely green transition to a sustainable way of life, millions of people could lose their lives in collapses of oil-based infrastructure like agriculture, transportation, law-enforcement, sanitation and hospitals. In addition, the speculative global finance system is bound to collapse from within. It is critical to be well informed about the threat of infrastructure collapses so we can understand what the need of the hour is, namely to make a fast and widespread transition to a fully sustainable way of life. I therefore humbly request you to read the booklet Need of the Hour. You can read and download it for free on www.sublimeunion.org. Forty years have passed since Çréla Prabhupäda made the above statement, and we have not achieved much in following his instruction that “we must become self-sufficient.” Now time is running out. Experts say that oil production can drop significantly within the next five years and this can lead to massive infrastructure collapses all over the world. The most critical aspect will be the famines following the collapse of the modern agriculture that completely depends on oil products like fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and petrol. When the global food reserves (estimated to last only 70 days) will be depleted, people will start starving and looting everywhere. We won’t be able to save our cows and food stocks from them. Once people have looted and eaten all animals and plants (including all seeds), there will be nothing left to plant and breed. Even secluded farms will not be saved from this destructive looting, what to speak of houses and temples in the city. If we don’t transition to sustainability we may soon face the greatest holocaust in history. We shouldn’t think that this isn’t possible. During the Bengal famines, people didn’t only eat all cows –

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they ate all rats too, and some even resorted to eating human flesh. Although these famines were artificially created by the British, they show what happens during a collapse of agriculture. Many people died of neem poisoning because after having eaten everything else, they ate all neem leaves, which in excess leads to poisoning. And this happened in Gauòa-deça, the holy land of Mahäprabhu’s devotees. Over ten million people starved to death, and many of them were devotees wearing Tulasé neck beads. Sad but true. I’m sorry for including the horrible photograph, but we must wake up to reality. Until we have achieved a safe level of stability, we should give first priority to the green transition. It’s not just the modern infrastructure that’s bound to collapse. As mentioned in Need of the Hour, many of nature’s eco-systems, the global climate and the modern economic system are also bound to collapse. Çréla Prabhupäda also said that the artificial way of banking will collapse (Room conversation, Jan. 21, 1977). Before the Moghuls attacked, the Goswamis timely anticipated the threat and moved the Deities to Jaipur. The present threat is much, much greater. What is our plan? If we consider the unprecedented catastrophic impact of these imminent collapses, it becomes clear that this is mankind’s darkest hour that Çréla Prabhupäda foresaw. And if we should be able to offer a house in which the whole world can live, then we should start building it quickly. It is good to have faith in the Lord’s protection, but that should not lead to neglect of anticipation. “Trust in Allah, but feed your camels first.” That applies especially if you cross a desert – and the upcoming transition period will be nothing short of a desert. The Lord often protects His devotees by inspiring them with solutions. God helps those who help themselves, and He personally cares for those who care for others.

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2. The Chance: Boost Preaching and Sädhana In order to identify with the green transition, it is crucial to understand how it improves our preaching and our personal sädhana. Let us first discuss tattva. Some devotees claim that the green transition is a material activity and that we should focus on spiritual activities like chanting. Often, such devotees have not understood what spiritual and material means in tattva. In the Abrahamic religions there is a strong bifurcation of the material and spiritual worlds with regard to cosmic position and substance (substance dualism). But the Caitanyaite criteria for a thing to be material or spiritual is less its substance or position, but its internal affinity, which is changeable (affinity or potency transformation, çakti-pariëäma). This means that with the wrong affinity or intention, our chanting is material, and with the right affinity, our involvement in the green transition is spiritual. We must also be careful not to fall into the trap of the mäyävädés who preach that the Absolute Truth is real and the cosmic manifestation is false (brahma satyaà jagan mithyä). We follow Çré Madhväcärya who said brahma satyam jagat satyam, “Both the spiritual and material realms are real.” Our journey from the unreal to the real (asato mä sad gama) is less a switching of worlds than a change of consciousness. With spiritual vision, everything in creation is seen as Kåñëa’s energies. “Rather than considering the earthly energies of Kåñëa as mundane, one should consider them transcendental and pray to them for devotional service to Kåñëa.” – Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Prabhupäda (see Prelude). Sustainability is a core principle of the sanätana-dharma. The words sat and sanätana both express eternal existence and thus sustainability. Mother Earth is called dharaëé, “she who holds and sustains life,” and she appears in the form of a cow. Dharma personified appears as a bull. Unless we realize the close relations between dharma and protecting mother Earth, mother cow and father bull by leading a fully sustainable life, there is little hope for any substantial progress. The words dharma and dharaëé both come from the verbal root dhå, “to hold, to sustain.” Dharma is the original 8

principle of sustainability. If dharma is executed properly, human society is automatically sustainable. That doesn’t mean that we can just ‘chant and watch the show’ – it means that dadämi buddhi-yogaà tam, if we sincerely serve Kåñëa, He will give us the intelligence how to achieve a green transition, and then we have to implement it. Since dharma and sustainability are one, a reestablishment of dharma must go hand in hand with a transition to sustainability. As followers of the primordial environmentalists, namely Kåñëa, whom Çréla Prabhupäda called the “Farm Äcärya,” Balaräm, who is called dharaëé-dhära, “upholder and sustainer of the Earth”, and Våndä-devé, the goddess taking care of the forests of Vraja, we should be natural leaders of the green transition. If we spearhead the green transition in a spirit of true dharma and in order to preach and serve Kåñëa’s devotees, then it is a perfectly spiritual activity. In regards to preaching, the green transition is a great necessity if we want to offer people a complete solution and showcase traditional Vedic life. People are looking for solutions for today’s crises in all parts of the world. When they visit our communities and cannot find sufficient transition engagement, many go somewhere else. If we could showcase transition upfront by living in Vedic villages and towns, much more people would join our communities. “If these farms become successful then the whole world will be enveloped by Krishna consciousness.” (Çréla Prabhupäda, letter to Hari Sauri, Aug 10th, 1977.) If we can offer truly sustainable solutions, then it becomes easier for people to believe that we are messengers of the sat, the selfsustaining eternal principle. If they see that we not only talk, but also live holistically, it will not be hard for them to accept that we are the servants of the pürëam, the complete whole personified. Green devotee projects like the Eco Yoga Villages and the Govardhan Eco Village (see links in the Appendix) are attracting thousands of people every year who are looking for green solutions, and many of them join our communities and become devotees.

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Another important contribution of the green transition to preaching is that it protects the dignity of our preachers and communities at large. In the Gauòéya history we find that the Äcäryas never neglected to anticipate upcoming dangers. In fact, it is the custom in all spiritual traditions to approach the sages to learn how to respond to different calamities. It is thus natural that we expect spiritual leaders not only to be enthusiastic, but also to be experts in pioneering a green solution, especially if we are facing one of the greatest threats in history. Therefore, in order to protect our dignity, our preachers and spiritual leaders must take a zealous lead in the green transition. If we can transition, then many people will join us as Çréla Prabhupäda envisioned. If we fail, we will have to go begging from others, and in the future people will ask us: “What was your contribution to the transition? Where were you during our darkest hour?” We must make sure to fulfill Çréla Prabhupäda’s prediction that “the Kåñëa consciousness movement will go down in history as having saved mankind in its darkest hour.” (Conversation, London, 1973.) If we want to take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity for preaching, we need to increase our social integrity. An important

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lesson we can learn from the collapse crisis is that in order for our society to be resilient, holistic and sustainable, we need to be better integrated into society at large. Öhäkura Bhaktivinode set the example of social integrity. Nowadays many people shy away from cooperating with the Hare Krishna devotees due to our reputation of being elitist and sectarian. Spearheading the green transition up-front is a great chance to regain our social, economic and educational integrity. Needless to say, this would provide a great boost to our preaching. Our äcära (conduct) should match our pracära (preaching). We talk of simple living and high thinking, but most of us are far from simple living. How attractive can that be for people who are looking for long term solutions? Let aside preaching – how beneficial is that for our sädhana? Let’s take a look at how the green transition is beneficial for our sädhana. By having our own land and organic produce, we can become independent of the modern industry and can spend more time with devotional activities. We can offer the Lord food and other produce that has been cultivated with love and devotion and that’s free from chemicals and GMO, which lead to diseases like cancer, memory loss and depression even of children. Without a green transition, we continue to contribute in many ways to the destruction of nature, whose energies we should consider transcendental “and pray to them for devotional service to Kåñëa” (Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Prabhupäda, see Prelude). “Krishna is the Farm Äcärya. Baladeva is holding a plough, and Krishna is holding the calf. Krishna advised Nanda Mahäräja not to perform Indra-püja, but to worship the land, Govardhana, because it was supplying all foodstuffs for the residents of Våndävana and the cows as well.” (Çréla Prabhupäda, letter to Hari Sauri, Aug 10th, 1977.) The entire planet Earth was made sacred when Çré Kåñëa blessed her with the impressions of His lotus feet. Despite respecting her as one of our main seven mothers and addressing her as ‘Bhümé Devé’, the Earth goddess, we are contributing to her destruction by participating in the exploitative modern system of economy. We would expect that at least in the holiest places of this world – the places of Lord Kåñëa’s pastimes – the devotees are living in harmony with nature. But alas, these places have now become some of the most polluted spots on Earth.

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According to the Mother Nature Network, the Yamunä river is the 7th most toxic place to live on Earth.

Surgeons regularly remove over 50 kg’s of plastic from cows’ stomachs.

This February, a very outspoken non-resident Indian man was sitting next to me in the train. In his Californian accent he shouted: “Really, you’re going to Vrindavan? Man – that’s the filthiest place in the world! The streets are full of garbage and the Yamunä’s water is pure sewage. I’ll never go there again!” When I said that one needs spiritual vision to see the real Vrindavan, he outright called me a hypocrite. In one sense, he was right. Only a hypocrite can reside in Vrindavan and watch quietly as people destroy Rädhä-Kåñëa’s léläbhümé and all her uddépakas (stimulants like the trees, rivers and animals that invoke remembrance of Kåñëa). If we were truly devoted, we could never tolerate their desecration, and like Çréla Bhaktivinode Öhäkura, we would call out: “Without these devotional stimulants, I shall give up my life!” (see Prelude). Nowadays it is almost impossible to live in the dhäma without committing offense; most things we use or buy involve ecological 12

abuse. As Çréla Prabhupäda mentions in the book Vrindavan Days, external contamination of the dhāma also exists to keep away the materialists. But that doesn’t mean that we should contribute to it. Puëòaréka Vidyänidhi, who is Våñabhänu Mahäräja, the father of Rädhäräëé, in kåñëa-lélä, only went for Gaìgä-darçana at night because he was so pained to see people rinsing their mouth in her waters (Cb 2.7.25). We are careful not to step on the leaves and shadow of the Tulasé plant, but our toilet waste flows straight into the Gaìgä or Yamunä and mixes with her water that is used for worship. We offer ärati to mother cow, but our garbage ends up on open piles where cows eat plastic that congests their digestive system, leading to a painful slow death. In the film Plastic Cow we see how doctors of the Karuna society in Andhra Pradesh remove over fifty kilograms of plastic from a cow’s stomach. This has become a routine surgery. Mahäprabhu’s golden formula is simple: “Chant without offenses and you’ll get the treasure of prema.” (Cc 3.4.71.) It’s not a false expectation that after chanting for a good time we should attain kåñëaprema; if we don’t, then we can understand that we are committing offenses (Cc 1.8.29). If we analyze our Gauòéya history, we will be confronted with a big question: Why is it that despite more and more people joining our movement, fewer and fewer attain to the aspired stages of bhäva and prema? The chance to commit offenses must have increased. If we compare all kinds of chances for offense today with previous times, we find that they have all increased gradually, but one has increased exponentially: the chance to commit offense to the dhäma, to Mother Cow and to other exalted Vaiñëavés like Yamunä Devé and Bhümé Devé through ecological abuse. During Mahäprabhu’s time, all farming was still organic and there were hardly any toxic wastes. People travelled by bullock cart and went to the field for their toilet duties. Nowadays we are unavoidably enmeshed into a web of ecological abuse – environmentalists speak of ‘eco sin’. If we accept that Bhümé Devé is a Vaiñëavé then eco sins are vaiñëava-aparädhas. For preaching, she may excuse us, but we must also showcase the ideal devotee lifestyle. In a strict sense, chanting while committing eco sins is like an elephant’s bath. If we are sincere in devotion we must give high priority to remove this obstacle.

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How can we become disentangled from the web of eco sins? As most human systems are interlinked, even seemingly insignificant decisions like buying grains start a cascade of unintentional eco sins, such as pollution of soil and air through conventional agriculture. Even if we buy organic grains, we still contribute to tractors replacing the bulls, resulting in their slaughter. The conclusion forces itself upon us that if we want to increase our chances of getting kåñëa-prema, we have to achieve a complete system overhaul – a wide green transition. In a green and clean environment we’ll not only be less prone to commit offenses, but we’ll also be closer to the remembrance and lifestyle of Vrindavan, the original evergreen forest. Certain devotees fear that engaging in the green transition will compromise their devotional service; they claim that it belongs to inferior activities. However, there is no question of whether the devotees’ effort of a green transition is nivåtti-märga or pravåtti-märga, or whether it is rägänuga-bhakti or vaidhé-bhakti, or whether it is within varëäçrama-dharma or beyond it – this depends entirely on our consciousness. The extent of spiritual benefit we get depends more on the quality of our consciousness than on which type of devotional activity we are engaged in. An offensive priest or preacher will eventually fall down whereas a pure devotee engaged in farming can reach Goloka Vrindavan. If we have understood the rare opportunity of protecting and serving the Lord and His devotees in a time of great need and our motive is to please Them, then our green transition is in line with the highest practices of our rüpänuga äcäryas. If we don’t get stuck in externalities and go a little deeper, we can recognize a beautiful parallel of the green transition with the Ratha-yäträ festival; just as Çré Jagannätha’s cart festival expresses a transition from vaidhébhakti in the opulent city to rägänuga-bhakti in the sweet village, so the green transition encompasses a transition from industrial opulence to natural sweetness – an environment that not only makes it easier to remember God, but especially invokes remembrance of God’s sweetest pastimes as a transcendental cowherd boy frolicking in the lush forests of Vånda. Thus it can easily be understood how the green transition can give a great boost to our preaching and sädhana.

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3. The Solution: A Wide & Fast Green Transition

The best way to care for our fellow beings right now is to prevent collapse by making a green transition, its most critical aspect being localized organic farming. First of all, we must at once start large organic seed banks of locally adapted seeds in all places in order to cover the huge demand during the transition to the post-petrol era. People will realize that organic seeds are more valuable than all the money and gold in the world. The same consideration applies to land and cows. These things cannot be acquired all of a sudden. Land suitable for cultivation and dwelling must be carefully chosen and cultivated and cows need to be bread for many generations. Bulls need to be trained for plowing and pulling. In theory, we know the value of land and cows, but we are yet to implement that knowledge on a large scale. Especially in times of transition, we should invest most surplus funds in seed banks, land and cows, not in big buildings. We should not only cover our own demands but we should be able to provide organic seeds and trained bulls to other people as well during transition. If we can do this all over the world, this could very possibly be the critical service that will make us “go down in history as having saved mankind in its darkest hour.” Çréla Prabhupäda wrote: “Our farm projects are an extremely important part of our movement. We must become self-sufficient by growing our own grains and producing our own milk, then there will be no question of poverty.” (Letter to Rupanuga, 1974.) In 1977, he said in Vrindavan: “How they were happy, the inhabitants of Vrindavan with Kåñëa and living with cows. That I want to introduce.

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At any cost do it. And don’t bother about big, big buildings. It is not required – useless waste of time. Produce; make the whole field green. See to that. Then whole economic question solved. (…) Farm, farm, farm, farm! That is not my program – it’s Kåñëa’s program. Annäd bhavanti bhütäni (Bg. 3.14). Produce greenness everywhere, everywhere – Vrindavan.” Are there any other words that Çréla Prabhupäda repeated four times in a row other than ‘Kåñëa’ and ‘farm’? Self-sufficient farming means organic farming. Of course, we are not just going to give people organic food – we will give them kåñëa-prasädam prepared from real sattvic, organic food, and help them to develop Kåñëa-consciousness. Before we go into details, let’s remember a very critical aspect of the collapse crisis: it’s not just about saving a little energy or only about eco-communities – the deciding quest is to ensure a green transition on the macro level, that means entire states, countries and if possible the whole planet Earth. Because as mentioned before, any solution limited to the micro level like eco-villages is prone to vanish during the collapse-caused looting. The challenge is to attain a timely and widespread green transition – this alone can provide the required resilience (ability to adjust to and recover from sudden change). At least it should happen on the state level. This is not unrealistic. Bhutan is an entire country dedicated to a transition to 100% organic farming. After a collapse of food and fuel supplies in 1989, the Cubans replaced up to 80% of industrial farming with community-based and bullpowered organic farming. Today, 90% of Havana’s fresh produce comes from local urban organic farms and gardens. In 2014, the Thai government decided to greatly scale up organic agriculture. In 2011, the Danish government mandated to achieve independence from coal, oil and gas by 2050. The whole world is watching Germany’s Energiewende (energy transition) to independence from nonrenewable energy sources like coal, oil and nuclear power.

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1. Vegetables and fruit plantation in the middle of the Cuban city Havana. 2. A community-owned PV array on a noise barrier in Freiburg, Germany.

On a sunny day in 2012, the Germans broke the world record when they were able to cover half of their country’s energy demand from solar power. In 2012, the Energiewende offset an estimated 146 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. It has helped to bring down the cost of solar to less than half and created 380’000 new jobs, while the GDP rose steadily. In the USA, many companies are saving more than fifty percent of energy demand and billions of dollars by switching to more efficient infrastructure and technology. There are many such encouraging transitions, but no state or country has yet achieved a green transition with sufficient resilience, especially in regard to helping people who have not transitioned, which is essential to avoid collapse. There is a lot of work to be done and that too within a short time. Just exactly how devotees should go about with this work is open for discussion. There can be different models; some with modern renewable technologies as in Govardhan Eco-village in Maharashtra, and some that include only traditional systems as in Gokuldham Eco-village near Belgaum. We can at least invite experts from all fields from inside and outside our society and start green transition conferences and thinktanks and establish transition committees everywhere. The World Vaishnava Association (WVA) has been addressing environmental concerns in most of their meetings and this year ISKCON has invoked the Sustainable Vaishnava Community (SVC) that focuses on conferences and networking. The green transition deserves and must get most of our present attention. It is essential to understand that the green transition will only achieve the required momentum if the leaders prioritize it. This will only happen if the devotee community 17

encourages and supports their leaders in this most crucial effort. Therefore, education about the urgency of a green transition is needed on all levels from youth to leadership. All devotees should be taught how they can contribute to the transition on the micro and macro level. Devotees may not agree with everything I am proposing, but we must under all circumstances start networking and developing transition plans. At present there are already some wonderful transition projects running. I just returned to Vrindavan from a SouthIndia tour to four eco-villages. The devotees have attained a significant level of self-sufficiency and are moving into the right direction. But, as mentioned, these projects are limited to the micro level and thus prone to destruction by collapse-caused looting. Because not enough emphasis is given on this point, I’m stressing the very critical aspect of widespread transition. Of course, if these micro solutions spread like wildfire, they will move up to the macro level, but this is very unlikely to happen without the involvement of bureaucrats and the government. And – let’s be realistic about this – if we demand that all people become devotees, follow the four regulative principles and serve within varëäçrama-dharma so that they can participate in our model for a sustainable society, then we will also not be able to create the required momentum in time. This is not to say that we should loosen these principles in our societies. It is to say that we have to simultaneously provide quick transition solutions that are attractive for the commoners, most of whom are not going to give up their bad habits within the next 5-10 years. The conclusion is that until the green transition is completed, we must simultaneously move on two transition tracks; a traditional and a universal or super-traditional one. In this deciding time, many of us must also focus on the universal track in order to create the required momentum. Once the critical tipping point is reached, society at large will pull in fully, and when the transition is accomplished, we can reinvest all our energy into our traditional lifestyle. We must not shy away from dealing with governing officials, bureaucrats and academics. Our principle is yukta-vairagya. To save their beloved Öhakurjés from the Moghuls, the Goswamis also collaborated with governors. If the necessity arises, we should be ready for any service for the Lord and

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His devotees. Although the Vaiñëavas are ultimately beyond varëäçrama, we should not think “I’m beyond all these duties, let others do them.” Rather, we should say, “if none else does the job of the kñatriyas, let me do it!” While doing our specific services, we should be sarvopädhi-vinirmuktaà, detached from any temporary designation and post and attached to håñékeëa håñékeça-sevanam, engaging all our senses in any required service for the master of the senses. Especially now during the transition period we realize the great lack of true kñatriyas. Some devotees hope that the governments will try to prevent collapse, but those who are well-informed know that they have no plan for a timely green transition. Also within our society we lack trained kñatriyas. For example, you may have heard that some time ago in India, thieves broke the wall of an ISKCON goçälä at night and stole two cows. The paid security guards were sleeping so soundly that they didn’t even notice the breaking of the wall. What a shame for those cows. After similar incidents, devotees with brähmaëa initiation decided to accept the role of night guards. Some even started patrolling around on bikes to check for thieves loading cows on trucks and taking them away for slaughter. While others were hiding, H. H. Bhaktiräghava Swami and other devotees bravely defended the Çré-Çré Rädhä-Mädhava Deities when dacoits attacked the Mäyäpur temple. Çréla Prabhupäda boldly defended the temple land in Mumbai, and after his victory he said with satisfaction: “it was a good fight.” When no kñatriyas came forth to take up the case for the devotees after the Chand Kazi forbade nagara-saìkértana in Navadvip Dhäm, Mahäprabhu Himself became the leader of a non-violent civil disobedience party and led the devotees in a protest procession to the Kazi’s residence. Similarly, many of us will have to accept unusual roles to bring about the green transition. Every seva we do can become an excuse not to serve the need of the hour, and then it may even become a disservice. Suppose the püjäré would have refused to relocate Çré-Çré Rädhä-Govinda when the Moghuls were about to attack because he had prepared some important püjä. That so called ‘püjä’ would have been a great disservice. It is not our tradition to follow tradition just for the sake of following tradition. Our tradition is

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to serve the Lord and His devotees according to Their most prominent needs. This time, the need of the hour is to make a timely and widespread green transition. The people of Bengal may not have seen the famine coming. But we are informed about the impending collapses and thus we have to step into action. The government is not doing enough, so we’ll have to fill the gap. In both big Bengal famines (1770 and 1946) the cause was mismanagement, inaction and policy failures of the (British) government. In Kali-yuga, we cannot rely on any so called ‘government’. If there is a need, we have to lead. In a healthy devotee society, the brähmaëas, by dint of their spiritual absorption and study, would soon realize the graveness of the converging crises and counsel the kñatriyas. The ever-alert kñatriyas would at once mandate a green transition and would not hesitate to sacrifice everything to protect society. The vaiñyäs would direct the economic and agricultural transition and the çüdräs would support transition through film, music, poetry, art and working force. That this transition is not happening on a large scale indicates that our society is not in a very healthy state, both spiritually and materially. Maybe the increasingly pressing need for a timely transition will give a kick-start to developing varëäçrama-dharma, which already includes a blueprint for a sustainable and resilient community. Many devotees feel that the green transition and varëäçrama-dharma are impractical. But what alternatives do we have? If we don’t want to face unprecedented catastrophes, we have no other choice than to transition into sustainable living. If we have understood this fact, than there will be no more excuses. Of course living simply can be a challenge for most of us who are used to the so called ‘comforts’ of modern living. We may have to do it forcefully, but for the next generation it will again be natural, having been born in a simple environment. They will be able to better appreciate what Kåñëa, the Farm Äcärya, exemplified: Farming is charming. And since we are anyway going to have to design a complete system overhaul, we might as well take a deep breath and say, “All right, varëäçrama-dharma, here we come.” Often the magic happens when we step out of the comfort zone and sacrifice for a greater good.

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To accommodate more of the common people, there should also be communities with fewer regulations. We must not play down such attempts and recognize their legitimate function in the greater plan. Let aside different-minded devotees – we have to collaborate with anyone who supports the green transition if we want to achieve the required level of resilience in time. This is the bottom line. Let’s assume that at least half of the world population has to become self-sufficient to be able to accommodate the other half in times of the upcoming crises. Are the devotees going to convert half of the world and all live self-sufficiently within the next five years? To expect this would be utopian. Nevertheless, many devotees live in a kind of dream bubble, believing that they will be able to accommodate all people in times of crises, and some devotees thus even welcome collapse, thinking that it will lead to many refugees joining our societies. This hot dream bubble at once bursts on the ice crystal of cool-headed thought. Say a wonder happens and one million devotees become self-sufficient overnight. Could they accommodate the other 7 billion people? That would be seven thousand people per devotee! Let’s be real – the hungry mob will not come to join our chanting. They will loot our food stocks and eat our cows. What to speak of nondevotees – even devotees will fight for food amongst themselves. Therefore, to protect the devotees and all other living beings, we must collaborate with all people moving toward sustainability on a wide scale. Devotees were already collaborating with non-devotees during the churning of the milk ocean, which greatly pleased the Lord. For a basic lineout of transition solutions on the micro-level and macro-level, please read Need of the Hour, published by the Sublime Union, an organization dedicated to a wide green transition and an identity transition (www.sublimeunion.org). Devotees may strive for a local traditional transition and simultaneously serve in a project dedicated to a wide transition like the Sublime Union.

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Green transition plan for devotees This emergency plan focuses on the very urgent transition to selfsufficiency to avoid system collapses in the next five years (to implement the entire Vedic system will take more time). Action plan 1. Get educated about the imminent threat of system collapses and the pressing need to transition to sustainable systems. Know how this was voiced by our Äcäryas and how the green transition is a most beneficial spiritual activity. 2. Take a firm decision to anticipate this threat. 3. Learn the possible measurements and step into action. Major measurements - Green dhäma-seva Charity starts at home. Unless we have green and clean dhämas, how can we expect anyone to take us seriously when we talk about sustainability (this also applies to our homes, communities and their environment). Can you imagine the Vatican or Mecca in such a mess as there is in Vrindavan? Purity is the force. If we make at least Vrindavan green and clean, we will not only gain great force from inside, but also receive more support from outside. Please remember that ‘green’ refers to sustainability of all human life systems. The following suggestions for Vrindavan can also be applied to different other places. The broken sewer system must be repaired and sewage treatment plants must be installed. In India the custom was to go to the fields for one’s toilet and this was a fully sustainable system. Now that most people want the comfort of a home toilet we need to provide modern solutions. The wet flush toilet is not only a great environmental hazard but also an underestimated health threat. Mixing excrements with flowing water is a very efficient way of spreading disease through bacteria, viruses and parasites. It goes against our nature to pass stool or urine into any body of water, but by using the ‘flush-and-forget toilet’ we do so indirectly. 22

The natural instinct is to empty one’s bowels into earth, where the feces quickly turn into soil. During Vedic times, cultured people would never pass stool and urine into water. Na-apsu mütraà puréñaà vä ñtévanaà vä samutsåjet, “One should not cause urine, stool or mucus to enter water.” – Manu-småti 4.56. Placing toilets within houses also leads to domestic energy contamination and is against Vedic principles of purity. Since we have the chance of redesign, we should strive to leapfrog the disadvantages of Western toilets. Let’s at least make toilets separate from our houses and build sewage treatment plants. The greenest home toilet is the composting toilet, which is common in remote houses in the Swiss Alps. It looks like a common toilet, but the discharge is covered with sawdust. To sidestep manual removal, large tanks can be built from which very fertile, clean and odorless soil can be harvested after 6-12 months. Experts call it ‘humanure’ or ‘black gold’. Next is waste management. We must introduce waste separation and recycling systems and proper waste treatment. To minimize the use of plastic waste we must offer viable alternatives such as affordable biodegradable bags, plates and packing. In regards to greening, we should at once start organic food gardens in as many places as possible, as food is the most critical aspect of local resilience. Public spaces can be turned into edible gardens. Fruit trees should be planted wherever possible such as next to roads. Wide-scale reforestation with local trees is needed to bring back the original Vrindavan. The over-loaded transportation system needs to be redesigned. Central places should be car-free and only cycle rickshaws, bullock carts, horse carriages and battery rickshaws should be allowed. A proper bus system needs to be introduced and people should also be encouraged to walk and use bicycles. By covering most power demands with local solar power, people can live more eco-friendly, resilient, independent and economically. Solar water heating systems and solar cookers need to be introduced. Local economies have to be supported over non-local ones by measurements such as local currencies, obligation to label non-local products and taxes on nonlocal products that will be used to fund local green development. To reverse urbanization, living in developed villages has to be promoted.

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- Develop local resilience all over the world Resilient communities are stable enough to overcome the upcoming crises. Villages and towns should form alliances that are locally selfsufficient by covering the production of organic food, medicines and clothing. Development of organic farms and even more so large organic seed libraries are crucial, especially during the transition into the post-petrol age. Natural ways of engineering should be promoted. Research and development of traditional local ways of sustainable living should be conducted. Mother cow and father bull should be respected and protected, and the bulls should work in the fields and on the roads. The Vedic tradition of keeping two years of grain stocks should be reintroduced. This will not only give a backup for times of need but also provide healthier aged grains. - Green education All above measurements are to be taught in all places and schools to create the required awareness. - Green collaboration Many people and organizations dedicated to different sustainable development projects should collaborate to create a great momentum required to get things started on higher levels like education, research, health care, economics and government. One such effort is the Transition Network, the largest global network for sustainable development. We have started a Transition Town Vrindavan Committee with the outlook of making Vrindavan into a Transition Town. This will not only create a network of collaboration and education amongst people in Vrindavan, but also attract further development from outside. - Green governance To implement the above measurements, cooperation of bureaucrats and the government is required. This should be created by both approaches; top-down and bottom-up. Leaders as well as the general

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populace should be educated about the urgent need for a green transition. Especially in this critical time, certain devotees must be active in the fields of politics and law, as has been showcased by Çréla Bhaktivinode Öhäkura. Concluding words Please write to [email protected] for any suggestions or other correspondence. We close with the words of Çréla Prabhupäda: “If these farms become successful then the whole world will be enveloped by Krishna consciousness.”

Radhamadhav Das studied environmental science at the Federal IT Zurich (ETH) and Vaiñëava philosophy at the Florida Vedic College. He has taught at colleges in Bern and Zurich and lectured at universities in India. He is presently serving in Vrindavan as a researcher for the Bhaktivedanta Learning Institute for Self-sufficiency (BLISS) and as the Secretary of the Environmental Committee of the World Vaishnava Association (WVA).

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Appendix Green devotee projects Ananda Dham Switzerland: www.ananda-dham.com Bhumi Project: www.bhumiproject.org Braj Foundation: www.brajfoundation.org Care for Cows Vrindavan: www.careforcows.org Dhanesvara Dasa: www.spiritual-econ.com Eco-Agri Research Foundation Karnataka: www.ecoagri.in Eco Truly Park Lima: www.ecotrulypark.org Eco Yoga Villages: www.ecoyogavillages.org Friends of Vrindavan: www.friendsofvrindavan.com Food for Life Vrindavan: www.fflvrindavan.org Gajanand Agarwal: www.krisit.com Gomata BLISS (Bhaktivedanta Learning Institute for Self-Sufficiency) Vrindavan: www.gomatabliss.org Gokuldham Ecovillage Belgaum: www.iskconvarnasrama.com/home/gokul-dham Govardhan Ecovillage Maharashtra: www.ecovillage.org.in International Society for Cow Protection: www.iscowp.org ISKCON Campus Ministry: www.iskconcampusministry.com ISKCON Daiva Varnasrama Ministry: www.iskconvarnasrama.com Krishna Valley Ecovillage Hungary: www.ecovalley.hu Sahadeva Dasa: www.drdasa.com/books Vrindavan Act Now: www.vrindavanactnow.com

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Gallery (only in Ebook version)

Vrindavan – the Primordial Ecovillage

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