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Whilst the Swamis are dressing
the Lord I want to take this opportunity to talk to a little bit
about what is happening at the moment in Skanda Vale. Many of
you have heard about Shambo. Shambo is one of our bulls and he’s
just behind you in the temple, behind the shutters and the
reason why we’ve put a bull in the temple is because the
government wants to kill him ... I know it sounds very strange,
why the government would want to kill a bull from the temple but
they’ve actually issued a slaughter notice and they want to come
and kill him at the end of next week.
Why have they done this? They
have done this because he’s reacted to a simple test that shows
he may have been exposed to Bovine TB. Any of you who are
doctors would know that a similar test in human beings doesn’t
mean that that person is a danger to everybody else – it’s a
simple skin test. If a member of your family reacted to such a
test would you allow them to be killed? Ask yourself that
question. If someone shows any sign of illness what do you do?
You go to a doctor, you get more tests done, you find out what
medicine you need and you treat that person. Every life-force
has the same opportunity as you or I to evolve and integrate
with God – this is the purpose of our birth. The person next to
you is not any more important than you are and you are not any
more important than Shambo is. Everybody in the eye of God is
equally as important. Only God has the right to give life, only
God has the right to take life and we have a duty to uphold
Dharma, the highest consciousness of almighty God. Satyam,
Dharma, Prema, Shanthi are the four cornerstones of Sanathana
Dharma.
We have spent many many weeks
now trying to discuss an alternative to killing with the
government. We have offered to pay for tests. We have vets who
have treated Bovine TB in many animals. We have isolated Shambo
so he’s not a risk to any people or any other animals. Yet they
still want to kill him! Why do they persist in this whole
approach? They persist in this approach because of politics,
because of economics, because of pressure from farming unions
who are worried that if Shambo is given an opportunity to live
then that will undermine their whole policy in relation to TB in
the country. The government solution to a problem is to kill the
problem! In the Foot & Mouth disease millions and millions of
cows were killed. In the BSC crisis millions and millions of
cows were killed, nearly all of whom were perfectly healthy.
When a person steps over the line between killing and not
killing then killing becomes the easy solution. When it is easy
to kill millions of cows as a solution it also becomes easier
to kill many many human beings and you will find the same
arguments, in view of bringing stability to the world, in view
of economic circumstances we must go to war, we must kill!
This is Adharma. It is driven
by the Asuric forces. We have to stand up for Dharma. We have to
stand up for the sanctity of life. There have been many people
in the Hindu community - community leaders - who have either
been silent on this issue or have been supportive. Now the
question you should be asking your temple committees, asking the
representative bodies of the Hindu communities in the country,
‘Who do you represent? Do you represent Dharma? Do you represent
almighty God? Or do you represent self interest and politics?’
What is the purpose of an organization that can not uphold the
fundamental tenets of our faith?
We, at the end of this Pooja,
will take a special Moorthi of Lord Subramanium and we will
install that Moorthi in front of Shambo because this is the
temple of Lord Subramanium. He is the sole authority in this
temple! If anybody from the government wants to try to enter
this temple they will be challenging the authority of almighty
God. Do you know who Lord Subramanium is? He is the commander in
chief of the heavenly forces. He is the destroyer of the forces
of Adharma. For somebody to attempt to enter this temple to kill
a member of his family would be the highest act of desecration
of our faith. It would be the highest act of desecration of the
sanctity of life. It is absolutely important that you support us
in these next few days to make sure that the government realizes
that they can not do this. We will challenge any decision of
theirs in the courts but ultimately we obey almighty God. We can
not act in a way which is not in accordance with Dharma. Killing
is not a solution.
The government has tried to
make out that they are ‘sympathetic to our concerns’, that they
are ‘sensitive to our way of worship’, that they ‘acknowledge
the difficulty that we have in this situation’ … How very
nice of the government!
We had a meeting with them in
Cardiff. That meeting was a total farce! They called that
meeting to show the media that they were in dialogue with the
temple. They weren’t in dialogue. There were representatives of
the Hindu community there and they will tell you that. The
government came to that meeting to explain why they are going to
make the decision to kill Shambo. They’ve made absolutely no
effort whatsoever to use their resources to work with us to find
a solution which doesn’t involve killing.
What are the risks of Shambo
staying alive? First of all if a person has got TB, in the NHS
how does that hospital deal with it? Only if that person is
diagnosed as shedding bacteria will they be placed in a single
room, given anti-TB drugs for two weeks then put back in a
general ward. None of the nursing staff have to wear masks -
it’s not a big drama – and that’s if somebody is shown to be
shedding bacteria! Shambo hasn’t even got to that stage. He may
not even be infected! Why can’t they do more tests? Is he going
to infect all the cows in Wales? Is he going to infect every
single piece of wildlife running around the country? It’s
absolutely laughable their approach. OK, kill Shambo, kill all
the cows, but TB stays! He’s not been in contact with any cows
from neighbouring farms. None of our other cows shows any signs
of TB, so where did he get it from if he’s got it? It must have
fallen out of the sky! Kill him and it’s still in the sky! This
is the absurdity of this whole approach.
I’m sure all of you are very
intelligent people. The government doesn’t seem to be very
intelligent at all. What they are saying is that their policy –
their failing policy – and their economics is more important to
them the right of you to worship God by celebrating the sanctity
of life. They are prepared to run rough-shot over your rights in
order to uphold Adharma and their economics ... now are you
going to be timid? Are you going to go cap-in-hand to the
government begging them to listen to you, or are you going to
stand up and say, ‘We will not accept the desecration of our
faith and of the sanctity of life.’ Don’t be frightened, be
proud of what you believe in. It is very unfortunate when those
who are meant to be representing the Hindu organizations in this
country are measured with their words because they are worried –
are they going to get a grant from the government for this, are
they going to be invited to sit on this or that committee? What
are they doing? They are sacrificing what they are meant to be
upholding fro their own self-importance.
Anybody who is a
representative of Dharma should not be a timid person! They
should be forthright and have the ability to say, ‘This is not
acceptable. You are not permitted to do this – find a solution!’
That is the sort of language that is needed in this instance so
that the government realizes that they can not kill. They talk
about putting an animal down – it’s very nice fluffy language –
what they mean is execution. It’s killing a life and that life
has Paramatma embodied within it, that life is sacred. Do not
allow the government to do this. Do not allow them to desecrate
your faith.
Please keep an eye on what is
going on. Check our website on a regular basis. We will be
starting having Poojas in the covered area outside Shambo’s pen
from tomorrow (Monday) onwards. If we need your assistance we
will ask for it over the internet and through the Hindu
community. Please support us. We are not involved in mass
demonstrations and waving placards saying ‘Save Shambo’ here and
‘Save Shambo’ there! We will celebrate the sanctity of life by
worshipping God. That is what you do well, that is what we do
well, and the government has forgotten one important thing in
this equation – they have forgotten that this drama is created
by God.
This is all God’s drama. Not
our drama, not your drama, not their drama. This is the Leela of
the Lord. You hear about the Leela of Krishna, the Leela
of Murugan. This is the play of Lord, to create maximum drama.
The Divine Mother is a drama queen, she loves drama! When
somebody wants to make something an issue she says OK, we’ll
make this a really big issue – she stirs everyone up,
makes it such a big drama that they wish they’d never started
the drama in the first place! She is Maha-Shakti. She is the
energy of the whole universe! Murugan is her son. He holds in
his hand the Vel, the weapon of ultimate destruction, to destroy
the forces of Adharma which are trying to interfere with worship
of God. Do you think for one minute that the Lord is not
involved in this drama? But the drama is an opportunity for you
to realize who God is, to realize the extent and power of the
nature of almighty God. God isn’t just in the gopuram when you
come to the temple. God is embodied in every single life-force.
God is the elements. God is nature. God is in you. God is in all
of us. God is even embodied in the members of the government but
they don’t realize it! May be after this drama has unfolded
people will step and say, ‘What was this all about, all this
fuss about one silly bull’. But what the fuss is about is to
make people step back and say, ‘What does the sanctity of life
mean in this day and age where everyday there’s bombs, where
everyday there’s killing - and yet we take no notice of it
because it happens all the time?’ Yet this one bull called
Shambo has gone all over the world – he was even on the
Brazilian television national news two days ago and people are
talking about him everywhere!
You see the drama of God?
Create maximum drama! And the drama hasn’t reached its
pinnacle yet, there’s more to play out! Enjoy the drama! Become
a part of the drama! But take your responsibility that Mother is
giving you - that the Lord is giving you - to act in accordance
with Dharma. Don’t just talk about it. Don’t just listen to what
we are saying ... but act on what we are saying! Then you will
also discover the purpose of this drama which is to discover
your divinity by identifying with God in his universality. Bless
you.
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