ABOUT
Hrdaya Caitanya dasa, also known as Herman Janssens (born March 10, 1950 and Belgian by origin) joined the Hare Krishna community of Amsterdam in 1980 at the age of thirty, after leaving a teaching job. He is a member of the GBC body since 2002. He is GBC for Spain and Portugal; Co-GBC together with Madhu Sevita Prabhu for Holland, Belgium and France. Since 2014 he is also a Co-GBC for Mayapur and a member of the Mayapur Executive Board. He and his wife are disciples of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami and they have a son, Visvambhar Caitanya dasa, and a daughter, Lalita Sakhi devi dasi. He is also a part of the Durbuy community of Radhadesh since 1980. He was the temple president, from 1986 until 2014, of the largest Belgian center which includes a traditional bakery, an Indian boutique, a cafeteria, a vegetarian restaurant, Gopinatha’s Garden, and, as from July 2002, a guest house. Bhaktivedanta College is also a part of the same campus.
SEMINAR
Should ISKCON Devotees Become Vegan?
The seminar clarifies if ISKCON devotees should become vegan, through the philosophy and by giving practical examples and guidelines based on Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. It discusses what we can learn from the vegans and what was Srila Prabhupada’s vision for cows and agriculture in our daily life. We also present the importance of the cow for the ISKCON society and the society at large, and the importance of milk and milk products for humans and especially for the devotees, as stated by Srila Prabhupada. We then give our views on what can ISKCON devotees do in the absence of Ahimsa milk and if there is a benefit to the cow, whose milk we consume and is subsequently slaughtered? We conclude by giving proposals on what ISKCON and the individual devotees could do to improve the situation.