Preeti bhojanam- Part 1

Common sense tells us that adding too much of any ingredient in cooking is a surefire recipe for disaster. But there is one ingredient which we cannot get enough of. That, which makes the world go around. Nope, its not anything material that I am talking of here. It is LOVE! We cannot buy it from the wholesale club and there is no limit to the number of tablespoons that we can add. This same love is distributed worldwide,free of charge, at all our temples' Sunday feast program. The famed Sunday Love Feasts!

Last January I received a beautifully printed invitation card for my nephew's Upanayanam' (Sacred Thread Ceremony), to be held in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. As with any other Samskara, this was accompanied by an invitation for lunch or Preeti Bhojan. "Preeti Bhojan", I thought "Isn't that the same as Love Feast?"

Turns out this term is widely in use amongst the North Indian community and dictionary.com also endorses the term as follows:
love feast 
–noun
1.(among the early Christians) a meal eaten in token of brotherly love and charity; agape.

2.a rite in imitation of this, practiced by a number of modern denominations; a fellowship meal.
3.a banquet or gathering of persons to promote good feeling, restore friendly relations, honor a special guest, etc.
Origin: 1570–80

I sighed at my misfortune for being so far away from my family, envisioning the types of pithas, rasagollas and other Oriyan delicacies that would be served at the feast. But wait is that really a love feast? Has the food been offered to the ultimate beneficiary? not the new brahmachari, but to Lord Jagannath. Had I been there would I really have eaten at the restaurant the event was taking place?

A wonderful article that I read once on Back to Godhead (BTG), by HH Sivarama Swami beautifully sums up the transformation of matter to spirit. Here is the link http://btg.krishna.com/main.php?id=929

So, this Sunday as we cooked for the temple Sunday feast I mulled over the questions that I have been asked,"Why is it that prasadam tastes so good? How do we know how much salt to add to a certain prep without tasting?"

The short answer is prasadam is the Lord's mercy and that is why it tastes good and the paramatma within the heart guides us on quantity of salt and spices based on our consciousness at the time of service. My own tiny realization is that Lord Krishna is happy when devotees are satisfied and unless one craves salt due to hormonal or mineral deficiencies devotees can handle only the normal salt content. Thus in order to please the devotees, who accept only Krishna Prasadam, the paramatma within, guides the conscious cook. Moreover, the Lord Himself has promised to accept the offering and will not settle for something unpalatable (of course He can eat by just glancing). Likewise in deity worship Srila Prabhupada mentions in response to a mataji's query that "the deities dress Themselves," being the meticulous dressers that they are. As someone once said Pujaris and deity cooks must hang their false egos outside the kitchen/Altar.

I guess once that rule is followed, paramatma will direct us suitably. So hang out the false egos before tying those apron strings.

Mahaprasadam Ki Jaya.

Check back for pictures of our fun cooking session past Sunday:-)