[ *Part 2, continued from previous article: WHO IS CRAZY? ]

"... Just as we give the land designations, we also give our bodies designations, but no one can say what his designations were before birth. Who can say that he was American, Chinese, European or whatever? We are thinking that after leaving this body we will continue as American or Indian or Russian. But although we may live in America during this life, we may be in China in the next, for we are constantly changing our bodies. Who can say that he is not changing bodies? When we are born from the womb of our mother, our body is very small. Now, where is that body? Where is the body we had as a boy? We may have photographs that remind us what the body was like in past years, but we cannot say where that body has gone. The body may change, yet we have the feeling that we do not change. “I am the same man,” we think, “and in my childhood I looked like this or like that.” Where have those years gone? They have vanished along with the body and everything that came in contact with it. But although everything is changing at every moment, we are still sticking to our bodily identification so that when we are asked what we are, we give an answer that is somehow or other related to this body. Is this not crazy? If a person identifies with something he is not, he is considered crazy. The conclusion is that one who identifies with the body cannot really be considered sane. This, then, is a challenge to the world: Whoever claims God’s property or earth as belonging to his body, which is constantly changing, can only be considered a crazy man. Who can actually establish that this is his property or that this is his body? By the chances of nature a person is placed in a body and is dictated to by the laws of material nature. Yet in illusion we think we are controlling that nature. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā:

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Bg. 3.27)

Prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni: Material nature is pulling everyone by the ear, just as a stern teacher pulls a student. Every individual is under the dictations of material nature and is being put sometimes in this body and sometimes in that. We are now fortunate to have acquired a human body, but we can easily see that there are many other types of bodies (8,400,000 according to Padma Purāṇa) and by the laws of nature we can be put into any type of body according to our work. Thus we are completely in the grip of material nature. Although this lifetime we may be fortunate in acquiring a human body, there is no guarantee that the next time we will not have the body of a dog or some other animal. All this depends on our work. No one can say, “After my death, I will take my birth again in America.” Material nature will force us into this body or that. Since we are not authorities, Bhagavad-gītā informs us that everything is being conducted by the supreme laws of nature, and it is the foolish man who thinks, “I am something. I am independent.” Ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā: this is false reason. Although the living entity is different from the body, he thinks, “I am this body.” Therefore Śaṅkarācārya basically preached the same message over and over: ahaṁ brahmāsmi, “I am not this body; I am Brahman, spirit soul.”

Nonetheless, even when we have resolved to take to the path of self-realization, māyā or illusion persists. By self-realization a person may come to realize that he is not the body but a spiritual soul. What then is his position? Void? Impersonal? People think that after the demise of this body there is nothing but nirvāṇa or void. The impersonalists similarly say that as soon as the body is finished, one’s personal identity is finished also. In actuality, however, the body can never be identified with the living entity any more than a car can be identified with its driver. A person may direct a car wherever he wishes, but when he gets out of the car he does not think that his personality is gone. In Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa speaks of the living entity in this way:

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
yantrārūḍhāni māyayā,

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.” (Bg. 18.61)

These various bodies are like cars, and they are all moving. One person may have an expensive kind of car, and another person may have an inexpensive one; one person may have a new car, and another person may have an old one. Should we then think that when we are out of the car of the body the personality no longer exists? This is another kind of craziness. The void philosophy, which maintains that after death we become nothing, is also a craziness that has been contradicted. We are not void but spirit. When one attains spiritual realization, knowing himself as spirit outside the body, he can advance further by inquiring about his duty as spirit. “What is my spiritual work?” he should ask. Realizing one’s spiritual identity and asking about one’s spiritual duty is actual sanity. So much individuality and discrimination are displayed by the living entity even in the body. Should we think that at death one’s intelligence, discrimination and individuality no longer exist? Although we may make such great plans and work so hard within the body, are we to assume that when we leave the body we become void? There is no basis for this nonsense, and it is directly refuted by Kṛṣṇa at the very beginning of Bhagavad-gītā:

na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ
na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ
na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ
sarve vayam ataḥ param

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. As the embodied soul continually passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” (Bg. 2.12–13) ..."

[This article is going to be divided into parts]

WHO IS CRAZY?

 

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Founder-Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

 

[Reproduced from

Back to Godhead magazine

Issue #66]

 

"... The whole world is divided into factions, and each accuses the others of being crazy. But if there are no criteria by which to judge sanity, then who can decide?

 

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru

mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

 

“Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, engage your body in My service and surrender unto Me. Completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.” (Bg.9.34)

 

Here Krsna says that one should always think of Him, be His devotee and worship Him. This is the process of devotional service; it is not very difficult, and anyone can execute it by thinking of God, offering obeisances and rendering some service unto Him. Generally people identify with some party, either socially, politically, economically or religiously. In America there are the Republican and Democratic parties, and on the international scale there are the capitalists and the communists. Religiously, people identify with a party as Christian, Moslem, Hindu and so on. In India there are social parties also, like the brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas. In short, to avoid belonging to some party or other is not possible. Spiritualism, however, means that we should identify ourselves with God’s party.

 

On this platform also there is “party-ism” in that the spiritualists call the materialists crazy, and the materialists call the spiritualists crazy. We have formed a Society for Krishna Consciousness, and those who do not like it say that we are “crazy.” Similarly, a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness sees a person who is acting in material consciousness as a crazy person. Who, then, is actually crazy? Who decides? How are the parties involved capable of deciding? Indeed, the whole world is divided into parties, each accusing the others of being crazy, but if there are no criteria by which to judge sanity, then who can decide? If we ask any man, any common man on the street, what he is, he will reply, “I am this body.” He may give some further explanation by saying that he is Christian, or Hindu, or Jewish, or that he is Mr. So-and-So, or whatever, but all these are simply designations he attaches to the body. In other words, they all arise from the body. When a person says that he is an American, he is referring to the body because by some accident or reason he is born into the land of America and so takes the title of an American. But that is also artificial because the land is neither American nor French, nor Chinese, nor Russian, nor anything—land is land. We have simply artificially created some boundaries and said, “This is America, this is Canada, this is Mexico, Europe, Asia, India.” These are our concoctions, for we do not find that these lands were originally divided in this way. Three or four hundred years ago this land was not even known as America, nor was it even inhabited by white men from Europe. Even a thousand years ago Europe was inhabited by different peoples and called different names. These are all designations that are constantly changing. From the Vedic literatures we can understand that this whole planet was known as Ilāvṛta-varṣa, and one king, Mahārāja Bharata, who ruled the entire planet, changed the name of the planet to Bhārata-varṣa. Gradually, however, the planet became divided again, and different continents and sectors became known by different names. Even recently India has been divided into a number of countries, whereas earlier in the century India had included Burma, Ceylon and East and West Pakistan. In actuality the land is neither Bhārata-varṣa, India, Europe, Asia or whatever—we simply give it these designations in accordance with time and influence. ..."

I.S.K.C.O.N. As It Is

The Following is a Letter written to a fellow e-mail recipient concerning the mislabeling of The International Society for Krishna Consciousness founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.

Dear _______ prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Are you  under the impression that these people who are not following Srila Prabhupada are "ISKCON" devotees just because they are claiming to be chanting 16 rounds, following the 4 regulative principles, and have a picture of Srila Prabhupada in the house??

There is a lecture given by Srila Prabhupada in Vrndavana, November 1, 1976 where he states : "...The first thing is hamse gurau mayi bhaktyanuvrtya. This is religion. Adau gurvasrayam. If you do not get a qualified guru, then everything is bogus. …" "...The bona fide spiritual master, by his personal activities, teaches the disciple the principles of devotional service. Without personal service, one would go on speculating like the impersonalists and dry speculators life after life and would be unable to reach the final conclusion. By following the instructions of the bona fide spiritual master in conjunction with the principles of revealed scriptures, the student will rise to the plane of complete knowledge, which will be exhibited by development of detachment from the world of sense gratification. …"

 So clearly it is stated if you do not accept, in our case, Srila Prabhupada and "all of His orders and instructions" ie. that he is a bonifide Acharya (therefore the allegiance HAS to be there for you to be a follower) then you are not in ISKCON. You are in a completely different organization, it ceases to be the ISKCON referred to in Srila Prabhupada's books and stipulations, legal documents. etc. It is in name only. But those who can see this difference, they prefer to refer to this organization by some other nick name: FISKCON, GODIYA PEOPLE, or whatever. For the sake of understanding, because people get this confused. The matter can be confusing for new people who Go to the temples read ISKCON on the walls, books and see Srila Prabhupada's picture. There should be an explanation that it is not really the ISKCON Srila Prabhupada intended, in fact IT IS NOT "ISKCON" AT ALL.

In "Srila Prabhupada's approved books" it is stated that when one is offering Boga it must be offered FIRST to your spiritual master and THEN in that manner the rest of the Sampradaya offers it ending with Radha Krishna. BUT when the meaning is changed and manipulated to mean almost the exact opposite then the instruction is lost. 

In a more subtle and dangerous example; If the VERY words of the Spiritual Master are spoken by a disciple who deliberately does not follow his the Guru, then those same words originally spoken by the Guru are NOT EFFECTIVE coming out of the deviant disciple. This is confirmed by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura  as well as Srila Prabhupada. "'No one should hear or take lessons from a person who is not a Vaiṣṇava. Even if he speaks about Kṛṣṇa, such a lesson should not be accepted, for it is like milk touched by the lips of a serpent.' Nowadays it is fashionable to observe Bhāgavata-saptāha and hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from persons who are anything but advanced devotees or self-realized souls…" "… Many Māyāvādīs have recently begun reciting Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Vṛndāvana, and because they can present the Bhāgavatam with word jugglery, twisting the meaning by grammatical tricks, materialistic persons who go to Vṛndāvana as a matter of spiritual fashion like to hear them. All this is clearly forbidden by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu." Purport C.C. Antya 13.113 

So some people accept whatever their guru says disregarding whether he is bonafide or not, whether he follows his guru or not.  SO HERE THERE IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST, A CONTRADICTION. An intelligent person will find out that the organization HAS changed. Srila Prabhupada is no longer the authority at all in the organization that calls it self "ISKCON" by name. Why? Because it is "no longer ISKCON". It is NOT ISKCON anymore. It may say I.S.K.C.O.N but that is an illusion. It is not ISKCON. The so called GBC do not have allegiance to Srila Prabhupada and they are leading a mass of ignorant people AWAY from Srila Prabhupada, all in the name of "following" him.

The International Society for Krsna Consciousness is Srila Prabhupada's body, it is eternal, it CAN NOT BECOME "CORRUPTED" or "LOST" or "STOLEN", or "MISGUIDED". So there is no point in "taking ISKCON back" because it was never "TAKEN" in the first place, it was never "LOST" in the first place, it was never "STOLEN" in the first place, it was never "MISGUIDED" in the first place.

If Srila Prabhupada says that ISKCON is his body, and you think these people are ISKCON then what are you saying about Srila Prabhupada; that Srila Prabhupada's body is "CORRUPTED", "LOST", "STOLEN", "MISGUIDED"??? This is a huge offense to Srila Prabhupada. The pure devotee, the Acharya, is never contaminated EVER. 

The majority of people that go to these "phony ISKCON" temples have their own Guru and follow his instructions and read out of the changed books, undermining Srila Prabhupada's arrangement. There is no way for the pure transmission of transcendental knowledge to occur. It is stopped. It stopped when they changed the books. 

"The ācārya gives the suitable method for crossing the ocean of nescience by accepting the boat of the Lord’s lotus feet, and if this method is strictly followed, the followers will ultimately reach the destination, by the grace of the Lord. This method is called ācārya-sampradāya. It is therefore said,sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā matāḥ (Padma Purāṇa). The ācārya-sampradāyais strictly bona fide. Therefore one must accept the ācārya-sampradāya; otherwise one’s endeavor will be futile." Srimad Bhagavatam 10.2.31

Srila Prabhupada's books are the incarnation of Srila Prabhupada, but if you change them then the books cease to be an incarnation. 

So the solution is to create ISKCON wherever you are and stop waisting your time with people who want to follow cheaters. There is a reason they want to follow these cheaters. They THEMSELVES want to be a CHEATER just like their guru. It is cheap and they want to spread this cheapness to others and create a community of cheaters and cheated.

Hope this finds you well

Your Servant,

{Ironic_Dejavu}

Vedic Economics

As He grew to six and seven years old, the Lord was given charge of looking after the cows and bulls in the grazing grounds. He was the son of a well-to-do landholder who owned hundreds and thousands of cows, and according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. With only these two things, cows and grain, humanity can solve its eating problem. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaiśyas, should herd cows and bulls and thus give protection to the valuable animals. According to smṛti regulation, the cow is the mother and the bull the father of the human being. The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of one’s mother, human society takes cow’s milk. Similarly, the bullis the father of human society because the father earns for the children just as the bull tills the ground to produce food grains. Human society will kill its spirit of life by killing the father and the mother.

By:His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Srimad-Bhagavatam : Canto 3: "The Status Quo" : SB 3.2: Remembrance of Lord Krsna : SB 3.2.29

To see or not See that is the Question

   Have you heard about the dog torture this week? in Texas. There is apparently a $35,000 reward for the culprit. First of all any kind of torture to an animal is inhumane. Two, why do most people turn the blind eye to the rest of the animals in this country who suffer inhumane cruelty on a daily basis. Three, some people get all sentimental when day in and day out they consume animals for hunger pains? I mean it is all so incomprehensible when you think about it, boggles the mind when narrow minds cannot or do not want to view and understand the bigger picture at large. I'm not attempting to sound insensitive to the abuse of the pup but C'mon, where are the penalties for all those Slaughter house aficionados? Now that's what you call turning the blind eye. Reporters now a days evidently obscure their true journalism skills when they lack the ability to deeply investigate the issue of the topic they chose to write about. The commercialization of the news in the ninetieth century is what brought about this huge shift in how the public view the news. It becomes more about sentimentalism than Factual investigation on a problem, that affects the society as a whole at large. One animal, in this case a Dog, gets mentioned in an abuse and thousands react. A Human later takes a walk down their supermarket isle and becomes utterly oblivious to the parceled cadavers of which lie in front of them, in  plastic packages. Let's not forget that 50% of the store or more is composed of dead animals with two or four legs, just like the poor little dog. 

 Okay so the point is, why care? well if you care about a dog or a cat, and/ or any kind of domestic animal, Why Not? It is wrong to forget how much pain farmed animals endure just to satisfy uncontrolled tongue, of the flesh a devours. There are tones of examples on how horrible and terrifying slaughter houses conduct their massacres all in the name for vainglorious profit. The dog, named Hope, mentioned in the article has received deep slashes  by his abuser and a swollen tongue due to dehydration from his mouth being taped shut yet he's due to a complete recovery.  So what about all those animals who don't make it? the way  baby chicks, who  only live for a few days before the males, because they are of no use to the chicken egg industry, get thrown onto a converter belt and are mutilated along the way. Beaks cut of  with out the use of anesthetics and  then sent right off into a grinder alive. Chopped up alive and tossed into a bag while some still alive die out of asphyxiation. Or what about that Hen who cannot lay any eggs anymore get's plucked alive by machinery, and boiled alive.

 Oh wait! lets not forget the Cow how much pain they endure. They get shock treatments, Kicked, Battered, Amputated, Mutilated, Slashed, Burned, Broken limbs and straight out tortured to the very last breath. They are hung alive and their troughs  slit left to bleed to death as they spasm and get into convulsions as they watch their blood taint the walls and the ground. If that's not sickening and does not bring one to the point of understanding of how abusive the meat industries are I don't know what will. I presume they'll continue being conditioned, thinking within the box, and every now and then have a slight sentiment for an animal which might spur up some compassion in they're otherwise every day to day disconnected life style. Not questioning or looking at the whole picture, even though it lays right in front of their eyes.  Instead they'll get sentiments for this dog name Hope, in the hopes that they won't have to physically witness such an event. And instead continue feeding the meat and egg industry and purchase their canned animal food, which is remnants of all the in consumable  meat products for human consumption, for their newly rescued pet. Ah! the Irony  

Commentary written by: Diane Foley

Reference to the article by Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News :

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/hope-tortured-texas-dog-reward-193214803.html

Militarization of Modern Civilization

The man having forgotten himself as the son of Godhead, has forsaken his real constitutional nature. He has misidentified himself with everything non-godly and therefore manipulates a material existence conducted by the mind and the six instrumental senses. He is concerned only with his material coverings of gross body and the subtle mind but cannot see either himself or his so-called numerous fellowmen. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness. The man having designated himself with the relation of his vehicular body and the finer elements of mind and ego etc., like the motor-car driver who has identified himself wrongly with the motor-car itself, has manufactured a civilization which is self contradictory and self denial.


His so-called rationality having not gone far above the rationality of the lower animals, he laments at the death of his fellowmen or at the loss of his own things which he has never witnessed by real experience. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness. He slightly feels only and that after the death of his fellowmen that the body loses something that moves it just like the driver moves the motor-car, but still due to the darkness of Nescience he never concerns himself with the driver of the body but takes care superficially only for the body or the mechanical car.


In the darkness of Nescience he is fully amazed with mechanism of the gross body just like a boy who is amazed with mechanism of the motor-car, but he hardly tries to understand that without a driver any amount of astounding mechanical arrangement of the motor-car or that of the human body, it cannot move either of them even by an inch. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness.


The defect of the present day civilization is just like the above. This is actually the civilization of Nescience or illusion and has, therefore, civilization been turned into militarization. Every one is fully concerned with the comforts of the body and everything related with the body and no body is concerned with the Spirit that moves the body although even a boy can realise that the motor-car mechanism has little value if there is no driver of the car. This dangerous ignorance of humanity is a gross Nescience and has created a dangerous civilization in the form of militarization. This militarization which, in softer language, is nationalization, is an external barrier to come to an understanding of human relation. There is no meaning in a fight where the parties do fight only for the matter of different coloured dresses. There must be therefore an understanding of human relation without any consideration of the bodily designation or coloured dresses....

- His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Srila Prabhupada : Back to Godhead, volume 1 , parts 1-4,  1944

The Source of All Knowledge

"When Sanātana Gosvāmī approached Lord Caitanya to become His disciple, Sanātana surrendered himself and said, “My dear Lord, when I was a [Government] minister, people used to address me as a learned man, and so I accepted that I was learned and intelligent. But actually I am neither learned nor intelligent, because I do not know what I am. This is the result of my learning: I know everything except what I am and how to get out of this miserable material condition of life.”
- Second Chance: Ch. 8: Religion: Hearing from Authority. By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

"We see that modern education fails here also. The professor talks about so many things, but if we ask him what he is, he has no answer. Universities award degrees to the graduates, who think, “I am a Ph.D., a very learned man,” but if we ask that Ph.D. to explain what he is and what the purpose of life is, he will refer only to his bodily designations: “I am American, I am male, etc.” He can only state his identification with the body, which he is not, and therefore he is fool number one."
- Second Chance: Ch. 8: Religion: Hearing from Authority. By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

"Without following the mahājanas [Great Personalities], it is impossible to know God, because we cannot understand the path of religion by our mental speculation. Religious principles are enunciated by the Supreme Personality of Godhead (dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam [SB 6.3.19]). Therefore real religion means to abide by the words of the Supreme Lord and His representatives. In the Bhagavad-gītā (18.66) Kṛṣṇa says, mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja: “Simply surrender unto Me.” That is true religion. Anything else is irreligion. Manmade religion is not religion; it is cheating. Nowadays it has become fashionable for everyone to manufacture his own religion without reference to the authorities. One should know that dharma, or religion, means the laws given to man by God. The path of dharma is strictly followed by the mahājanas, and so we have to follow them. Otherwise there is no possibility of understanding what religion is or who God is."
- Second Chance: Ch. 8: Religion: Hearing from Authority. By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

"Everyone in the material world is puzzled about what religion is. Therefore, the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.12) says, one should approach a guru [One who is Heavy with Knowledge] : tad vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet [MU 1.2.12]. “If someone wants to learn the transcendental science, he has to approach a guru.” There are no exceptions. One cannot say, “I shall learn the transcendental science without going to a spiritual master." No. That is not possible."

- Second Chance: Ch. 8: Religion: Hearing from Authority. By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Boycott Slaughter Houses by avoiding animal derivatives

The list that follows of animal ingredients and their alternatives helps consumers avoid animal ingredients in food, cosmetics, and other products. Please note, however, that it is not all-inclusive. There are thousands of technical and patented names for ingredient variations. Furthermore, many ingredients known by one name can be of animal, vegetable, or synthetic origin. If you have a question regarding an ingredient in a product, call the manufacturer.

Whether an ingredient was derived from an animal is not always clear. Many companies remove the word "animal" from their ingredient labels in order to avoid setting off consumers and to increase profit margins. Animal ingredients are used not because they are better than vegetable-derived or synthetic ingredients but rather because they are generally cheaper.

Today's slaughterhouses must dispose of the byproducts of the slaughter of billions of animals every year and have found an easy and profitable solution in selling them to food and cosmetics manufacturers. Animal ingredients come from every industry that uses animals, including the meat, dairy, egg, fishing, fur, and wool trades as well as others such as the horse-racing and rodeo industries, which send unwanted animals to slaughter. Rendering plants process the bodies of millions of tons of dead animals every year, transforming decaying flesh and bones into profitable animal ingredients. (Gross!)

The primary source of rendered animals is slaughterhouses, which provide the "inedible" parts of all animals killed for food. The bodies of companion animals who are euthanized in animal shelters wind up at rendering plants too. One small plant in Québec renders 10 tons of dogs and cats per week—a sobering reminder of the horrible dog and cat overpopulation problem with which shelters must cope.
Some animal ingredients do not wind up in the final product but are used in the manufacturing process. For example, in the production of some refined sugars, bone char is used to whiten the sugar; in some wines and beers, isinglass (from the swim bladders of fish) is used as a "clearing" agent.

Kosher symbols and markings are not reliable indicators on which vegans or vegetarians should base their purchasing decisions. This issue is complex and cruel, but the "K" or "Kosher" symbols basically mean that the food manufacturing process was overseen by a rabbi &/or shochet, who ensures that the food meets Hebrew dietary laws. Kosher foods may not contain both dairy products and meat, but they may contain one or the other. "P" or "Parve" means the product contains no meat or dairy products but may contain fish or eggs. "D," as in "Kosher D," means that the product either contains dairy ingredients or was made with machinery that also processes dairy ingredients.

Thousands of products on store shelves have labels that are hard to decipher.  In some cases avoiding tiny amounts of animal ingredient can be arduous but not impossible, when thinking of an alternative. The list, as follows, will give you a good working knowledge of the most common animal ingredients and their alternatives, allowing you to make decisions that will help  you live less of a Karmic life and more towards a Dharmic life style, all while saving animals' lives while you're at it.

Some information derived from Peta; Good sources of additional information are A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives, or an unabridged dictionary. All of these are available at most libraries.

Adrenaline.
Hormone from adrenal glands of hogs, cattle, and sheep. In medicine. Alternatives: synthetics.

Alanine.
(See Amino Acids.)

Albumen.
In eggs, milk, muscles, blood, and many vegetable tissues and fluids. In cosmetics, albumen is usually derived from egg whites and used as a coagulating agent. May cause allergic reaction. In cakes, cookies, candies, etc. Egg whites sometimes used in "clearing" wines. Derivative: Albumin.

Albumin.
(See Albumen.)

Alcloxa.
(See Allantoin.)

Aldioxa.
(See Allantoin.)

Aliphatic Alcohol.
(See Lanolin and Vitamin A.)

Allantoin.
Uric acid from cows, most mammals. Also in many plants (especially comfrey). In cosmetics (especially creams and lotions) and used in treatment of wounds and ulcers. Derivatives: Alcloxa, Aldioxa. Alternatives: extract of comfrey root, synthetics.

Alligator Skin.
(See Leather.)

Alpha-Hydroxy Acids.
Any one of several acids used as an exfoliant and in anti-wrinkle products. Lactic acid may be animal-derived (see Lactic Acid). Alternatives: glycolic acid, citric acid, and salicylic acid are plant- or fruit-derived.

Ambergris.
From whale intestines. Used as a fixative in making perfumes and as a flavoring in foods and beverages. Alternatives: synthetic or vegetable fixatives.

Amino Acids.
The building blocks of protein in all animals and plants. In cosmetics, vitamins, supplements, shampoos, etc. Alternatives: synthetics, plant sources.

Aminosuccinate Acid.
(See Aspartic Acid.)

Angora.
Hair from the Angora rabbit or goat. Used in clothing. Alternatives: synthetic fibers.

Animal Fats and Oils.
In foods, cosmetics, etc. Highly allergenic. Alternatives: olive oil, wheat germ oil, coconut oil, flaxseed oil, almond oil, safflower oil, etc.

Animal Hair.
In some blankets, mattresses, brushes, furniture, etc. Alternatives: vegetable and synthetic fibers.

Arachidonic Acid.
A liquid unsaturated fatty acid that is found in liver, brain, glands, and fat of animals and humans. Generally isolated from animal liver. Used in companion animal food for nutrition and in skin creams and lotions to soothe eczema and rashes. Alternatives: synthetics, aloe vera, tea tree oil, calendula ointment.

Arachidyl Proprionate.
A wax that can be from animal fat. Alternatives: peanut or vegetable oil.

Arachidonic Acid.
A liquid unsaturated fatty acid that is found in liver, brain, glands, and fat of animals and humans. Generally isolated from animal liver. Used in companion animal food for nutrition and in skin creams and lotions to soothe eczema and rashes. Alternatives: synthetics, aloe vera, tea tree oil, calendula ointment.

Arachidyl Proprionate.
A wax that can be from animal fat. Alternatives: peanut or vegetable oil.

Aspartic Acid. Aminosuccinate Acid.
Can be animal or plant source (e.g., molasses). Sometimes synthesized for commercial purposes.

Bee Pollen.
Microsporic grains in seed plants gathered by bees then collected from the legs of bees. Causes allergic reactions in some people. In nutritional supplements, shampoos, toothpastes, deodorants. Alternatives: synthetics, plant amino acids, pollen collected from plants.

Bee Products.
Produced by bees for their own use. Bees are selectively bred. Culled bees are killed. A cheap sugar is substituted for their stolen honey. Millions die as a result. Their legs are often torn off by pollen-collection trapdoors.

Beeswax. Honeycomb.
Wax obtained from melting honeycomb with boiling water, straining it, and cooling it. From virgin bees. Very cheap and widely used. May be harmful to the skin. In lipsticks and many other cosmetics, especially face creams, lotions, mascara, eye creams and shadows, face makeup, nail whiteners, lip balms, etc. Derivatives: Cera Flava. Alternatives: paraffin, vegetable oils and fats, ceresin (aka ceresine, earth wax; made from the mineral ozokerite; replaces beeswax in cosmetics; also used to wax paper, to make polishing cloths, in dentistry for taking wax impressions, and in candle-making), carnauba wax (from the Brazilian palm tree; used in many cosmetics, including lipstick; rarely causes allergic reactions), candelilla wax (from candelilla plants; used in many cosmetics, including lipstick; also in the manufacture of rubber and phonograph records, in waterproofing and writing inks; no known toxicity), Japan wax (vegetable wax, Japan tallow; fat from the fruit of a tree grown in Japan and China).

Benzoic Acid.
In almost all vertebrates and in berries. Used as a preservative in mouthwashes, deodorants, creams, aftershave lotions, etc. Alternatives: cranberries, gum benzoin (tincture) from the aromatic balsamic resin from trees grown in China, Sumatra, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Beta Carotene.
(See Carotene.)

Biotin. Vitamin H. Vitamin B Factor.
In every living cell and in larger amounts in milk and yeast. Used as a texturizer in cosmetics, shampoos, and creams. Alternatives: plant sources.

Blood.
From any slaughtered animal. Used as adhesive in plywood, also found in cheese-making, foam rubber, intravenous feedings, and medicines. Possibly in foods such as lecithin. Alternatives: synthetics, plant sources.

Boar Bristles.
Hair from wild or captive hogs. In "natural" toothbrushes and bath and shaving brushes. Alternatives: vegetable fibers, nylon, the peelu branch or peelu gum (Asian, available in the U.S.; its juice replaces toothpaste).

Bone Char.
Animal bone ash. Used in bone china and often to make sugar white. Serves as the charcoal used in aquarium filters. Alternatives: synthetic tribasic calcium phosphate.

Bone Meal.
Crushed or ground animal bones. In some fertilizers. In some vitamins and supplements as a source of calcium. In toothpastes. Alternatives: plant mulch, vegetable compost, dolomite, clay, vegetarian vitamins.

Calciferol.
(See Vitamin D.)

Calfskin.
(See Leather.)

Caprylamine Oxide.
(See Caprylic Acid.)

Capryl Betaine.
(See Caprylic Acid.)

Caprylic Acid.
A liquid fatty acid from cow's or goat's milk. Also from palm, coconut, and other plant oils. In perfumes, soaps. Derivatives: Caprylic Triglyceride, Caprylamine Oxide, Capryl Betaine. Alternatives: plant sources, especially coconut oil.

Caprylic Triglyceride.
(See Caprylic Acid.)

Carbamide.
(See Urea.)

Carmine. Cochineal. Carminic Acid.
Red pigment from the crushed female cochineal insect. Reportedly, 70,000 beetles must be killed to produce one pound of this red dye. Used in cosmetics, shampoos, red apple sauce, and other foods (including red lollipops and food coloring). May cause allergic reaction. Alternatives: beet juice (used in powders, rouges, shampoos; no known toxicity), alkanet root (from the root of this herb-like tree; used as a red dye for inks, wines, lip balms, etc.; no known toxicity; can also be combined to make a copper or blue coloring). (See Colors.)

Carminic Acid.
(See Carmine.)

Carotene. Provitamin A. Beta Carotene.
A pigment found in many animal tissues and in all plants. When used as an additive, typically derived from plant sources. Used as a coloring in cosmetics and in the manufacture of vitamin A.

Casein. Caseinate. Sodium Caseinate.
Milk protein. In "nondairy" creamers, soy cheese, many cosmetics, hair preparations, beauty masks. Alternatives: soy protein, soy milk, and other vegetable milks.

Caseinate.
(See Casein.)

Cashmere.
Wool from the Kashmir goat. Used in clothing. Alternatives: synthetic fibers.

Castor. Castoreum.
Creamy substance with strong odor from muskrat and beaver genitals. Used as a fixative in perfume and incense. Alternatives: synthetics, plant castor oil.

Castoreum.
(See Castor.)

Catgut.
Tough string from the intestines of sheep, horses, etc. Used for surgical sutures. Also for stringing tennis rackets, musical instruments, etc. Alternatives: nylon and other synthetic fibers.

Cera Flava.
(See Beeswax.)

Cerebrosides.
Fatty acids and sugars found in the covering of nerves. May include tissue from brain.

Cetyl Alcohol.
Wax found in spermaceti from sperm whales or dolphins. Alternatives: vegetable cetyl alcohol (e.g., coconut), synthetic spermaceti.

Cetyl Palmitate.
(See Spermaceti.)

Chitosan.
A fiber derived from crustacean shells. Used as a lipid binder in diet products; hair, oral, and skin-care products; antiperspirants; and deodorants. Alternatives: raspberries, yams, legumes, dried apricots, many other fruits and vegetables.

Cholesterin.
(See Lanolin.)

Cholesterol.
A steroid alcohol in all animal fats and oils, nervous tissue, egg yolk, and blood. Can be derived from lanolin. In cosmetics, eye creams, shampoos, etc. Alternatives: solid complex alcohols (sterols) from plant sources.

Choline Bitartrate.
(See Lecithin.)

Civet.
Unctuous secretion painfully scraped from a gland very near the genital organs of civet cats. Used as a fixative in perfumes. Alternatives: (See alternatives to Musk.)

Cochineal.
(See Carmine.)

Cod Liver Oil.
(See Marine Oil.)

Collagen.
Fibrous protein in vertebrates. Usually derived from animal tissue. Can't affect the skin's own collagen. An allergen. Alternatives: soy protein, almond oil, amla oil (see alternatives to Keratin), etc.

Colors. Dyes.
Pigments from animal, plant, and synthetic sources used to color foods, cosmetics, and other products. Cochineal is from insects. Widely used FD&C and D&C colors are coal-tar (bituminous coal) derivatives that are continuously tested on animals because of their carcinogenic properties. Alternatives: grapes, beets, turmeric, saffron, carrots, chlorophyll, annatto, alkanet.

Corticosteroid.
(See Cortisone.)

Cortisone. Corticosteroid.
Hormone from adrenal glands. Widely used in medicine. Alternatives: synthetics.

Cysteine, L-Form.
An amino acid from hair that can come from animals. Used in hair-care products and creams, in some bakery products, and in wound-healing formulations. Alternatives: plant sources.

Cystine.
An amino acid found in urine and horsehair. Used as a nutritional supplement and in emollients. Alternatives: plant sources.

Dexpanthenol.
(See Panthenol.)

Diglycerides.
(See Monoglycerides and Glycerin.)

Dimethyl Stearamine.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Down.
Goose or duck insulating feathers. From slaughtered or cruelly exploited geese. Used as an insulator in quilts, parkas, sleeping bags, pillows, etc. Alternatives: polyester and synthetic substitutes, kapok (silky fibers from the seeds of some tropical trees) and milkweed seed pod fibers.

Duodenum Substances.
From the digestive tracts of cows and pigs. Added to some vitamin tablets. In some medicines. Alternatives: vegetarian vitamins, synthetics.

Dyes.
(See Colors.)

Egg Protein.
In shampoos, skin preparations, etc. Alternatives: plant proteins.

Elastin.
Protein found in the neck ligaments and aortas of cows. Similar to collagen. Can't affect the skin's own elasticity. Alternatives: synthetics, protein from plant tissues.

Emu Oil.
From flightless ratite birds native to Australia and now factory-farmed. Used in cosmetics and creams. Alternatives: vegetable and plant oils.

Ergocalciferol.
(See Vitamin D.)

Ergosterol.
(See Vitamin D.)

Estradiol.
(See Estrogen.)

Estrogen. Estradiol.
Female hormones from pregnant mares' urine. Considered a drug. Can have harmful systemic effects if used by children. Used for reproductive problems and in birth control pills and Premarin, a menopausal drug. In creams, perfumes, and lotions. Has a negligible effect in the creams as a skin restorative; simple vegetable-source emollients are considered better. Alternatives: oral contraceptives and menopausal drugs based on synthetic steroids or phytoestrogens (from plants, especially palm-kernel oil). Menopausal symptoms can also be treated with diet and herbs.

Fats.
(See Animal Fats.)

Fatty Acids.
Can be one or any mixture of liquid and solid acids such as caprylic, lauric, myristic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic. Used in bubble baths, lipsticks, soap, detergents, cosmetics, food. Alternatives: vegetable-derived acids, soy lecithin, safflower oil, bitter almond oil, sunflower oil, etc.

FD&C Colors.
(See Colors.)

Feathers.
From exploited and slaughtered birds. Used whole as ornaments or ground up in shampoos. (See Down and Keratin.)

Fish Liver Oil.
Used in vitamins and supplements. In milk fortified with vitamin D. Alternatives: yeast extract ergosterol, exposure of skin to sunshine.

Fish Oil.
(See Marine Oil.) Fish oil can also be from marine mammals. Used in soapmaking.

Fish Scales.
Used in shimmery makeup. Alternatives: mica, rayon, synthetic pearl.

Fur.
Obtained from animals (usually mink, foxes, or rabbits) cruelly trapped in steel-jaw traps or raised in intensive confinement on fur farms. Alternatives: synthetics. (See Sable Brushes.)

Gel.
(See Gelatin.)

Gelatin. Gel.
Protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones in water. From cows and pigs. Used in shampoos, face masks, and other cosmetics. Used as a thickener for fruit gelatins and puddings (e.g., Jell-O). In candies, marshmallows, cakes, ice cream, yogurts. On photographic film and in vitamins as a coating and as capsules. Sometimes used to assist in "clearing" wines. Alternatives: carrageen (carrageenan, Irish moss), seaweeds (algin, agar-agar, kelp—used in jellies, plastics, medicine), pectin from fruits, dextrins, locust bean gum, cotton gum, silica gel. Marshmallows were originally made from the root of the marshmallow plant. Vegetarian capsules are now available from several companies. Digital cameras don't use film.

Glucose Tyrosinase.
(See Tyrosine.)

Glycerides.
(See Glycerin.)

Glycerin. Glycerol.
A byproduct of soap manufacture (normally uses animal fat). In cosmetics, foods, mouthwashes, chewing gum, toothpastes, soaps, ointments, medicines, lubricants, transmission and brake fluid, and plastics. Derivatives: Glycerides, Glyceryls, Glycreth-26, Polyglycerol. Alternatives: vegetable glycerin (a byproduct of vegetable oil soap), derivatives of seaweed, petroleum.

Glycerol.
(See Glycerin.)

Glyceryls.
(See Glycerin.)

Glycreth-26.
(See Glycerin.)

Guanine. Pearl Essence.
Obtained from scales of fish. Constituent of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid and found in all animal and plant tissues. In shampoo, nail polish, other cosmetics. Alternatives: leguminous plants, synthetic pearl, or aluminum and bronze particles.

Hide Glue.
Same as gelatin but of a cruder impure form. Alternatives: dextrins and synthetic petrochemical-based adhesives. (See Gelatin.)

Honey.
Food for bees, made by bees. Can cause allergic reactions. Used as a coloring and an emollient in cosmetics and as a flavoring in foods. Should never be fed to infants. Alternatives: in foods—maple syrup, date sugar, syrups made from grains such as barley malt, turbinado sugar, molasses; in cosmetics—vegetable colors and oils.

Honeycomb.
(See Beeswax.)

Horsehair.
(See Animal Hair.)

Hyaluronic Acid.
A protein found in umbilical cords and the fluids around the joints. Used in cosmetics. Alternatives: synthetic hyaluronic acid, plant oils.

Hydrocortisone.
(See Cortisone.)

Hydrolyzed Animal Protein.
In cosmetics, especially shampoo and hair treatments. Alternatives: soy protein, other vegetable proteins, amla oil (see alternatives to Keratin).

Imidazolidinyl Urea.
(See Urea.)

Insulin.
From hog pancreas. Used by millions of diabetics daily. Alternatives: synthetics, vegetarian diet and nutritional supplements, human insulin grown in a lab.

Isinglass.
A form of gelatin prepared from the internal membranes of fish bladders. Sometimes used in "clearing" wines and in foods. Alternatives: bentonite clay, "Japanese isinglass," agar-agar (see alternatives to Gelatin), mica, a mineral used in cosmetics.

Isopropyl Lanolate.
(See Lanolin.)

Isopropyl Myristate.
(See Myristic Acid.)

Isopropyl Palmitate.
Complex mixtures of isomers of stearic acid and palmitic acid. (See Stearic Acid.)

Keratin.
Protein from the ground-up horns, hooves, feathers, quills, and hair of various animals. In hair rinses, shampoos, permanent wave solutions. Alternatives: almond oil, soy protein, amla oil (from the fruit of an Indian tree), human hair from salons. Rosemary and nettle give body and strand strength to hair.

Lactic Acid.
Found in blood and muscle tissue. Also in sour milk, beer, sauerkraut, pickles, and other food products made by bacterial fermentation. Used in skin fresheners, as a preservative, in the formation of plasticizers, etc. Alternatives: plant milk sugars, synthetics.

Lactose.
Milk sugar from milk of mammals. In eye lotions, foods, tablets, cosmetics, baked goods, medicines. Alternatives: plant milk sugars.

Laneth.
(See Lanolin.)

Lanogene.
(See Lanolin.)

Lanolin. Lanolin Acids. Wool Fat. Wool Wax.
A product of the oil glands of sheep, extracted from their wool. Used as an emollient in many skin-care products and cosmetics and in medicines. An allergen with no proven effectiveness. (See Wool for cruelty to sheep.) Derivatives: Aliphatic Alcohols, Cholesterin, Isopropyl Lanolate, Laneth, Lanogene, Lanolin Alcohols, Lanosterols, Sterols, Triterpene Alcohols. Alternatives: plant and vegetable oils.

Lanolin Alcohol.
(See Lanolin.)

Lanosterols.
(See Lanolin.)

Lard.
Fat from hog abdomens. In shaving creams, soaps, cosmetics. In baked goods, French fries, refried beans, and many other foods. Alternatives: pure vegetable fats or oils.

Leather. Suede. Calfskin. Sheepskin. Alligator Skin. Other Types of Skin.
Subsidizes the meat industry. Used to make wallets, handbags, furniture and car upholstery, shoes, etc. Alternatives: cotton, canvas, nylon, vinyl, ultrasuede, pleather, other synthetics.

Lecithin. Choline Bitartrate.
Waxy substance in nervous tissue of all living organisms. But frequently obtained for commercial purposes from eggs and soybeans. Also from nerve tissue, blood, milk, corn. Choline bitartrate, the basic constituent of lecithin, is in many animal and plant tissues and prepared synthetically. Lecithin can be in eye creams, lipsticks, liquid powders, hand creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos, other cosmetics, and some medicines. Alternatives: soybean lecithin, synthetics.

Linoleic Acid.
An essential fatty acid. Used in cosmetics, vitamins. Alternatives: (See alternatives to Fatty Acids.)

Lipase.
Enzyme from the stomachs and tongue glands of calves, kids, and lambs. Used in cheesemaking and in digestive aids. Alternatives: vegetable enzymes, castor beans.

Lipids.
(See Lipoids.)

Lipoids. Lipids.
Fat and fat-like substances that are found in animals and plants. Alternatives: vegetable oils.

Marine Oil.
From fish or marine mammals (including porpoises). Used in soapmaking. Used as a shortening (especially in some margarines), as a lubricant, and in paint. Alternatives: vegetable oils.

Methionine.
Essential amino acid found in various proteins (usually from egg albumen and casein). Used as a texturizer and for freshness in potato chips. Alternatives: synthetics.

Milk Protein.
Hydrolyzed milk protein. From the milk of cows. In cosmetics, shampoos, moisturizers, conditioners, etc. Alternatives: soy protein, other plant proteins.

Mink Oil.
From minks. In cosmetics, creams, etc. Alternatives: vegetable oils and emollients such as avocado oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil.

Monoglycerides. Glycerides. (See Glycerin.)
From animal fat. In margarines, cake mixes, candies, foods, etc. In cosmetics. Alternative: vegetable glycerides.

Musk (Oil).
Dried secretion painfully obtained from musk deer, beaver, muskrat, civet cat, and otter genitals. Wild cats are kept captive in cages in horrible conditions and are whipped around the genitals to produce the scent; beavers are trapped; deer are shot. In perfumes and in food flavorings. Alternatives: labdanum oil (from various rockrose shrubs) and extracts from other plants with a musky scent.

Myristal Ether Sulfate.
(See Myristic Acid.)

Myristic Acid.
Organic acid in most animal and vegetable fats. In butter acids. Used in shampoos, creams, cosmetics. In food flavorings. Derivatives: Isopropyl Myristate, Myristal Ether Sulfate, Myristyls, Oleyl Myristate. Alternatives: nut butters, oil of lovage, coconut oil, extract from seed kernels of nutmeg, etc.

Myristyls.
(See Myristic Acid.)

"Natural Sources."
Can mean animal or vegetable sources. Most often in the health-food industry, especially in the cosmetics area, it means animal sources, such as animal elastin, glands, fat, protein, and oil. Alternatives: plant sources.

Nucleic Acids.
In the nucleus of all living cells. Used in cosmetics, shampoos, conditioners, etc. Also in vitamins, supplements. Alternatives: plant sources.

Ocenol.
(See Oleyl Alcohol.)

Octyl Dodecanol.
Mixture of solid waxy alcohols. Primarily from stearyl alcohol. (See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Oleic Acid.
Obtained from various animal and vegetable fats and oils. Usually obtained commercially from inedible tallow. (See Tallow.) In foods, soft soap, bar soap, permanent wave solutions, creams, nail polish, lipsticks, many other skin preparations. Derivatives: Oleyl Oleate, Oleyl Stearate. Alternatives: coconut oil. (See alternatives to Animal Fats and Oils.)

Oils.
(See alternatives to Animal Fats and Oils.)

Oleths.
(See Oleyl Alcohol.)

Oleyl Alcohol. Ocenol.
Found in fish oils. Used in the manufacture of detergents, as a plasticizer for softening fabrics, and as a carrier for medications. Derivatives: Oleths, Oleyl Arachidate, Oleyl Imidazoline.

Oleyl Arachidate.
(See Oleyl Alcohol.)

Oleyl Imidazoline.
(See Oleyl Alcohol.)

Oleyl Myristate.
(See Myristic Acid.)

Oleyl Oleate.
(See Oleic Acid.)

Oleyl Stearate.
(See Oleic Acid.)

Palmitamide.
(See Palmitic Acid.)

Palmitamine.
(See Palmitic Acid.)

Palmitate.
(See Palmitic Acid.)

Palmitic Acid.
From fats, oils (see Fatty Acids). Mixed with stearic acid. Found in many animal fats and plant oils. In shampoos, shaving soaps, creams. Derivatives: Palmitate, Palmitamine, Palmitamide. Alternatives: vegetable sources.

Panthenol. Dexpanthenol. Vitamin B-Complex Factor. Provitamin B-5.
Can come from animal or plant sources or synthetics. In shampoos, supplements, emollients, etc. In foods. Derivative: Panthenyl. Alternatives: synthetics, plants.

Panthenyl.
(See Panthenol.)

Pepsin.
In hogs' stomachs. A clotting agent. In some cheeses and vitamins. Same uses and alternatives as Rennet.

Placenta. Placenta Polypeptides Protein. Afterbirth.
Contains waste matter eliminated by the fetus. Derived from the uterus of slaughtered animals. Animal placenta is widely used in skin creams, shampoos, masks, etc. Alternatives: kelp. (See alternatives to Animal Fats and Oils.)

Polyglycerol.
(See Glycerin.)

Polypeptides.
From animal protein. Used in cosmetics. Alternatives: plant proteins and enzymes.

Polysorbates.
Derivatives of fatty acids. In cosmetics, foods.

Pristane.
Obtained from the liver oil of sharks and from whale ambergris. (See Squalene, Ambergris.) Used as a lubricant and anti-corrosive agent. In cosmetics. Alternatives: plant oils, synthetics.

Progesterone.
A steroid hormone used in anti-wrinkle face creams. Can have adverse systemic effects. Alternatives: synthetics.

Propolis.
Tree sap gathered by bees and used as a sealant in beehives. In toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, supplements, etc. Alternatives: tree sap, synthetics.

Provitamin A.
(See Carotene.)

Provitamin B-5.
(See Panthenol.)

Provitamin D-2.
(See Vitamin D.)

Rennet. Rennin.
Enzyme from calves' stomachs. Used in cheesemaking, rennet custard (junket), and in many coagulated dairy products. Alternatives: microbial coagulating agents, bacteria culture, lemon juice, or vegetable rennet.

Rennin.
(See Rennet.)

Resinous Glaze.
(See Shellac.)

Retinol.
Animal-derived vitamin A. Alternative: carotene.

Ribonucleic Acid.
(See RNA.)

RNA. Ribonucleic Acid.
RNA is in all living cells. Used in many protein shampoos and cosmetics. Alternatives: plant cells.

Royal Jelly.
Secretion from the throat glands of worker honeybees. Fed to the larvae in a colony and to all queen larvae. No proven value in cosmetics preparations. Alternatives: aloe vera, comfrey, other plant derivatives.

Sable Brushes.
From the fur of sables (weasel-like mammals). Used to make eye makeup, lipstick, and artists' brushes. Alternatives: synthetic fibers.

Sea Turtle Oil.
(See Turtle Oil.)

Shark Liver Oil.
Used in lubricating creams and lotions. Derivatives: Squalane, Squalene. Alternatives: vegetable oils.

Sheepskin.
(See Leather.)

Shellac. Resinous Glaze.
Resinous excretion of certain insects. Used as a candy glaze, in hair lacquer, and on jewelry. Alternatives: plant waxes.

Silk. Silk Powder.
Silk is the shiny fiber made by silkworms to form their cocoons. Worms are boiled in their cocoons to get the silk. Used in cloth. In silk-screening (other fine cloth can be and is used instead). Taffeta can be made from silk or nylon. Silk powder is obtained from the secretion of the silkworm. It is used as a coloring agent in face powders, soaps, etc. Can cause severe allergic skin reactions and systemic reactions if inhaled or ingested. Alternatives: milkweed seed-pod fibers, nylon, silk-cotton tree and ceiba tree filaments (kapok), rayon, and synthetic silks.

Snails.
In some cosmetics (crushed).

Sodium Caseinate.
(See Casein.)

Sodium Steroyl Lactylate.
(See Lactic Acid.)

Sodium Tallowate.
(See Tallow.)

Spermaceti. Cetyl Palmitate. Sperm Oil.
Waxy oil derived from the sperm whale's head or from dolphins. In many margarines. In skin creams, ointments, shampoos, candles, etc. Used in the leather industry. May become rancid and cause irritations. Alternatives: synthetic spermaceti, jojoba oil, and other vegetable emollients.

Sponge (Luna and Sea).
A plantlike animal. Lives in the sea. Becoming scarce. Alternatives: synthetic sponges, loofahs (plants used as sponges).

Squalane.
(See Shark Liver Oil.)

Squalene.
Oil from shark livers, etc. In cosmetics, moisturizers, hair dyes, surface-active agents. Alternatives: vegetable emollients such as olive oil, wheat germ oil, rice bran oil, etc.

Stearamide.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearamine.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearamine Oxide.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearates.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearic Acid.
Fat from cows and sheep and from dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters, etc. Most often refers to a fatty substance taken from the stomachs of pigs. Can be harsh, irritating. Used in cosmetics, soaps, lubricants, candles, hairspray, conditioners, deodorants, creams, chewing gum, food flavoring. Derivatives: Stearamide, Stearamine, Stearates, Stearic Hydrazide, Stearone, Stearoxytrimethylsilane, Stearoyl Lactylic Acid, Stearyl Betaine, Stearyl Imidazoline. Alternatives: Stearic acid can be found in many vegetable fats, coconut.

Stearic Hydrazide.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearone.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearoxytrimethylsilane.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearoyl Lactylic Acid.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearyl Acetate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Alcohol. Sterols.
A mixture of solid alcohols. Can be prepared from sperm whale oil. In medicines, creams, rinses, shampoos, etc. Derivatives: Stearamine Oxide, Stearyl Acetate, Stearyl Caprylate, Stearyl Citrate, Stearyldimethyl Amine, Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate, Stearyl Heptanoate, Stearyl Octanoate, Stearyl Stearate. Alternatives: plant sources, vegetable stearic acid.

Stearyl Betaine.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearyl Caprylate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Citrate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyldimethyl Amine.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Glycyrrhetinate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Heptanoate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Imidazoline.
(See Stearic Acid.)

Stearyl Octanoate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Stearyl Stearate.
(See Stearyl Alcohol.)

Steroids. Sterols.
From various animal glands or from plant tissues. Steroids include sterols. Sterols are alcohol from animals or plants (e.g., cholesterol). Used in hormone preparation. In creams, lotions, hair conditioners, fragrances, etc. Alternatives: plant tissues, synthetics.

Sterols.
(See Stearyl Alcohol and Steroids.)

Suede.
(See Leather.)

Tallow. Tallow Fatty Alcohol. Stearic Acid.
Rendered beef fat. May cause eczema and blackheads. In wax paper, crayons, margarines, paints, rubber, lubricants, etc. In candles, soaps, lipsticks, shaving creams, other cosmetics. Chemicals (e.g., PCB) can be in animal tallow. Derivatives: Sodium Tallowate, Tallow Acid, Tallow Amide, Tallow Amine, Talloweth-6, Tallow Glycerides, Tallow Imidazoline. Alternatives: vegetable tallow, Japan tallow, paraffin, ceresin (see alternatives to Beeswax). Paraffin is usually from petroleum, wood, coal, or shale oil.

Tallow Acid.
(See Tallow.)

Tallow Amide.
(See Tallow.)

Tallow Amine.
(See Tallow.)

Talloweth-6.
(See Tallow.)

Tallow Glycerides.
(See Tallow.)

Tallow Imidazoline.
(See Tallow.)

Triterpene Alcohols.
(See Lanolin.)

Turtle Oil. Sea Turtle Oil.
From the muscles and genitals of giant sea turtles. In soap, skin creams, nail creams, other cosmetics. Alternatives: vegetable emollients (see alternatives to Animal Fats and Oils).

Tyrosine.
Amino acid hydrolyzed from casein. Used in cosmetics and creams. Derivative: Glucose Tyrosinase.

Urea. Carbamide.
Excreted from urine and other bodily fluids. In deodorants, ammoniated dentifrices, mouthwashes, hair colorings, hand creams, lotions, shampoos, etc. Used to "brown" baked goods, such as pretzels. Derivatives: Imidazolidinyl Urea, Uric Acid. Alternatives: synthetics.

Uric Acid.
(See Urea.)

Vitamin A.
Can come from fish liver oil (e.g., shark liver oil), egg yolk, butter, lemongrass, wheat germ oil, carotene in carrots, and synthetics. An aliphatic alcohol. In cosmetics, creams, perfumes, hair dyes, etc. In vitamins, supplements. Alternatives: carrots, other vegetables, synthetics. (Please note that Vitamin A exists in two forms: see also Carotene, Retinol.)

Vitamin B-Complex Factor.
(See Panthenol.)

Vitamin B Factor.
(See Biotin.)

Vitamin B12.
Can come from animal products or bacteria cultures. Twinlab B12 vitamins contain gelatin. Alternatives: vegetarian vitamins, fortified soy milks, nutritional yeast, fortified meat substitutes. Vitamin B12 is often listed as "cyanocobalamin" on food labels. Vegan health professionals caution that vegans get 5–10 mcg/day of vitamin B12 from fortified foods or supplements.

Vitamin D. Ergocalciferol. Vitamin D2. Ergosterol. Provitamin D2. Calciferol. Vitamin D3.
Vitamin D can come from fish liver oil, milk, egg yolks, etc. Vitamin D2 can come from animal fats or plant sterols. Vitamin D3 is always from an animal source. All the D vitamins can be in creams, lotions, other cosmetics, vitamin tablets, etc. Alternatives: plant and mineral sources, synthetics, completely vegetarian vitamins, exposure of skin to sunshine. Many other vitamins can come from animal sources. Examples: choline, biotin, inositol, riboflavin, etc.

Vitamin H.
(See Biotin.)

Wax.
Glossy, hard substance that is soft when hot. From animals and plants. In lipsticks, depilatories, hair straighteners. Alternatives: vegetable waxes.

Whey.
A serum from milk. Usually in cakes, cookies, candies, and breads. Used in cheesemaking. Alternatives: soybean whey.

Wool.
From sheep. Used in clothing. Ram lambs and old "wool" sheep are slaughtered for their meat. Sheep are transported without food or water, in extreme heat and cold. Legs are broken, eyes injured, etc. Sheep are bred to be unnaturally woolly and unnaturally wrinkly, which causes them to get insect infestations around the tail areas. The farmer's solution to this is the painful cutting away of the flesh around the tail (called "mulesing"). "Inferior" sheep are killed. When sheep are sheared, they are pinned down violently and sheared roughly. Their skin is cut up. Every year, hundreds of thousands of shorn sheep die from exposure to cold. Natural predators of sheep (wolves, coyotes, eagles, etc.) are poisoned, trapped, and shot. In the U.S., overgrazing of cattle and sheep is turning more than 150 million acres of land to desert. "Natural" wool production uses enormous amounts of resources and energy (for breeding, rearing, feeding, shearing, transport, slaughter, etc.). Derivatives: Lanolin, Wool Wax, Wool Fat. Alternatives: cotton, cotton flannel, synthetic fibers, ramie, etc.

Wool Fat.
(See Lanolin.)

Wool Wax.
(See Lanolin.)

Never get's tired of hearing...

vayaṁ tu na vitṛpyāma
uttama-śloka-vikrame
yac-chṛṇvatāṁ rasa-jñānāṁ
svādu svādu pade pade

SYNONYMS

vayam—we; tu—but; na—not; vitṛpyāmaḥ—shall be at rest; uttama-śloka—the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by transcendental prayers; vikrame—adventures; yat—which; śṛṇvatām—by continuous hearing; rasa—humor; jñānām—those who are conversant with; svādu—relishing; svādu—palatable; pade pade—at every step.


We never tire of hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, who is glorified by hymns and prayers. Those who have developed a taste for transcendental relationships with Him relish hearing of His pastimes at every moment.

PURPORT

There is a great difference between mundane stories, fiction, or history and the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. The histories of the whole universe contain references to the pastimes of the incarnations of the Lord. The Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, and the Purāṇas are histories of bygone ages recorded in connection with the pastimes of the incarnations of the Lord and therefore remain fresh even after repeated readings. For example, anyone may read Bhagavad-gītā or the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam repeatedly throughout his whole life and yet find in them new light of information. Mundane news is static whereas transcendental news is dynamic, inasmuch as the spirit is dynamic and matter is static. Those who have developed a taste for understanding the transcendental subject matter are never tired of hearing such narrations. One is quickly satiated by mundane activities, but no one is satiated by transcendental or devotional activities. Uttama-śloka indicates that literature which is not meant for nescience. Mundane literature is in the mode of darkness or ignorance, whereas transcendental literature is quite different. Transcendental literature is above the mode of darkness, and its light becomes more luminous with progressive reading and realization of the transcendental subject matter. The so-called liberated persons are never satisfied by the repetition of the words ahaṁ brahmāsmi. Such artificial realization of Brahman becomes hackneyed, and so to relish real pleasure they turn to the narrations of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Those who are not so fortunate turn to altruism and worldly philanthropy. This means the Māyāvāda philosophy is mundane, whereas the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is transcendental.

Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 1 "Creation": S.B 1.1: Questions by the Sages: (S.B. 1.1.19)

An observation for the fight of the Yamuna river

   There is this article I read today regarding one of the sacred rivers in India, the Yamuna.  The article touches on the state of affairs the river is currently in. The Yamuna merges clean from Yamunotri, it's source in the Himalayas, and by the time it reaches Braj, Lord Krishnas' birthplace, there is hardly a droplet of the original sacredriver left intact. It is because it's being diverted: 85% of it's waters is held back by an irrigation dan in the state of Haryana. Due to a poor unethical judgement of some government official the Clean pristine Yamuna water is being halted.  Some 3.6 billions of Delhi city sewage along with Industrial waste is being placed everyday in what was once known as the currents where the Yamuna use to flow.


Further more protesters have a clear demand: Let the clean Yamuna waters flow into Braj. The people are requesting for some of the Yamuna water held in Haryana to be released, and requesting Delhi to build a 22 kilometer canal for it's waste, which can then be cleaned for irrigation, rather than using the Yamuna.  I had this thought of what happened with the Devotees in ISKCON that are all over India and the world, what are they doing for this matter?  finally I read further and came across this:  Two devotees from Germany plan to fly to Mayapur, West Bengal to make a presentation on the Yamuna effort to the Governing Body Commission, ISKCON's highest management authority. Then I thought how could this be 2 devotees?  ASKing?? for support from the GBC??? Highest Authority????  I am Baffled , How Perplexing and Demoralizing.


First of all, the current Governing Body Commission of ISKCON is a Usurping and Fraudulent form of management that misguides the masses of people who are legitimately concerned with spiritual growth. And takes those individuals power and voice completely out of their hands, just so that they have no say or ability to act in any matters/issues concerning them what so ever. They are stopping them from attaining pure purity and perfection. The GBC of ISKCON manages blindly  and malevolently this infrastructure which was Originally designed to shine light and guidance to the sincere people, spirit souls, those coming into KrishnaConsciousness. The GBC have shown their audacity in not listen to the highest authority within ISKCON, wether Physically present or not, they have chosen to disobey the direct orders of the Spiritual Master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Therefore they are canceling out all efforts, endevors and attempts as doing good for the community, ISKCON as a whole, Khrisna Consciousness, and for propagating Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhus mission. "Because that is offense. Guror avajñā. First offense is guror avajñā,defying the authority of guru. This is the first offense. So one who is offensive, how he can make advance in chanting? He cannot make. Then everything is finished in the beginning. Guror avajñā. Everything is there. If one is disobeying the spiritual master, he cannot remain in the pure status of life. He cannot be śikṣā-guru or anything else. He is finished, immediately." -(Lec. Honolulu July 4th,1974).


And to further shine light into the matter that most Individuals within ISKCON rather turn the blind eye is the Guru topic. Both The "Gurus" in ISKCON and The Governing Body Commission are at fault for dismantling this very Krishna Consciousness movement at the core of it all. These people seem to be posing themselves very learned and scholarly when in reality they have proven that they are not. Actions speak louder than words, at times. Which lead me to mention, where do I find my Summum bonum? first of all His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada mentioned many times how unlawful it is when a disciple disobeys his spiritual master. Here's and excerpt from a Bhagavad-Gita Lecture Srila Prabhupada gave in Honolulu July 4th,1974: "Srila Prabhupada:  Authority is your Spiritual Master. You do not know who is authority? Why this question is there? If one is initiated, then he accepts the authority. And if does not follow the instruction of the spiritual master, he is a rascal, He is defying authority. That is all....Then so śikṣā and dīkṣā-guru...A śikṣā-guru who instructs against the instruction of spiritual, he is not a śikṣā guru. He is a demon. Śikṣā-guru, dīkṣā-guru means... Sometimes adīkṣā-guru is not present always. Therefore one can take learning, instruction, from an advanced devotee. That is called the śikṣā-guru. Śikṣā-guru does not mean he is speaking something against the teachings of the dīkṣā-guru. He is not a śikṣā-guru."  


There is no need to interpret what Srila Prabhupada said, it is plain and simple, it cannot get more pristine clear. So here we are in Kali-yuga Jan. 1st 2012, has the Movement improved since Srila Prabhupada went into Samadhi? Have the individual whom appointed themselves authorities in ISKCON heeded Srila Prabhupadas words?? Has ISKCON exploded in every nook and cranny??? Are All people of the world really getting a chance at their piece of Gold???? I think not. Actually it is a fact that people are not getting their piece of their birthright wealth. It is being kept occult, tabooed, plunder, and stollen by thieves dressed in rogues.


The power is in YOUR own hands to fight for what is right, and rightfully yours. Change will not happen while people sit around and wait for change to take a stanza, or by asking corrupted minded fools if you may have it back, No! Take a Stand, Win it back! stand for what's true and pure. Follow and take shelter of the Bona fide spiritual master , in our case Srila Prabhupada, and he will guide you, Guru is always, one must remain subordinate to him. "No one should try to give a new interpretation by dint of mundane knowledge. And the first step, therefore, in pursuance of the system of knowledge received by Brahmā, is to approach a bona fide guru who is the representative of the Lord following the paramparā system. No one should try to squeeze out his own meaning by imperfect mundane knowledge. The guru, or the bona fide spiritual master, is competent to teach the disciple in the right path with reference to the context of all authentic Vedic literature. He does not attempt to juggle words to bewilder the student. The bona fide spiritual master, by his personal activities, teaches the disciple the principles of devotional service. Without personal service, one would go on speculating like the impersonalists and dry speculators life after life and would be unable to reach the final conclusion."


Closing the subject matter with what we started off with the Yamuna,  I see a similar correlation with how polluted the Yamuna (part of the Ganges) has become contaminated by the diversion with what has happened to Srila Prabhupadas' ISKCON International Society For Krishna Consciousness, institutions. The Ganges, purity of the Yamuna, can be compared to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada and the sewage waste causing an affliction to the inhabitans water supply can be compared to the contamination of the current GBC, Governing Body Commission and "Gurus" of ISKCON. A delineated representation of the characters in history. So the bottom line in the observation of the Yamuna article is: If The GBC were actually elected , As Srila Prabhupada wanted it, ISKCON would be attracting thoughtful people rather than blind followers and therefore issues like the Yamuna river would have more attention. Rather than just a few , there would be thousands of concerned thoughtful Devotees ready to take action. Having Massive Sankirtan Parties in protest outside Parliament. Not to mention World Wide Unity with a common cause to free people from Maya, illusion that which in not. And the ability to understand their true identities with out these misconception of bodily identifications of material life . Srila Prabhupada Ki Jai! YamunaMai-Ki Jai! Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Ki Jai! All Glories to Nam-Sankirtana. Purity and Perseverance is the Force. It's Even in Water.