New Delhi, August 20, 2020: Lancashire Farm Dairies (LFD), UK’s third largest natural yogurt brand, has apologized for recent cow yoga session at their Leyland (England) farm, announcing not to hold it again; after Hindus protested saying “it trivializes two serious concepts of Hinduism”.
Jack Morrison, Brand Manager at Lancashire Farm Dairies, in an email to distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest, wrote: We can only apologise if the recent fitness activity has caused offense, as you can imagine this wasn’t our intent…there will not be further events.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, thanked Lancashire Farm Dairies for understanding the concerns of Hindu community, which felt yoga with cows in Lancashire farm was not a good idea.
Rajan Zed suggested that companies like LFD should send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they had an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products, organizing events or launching advertising campaigns.
Zed had stated that cow, the seat of many deities, which was sacred and had long been venerated in Hinduism; should not be used as prop for human entertainment. Moreover; this frivolity seemed to be diluting the profound, sacred and ancient discipline of yoga.
Rajan Zed had pointed out that objective of yoga, which found reference in world’s oldest extant scripture Rig-Veda and other early Hindu texts, was the state of blissful liberation. It involved withdrawal, inner concentration, focusing of the mind and ensued in self-purification and higher planes of consciousness.
Real yogis should not attend such events where cows were inappropriately used, causing unnecessary disturbance to cows and putting them in stressful situations; as cows should be left well alone and accorded the respect they deserved. Moreover, unpredictable cows could be a distraction in a path of self-discovery that drew the yogi inward; Zed had indicated.
Rajan Zed had noted that this event, which had been described as UK’s first cow yoga class, should be discouraged before it became a trendy fad with herds of people flocking to dairy farms to do yoga alongside cows, many visualizing it as an Instagram opportunity. Zed had urged Lancashire Farm Dairies to rethink, revisit and reevaluate its yoga classes with cows.
Headquartered in Rochdale (England) and launched in 1984, awards-winning multi-million-pound yogurt manufacturer Lancashire Farm claims to be the “first UK yogurt makers to commit to only using free range milk”. Its products included various kinds of yogurt, including Raita Yogurt. It states: “Happy cows make great milk”.
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