Hare Krishna HARE kRISHNA
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hARE
ALL GLORIES TOP SRILA PRABHUPADA AND ALL ACHARYAS.
my humble pranams to Sri Krishna and all prabhujis and matajis.
vegetarianism is a common word used by most people to indicate the act of restraining from meat eating. while there are many types and thoughts on vegetarianism, let us just focus on the most important aspect of it, its implementation and the reasoning behind it. Hare Krishna
Vegetarianism, known in Sanskrit as Shakahara, was for thousands of years a principle of health and environmental ethics throughout India. Though Muslim and Christian colonization radically undermined and eroded this ideal, it remains to this day a cardinal ethic of Hindu thought and practices. A subtle sense of guilt persists among Hindus who eat meat.
Hinduism is the only religion which preaches vegetarianism, as a way to live with a minimum of hurt to other beings, for to consume meat, fish, fowl or eggs is to participate indirectly in acts of cruelty and violence against the animal kingdom. this is confirmed in the Bhagavad Gita in many verses.
The meat-eater’s desire for meat drives another to kill and provide that meat. The act of the butcher begins with the desire of the consumer. Meat eating contributes to a mentality of violence. India’s greatest saints have confirmed that one cannot eat meat and live a peaceful, harmonious life. Man’s appetite for meat inflicts devastating harm on the earth itself, stripping its precious forests to make way for pastures. How can one who eats meat practice true compassion by eating the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh?
A vegetarian diet does not include meat, fish or eggs. For good health, even certain vegetarian foods are minimized: frozen and canned foods, highly processed foods, such as white rice, white sugar and white flour; and “junk” foods and beverages-those with abundant chemical additives, such as artificial sweeteners, colorings, flavorings and preservatives.
Vegetarian families have far fewer problems than those who are not vegetarian. If children are raised as vegetarians, every day they are exposed to nonviolence as a principle of peace and compassion. Every day they are growing up they are remembering and being reminded to not kill. They won’t even kill another creature to eat, to feed themselves. And if they won’t kill another creature to feed themselves, they will be much less likely to do acts of violence against people. this is very important when speaking of consciousness because what we eat determine what our consciousness would be in.
When a man realizes that meat is the butchered flesh of another creature, he must abstain from eating it.You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human or animal.
The cow gives us milk, without which we cannot survive. From birth, we depend on milk for our good health and our survival. For the first 3 months, we drink the milk of the cow through our mother and then directly for the rest of our lives. How can you kill a mother, which nourishes you with good health for life? i had this discussion once with some of my Muslim friends and they were stupefied when i explained this to them. what power Srila Prabhupada's words are!!! so usually , when someone asks me,Dev , why are you a vegetarian? i would answer them using these 6 reasons.
Reasons to Be a Vegetarian
1) The SCRIPTURAL LAW reason
Your consciousness at death will determine your next body
If you have eaten animals (meat) all your life, your final thoughts will be that of animals, you will take birth in the animal kingdom. If you have lived a life of charity and generosity (helping people), your final thoughts will be that of helping people, you will take birth on one of the heavenly planets.
“The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.” Lord Krishna (Bg. 15.8)
“Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” Lord Krishna (Bg. 8.6)
Ahimsa, the law of non-injury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfillment of his religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by the Vedic scriptures.
2) The KARMIC CONSEQUENCES reason
All of our actions including our choice of food have karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused. If you eat animals now, you build bad karma, which will result in punishment in the future. This is guaranteed. The law of Karma is a reality.
3) The SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS reason
Food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, fear, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the flesh of butchered creatures. For these reasons, shakaharis (vegetarians) live in higher consciousness and mansaharis (meat eaters) abide in lower consciousness.
4) The HEALTH reason
Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider range of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.
Those who eat flesh are far more likely to contract cancer than those following a vegetarian diet are.
Meat-eaters ingest excessive amounts of cholesterol, making them dangerously susceptible to heart attacks. Many scientific studies have concluded that eating meat can seriously damage your health.
5) The ECOLOGICAL reason
Planet earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rain forests to create pasturelands for livestock, loss of top soils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No single decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision to not eat meat. Many seeking to save the planet for future generations have made this decision for this reason and this reason alone.
6) The Economic reason
The simple fact is that to produce 1 lb of meat, it requires over 16 lbs of grain and many gallons of water. Millions of animals are breed for meat production, if they were not breed and the vegetation was used to feed people. There would be no poverty in the World.
Which would you choose; 1 lb of meat, which involves killing and maybe disease (cancer, heart or mad cow) Or 16 lbs of grain, many gallons of water with no killing and good health?
Alright, now some may argue, God wanted us to eat meat and so we do so. let is see if God really wants us to consume meat.
Does God want man to eat meat?
When discussing the topic of killing (meat eating) with Christians and Muslims. They ultimately justify killing animals for food by pointing to their scriptures. Thus the main reason why man kills for a living (meat eating) is religion. The Bible and Koran both state that animals are food. They both claim that their scripture is the word of God and thus there is absolutely nothing wrong in killing innocent animals.
This raises the question would God want man to eat meat?
This question can be answered by looking at the health, economic, and violence issues.
1. Health
Is meat good for us?
It’s a scientific fact that vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters. Scientific studies show that vegetarians have a much lower risk of suffering from diseases like cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and other health disorders compared to meat eaters.
Scientific Studies Support a Vegetarian Diet
A major study reported in the British Medical Journal found that, of 5000 meat-eaters and 6000 non-meat eaters, vegetarians had 40% less risk of cancer and 30% less risk of heart disease than the meat-eaters and were 20% less likely to die of any cause (Oxford Vegetarian Study).
A US study of 50,000 vegetarians showed a very low rate of cancer (Seventh Day Adventist Study, Massachusetts). It has been estimated that by following a low-fat vegetarian diet, the risk of food poisoning is decreased by 80%.
A balanced vegetarian diet is better for humans than one that includes meat (from TIME magazine, July 2002).
An 11-year study of 1,900 German vegetarians has found mortality from cardiovascular disease to be 61% lower in male vegetarians and 44% lower in female vegetarians than the general population.
Hypertension can contribute to heart disease, strokes, and kidney failure. A number of studies have shown vegetarians to have lower blood pressure than meat eaters (Sacks 1974, Armstrong 1977).
The British Medical Association (1986) stated that vegetarians have lower rates of obesity than meat eaters.
Vegetarians have lower rates of colon cancer than meat eaters (Phillips 1980).
There is overwhelming scientific evidence to prove that a vegetarian diet is much more healthier than a meat based diet. Eating meat can seriously damage your health.
What about Protein?
Most people are brainwashed into thinking that meat is the only source of protein. The simple fact is that there is plenty of protein in a vegetarian diet too.
Would God want man to eat food that will increase the chances of suffering from major diseases, reduce the quality of life, and reduce the life span?
Absolutely not.
Would you want your children to eat food that is not good for them? No?
Similarly God doesn’t want his children, you and me, to eat food that is bad for our health.
2. Economic
Does it make economic sense to raise animals for food?
It takes at least 17 kg of corn, beans, grains etc., many gallons of water, and some time to produce just 1 kg of beef. This is like investing $17 in a bank term deposit and withdrawing $1 at maturity.
The 17 kg of corn, beans, and grains would feed at least 20 people while the 1 kg of beef would feed at most 2 people.
Does it makes any sense to feed an animal 17 kg of vegetation, many gallons of water, provide shelter, allow some time, and then cut it’s throat and kill it to produce 1 kg of meat?
Would it be better just to take the 17 kg of vegetation and feed on it directly rather than having it go through an animal and then feeding on the animal a much reduced quantity of food?
The reason why somewhere in the World a child dies of starvation every two seconds is because of slaughterhouse mentality as described above. If the millions of acres of land, which is used to grow food for animals, were used to grow food for humans directly then there would be at least 10 times more food than currently. Thus there would be no poverty in the World.
About 70% of the crops grown in the US are fed to animals and not to humans. The mentality is that convert 17 kg of vegetarian food into 1 kg of meat so that at most 2 people can eat instead of at least 20. Also there is the thrill of killing the animals, which is very much liked by the followers of the non-Vedic religions.
If everyone in the world became a vegetarian, there would be no such thing as poverty. But unfortunately the majority of the humans simply can’t give up the thrill of killing innocent animals and so the children will have to continue dying due to starvation at the rate of 2 every seconds.
Would God want man to turn 17 kg of vegetarian food into1 kg of non-vegetarian food (meat).
Absolutely not.
3. Violence
Is violence related to meat eating?
What do all the terrorists have in common?
What do all the violent criminals have in common?
What do all the murderers have in common?
The simple answer is that they are all killers of animals (meat eaters).
Have you heard of vegetarian terrorists?
Have you heard of vegetarian criminals?
Have you heard of vegetarian murderers?
How does meat eating make one violent?
By killing for a living (meat eating), the human mind develops a taste for killing, which leads to a mentality of violence. The mentality of killing animals spreads to killing humans too. People who kill animals are much more likely to kill people too. This is a fact as the terrorists, and the most violent criminals are animal killers (meat eaters).
The vegetarians don’t kill for a living (no meat) and so their mind develops a taste for non-violence, thus a mentality of non-violence. The mentality of a vegetarian is that killing is totally wrong, thus the killing or even injuring of humans is totally unthinkable.
The US government spends billions of dollars each year on combating terrorism. They think by going after those with guns and bombs will solve the problem. They totally ignore the root cause of violence. Which is human mentality of violence, caused by killing for a living (meat eating).
The simple formula for stopping terrorism and violence in the world is:
No Meat= No killing = No mentality of violence = No terrorism/No violence
What about killing the plants?
There is a big difference between cutting grass and cutting the necks of chickens. Killing plants and animals is not the same.
Would God want man to kill for a living (meat eating) so that they can develop a mentality of violence and become killers of humans too?
Absolutely not.
Why is the Cow Sacred to the Hindus?
The human mother drinks cows milk, and from it produces her milk, which we humans drink at birth. Then at 3 months we start drinking cows milk in a bottle then in cups. We also eat delicious foods made from cows’ milk. Foods like ice cream, yogurt, cheese, and curd. From our birth to our death we rely on cows milk. Thus the cow is considered a mother as she provides us with nourishing food for life. How can you kill such a mother
Every time you eat pizza, ice cream, yogurt, and other foods made from cow’s milk, you should be very great full to the cow.
How can you kill a mother that provides nourishing food to you for life?
The cow is also the favorite animal of God, Lord Krishna. Why? Since the cow provides nourishing food to Lord Krishna’s children, you and me. Lord Krishna is very much grateful to her. Would you be grateful to someone who feeds your children, or would you order them to be killed and eaten?
Lord Caitanya, who was an incarnation of Lord Krishna states in the Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi-lila chapter 17, verses.165-167.
“Cow-killers are condemned to rot in hellish life for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of the cow.”
so, now we have seen all the scientific evidence behind meat eating as well as God's wish that we abandon the rajo,tamo guna practice. thus, it is justified that vegetarianism is the way of life.
Hare Krishna and Hari Bol!
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