Question:
I’ve read your books and some articles in the newspapers. I’ve a question regarding non-veg food. Some people say that we should not eat non-vegetarian food, because in that process we end up killing or taking lives. But, I do not identify with this reason. Because plants and vegetables have also got life. And, a recent research that I came across in ‘The Times of India’, suggests that if we play some soothing music in front of a plant, it helps it grow in a far better way. Then, Are we not killing lives by eating vegetarian food as well? I understand this logic, ‘Jaisa ann, waisa mann’ and about the negativity of the food. Since childhood I have been told, ‘Life lives upon life’. So, my question to you is quite unequivocal, Is eating non-veg food a sin? I’m looking forward to an explicit explanation, instead of an abstruse answer.
Answer:
For our non-Hindu readers, ‘Jaisa ann, waisa mann’ means ‘as is the food you eat, so is your mind.’ As far as I’m concerned, it is not a sin to eat non-vegetarian food. There are some indigenous tribes, such as the Inuit, that subsist entirely on animal products and become quite ill if forced into a different diet. Who am I to say they are sinful for hunting and eating meat when the alterative means abandoning their culture and leads to chronic illness and an early death? If one is accustomed to eating meat from an early age and they are living a healthy, balanced and loving life, then I feel that is more virtuous than straining against one’s nature, getting irritable, self-righteous and feeling miserable.
Without question the slaughter of animals for the food industry and their treatment in feed lots is horrific, and those who prefer to eat meat would do well to find sources where the animals are treated with some respect. Because killing a cow is not the same as cutting off a stalk of wheat. Even though both are alive we recognize a significant distinction in life. But if one is aspiring to have a pure mind, don’t depend upon your diet to get you there. You can eat the purest food there are and still have an impure mind. It’s better to put the emphasis on purifying the mind directly through meditation and not worry about what is sinful and what isn’t.
Love,
Deepak
＊thank you once again…says she, still contemplating its real message with gratitude＊
hurray! i'm glad you said it, Mr. Dee. i also believe vegetarian/non-vegetarian is a climactic/cultural thing and not a spiritual dynamic. your example of the Inuit is very appropriate. cultures in temperate vs. tropical climates, where a significant portion of the year is unsuitable as a growing period and where there is far less biodiversity to make the full spectrum of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals necessary for a healthy organism that vegetarianism in tropical climates provides, have to supplement fruit and vegetable intake with animal intake because of the scarcity created by autumn and winter. many native traditions around the world who have meat in their diets, after the hunting and killing of an animal, perform rituals to give thanks to the animal and to ensure that its soul returns peacefully to the Source. i agree also that the meat industry in consumer cultures is a horrific phenomenon in which the concentration camp principle is applied to the treatment of animals, which is why i refuse to consume anything that comes from an animal Death Camp. i'm a firm believer in 'Jaisa ann, waisa mann' and have seen my life, my body, my mind and my soul transformed as i changed my diet from artificial, processed, toxin-saturated foods to whole, clean, pure and real foods. yup. you are what you eat. if what you eat is fake and poisonous garbage, guess what happens?
Thanks for that beautiful, clear and strong answer, Deepak.
I have a problem with people who say "plants are like animals." If you eat an orange, you can throw the seeds on the ground and more oranges will grow. If you throw a bone on the ground, a new animal won´t come out of it. Eating vegetables does not disrupt the flow of nature, as eating animals do.
But what about lions and tigers ? Well, they have sharp teeth and a very different organism. Men does not kill animals and eat them while their blood is hot. Men depends on other people killing
the animals so then they can eat the when their blood is cold. So I think men are more like vultures who feed on carrion.
Having said that, I think people like the Inuit-who have no alternative but to eat meat, and who ask
permission to Nature to eat them-are ok.
Finally, some breathing exercises are impossible to do in yõga if you eat meat(1-2-1-2, with each tempo getting bigger then 5 seconds).
Eat what you love; and love what you eat!
I wonder what our ole friends from IB are eating, friends like Uncle Tree, Flabs, Katie, Granpa Ed, and the rest of the gang.
I love sea food!
Big D.