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Case For Spiritual Vegetarianism
Case For Spiritual Vegetarianism
re of India declares that in this teachers and Vedic literatures, it now becomes prasadam
meat because of habit and conditioning, so, also, the common man finds world we generally find that one living being serves as and has great spiritual potency. Such spiritualized food
it difficult to give up materialistic life due to habit and conditioning. food for another. To eat, we will generally kill in some increases ones duration of life, purifies ones existence,
Heart disease is a concomitant factor to both meat eating and way. Even a vegetarian must kill to eat his vegetables, and give strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction.
materialistic life one is a material disease, while the other grains and things of that sort. Because animals are less Moreover, it nourishes ones transcendental realization.
is spiritual. In the International Society for Krishna intelligent, the laws of nature do not hold them Therefore you will find that devotees of Krishna distribute
Consciousness (ISKCON) both forms of heart disease are responsible for the killing they natural perform. However, such prasadam to anyone and everyone, as often as
wonderfully resolved in one word: prasadam. when a human being kills, he becomes involved in a possible.
complex network of action and reaction. For the suffering
Prasadam is a Sanskrit word which literally means the he inflicts, he himself will have to suffer sometime in the While vegetarianism affords mankind a greater chance
Lords mercy; prasadam is vegetarian foodstuffs which future. For every action there is an equal and opposite for survival, Krishna-prasadam guarantees a survival of
are offered to the Supreme Lord with love and devotion. reaction; this is Newtons Third Law of Motion a greater merit. While vegetarianism may promise us a
Bhakti yoga, the process employed by ISKCON, aims at physical law. future, Krishna-prasadam opens up to us a future of not
reawakening our lost sense of God consciousness. The only health and happiness but of spiritual awakening.
method and goal are the same: loving devotion toward Still, if one prepares vegetarian food as an offering unto By taking to the process of Krishna Consciousness, one
the Supreme. Every facet of a Krishna conscious the Supreme Lord, one becomes exempt from the can easily overcome the two kinds of heart disease.
devotees being, from eating to dressing, becomes a reaction imposed by material nature. For example, if one
loving exchange with the Supreme Lord. The rules were to go out and kill somebody on the street, he would For further information:
governing the preparation of prasadam, therefore, are be immediately put in jail as a mad man. However, in one ISKCON
very strict: the cook must bathe and put on fresh clothes were to join the army and kill someone on behalf of the Amerikalei 184
before entering the kitchen; the kitchen itself must be government he is then considered a hero. If ones 2000 Antwerpen Phone/fax: 03-216 29 69
spotless; the cook should never touch his mouth and, activities are sanctioned by the government, then that
most importantly, he must never taste the preparation same government becomes responsible for that persons
before making the formal offering, with love and actions. Similarly, Bhagavad-Gita asserts: the devotees
devotion, to Krishna (God). Deep respect and proper of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because
etiquette dictate that God should be the first to relish the they eat food which is offered first in sacrifice. Others,
offering. Thus, prasadam, which can be obtained at any who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily
ISKCON Center or offered at home under the direction of eats only sin. (B.G. 3.13) Thus, even a vegetarian (who
the devotees, is a sumptuous cuisine that is prepared doesnt offer to Krishna) is guilty of sin, although his sin
Two kinds of
under the strictest rules of cleanliness. And because only is not as severe as that of a meat-eater.
fresh vegetarian products are used in such an offering,
one may freely eat to his hearts content without Neophytes on the path of Bhakti-yoga offer their food to
worrying about material or spiritual heart disease. Krishna according to the instructions of advanced
Heart disease may develop gradually, but is fatal for those who will not It is now recognized that the nations number one killer, heart disease, Five thousand years ago, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri
take preventive measures. While heart disease is a serious subject, it is has reached epidemic proportions. More and more physicians (and the Krishna, said in His Bhagavad-gita:
truly uncanny that the general mass of people remain in a state of total American Heart Association) are deeply concerned about the amount of
unawareness as to the actual causes and means of diagnosis, treatment meat that the American people are consuming and are trying to sharply viay vinivartante
and rehabilitation of this No. 1 killer. Says Dr. Dustan, the most restrict it. Many scientists now recognize that the roughage and fibre of nirhrasya dehina
important advances in reducing heart disease will come in the area of the average vegetarian diet lowers the level of cholesterol. Dr. U.D. rasa-varja raso 'py asya
prevention. This requires people to take responsibility for maintaining Register, Chairman of the department of Nutrition at Loma University para dv nivartate
their own health. Until recently, people werent used to this concept. in California, describes experiments in which a diet rich in beans,
Neither were doctors. The Senate Select Committee on Nutrition grains, etc., actually reduced cholesterol, even while the subjects were One may artificially repress the desire of the senses, although the tastes
recommended an overall decrease in calories for Americans. This eating large amounts of diary products. for sensual enjoyment remains; but by ceasing such enjoyment,
includes a decrease in saturated or animal fats, since the amount of fat in experiencing a higher taste, one is fixed in consciousness. (B.G. 2.59)
the diet is believed to effect blood cholesterol level. This can lead to Despite the good reasons for a meatless diet, there are those who will
heart disease. protest: Vegetarian diets are boring; who can live on big, green
So it is this higher taste that is needed to change ones diet as well as
ones consciousness.
One may argue that interest in God and spiritual matters is not
necessarily higher than materialistic life only different. However, if
we carefully analyze the nature of man, we can see clearly that spiritual
life and inquiry into the nature of God should be the focal point of
human existence.
For example, why is man given superior intelligence over the vast
numbers of lower species? He is obviously given higher intelligence for
a higher purpose. Since eating, sleeping, mating, and defending make up
the entire gamut of animalistic activities, human life, used for those
same ends, simply qualifies as a sort of polished animal life. Mans
intelligence is thus logically intended for a higher purpose. Why is a
highly posted government officer given better facilities for a
comfortable life than an ordinary office clerk? The reason is because he
has to discharge duties of a more responsible nature. If ma n simply
uses his higher intelligence for a sophisticated form of bestial activity,
where is the real difference between man and animal? A dog may sleep
in the street very comfortably, and a man may have a nightmare on his
luxurious Posturepedic mattress. What is the real difference between
animal life and human life? It is the higher taste for that which is
peculiar to the human form. It is the taste for God.