Almost all religions and spiritual groups preach non-violence. One of the Ten Commandments is, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. In Islam, it is said, ‘God will not be affectionate to that man who is not affectionate to God's creatures.’ In Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, non-violence is the cardinal principle. By Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji
Since years, there has always been a wide debate whether it is better for human beings to be vegetarian or non vegetarian. Many modern anthropologists believe that the diet of prehistoric man consisted of nuts, fruits, plants and probably some insects. Years of research done by Nutritional Scientists throughout the world has proved that a vegetarian diet is ideal for promoting good health. Throughout history, many individuals and groups of people realized the importance of vegetarian diet for spiritual development and also for health reasons & hence they became vegetarians. Many great Greek scholars including Plato, Socrates and Pythagorus too supported a vegetarian diet. It is thus clear that meat has not been a component of the food of all human beings since prehistoric times.
Many people believe that non-veg food contains plenty of protein & hence they consume it to remain strong, healthy and active. However such people are unaware of the fact that their bodies need smaller amounts of protein than the amount supplied by non-vegetarian sources. Hence most non-vegetarians end up eating about two times as much protein as their bodies can use, thereby putting unwanted burden on their kidneys due to nitrogenous wastes produced by excessive amount of protein. Some flesh eaters have an irrational argument that there are many animals who would not even be alive if they were not being raised for producing non-veg food, and thus by eating their flesh, they are taking part in the natural order of things. However, they overlook two important facts, first of all if they stopped eating meat, the meat-producers would not kill animals to produce meat, and secondly, as proved by medical research, non-vegetarian diet is not the natural diet of humans.Hence it’s a pity that such docile and helpless animals are killed for food.
Almost all the religions and spiritual groups all over the world preach nonviolence. One of the Ten Commandments is, ‘Thou shalt not kill’. In Islam, it is said, “God will not be affectionate to that man who is not affectionate to God’s creatures”. In Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, nonviolence is the cardinal principle. This principle entails reverence for all life and precludes deliberate killing or injuring any living organism. Thus Indian religions place great importance on vegetarianism.
A lot of people argue that plants also experience pain when killed. It’s true that plants too experience pain when killed or when parts of it are severed. The comprehension of pain however is less than for animals. This is because the mind and intellect of a plant is rudimentary as compared to that of an animal. However, if a fruit or vegetable is plucked when it is fully ripe or has fallen from a tree, there is relatively no pain to the plant.
After hearing out arguments & justifications from both the sides, the question that naturally comes to mind is that if a human being’s natural diet is a vegetarian diet, then why do large numbers of people eat animal fleshIJ The simple answer to this is ‘lack of education & awareness’ and in some cases peer pressure. We fail to understand a fact that the food we eat affects not only our bodies but also our minds- our attitude and thinking and hence it is said that we are what we eat.
Presently, millions of acres of land is used for raising livestock for meat. Just imagine, if this same land is used more productively for growing vegetables, beans and legumes thenIJ The colossal problems of population growth and world hunger would truly get solved. So let’s learn to live because life is precious to all.