why vegetarianism?

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urmiladuhan

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I came across this interesting short article on vegetarianism... thought some of the members may find it useful...

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Three square meals a day is a norm we are all taught. But what about

the quality of the food. What is good and what is poison. The historians,

the biologists and the marketing men have all convinced us that eating

meat is both normal and good...but is it? Filled with antibiotics to

keep the animal healthy, filled with the adrenaline of an animal that

knows it's about to be slaughtered, filled with chemicals to keep it

looking good at the point of purchase, do we really know what's in it? The

'industrialisation' of animal production is a language which in itself

signifies an attitude of disdain towards conscious beings who have their

own dignity and their own ways of showing us their affection. But we

say that they know no pain, so it is OK to kill and consume them. Stand

on your dogs foot, or accidentally put a needle in your cat, and we are

reminded that they know pain as acutely as we do. In fact they often

have a greater sensitivity and empathy to our moods than we have to our

own. Entrusted with the caring of our planet and it's animal kingdoms

what do we do... we grow them, kill them and eat them. Perhaps it is no

wonder we are reaping the fruits of those actions. So what do you think,

to eat or not to eat, to care or not to care, to break out of the lazy

mindset that says, "But its always been that way", or perhaps to say,

"maybe, just maybe, this is not the right way!" ......
 
Why Vegetarianism?
Interesting topic!
Hotly discussed for a long time.
In the nature’s scheme of evolution of species, man evolved from the Apes, which are
Herbivores.
Its body structure is that of a vegetarian animal.
The Jaw:
It can move the jaw –up and down as well as from side to side-, which only the Herbivores can do. The Carnivores –like canines and cats- can move their jaw only up and down and not from side to side.
The Teeth:
It has got flat premolar and molars [JAARH] to grind the vegetarian food. Carnivores have got only pointed and sharp edged teeth to tear the flesh and then swallow. They don’t grind it.
The Stomach:
It has got J-shaped stomach like herbivores.
The Appendix:
Though rudimentary and vestigial in man, it is only present in the Herbivores.
Claws:
It has got no Claws to hold and tear the flesh.


But man has got lot of adaptability. During some harsh famine or in the event of some severe scarcity of Veg. food, it must have started killing other animals and eating them. Hunger is a very compelling instinct and the urge for survival is very strong in all organisms. In such situations, cannibalism, even among humans, has been reported.
STRONG VERSUS WEAK:
The mightiest and strongest animals are Herbivores –like Elephant, Rhino and Whales.
SMART VERSUS DULL:
The smartest and fastest animal is said to be a Cheetah. But its food –the deers- are no less smart and fast. All the deer species are still surviving, but the Cheetah has disappeared from Asia. Only found in Africa now.
HEALTHY OR NOT:
The problems of Blood Presser, Heart Disease and Brain Strokes etc, are found more in the Non-Vegs than Vegs. Nowadays, the pet advice from the Physicians to everybody is –plenty of vegetables, fruits and Salads and not Non-Veg food.

RIGHT OR WRONG –PRO OR ANTI RELIGION?
Personally, I don’t consider them important points. All living organisms, except for plants, survive –directly or indirectly- on food source from another organism. Only plants can produce their own food. If we eat plants, they are also living. Even the grains have got life. There is nothing religious or non-religious in eating.

But for a natural and healthier aspect, I vouch for VEGETARIANISM for human beings.
Traditionally also, JATS HAD BEEN MAINLY VEGETARIANS.
They are sturdy and a hard nut to crack!
Wishing you all a healthful life,

Partap.


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Dr. Partap Singh Sangwan (Jan 19, 2003 12:11 a.m.):
Why Vegetarianism?
Interesting topic!
Hotly discussed for a long time.
In the nature’s scheme of evolution of species, man evolved from the Apes, which are
Herbivores.
Its body structure is that of a vegetarian animal.
The Jaw:
It can move the jaw –up and down as well as from side to side-, which only the Herbivores can do. The Carnivores –like canines and cats- can move their jaw only up and down and not from side to side.
The Teeth:
It has got flat premolar and molars [JAARH] to grind the vegetarian food. Carnivores have got only pointed and sharp edged teeth to tear the flesh and then swallow. They don’t grind it.
The Stomach:
It has got J-shaped stomach like herbivores.
The Appendix:
Though rudimentary and vestigial in man, it is only present in the Herbivores.
Claws:
It has got no Claws to hold and tear the flesh.


But man has got lot of adaptability. During some harsh famine or in the event of some severe scarcity of Veg. food, it must have started killing other animals and eating them. Hunger is a very compelling instinct and the urge for survival is very strong in all organisms. In such situations, cannibalism, even among humans, has been reported.
STRONG VERSUS WEAK:
The mightiest and strongest animals are Herbivores –like Elephant, Rhino and Whales.
SMART VERSUS DULL:
The smartest and fastest animal is said to be a Cheetah. But its food –the deers- are no less smart and fast. All the deer species are still surviving, but the Cheetah has disappeared from Asia. Only found in Africa now.
HEALTHY OR NOT:
The problems of Blood Presser, Heart Disease and Brain Strokes etc, are found more in the Non-Vegs than Vegs. Nowadays, the pet advice from the Physicians to everybody is –plenty of vegetables, fruits and Salads and not Non-Veg food.

RIGHT OR WRONG –PRO OR ANTI RELIGION?
Personally, I don’t consider them important points. All living organisms, except for plants, survive –directly or indirectly- on food source from another organism. Only plants can produce their own food. If we eat plants, they are also living. Even the grains have got life. There is nothing religious or non-religious in eating.

But for a natural and healthier aspect, I vouch for VEGETARIANISM for human beings.
Traditionally also, JATS HAD BEEN MAINLY VEGETARIANS.
They are sturdy and a hard nut to crack!
Wishing you all a healthful life,

Partap.


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Click to expand...

Pratap jee, very good arguments and very well
presented. I really enjoyed reading your post :)
 
Urmila ji,

You have raised a very important issue. I strongly feel and and as mentioned by Dr.Pratap the logic also is in clear favour of vegetarianism.

Per ek baat samajh mai nahi aayi Urmilaji es vegetarianism ki talk mai aapne do non vegetarian ( Atalji and Mrs Musharraf) ki photo kyonker chep rakhi se.
 
Per ek baat samajh mai nahi aayi Urmilaji es vegetarianism ki talk mai aapne do non vegetarian ( Atalji and Mrs Musharraf) ki photo kyonker chep rakhi se.[/quote]

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I will be removing the picture shortly :)
 
this was a real intriguing post..i have been a vegetarian in my childhood and then at some point i statred eatingnon veg once in a while..after coming to college my frequency of eating non veg increased...
but once i wa reading a book by RIchard Bach i think it was The One in which he says that once he went for breakfast and he was confused what to eat..finally he said that if just bcos he takes some bread instead of a pork or chicken...at least one pig or hen will be able to enjoy his/her life to fullest...
so if changing my food habbits can help someone enjoy his life..i am for it...it has been really hard for me to stop from eating non veg as all my friends eat non veg when we go out...but i am keeping up with it till now....
anuj
 
Sharing my experience.

Since childhood I generally consumed Non veg. 3 times a week..When I was 25Yrs. old ONE FINE DAY I though that If i giveup Non Veg then at least no. of animals \ birds will be SAVED from slaughtering... I should not have "RIGHTS" to kill or consume a bird...( chicken Vagarha ki Neck to aise hi todd deta tha..)
I thought I can survive with Veg. food also.. that fine day I promise to myself...since past 6 yrs I am vegetarian....
 
Uday ji
It is nice that you have left non-veg. Certainly we do not have any right to kill any animal.After all they also have right to live.I have never taken non-veg and still surviving.
 
Nice topic..Frankly, its depends on person to person.I was vegeterian till last week eventhough all in my family enjoy non-veg food.I stayed in various parts of world and was able to survive.But, they were really tough time in my life.My mother use to worry a lot when I was out because of this.In my perception, you should be able to eat non-veg food but prefer vegeterian.

Cheers,
 
Why vegetarianism?

As stated here it depends on individual taste. However there are some scientific and spiritual facts one needs to consider in making important decisions like food and drinks. Basically you are what you eat. Our body is made and sustained by 5 elements so is that of other living things including plants. One can argue that eating plants or vegetables is also hurting them probably it does but instinct of self preservation being the strongest human beings can choose to survive by consuming plants or animals. It is established fact that what we consume affects our body, mind and spirit. Geeta categorises foods in to three categories namely Satvik, Rajsi and Tamsi. Satvik is health giving and generates noble thoughts. Rajsi is pungent type and generates restlessness and ego. Tamsi are the worse kind which cause fear, disease and evil thoughts.

Each one of us is responsible for our own deeds or Karma irrespective of what some one else does or tells us to do. It is individual (you and you alone) have to take responsiblity for your own habits. Some people live to eat others eat to live. Having travelled around some most inhospitable places and not having access to any variety my personal attempts have been to stay away from non-veg not so much out of sympathy for animals but to preserve my own quality of thinking. Did I say that what you consume also affects how you think. If you don't believe it just listen to a drunk and you will see the difference in the behaviour of same person with and without alcohol. You are free to choose the food but are not free to choose it's effects because they are automatic.Therefore decision is quite simple choose the action according to results you want.
 
Why vegetarianism?

. You are free to choose the food but are not free to choose it's effects because they are automatic.

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I really liked what you said above here.



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I read somewhere that Gandhi, who was a vegetarian and a pacifist, said that he has not observed non vegetarians to be MORE violent than vegetarians or vice versa--just his personal opinion i guess. Also scientists somewhere in Europe (Holland,i think) correlated extreme violent temprament in a well known family to a gene called "Moa gene" (which synthesises some oxidase), as this was found well expressed in extremely violent members of the family and based on this many thought that criminals with violence charges should all be screened for the expression level of this gene to determine if genetics was an over riding factor in their violent behaviour. The idea has not been taken very seriously by others.
 
Thanks Urmila ji,

Don't know much about modern research on the subject but have learnt a few things through our culture which are very informative and make a lot of sense. For example it is beyond dispute that certain people like certain foods. Now if those foods are categorised according to their effect and individual appeal, we could say that people who like this type of food is predominantly of that nature. The logic being that human nature is also divided in 3 categories Satvik, rajsi and Tamsi similar to the categories of foods. Practically each one of us posseses these qualities in various combinations. By constant practice and self improvement one learns to promote the higher nature and make it predominant. The objective here is ofcourse to rise above three Gunas (Become Nirguna) which is called Nirvana. Food is only one part (though essential one), action, speech, thoughts being others.

Did any one notice a link between crime and consumption of Non Veg and Alcohol. Because both of them come in the category of Tamas i.e. the lowest grade of food which is liked by persons with predominantly Tamasi nature. These natures are not always the same and can change with influencing factors e.g. life style. That is one of the reasons why people build their spiritual strength and self discipline by self denial e.g. fast etc.

One has to find balance in life and try and progress mentally. Self indulgence e.g. binging set us back wards and then people try to justify their actions (right or wrong) and turn violent in extreme cases. I am sure one day some one will carry out a scientific study and get his/her ph.d. proving that diet is linked to behaviour. Good eating till then.
 
well, I read many biological and scinetific reasons in favour of both vegetarian and non vegetarianism .....infact when I say ism..... it does present a state of mind and philosophy ...it is way more then just an eating habit or choice......
I would like to reflect some light on this topic religiously and philosophically ......as we all are hindus and no other religion puts emphasis on being vegetarian beter then our own religion ..infact if we observe hindu soicety then we will notice that only Shudras had been non vegetarian mostly....whereas people belonging to other catses have picked it up only in our parents generation and my genertaion ......in other words people born after 1947 have more number of non vegetarians then their predecessors.....well we can attribute it to many resons I can only think of following the trend right now ....but I personally feel that being a non vegetarian while being Hindu is going against the religion ....say loosing it .....as it is violent to be non vegetarian .....I mean killing a living being who has nervous system to feel and display the feeling of pain is surely violent ....I mean how much different it is to kill a goat then killing a human baby ......secondly I would also say that even if we ignore religion then we will see that all of us our made by one power GOD ....we all are his creations and so are other living beings.....then arent we hurting him by hurting any of his creations, especially when we say we are made in his image ...we are a part of him .....and so are all other creations of him ....then how can we hurt him .....and so that I shouldnt end up being Don Quixote ...I would also say that one should be a vegetarian till the point one can ...if you arent getting any other kind of food say you are in a desert then eating an animal for survival (only for survival ) is not wrong ......and I mean it....in desert and only for survival .....coz if God is giving you other options to eat .....which are basic form of life and do not display pain .....you should stick to them .....and offcourse it is higher thinking to be a vegetarian coz the sole idea behind it is not to inflict any kind of pain or attrocity on anyone be it human or an animal .....
Be a vegetarian ....achcha hai(God bless us all)
 
This discussion is getting very interesting now. In today's world the theme for survival seems to be "Might is right". Look at Tibetians who practice a non violent religion- they have been literally driven out of their homeland by the more aggressive Chinese. We lost 1962 Indo-China war to the

aggressive Chinese because of our pacifist outlook. The entire world has become a sought of a bully to non armed people- an important reaon for expansion of Muslim religion throughout Asia. What i mean to say that non violence may not be an undesirable trait if everyone around you seem to trying to get his way with you. Afterall what good is a practice that either makes you subservient or threatens your survival? History tells us so many times that peace has been bought by wars and only then could higher learning/philosophy/non violent religion etc have been able to fluorish. I am not saying that non violence is the way to go but to have an open mind to all possibilities

without the feeling of guilt because circumstances are not determined by us alone but by all others too.

On comsumption of alcohol, there have been reports floating arounf for a while in the scientific community regarding the beneficial effects of alcohol if consumed in small amounts (a can of beer a day/a glass of wine/day) (in adults only). Habitual tipsy drinking is bad for health and for others who have to put up with you. Kefir- which is a sweetened yogurt made by fermentation with lactic acid bacteria and yeast is known to have alcohol (as yeast produce alcohol during their growth) but Kefir is known to have beneficial effects on health.
 
There appears to be an implication that vegetarianism turns you in to subservient. Quite the contrary to this misconception I think some one who chooses to be a vegetarian only shows self discipline and empathy towards other life forms. On the other hand if some one can not live without eating flesh he only displays weakness for satisfaction of his taste buds. At any given time whatever rational person does has one predominant factor e.g. when we are hungry then that is the most dominant but once we have eaten and probably feeling sleepy then sleep becomes predominant. When we are angry then all our energies are controlled by anger in other words we become slave to anger. Normal human beings have difficulties in freeing themselves from all kinds of masters e.g. nature within which there are various categories. Parallel to Maslow's theory of hierarchy of needs we can say there is also a hierarchy of masters for all of us. Some are controlled by their desire for indulgence some onewould rise to a slightly higher level and is probably controlled by his desire to do his duty and accept it as master, some will try and rise to still higher level and accept selfless service as a master and so on. The ultimate aim is to be your own master above all other masters. Food and drinks etc are at the bottom of pyramid and masses get trapped in it thus never rise to even level two. One who can not control his ownself has little hope of controling others and the reason I believe Tibet has gone to China or we lost 62 war is more complex and not because of vegetarianism.

Some one just pointed out here that after 1947 people started eating non veg more prevalantly. The reason I think is sudden rush to enjoy the life and disregard for cultural and social norms. If Mr. Dudee's book is to be taken seriously then that has proof enough that our forefathers e.g. Mr. Richhpal Singh Lamba who won two victoria crosses must have been much braver than those who consume non veg every day and can not go out alone in the dark. Was he vegetarian, I have no proof but know for sure that during his times Badra was principally a vegetarian village like so many others around it including our own village. Therefore if non vegetarians want to prove that they are more brave I believe they have to first beat that record. Don't they ? It is a myth that flesh eating makes you brave. It certainly makes you lazy and cruel because these are the effects of Tamas foods.

Coming to the second point of scietific belief that wine in moderation is good for your health. I have no proof otherwise and am some what sceptical about these research reports who at times contradict each other. Let us say it is true but is that reason enough to consume alcohol because it also has other adverse effects about which modern scientists probably don't care. Because it destroys your satvic nature which to some people is worse than early death. What is the purpose of long life if it only causes pain and suffering to others. Believe quality is more important than quantity.

Any comments please!
 
I should've been more unambiguous in my last post where i wrote that non violence is not necessarily a bad trait. I was talking about non violence in isolation and not as an effect of non veg. diet. To me, non veg. food consumption shows a form of selfishness-, selfishness is why the world is in such a bad state today. In the 80's there were reports that Russia was not self sufficient in terms of



grain production whereas India



with a much larger population, had managed to grow enough food to feed its entire population- thanks to green revolution. To produce 1 kg of meat requires 7 Kg of grains (for animal feeding). If majority of Indians were meat eaters, India would have to produce 7 times more before it could call itself self sufficient.



Non veg. diet is a costly affair in the big picture.



I don't think it iß a good idea to have total suspicion for western medicine and its medical claims. I would give credence to the belief that anything if indulged in, in excess tends to negate its beneficial effect at recommended doses. That is why all medicine (including vitamins) have recommended doses. Some foods like Kefir naturally have alcohol due to fermentation(as high as 5% by vol) and have been traditionally consumed in Bulgaria and surrounding countries for centuries without having advesrse effect on health. We all know the harmful effects of concentrated acid



but dilute form of acids like vinegar and even citrus fruits have long been a part of veg. diet. In this respect, i think, low amounts of alcohol may have beneficial effects as compared to large amounts- as claimed by increasing medical reports.



At the end of the whole discussion, i do not mean to favour alcohol consumption but to be open to all possibilities irrespective of our preconcieved notions.

Interesting discussion :)
 
the discsussion is really interesting I would just add up again that when someone is non vegetarian it is totally mean on his/her part as someone else pay ones life as a cost of their food ....but whereas alcohol consumption and smoking is concerened then I would say that it is ones choice to do so ...as one him/herself is the bearer of the cost whether healthy and or unhelathy it is far better to consume alcohol and smoke then to consume non vegetarian food .....but as excess of everything is bad ..one shouldnt cross borders in consumption of alcohol or tobacco or marijuana one should respect them(alcohol and ciggarette) and their health and then enjoy them ....but eating non vegetarian food is a total let down whether you eat one chicken or a million.....
and I have a question does our religion ever say anything against smoking and drinking ...I mean I have always heard about Lord Shiva being a pot smoker( and so are lots of Sadhus who follow him) and demigods of heaven drink some sort of wine....but still I would like to know ..whether it is not hindu to drink and smoke or is it acceptable .......
 
Thank you Mr Sheorayan,
I really love the new termonolgy you gave to the bodies of non-vegetarian and it is so true their bodies are nothing but animal graveyards...thanx a lot for it and it does make me more proud of being a vegetarian ....
Thank you,
 
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