Questions & Answers about Vegetarianism

What should we eat?

When one has awakened to his true nature, he knows that animals are not meant to be food for humans. By eating plant-based foods, we are helping ourselves and saving countless lives.

​As we refrain from eating the flesh of innocent creatures, we become more sensitive to the life around us. We begin to realize that much of our suffering has stemmed from our participation in the suffering of the slaughtered animals. We begin to glimpse the higher truth that all life is connected.

​When we eat vegetables are we not involved in killing too?

We need to eat to survive so, we choose food which has the least consciousness and suffers the least.

When we eat vegetables, we do not cut their roots but rather we help their asexual reproduction by cutting branches and leaves. This is beneficial to the plant.

If you pluck a raw apple, you are causing violence to the tree. But when the apple ripens and we stretch out our hand, the apple falls into your hand without any strain whatsoever. This shows that the tree is ready to give. If we do not pick the apple, then it becomes over-ripe and falls to the ground and rots.

Is it not okay to buy meat from the butcher because I am not killing animals?

We must know that butchers kill living beings because people in this world wish to eat the flesh of animals. In the Lankavatara Sutra, Buddha said, “If there was no one eating meat, then no killing would happen. So, eating meat and killing living beings are of the same sin.”

How does vegetarianism affect the astral body?

The food we eat not only nourishes our physical body but also nourishes our astral body. If we are careless about our diet, then we build into our physical body solid particles which are impure. Our astral body will have the same corresponding impure nature as our physical body.

If we purify our physical body by feeding it clean food and drink which means excluding from our diet the polluting blood and flesh of animals, alcohol and other foul substances then we also begin to purify the astral body.

A meat-eater has a gross astral body which responds to the lower frequencies related to bodily or sensory pleasures. A vegetarian will have a fine astral body which responds to the higher and more refined feelings and aspirations.

It is the duty of every man to develop all his bodies to make them perfect instruments for the Soul. They must be in the highest possible condition, pure, clean and free from taint.

How is karma linked to our diet?

Another factor for being vegetarian is karma. As Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction.

On the universal scale this is referred to as the law of karma which means what goes around comes around. This affects every individual, as well as communities and countries. As the nation sows, so shall it reap.

If so much violence is produced by the killing of animals, where do you think the reactions to this violence goes? It comes back to us in many ways, such as in the form of hate crimes, world wars, natural disasters, etc. At the individual level, it manifests as ill health and suffering in our lives.

There are non-vegetarian saints so why is it necessary for one to be a vegetarian to become Enlightened?

For the aspirant, it is easier to become enlightened if you are a vegetarian. To realize God consciousness, you need your body and mind to be in a pure condition. A non-vegetarian diet is not conducive to the cleanliness of the body and mind.

A very intelligent person can through his pure intelligence rise above the obstacles of the body and mind to reach God consciousness. However, this is not so easy for the common person.

There were great saints who, after self-realization, did not even bother about what they ate. They ate simply for the sustenance of the body and ate whatever food was offered.

When you reach that level, you do not have to worry about right food or wrong food because it is not going to affect you; you have already transcended the body and mind.  This is why some scriptures say that when you rise to a certain level you are not controlled by the doing or not doing, the right or wrong.

If you have not reached that level of God-realization, then do not use non-vegetarian saints as an excuse to eat meat.

Written by Navneet

Navneet is a Meditation Practitioner and Teacher and the founder of Truthful Living. For more information, please visit: www.truthfulliving.org