World Peace and Vegetarianism.
An age old adage says "you are what you eat."
I find it extremely convincing. Someone must have thought and observed the truth in that adage and coined it.
Now obviously before I have to answer to some fools start taking the adage literally, let me explain:
Science/Knowledge of Life: Ayurveda, is a science that has been in the Indian society for as long as recorded history goes and much beyond. This is not a blog about proving the efficacy of this school of medicine, let me tell you how advanced that science was, plastic surgery has been known to being performed in India from 800 BC , as with anything from India, at least 800 BC because every piece of knowledge associated with the Vedas (vedangas etc) have been passed down generation after generation in an oral tradition beyond what history can track.
Modern science just started to figure it out in the 1940's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery
Now considering the advancement of this science as far back as 800 BC, lets examine what it says about food. (Is it perfect? perhaps not, but it surely is arguably better than modern medicine for holistic healing purposes, a larger more contentious/debatable discussion.)
As a matter of fact, the Indian thought attributes three major tendencies to everything, including the mind:
Everyone has different proportions of the following three qualities: YES EVERYONE. Its just a matter of which proportion is higher.
Sattva :Tender, pure, calm, peaceful, spiritual, clear perception.
Rajas: Political, anger, belligerent, lustful, greedy, affinity toward sensual pleasures, high sex drive,
Tamas: Demonic, murderous, animalistic, relative or complete lack of control on mind and body, dark.
Now, according to Ayurveda, food plays the most important role in determining the proportion of the above tendencies in human beings (along with many other like nurture and nature (poorva janma vasanas (sorry but that's a larger discussion, it just literally means, the tenancies one acquires from her/his previous life)
This is what the following website says about these three mindsets in general, I am quoting this website although it is a commercial one, coz more or less this is what I learnt about these tendencies else where as well:
http://ayurvedaplace.com/2011/09/05/food-affects-mind-sattvic-rajasic-tamasic-food/
Rajasic Food: Rajas leads to the life of sensual enjoyment, pleasure and pain, effort and restlessness. People in whom rajasic qualities predominate tend to be egoistic, ambitious, aggressive, proud, and competitive and have a tendency to control others. They work hard and like power, prestige, and position and are perfectionists. They suffer from a fear of failure, tend to be angry and jealous and to have few moments of joy. Rajasic individuals are quickly drained of mental energy; they require 8 hours of sleep.
Tamasic Food: Tamas is darkness, inertia, heaviness, and tendency toward materialism. Individuals dominated by tamas tend toward depression, laziness, excessive sleep, eating, drinking, and sex. They may be greedy, possessive, attached, irritable, and uncaring toward others. A little mental work tires them easily; they sleep more than 8 hours a night.
And I would like to add demonic, murderous, complete lack of self control to the tamasic tendencies.
A case for meat eating:
In the Ramayana, Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana hunted for various vertibrate animals like deer, birds and also consumed fish.
Quite a shocker for most people who consider Sri Rama as God. But there is an important lesson to learn here. Extremely important for the purposes of our discussion in the blog.
You see, Sri Rama's incarnation was not that of a God with magical powers. He was completely as human as one could get for that yuga, Treta Yuga. He was born to a king. Hence he was Kshatriya. But he was a Kshtriya well versed in the Vedas, the Sastras, the Dharma Sastra etc.
The dharma of a Kshatriya per these sastras, is to protect his kingdom, his people, the ascetics, is to go to war, is to fight. And all these take killer instincts. If a Kshatriya has to go to war, healthy vegetarian food is definitely not going to be available especially if the war are conducted farther away from their palaces. Hence meat eating was allowed. It is still allowed for the same reasons to the kshatriyas who go to war.
But, even among meat, the ayurvedic scientists have clearly talked about NOT consuming beef. There must be a good reason for it.
The only reason I know thus far, and this is something I heard from a well known guru, is that beef eating makes people cunning, deceptive.
And if you think about it, if you read history, Starting from Md. Ghor to the Britishers, they never won any war fair and square. They almost never followed the Dharma with which Indian warriors and kings fought their wars. I say almost because, they might have won a few, but only after becoming all the more powerful over time with these similar cunning deceptions.
I am not clear on the aspect for Sudras (laborers). So i'll let it be.
How many of us here really are kshatriyas going on to battle fields that need a killer instinct or meat to enable them to survive?
Kashmiri Pandits and Bengali Brahmins are known to eat meat in India. Again, special conditions apply, Kashmiri pandits live in a cold place where vegetation wasn't available for long stretches of time. And to survive they have to resort to meat eating.
The same with Bengali Brahmins, they are known to only eat Fish/sea food. Without knowing much as to reasons, we already know of the great bengal famine in recent memory. I am sure there were more in the past, that could have forced these brahmins to take refuge in fish.
So if you have to have to have to eat meat, please stick to chicken and sea food. Non beef. A request. And as you saw in the environmental and health impacts, Beef is the worst for both. So there essentially is NO reason to be consuming beef whatsoever. And you are also hurting the religious sentiments of a very tolerant people.
But if you want to be and can be brutally honest with yourself, ask yourself if you have a good reason for killing. Ask yourself, what's your excuse in the world and circumstance you live in.
How about 10 reasons to quit eating beef:
http://www.cqs.com/beef.htm
( I can actually give you a silly and funny reason of why I would even become your mascot to eat chicken: U see chicken evolved out of dinosaurs, although there is no evidence that humans existed then, which doesn't necessarily mean humans did not, but lets just say they did, they must've eaten a lot of us coz they were just way too big. And the chicken really is known for its cruelty even today.)
A Case for Alcohol Consumption:
I am sorry I don't have a case for it. I just have a case against it. Which I will blog about it soon.
I am going to only say thing: Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama says the worst kind of a human being is a Brahmin who drinks alcohol.
I have friends here, claiming to be Brahmin, who drink pretty habitually. I am not going to say much further. But request them to understand how pathetic a habit that is. And you will see in my blog post coming up later sometime in my case against it.
I just never understood how a habit that was frowned upon in India just 15 years ago while I was growing up, has become a fashion statement and the only way to network.
In the End:
In the end, I do realize, that the "advancement" in lifestyles have happened so fast, that humanity has not had a chance to adjust its habits. No thought has been given to it. But I do hope, information, knowledge and thought are applied to consider the realities of today, and habits of our past generations to make mindful intelligent decisions as time passes by. We are for God's sake the most intelligent species in the world. . I also realize, its not a switch that you can turn and you can get rid of your habits, but attempting is the least bit you can do for mankind, for planet earth, for yourself, you can be a work in progress, but at least be a work in progress. Because we are creatures of habit. And habits can change. The human mind is an extraordinarily elastic system that will adapt. And guess what, everything listed here, except for drugs and in rare cases alcohol doesn't even have withdrawal symptoms.
Give it a chance. Give world peace a chance. Do your part. Only that is in your control. And bat for change.
Lets behave like one and take personal responsibility and be the change we seek. I AM THE CHANGE I SEEK.
P.S: I have consumed alcohol and meat for no good reason beyond tasty food and "fun" in my younger. I have completely quit after having understood the above presented case. Because Sanatana Dharma is clear, making a mistake is never really the problem, but not correcting it, after you can distinguish between right and wrong, is.
Updated November 10 2013:
Found a great article on Smithsonian:
Should Humans eat meat?
Updated Feb 2015
Global Warming and Animal Farming:
Read about why James Cameroon (Director of Titanic and Avatar) became vegetarian.
Here is the latest panel recommendation on why it makes sense to be vegetarian.
Think of the Earth and NOT about your stomach
When will you start thinking?
THINK!!
I find it extremely convincing. Someone must have thought and observed the truth in that adage and coined it.
Now obviously before I have to answer to some fools start taking the adage literally, let me explain:
Science/Knowledge of Life: Ayurveda, is a science that has been in the Indian society for as long as recorded history goes and much beyond. This is not a blog about proving the efficacy of this school of medicine, let me tell you how advanced that science was, plastic surgery has been known to being performed in India from 800 BC , as with anything from India, at least 800 BC because every piece of knowledge associated with the Vedas (vedangas etc) have been passed down generation after generation in an oral tradition beyond what history can track.
Modern science just started to figure it out in the 1940's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery
Now considering the advancement of this science as far back as 800 BC, lets examine what it says about food. (Is it perfect? perhaps not, but it surely is arguably better than modern medicine for holistic healing purposes, a larger more contentious/debatable discussion.)
As a matter of fact, the Indian thought attributes three major tendencies to everything, including the mind:
Everyone has different proportions of the following three qualities: YES EVERYONE. Its just a matter of which proportion is higher.
Sattva :Tender, pure, calm, peaceful, spiritual, clear perception.
Rajas: Political, anger, belligerent, lustful, greedy, affinity toward sensual pleasures, high sex drive,
Tamas: Demonic, murderous, animalistic, relative or complete lack of control on mind and body, dark.
Now, according to Ayurveda, food plays the most important role in determining the proportion of the above tendencies in human beings (along with many other like nurture and nature (poorva janma vasanas (sorry but that's a larger discussion, it just literally means, the tenancies one acquires from her/his previous life)
This is what the following website says about these three mindsets in general, I am quoting this website although it is a commercial one, coz more or less this is what I learnt about these tendencies else where as well:
http://ayurvedaplace.com/2011/09/05/food-affects-mind-sattvic-rajasic-tamasic-food/
Sattvic Food: Sattvic qualities imply essence, reality, consciousness, purity, creativity, and clarity of perception. People in whom sattva predominate are loving, compassionate, and pure – minded. They tend to have positive behavior, and love for all beings. They do not become upset or angry easily. They look fresh, alert, aware, and full of luster and are recognized for their wisdom, happiness, and joy. Satvic individuals do not get mental fatigue, although they work hard mentally, so they need only four to five hours of sleep.
Rajasic Food: Rajas leads to the life of sensual enjoyment, pleasure and pain, effort and restlessness. People in whom rajasic qualities predominate tend to be egoistic, ambitious, aggressive, proud, and competitive and have a tendency to control others. They work hard and like power, prestige, and position and are perfectionists. They suffer from a fear of failure, tend to be angry and jealous and to have few moments of joy. Rajasic individuals are quickly drained of mental energy; they require 8 hours of sleep.
Tamasic Food: Tamas is darkness, inertia, heaviness, and tendency toward materialism. Individuals dominated by tamas tend toward depression, laziness, excessive sleep, eating, drinking, and sex. They may be greedy, possessive, attached, irritable, and uncaring toward others. A little mental work tires them easily; they sleep more than 8 hours a night.
And I would like to add demonic, murderous, complete lack of self control to the tamasic tendencies.
And before I continue further, let me be clear about where I think I stand above, I am clearly Rajasic, with a healthy amount of Sattvic and a meagre Tamasic tendencies prowling in the ocean of my mind. I have been candid in the past about my flaws, I continue to be, I will continue to be. In the past I have been a fool of epic proportions. I definitely am working on NOT being SUCH a big fool.
Now lets understand what sort of foods fall in to which category:
Jump to the end if this is superfluous information:
Now lets understand what sort of foods fall in to which category:
Jump to the end if this is superfluous information:
Sattvic foods support sattva; they help the mind become clear and stay focused.
Here is an alphabetic list of sattvic foods:
Here is an alphabetic list of sattvic foods:
* – in moderation; **- in excess.
Alfalfa sprouts, almonds, amaranth, apple, apricot, artichoke, arugula*, asparagus, banana (ripe), basmati rice, beans (azuki, black, broad, fava, green, lima*, mung, navy*, pinto, tepary), bean sprouts (all), bee pollen, beets, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, buckwheat, butter, buttermilk (fresh), cabbage, cantaloupe, carob, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, cheese (freshly made), cherry, coconut (ripe and unripe), collards, corn (fresh), cornmeal, cranberries, cream (sweet), cucumber, dates (fresh), figs (fresh and dried),fruit juices (freshly made), ghee (clarified butter), grapefruit, grapes, honey (raw), honeydew melon, kale, kohlrabi, lentils (black, tan), lettuce, mango (ripe), maple syrup, Mother’s milk, milk (fresh, raw, pure), millet, mung dahl, mustard greens, nectarines, nuts (Brazil, cashew, chestnuts, macadamia, pine, pecans, walnuts), oats, oranges (sweet), okra, papaya, parsnip, peaches, peas (black eye, green), pineapple (sweet), plum, pomegranate, potato, prunes, pumpkin, quinoa, raisins, raspberries, rice, rutabaga, sesame seeds, sorghum, spinach, strawberries, sugar cane (raw), summer squash, sunflower seeds, sweet potatoes, tangerines (sweet), turnip, watercress, watermelon, wheat, wild rice, winter squash, yams, yogurt (fresh), zucchini.
Rajasic foods generate more fire, outward motion, creativity, aggression, and passion.
Any canned, sweetened fruit, all fermented food, all bottled fruit juices are rajasic. Here is an alphabetic list of other rajasic foods:
Avocado, beans (garbanzo, kidney), brewer’s yeast, buttermilk (not freshly made), cheese (hard, cottage), chili, dates (dried), eggs (white, yolk, whole), eggplant, garlic, guava, kefir ( not freshly made), lemon, lentils (red), lime, malt syrup, mango (unripe), molasses, olives, peanut oil, peanuts, peppers, pickles, peas (green dried**), pistachios (salted), rhubarb, rice bran syrup, salt (all kinds), sour cream, sugar (white, brown, date, fructose, jaggery), sugar cane juice, tomatoes, vinegar, yogurt (not freshly made).
Any canned, sweetened fruit, all fermented food, all bottled fruit juices are rajasic. Here is an alphabetic list of other rajasic foods:
Avocado, beans (garbanzo, kidney), brewer’s yeast, buttermilk (not freshly made), cheese (hard, cottage), chili, dates (dried), eggs (white, yolk, whole), eggplant, garlic, guava, kefir ( not freshly made), lemon, lentils (red), lime, malt syrup, mango (unripe), molasses, olives, peanut oil, peanuts, peppers, pickles, peas (green dried**), pistachios (salted), rhubarb, rice bran syrup, salt (all kinds), sour cream, sugar (white, brown, date, fructose, jaggery), sugar cane juice, tomatoes, vinegar, yogurt (not freshly made).
Tamasic foods increase inner darkness and confusion. They slow us down, depress us and enhance inertia.
Tamasic foods include all fast food, fried food, frozen food, microwaved food, processed food, left over night food, alcohol, all drugs, and chemicals. Here is an alphabetic list of other tamasic foods: Alcohol, beef, chicken, drugs, fish, fowl, goat, ice cream, lamb, lard, leeks, margarine, milk ( homogenized, pasteurized, powdered), mushrooms, onion (raw, cooked, green), pork, rabbit, shallots, shellfish, texturized vegetable protein, turkey, venison.
Tamasic foods include all fast food, fried food, frozen food, microwaved food, processed food, left over night food, alcohol, all drugs, and chemicals. Here is an alphabetic list of other tamasic foods: Alcohol, beef, chicken, drugs, fish, fowl, goat, ice cream, lamb, lard, leeks, margarine, milk ( homogenized, pasteurized, powdered), mushrooms, onion (raw, cooked, green), pork, rabbit, shallots, shellfish, texturized vegetable protein, turkey, venison.
The basic nature of the mind is creative or sattvic, with just enough rajas and tamas to bring desires to fruition. That means that the base of our diet should consist of fresh or freshly prepared grains, vegetables and fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, milk, ghee and butter in moderation, cold pressed oils and natural sweeteners. We need just a small amount of rajasic foods to stimulate creativity and outward motion. Tamasic food can be helpful when an excess of rajas is present. If the mind is hyper and ungrounded – some tamasic food can be eaten to promote stability. Freshly made steamed mushrooms or onions are a healthier choice though than a frozen steak, which has been fried, rechilled and microwaved.
Note: There is a healthy amount of disagreement even amongst the Ayurvedic classics on exact properties of one food or another. Some food categories can be, and are disputed.
Now based on the above understanding, I have seen meat like birds fall in to the rajasic category. but I have consistently seen Beef, Alcohol and drugs falls in to the Tamasic food categories EVERYWHERE.
Now lets understand this: As I said at the beginning of the blog, your tendencies are determined by many things, one of the major aspects being food and others like (along with many other like nurture and nature (poorva janma vasanas (sorry but that's a larger discussion, it just literally means, the tenancies one acquires from her/his previous life) ), body type (kapha, pitta, vatta (again a different discussion, you can read Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra to understand what these are) also the combination of food that suits your body type. Its a huge science to the purposes of this blog. But "Perfect Health" is a good place to start to understanding this science.
Is this so far fetched?
If you think about it, its not such a far fetched idea, before you discard this as mere theory born out of fantasy, consider this, modern medicine is clear today about how food ends up impacting the hormonal levels in the human body. There are certain foods called aphrodisiac foods which increase people's libido, certain foods, lift up the mood of people, certain foods (spicy) make people more aggressive, and upon further research, I am confident about the efficacy of this above break down. It is just that, modern medicine exactly hasn't caught up and spent enough time on researching this topic. I would welcome research to prove/disprove any of the claims of Ayurveda unequivocally.
What does all this have to do with world peace? :
I have been wagering this question on facebook and looking for answers on the internet to find any sort of a correlation to vegetarians and violence (the extreme kind). I have found none.
I request and plead to the people of all religions of the world, as much as you revere and love and respect entities holy to your religions, be it the cross, or the book or whatever it is, we in the Sanatana Dharma, hold the Cow with the same reverence. And you are killing it every day. We respect your holy things. Its time you respect ours. Not knowing about it was fine all this while. But now you know.
Now lets understand this: As I said at the beginning of the blog, your tendencies are determined by many things, one of the major aspects being food and others like (along with many other like nurture and nature (poorva janma vasanas (sorry but that's a larger discussion, it just literally means, the tenancies one acquires from her/his previous life) ), body type (kapha, pitta, vatta (again a different discussion, you can read Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra to understand what these are) also the combination of food that suits your body type. Its a huge science to the purposes of this blog. But "Perfect Health" is a good place to start to understanding this science.
Is this so far fetched?
If you think about it, its not such a far fetched idea, before you discard this as mere theory born out of fantasy, consider this, modern medicine is clear today about how food ends up impacting the hormonal levels in the human body. There are certain foods called aphrodisiac foods which increase people's libido, certain foods, lift up the mood of people, certain foods (spicy) make people more aggressive, and upon further research, I am confident about the efficacy of this above break down. It is just that, modern medicine exactly hasn't caught up and spent enough time on researching this topic. I would welcome research to prove/disprove any of the claims of Ayurveda unequivocally.
I have couple of personal observations to make in this respect:
Me and my family come from the district of Krishna in the state of Andhra Pradesh: One of the most staple pieces of our diet in that part of the world is Spicy pickle. (I cannot live with out it ( which i need to definitely change, definitely at least as a result of this posting, coz I will be the change I seek.)) in any case, I have known all my life the anger management issues all of us have in my family, myself included way up to my great grandfather at the least.
When I went to meet this neighbor of mine when i was visiting India, I met a few people from the same area, and then eventually I learnt a lot about people in the area through friends of mine from Guntur( adjacent district with similar food tastes), I realised that people in the are generally rough to deal with. The incidence of you running into people with high tempers is higher for people in this area. Again this is just my general observation.
At the same time, I have known a few people from the west godavari district, a friend from Srikakulam, if you go to those places, the dialect itself is phenomenally a lot more respectful, people a LOT sweeter when compared to people of where my family comes from. And they don't eat as much pickle as we do. Even if they do, their staple is sweet pickle. This is true story. Take it as you like it.
I have heard stories about my grandmother's propensity for anger in her younger days when she ate food like the rest of us. But as I grew up, I saw her transform, transform in to an angel, who in my memory has probably gotten irritated only once or twice through the 17 years I have known her. And as time went by, her food, was the most tasteless, the most sattvic food a man could eat to survive. And the results of her mentality change was visible. As I grew older, I have never known a more tolerant angel than my grandmother. Again, just my observation of a correlation between what she ate and how she turned out to be as time went by.
I have been wagering this question on facebook and looking for answers on the internet to find any sort of a correlation to vegetarians and violence (the extreme kind). I have found none.
Now think about it, read what is written about how Sattvic individuals behave (major proportion of their mindset being sattvic) . With that kind of pleasant, peaceful, non-greedy, non-lustful, non-vengeful, never uncontrollably angry, never extremely passionate, personalities, will those individuals be even capable of or WANT to commit or act in ways that are harmful to anyone?
Now, before someone jumps to conclusions, lets understand one thing, the reality of the matter is, it is impossible to enforce complete and utter compliance to sattvic food specialized for your body type to achieve the results. But what I am suggesting like everything else, is the incidence of violence and wars and chaos in general will go down if we as a civilization at least attempt at understanding these realities of the impact of food intake on our psyche. Its all about probabilities. Its all about the greater good and the lesser evil. Not merely about good and evil.
Now, before someone jumps to conclusions, lets understand one thing, the reality of the matter is, it is impossible to enforce complete and utter compliance to sattvic food specialized for your body type to achieve the results. But what I am suggesting like everything else, is the incidence of violence and wars and chaos in general will go down if we as a civilization at least attempt at understanding these realities of the impact of food intake on our psyche. Its all about probabilities. Its all about the greater good and the lesser evil. Not merely about good and evil.
Now extrapolate that to everyone in the world working diligently, taking responsibility of their own actions, figuring out ways to increase their sattva characteristics while reducing their tamas characteristics primarily and rajas characteristics as well.
What would that accomplish? A world where every one minds her/his own business, no dirty politics, people only living with all the characteristics that are common to almost all cultures across the world that come in to their "good" categorization. And definitely NO killing, Definitely no Land Grabbing. Definitely NO wars.
And that is how you accomplish world peace. And THAT IS THE ONLY WAY to accomplish world peace. I know we cannot control the world, or even your spouse, but knowing and understanding what I presented above, if you still continue to no change your food intake habits, I hope you will remember your double standards whenever you wish for world peace. It is just lip service that everyone offers hoping something magical will happen or some God will incarnate to change the world ( He will when he has to, but what about personal responsibility?)
I am sorry but everything is connected, I don't have to tell you that, Vedas tell you that (which you don't have to believe, coz you know its not about belief with me), chaos theory won't have to tell you that but if you just sit back and perceive the world, you WILL see how each and everyone of us contribute to the chaos with our continued food habits that lead to all the rajasic and tamasic behaviors and the domino after effects.
Ayurveda a bunch of non-sense: (which i am feel sorry for anyone who thinks so, but I cannot control that.): Now lets just say you consider it that.
Here are the reasons why you still need to quit eating meat:
You could either continue reading it here, or for a further more comprehensive and a binary view of what meat eating is harmful, you can read it here:
But here is my summary of what meat eating is a problem:
1. Environmental Impact
The agniveer post above I think does a more comprehensive job in explaining this piece, but here is my quick attempt:
If you look at the below study, Everything above Rice on an average has much higher use of water resources.
The agniveer post above I think does a more comprehensive job in explaining this piece, but here is my quick attempt:
If you look at the below study, Everything above Rice on an average has much higher use of water resources.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_production
It is not just water resources,
From the above wiki link, read this now:
In comparison with grazing, intensive livestock production requires large quantities of harvested feed. The growing of cereals for feed in turn requires substantial areas of land. However, where grain is fed, less feed is required for meat production. This is due not only to the higher concentration of metabolizable energy in grain than in roughages, but also to the higher ratio of net energy of gain to net energy of maintenance where metabolizable energy intake is higher.[2] A pound of beef (live weight) requires about seven pounds of feed, compared to more than three pound for a pound of pork and less than two pounds for a pound of chicken.[3] However, assumptions about feed quality are implicit in such generalizations. For example, production of a pound of beef cattle live weight may require between 4 and 5 pounds of feed high in protein and metabolizable energy content, or more than 20 pounds of feed of much lower quality.[2]
What an inefficient use of energy in a world that is starving for efficiency. In a world that is starving for food.
And it is shameful for an intelligent species to be so inefficient about its very existence.
Here is the carbon footprint:
It is not just water resources,
From the above wiki link, read this now:
In comparison with grazing, intensive livestock production requires large quantities of harvested feed. The growing of cereals for feed in turn requires substantial areas of land. However, where grain is fed, less feed is required for meat production. This is due not only to the higher concentration of metabolizable energy in grain than in roughages, but also to the higher ratio of net energy of gain to net energy of maintenance where metabolizable energy intake is higher.[2] A pound of beef (live weight) requires about seven pounds of feed, compared to more than three pound for a pound of pork and less than two pounds for a pound of chicken.[3] However, assumptions about feed quality are implicit in such generalizations. For example, production of a pound of beef cattle live weight may require between 4 and 5 pounds of feed high in protein and metabolizable energy content, or more than 20 pounds of feed of much lower quality.[2]
What an inefficient use of energy in a world that is starving for efficiency. In a world that is starving for food.
And it is shameful for an intelligent species to be so inefficient about its very existence.
Here is the carbon footprint:
2. Health Impact : Primarily its active participation in being the cause of cancer and heart diseases
http://www.cqs.com/beef.htm
I think this is very well documented every where. Every study. Every newspaper, every news article on health.
The dangers of beef especially far outweigh its health benefits.
I think this is very well documented every where. Every study. Every newspaper, every news article on health.
The dangers of beef especially far outweigh its health benefits.
3. Evolution:
Lets examine this: The last known closest human relative is the Chimpanzee, sharing 99.96% of the DNA. And the Chimp is primarily a vegetarian. Only in extreme conditions does it resort to meat eating. In fact Chimps hunting has been documented to be for other social uses than for eating. If anything meat only constitutes 1-3% of its food intake.
Lets observe another aspect:
Some people argue that we "evolved" to eat meat. I am sorry you did not. The evidence of y our physiology is overwhelmingly clear. Don't look too far. Look at your puny canines. Or look at what scientists have to say, and you can research further.
http://rense.com/general20/meant.htm
So why do we eat meat again: Just like apes, it is based on need. If you think about it, beyond India, in Europe and the middle east, the climate didn't really assist humans in making food readily available for them. Farming is difficult and very seasonal if at all, in countries which are either covered with ice (till 1000 AD there was a mini ice age in all of europe, hence the dark ages), or in deserts a.k.a the middle east.
Hence in those extreme situations meat became staple as animals are a lot better at digesting vegetation that is not possible for humans to digest and hence made a better options for humans living in those conditions.
But do we still have to keep doing it? In an industrialized world? What is your justification?
The other thing to note is the strongest animals on the planet are vegetarian.
1. Elephant
2. Gorilla
3. Bull
4. Horse.
5. The Blue Whale
to name a few.
And if you think about it. They are all relatively docile and friendly. And it take a whole pack of carnivores to even bring down a half grown calf or an injured adult.
(Hey, I think the theory of docility from veg seems true as suggested above in the discussion of ayurveda... but that's just an observation)
So what is interesting to me is the argument that we "Evolved" to become weaker and crueler?
Lets examine this: The last known closest human relative is the Chimpanzee, sharing 99.96% of the DNA. And the Chimp is primarily a vegetarian. Only in extreme conditions does it resort to meat eating. In fact Chimps hunting has been documented to be for other social uses than for eating. If anything meat only constitutes 1-3% of its food intake.
Lets observe another aspect:
Some people argue that we "evolved" to eat meat. I am sorry you did not. The evidence of y our physiology is overwhelmingly clear. Don't look too far. Look at your puny canines. Or look at what scientists have to say, and you can research further.
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http://rense.com/general20/meant.htm
So why do we eat meat again: Just like apes, it is based on need. If you think about it, beyond India, in Europe and the middle east, the climate didn't really assist humans in making food readily available for them. Farming is difficult and very seasonal if at all, in countries which are either covered with ice (till 1000 AD there was a mini ice age in all of europe, hence the dark ages), or in deserts a.k.a the middle east.
Hence in those extreme situations meat became staple as animals are a lot better at digesting vegetation that is not possible for humans to digest and hence made a better options for humans living in those conditions.
But do we still have to keep doing it? In an industrialized world? What is your justification?
The other thing to note is the strongest animals on the planet are vegetarian.
1. Elephant
2. Gorilla
3. Bull
4. Horse.
5. The Blue Whale
to name a few.
And if you think about it. They are all relatively docile and friendly. And it take a whole pack of carnivores to even bring down a half grown calf or an injured adult.
(Hey, I think the theory of docility from veg seems true as suggested above in the discussion of ayurveda... but that's just an observation)
So what is interesting to me is the argument that we "Evolved" to become weaker and crueler?
3. Last but not the least: Religion
As I suggested in one of my earlier posts, I am not going to comment on Islam.
But I will comment on the more tolerant ones open to introspection.
"Thou Shalt Not Kill" : Can someone show me the word "man" or "Human" in that commandment? But that's besides the point. You can kill other animals as a need. I think all religions agree to one thing, the highest sanctity of human life. Whether they truly undeerstand it not. That is how it is. Hence if it is a matter of survival of a human, the human is allowed to eat meat.
As I suggested in one of my earlier posts, I am not going to comment on Islam.
But I will comment on the more tolerant ones open to introspection.
"Thou Shalt Not Kill" : Can someone show me the word "man" or "Human" in that commandment? But that's besides the point. You can kill other animals as a need. I think all religions agree to one thing, the highest sanctity of human life. Whether they truly undeerstand it not. That is how it is. Hence if it is a matter of survival of a human, the human is allowed to eat meat.
I request and plead to the people of all religions of the world, as much as you revere and love and respect entities holy to your religions, be it the cross, or the book or whatever it is, we in the Sanatana Dharma, hold the Cow with the same reverence. And you are killing it every day. We respect your holy things. Its time you respect ours. Not knowing about it was fine all this while. But now you know.
But again, I will make the case for meat eating as allowed in Sanatana Dharma:
A case for meat eating:
In the Ramayana, Lord Sri Rama and Lakshmana hunted for various vertibrate animals like deer, birds and also consumed fish.
Quite a shocker for most people who consider Sri Rama as God. But there is an important lesson to learn here. Extremely important for the purposes of our discussion in the blog.
You see, Sri Rama's incarnation was not that of a God with magical powers. He was completely as human as one could get for that yuga, Treta Yuga. He was born to a king. Hence he was Kshatriya. But he was a Kshtriya well versed in the Vedas, the Sastras, the Dharma Sastra etc.
The dharma of a Kshatriya per these sastras, is to protect his kingdom, his people, the ascetics, is to go to war, is to fight. And all these take killer instincts. If a Kshatriya has to go to war, healthy vegetarian food is definitely not going to be available especially if the war are conducted farther away from their palaces. Hence meat eating was allowed. It is still allowed for the same reasons to the kshatriyas who go to war.
But, even among meat, the ayurvedic scientists have clearly talked about NOT consuming beef. There must be a good reason for it.
The only reason I know thus far, and this is something I heard from a well known guru, is that beef eating makes people cunning, deceptive.
And if you think about it, if you read history, Starting from Md. Ghor to the Britishers, they never won any war fair and square. They almost never followed the Dharma with which Indian warriors and kings fought their wars. I say almost because, they might have won a few, but only after becoming all the more powerful over time with these similar cunning deceptions.
I am not clear on the aspect for Sudras (laborers). So i'll let it be.
How many of us here really are kshatriyas going on to battle fields that need a killer instinct or meat to enable them to survive?
Kashmiri Pandits and Bengali Brahmins are known to eat meat in India. Again, special conditions apply, Kashmiri pandits live in a cold place where vegetation wasn't available for long stretches of time. And to survive they have to resort to meat eating.
The same with Bengali Brahmins, they are known to only eat Fish/sea food. Without knowing much as to reasons, we already know of the great bengal famine in recent memory. I am sure there were more in the past, that could have forced these brahmins to take refuge in fish.
So if you have to have to have to eat meat, please stick to chicken and sea food. Non beef. A request. And as you saw in the environmental and health impacts, Beef is the worst for both. So there essentially is NO reason to be consuming beef whatsoever. And you are also hurting the religious sentiments of a very tolerant people.
But if you want to be and can be brutally honest with yourself, ask yourself if you have a good reason for killing. Ask yourself, what's your excuse in the world and circumstance you live in.
How about 10 reasons to quit eating beef:
http://www.cqs.com/beef.htm
( I can actually give you a silly and funny reason of why I would even become your mascot to eat chicken: U see chicken evolved out of dinosaurs, although there is no evidence that humans existed then, which doesn't necessarily mean humans did not, but lets just say they did, they must've eaten a lot of us coz they were just way too big. And the chicken really is known for its cruelty even today.)
A Case for Alcohol Consumption:
I am sorry I don't have a case for it. I just have a case against it. Which I will blog about it soon.
I am going to only say thing: Dasaratha, the father of Lord Rama says the worst kind of a human being is a Brahmin who drinks alcohol.
I have friends here, claiming to be Brahmin, who drink pretty habitually. I am not going to say much further. But request them to understand how pathetic a habit that is. And you will see in my blog post coming up later sometime in my case against it.
I just never understood how a habit that was frowned upon in India just 15 years ago while I was growing up, has become a fashion statement and the only way to network.
In the End:
In the end, I do realize, that the "advancement" in lifestyles have happened so fast, that humanity has not had a chance to adjust its habits. No thought has been given to it. But I do hope, information, knowledge and thought are applied to consider the realities of today, and habits of our past generations to make mindful intelligent decisions as time passes by. We are for God's sake the most intelligent species in the world. . I also realize, its not a switch that you can turn and you can get rid of your habits, but attempting is the least bit you can do for mankind, for planet earth, for yourself, you can be a work in progress, but at least be a work in progress. Because we are creatures of habit. And habits can change. The human mind is an extraordinarily elastic system that will adapt. And guess what, everything listed here, except for drugs and in rare cases alcohol doesn't even have withdrawal symptoms.
Give it a chance. Give world peace a chance. Do your part. Only that is in your control. And bat for change.
Lets behave like one and take personal responsibility and be the change we seek. I AM THE CHANGE I SEEK.
P.S: I have consumed alcohol and meat for no good reason beyond tasty food and "fun" in my younger. I have completely quit after having understood the above presented case. Because Sanatana Dharma is clear, making a mistake is never really the problem, but not correcting it, after you can distinguish between right and wrong, is.
Updated November 10 2013:
Found a great article on Smithsonian:
Should Humans eat meat?
Updated Feb 2015
Global Warming and Animal Farming:
Read about why James Cameroon (Director of Titanic and Avatar) became vegetarian.
Here is the latest panel recommendation on why it makes sense to be vegetarian.
Think of the Earth and NOT about your stomach
When will you start thinking?
THINK!!
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