On Vegetarianism by Swami Chinmayananda

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

Q. Why is vegetarian food considered better in India?

 

A. Eat we must. What we like to eat depends upon one’s

taste. There are only four things available –Stones,

plants, animals and humans. Unfortunately we cannot

eat stones because our system is not geared to digest

and assimilate them directly. And even though we

sometimes destroy human beings with our cruelty, our

progressive society does not allow eating them. That

leaves us the vegetable and animal kingdom to choose

from. No doubt, since prehistoric times, animals have

been eaten, but we find that the very first progenitor

of humanity, Adam himself, was eating only vegetables.

It is

only his second son who started this easy method of

obtaining food because agriculture seemed to be too

difficult for him, as it required a continuous process

of putting forward effort to produce. Whereas sitting

behind a stone, waiting for innocent animals to come

along, and destroying and eating them seemed to be the

easier way!

 

Q. How did the idea of vegetarianism develop in India?

 

A. We learned that vegetables can stay fresh up to

forty-eight hours, but meat deteriorates and becomes

harmful very quickly. Furthermore, within the human

body, during the process of digestion, food remains in

the digestive system for forty-eight hours. Fruit and

vegetables digest much faster than meat. Whatever

stays longer in the intestines starts to decay with

the heat of the body system, which creates a lot of

toxins.

Let me explain this idea of toxicity a little more.

You must have noticed that generally man eats only

those animals that don’t eat other animals. It is very

difficult for man to digest and assimilate carnivorous

animals. This suggests that they must be highly toxic

to his system. It also suggests that a certain amount

of toxicity is present in the first round of eaten

animals, because twice removed the meat of carnivorous

animals becomes impossible to eat.

 

Q. So it means that what one eats is between the

doctor and the person who wants to remain healthy.

But in what way does vegetarian food help a person’s

mind? Did people discover that it affects the mental

temperament?

 

A. The food that we take in and the thoughts and

actions that spring forth from us have a distinct

relationship. In the computer world, there is a

well-known saying – garbage in, garbage out. This

seems to be true of our bodies as well. If you put

toxic food – garbage – into your system, in the long

run the texture of your thoughts and actions have a

tendency to become more un-reconciling, extremely

selfish, less concerned for others, and lusty and

therefore potentially dangerous to the social order.

Thus, we can see that toxins in the system bring about

a lot of mental disturbances. The same principle

applies to drinking alcohol. Since our culture is

essentially geared for the life of meditation, the

mind that is constantly agitated and wandering finds

it difficult to plunge into meditation. To such an

individual, the toxin is an obstacle in reaching his

goal. Probably this must have been the reason why the

rishis in the jungles ate only fruits, roots, leaves

and water. Those who take non-vegetarian food may be

very uncontrolled because of the toxins in their food.

Watch a vegetarian and a nonvegetarian animal. All the

herbaceous animals are available for eating; whereas

the non-vegetarian or carnivorous animals are never

eaten, even by hard core non-vegetarians. Why is this?

Because carnivorous animals have got so much toxicity

in them that it means almost death to eat them.

 

Take Care of the Body

 

Avoid overeating and select the food that agrees with

you and is conducive to the harmony of the body. Many

people think eating food is the greatest exercise for

the stomach! That is not enough. Apart from eating

healthy food,

you must also have some exercise of all the limbs,

especially some exercises of the stomach so that your

digestion, assimilation and evacuation can be as good

as possible.

These are the primary rules to be followed. Our

ancient teachers said: “The first duty is to take care

of the body, which is the means for the pursuit of

spiritual life.” Sometimes weak persons come to me and

say, “I want to forget

my body!” What kind of body do the have? They are just

a mass of skin and bones! Develop the body properly.

You can never forget the body if it is not in a

healthy condition.

 

 

 

 

 

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