Dinesh and Bawa

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Why Veg?

A participant on the Bangalore Utsav wrote...

Hi dear Bawa!
This is Pratap who is doing Utsav course presently in Bangalore...I got pretty inspired by you and I hope to carry on applying the things you have taught us within these few days.But I have few doubts on the arguments to justify the reasons for not taking non veg, and tea coffee.
I myself don't take any non-veg or alcohol or even tea coffee....but to convince people not to take them I fail to a certain extent.
Here are some arguments they through at me and I would be happy if you clarify those.
  • The chicken are made to be eaten...otherwise their number will grow in such a proportion that it will destroy the balance of earth.If you don't destroy them they will eat up every thing any ways...
  • If you tell egg is a non veg then why do you take milk then...that is also another animal product and also most of the eggs you take do not have fertilizing power...hence actually you don't kill any future chicken also...
  • Why should we avoid Tea and Coffee...as they are also some tree's product....completely vegetarian..

My reply:

1. chicken are grown on factory farms... no chicken that we eat is "wild". Read up www.goveg.com to see under what atrocious conditions these poor birds are literally manufactured... if people stop eating chicken or for that matter meat, millions upon millions of acres of land that is used to make food for animals could be used for humans or could be returned to their original forest state making bigger lungs for the planet to breathe, besides millions of tonnes of animal waste (shit, urine, etc) that is regularly dumped into rivers and seas would be eliminated... to give you an idea:

The US has farmland that is the size of the entire Indian subcontinent!! 8/10th to 9/10th of this land is used to grow feed for animals... can u imagine? the US actually imports food grain for human consumption... in the US annually 15 billion animals are processed (grow and butchered) for human consumption... 99.99% of these are factory produced... so in a nutshell, if we stop eating meat, balance will not be destroyed, it will be regained! We are loosing about 1 acre of rain forest almost every few minutes to create grazing lands for animals who other people eat... so many species of animals, insects, birds and trees have gone extinct, and we DONT know how to get them back... movies like Jurassic park not withstanding!

Aquifers are huge underground water storages, US and India have the biggest in the world, and because of animal farming in both these countries, and indiscriminate use of this water, we have managed to deplete (there is not enough rain water going in, and too much water being pumped out, as well as huge amounts of toxic waste being dumped in rivers and oceans) in less than 60 years, what nature had made for 5 million years... acres and acres of land have been desertified... where there was once luch green forest, not there is cracked, parched earth...

right now, because of insensitive idiots who eat meat, and profit making bottom line focused buffoons who make this meat, a huge percentage of humanity is either dying of hunger and hunger related diseases, and another huge percentage is really suffering from over eating and obesity related diseases!

How about fish? Mass fishing has destroyed the ocean ecology, only 20%of the fish caught are fit for human consumption, rest are just dumped back in the ocean after they are dead... these fish are caught by trawlers the size of a football field, and they scour the deep seas to get to the fish... other fish are grown on factory farms, where they are fed a dangerous cocktail of chemicals to give them colour, or make them grow faster, or resistant to disease because of over crowding... and they are also fed fish which are farmed from the ocean... The ocean ecology is very very fragile and thru this mass fishing and factory fish farms, humans have managed to make many oceanic flora and fauna already extinct!

2. It has been argued that milk is also not good for you, you are right, that milk is also an animal product... however over here i bow down to the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda which says milk is ok... PROVIDED it comes from free range cows, not from factory cows... i myself have hardly any dairy... mostly soy products, also milk and milk products provide the body with Vitamin B12, which is not available in any plant product... btw, an excellent source for omega 3 is flaxseed oil instead of fish...

3. tea and coffee is definitely not non veg, but they are stimulants and not so good for your body in the long run... a bit of tea and coffee now and then is absolutely ok :) ... however, they do get in the way of you having a good experience during meditation and for sure will affect your ability to focus and concentrate... however like i said, once in a while, now and then tea and coffee is absolutely fine, and when i say tea i mean our indian chai, which is not so good for you... herbal tea of any sort can be therapeutic :)

SO PLEASE!! STOP EATING NON VEG FOOD!! and tell others, cajole others, to stop as well... this is one of the biggest steps we can take towards a greener, more humane, more healthy lifestyle and planet!!

You may read up books by John Robbins on this subject, they are very well written... as well as watch the IMAX movie the Blue Planet

Jai Gurudeva!
love
bawa  

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jai Gurudev!

hmm... I have a lot of friends who are Non veggies. When ever i told them this this is what i got as reply!! Now.. i am ready to fight back!! Planning to invite them.. to watch the movie.. :) Thanks.. for the info.. :)

TC...

Anonymous said...

JAI GURUDEV
Hai bhaiya
my name is karthik i finished my utsav course yesterday it was so nice there are no words to express my fellings towards this course this is my second course my problem is that my dad has health problem of BP and SUGAR i want him to do this courses but he is always against to this all how to make him get into this world ?
Bhaiya one more thing i have applied to phd in many institutes like IISC is one among them i am putting my best efforts to get in and preparing for that will i be able to get in please do reply

JAI GURUDEVA

Anand Jage said...

great now i can copy and mail this one to all nonveggies in the contact list for breakfast lunch and dinner... and may be sometimes over tea time(herbal)!!
When ignorants dont listen but they can irritated to do the job!!

Anonymous said...

hello bawa n dinesh..! :)
I was a participant( "active") in the Bangalore "UTSAV"....n i thorughly njoyed the experience.
I am a vegetarian by birth n a vegan by choice....but there is one question really bothering me...!
Killing the animals for food is considered as himsa. but silkworms are also tortured for silk , they are put into boiling water in order to get silk threads, why is it that this has never stood out as "HIMSA", is it bcoz of the "HINDU CULTURE" or bcoz of mere ignorance.
I hope i get an answer for this question.

Jai Gurudev,
Enjoyed your company for 4 days
( overjoyed, fantabulous etc..........infinite)

Mallika Datt :))

Neha said...

i love to listen to ur sessions on eating vegetarian food.Everytime you mean the same thing but u say it so differently.iI JUST LOVE TO LISTEN TO YOU BAU.love you.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bawa/ Dinesh and everybody else...

I like what you wrote here except I would like to draw your attention to the use of Flax seed and Flax seed oil. It has become very popular recently and more so in the west. But as per Ayurveda not good for human consumption. It is very overheating and over use can cause stomach cancer. Flax seed was traditionally fed to cows and the milk got enhanced by the good qualities ofg the seed. This is as per renowwned Ayurvedic Doctor Vaidya Mishra. www.vaidyamishra.com

Regards,

Gurpreet
Toronto

Unknown said...

Yes, most of the ways that silk is made is pretty cruel, but you get something called bamboo silk, also khadi silk which is made from fine plant fibers and is as good (i think even better) than the usual silk... You could use that!

Bernadette, one of the docs who i really respect for her knowledge of herbs and stuff says little bit of flaxseed oil squirted onto your food is good... it has definitely made a positive difference to me...

Please do consult a dietitian or a good ayurvedic doc if in doubt

Monica said...

thanks a lot for this important article.

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