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Mikkey Panchal wrote:
> ...yet there are
> brothers/sisters/uncles and aunties out there that freely consume meat.
> Why is it for them ok to eat fish, chicken etc, but not beef? If you
> want to eat meat, why not just eat everything?? What.. eating beef is
> sinned cause of the religious aspects of the cow??
Mikkey, I appreciate your observation. Yes, it is true we accord
special respect to the cow, so many of us do not eat beef though we may
eat other meat. I think if you are a meat-eater, it is good at least
not to eat beef because you are at least showing that traditional
respect to the cow, and have made one step forward on the "slippery
slope" :> of vegetarianism.
I slid down that slippery slop 14 years ago, and am glad I did.
Vegetarianism with awareness of why we are vegetarian, why we choose to
follow that part of our teaching, is powerful practice.
> What about the sins
> you commit while eating the other animals?
That's my thought exactly. To be consistent, I think we need to avoid
eating anything which, as some of my younger friends say, "ever wore a
face." Actually, I use that line myself to get the point across to
waitresses in restaurants. You're probably familiar with this kind of
exchange.
Me (looking at a giant-size menu with dozens of items and wanting simply
to be pointed to the one or two items I might be able to eat): I'm
vegetarian. What would you recommend.
Waitress: Oh, you're vegetarian. That's nice. Do you eat chicken?
Me: No. I'm vegetarian.
Waitress: I understand. Well, we have this nice tuna fish salad.
Me (trying to appear calm and to keep from showing either frustration or
grinning at the humour of the situation): No. I'm vegetarian. That
means I don't eat anything which ever wore a face.
Waitress: That's funny. Do shrimp have faces?
Me: Yes, if you look closely enough.
> All I can say is the desi
> mentality just hits me sometimes. Thats like me saying I eat all fruits
> from apples to oranges, but I cannot eat a pineapple cause of my
> religion.. (sounds like bullshit right).. my point exactly.
The inconsistency around this question does sound like bs, but as I say,
at least people are respecting part of the tradition.
> Not being Jain myself, I would like to take the time to
> appreciate the Jaina's out there. Not only are *MOST* uncles and aunts
> vegetarians, but they have also brought up their kids in the same
> belief of vegetarianism.
We don't have many Jains here, but I am aware that a very large
percentage of them take seriously ahimsa, and that vegetarianism for
them is a big part of that. I, too, appreciate their position and think
that it is one which we do well to be aware of.
I am sad to see in many Indian homes that the kids are not following in
the vegetarian way. Also, I am saddened at the number of homes where it
is the ladies only who are vegetarian. If the men are going to eat meat
in such situations, I wish they would have the grace to not expect their
wives to cook it. But that's another story which has as much to do
about culture as it does about diet and religion. :>
Mikkey, I am glad you take the time to recognize the positive aspects of
another tradition. To me, that is an intrinsic part of Hindu practice,
to be able to appreciate the different traditions.
Daly
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