Ahimsa – avoidance of violence: a few sentences about vegetarianism from the perspective of faith.
THOU SHALT NOT KILL is the great commandment from the Bible. However, its interpretation differs between Christians and Indian Yoga Masters. While Christians believe that only killing humans is forbidden, Yoga Masters teach that it is also about not killing animals! Hindu yogis and monks are therefore vegetarians, and they are actively spreading the idea of vegetarianism to the widest strata of human society. There is a fundamental contradiction in the interpretation of faith between East and West. Christian monks and priests usually eat meat. That is why I could not be a Christian monk. Yet the idea of vegetarianism is not unknown even among some in the Catholic Church. These are the Trappist and Pauline monks – two Catholic orders – who, following the example of their founders, eat a plant-based diet and are vegetarians. In this way, they certainly set a good example for those Christians who ponder the matter of healthy diet. Yet vegetarianism is not common among Christians. People are afraid to give up meat because they listen to the opinions of their materialistic doctors. They say you have to eat meat! Such a diabolical delusion and people believe it! The opposite is true… vegetarianism would be good for everyone. My Christian friends also argue that Jesus himself supposedly ate meat: for example, the Passover lamb and fish. The Bible teaches that. And for that reason, they too can eat meat. I don’t know why it is in the Bible or who put it there. Because I heard Swami Maheshwarananda saying that Jesus was a vegetarian. But this is where Swamiji’s enlightened intuition comes into direct conflict with the letter of the Christian law. Vegetarianism means intense compassion for suffering beings. I would recommend everyone to become a vegetarian, because only then can you fully Understand. The first thing to do is to resolutely stop eating meat, then compassion comes in. Don’t worry and don’t be surprised that you don’t feel compassion for animals yet. First, you have to get off the meat-eating train yourself. Vegetarians will do themselves a lot of good ethically and health-wise. Besides, a vegetarian diet is also tasty and completely replaces a meat diet. Those who kill animals, i.e. butchers, hunters, fishermen, etc., are worthy of shame. Besides, they create really bad karma by killing animals, because the suffering they cause is stored in their subconscious minds and will come back to them in future lives. I would not want to be a hunter. These people really have no compassion. How can anyone cut off the head of a deer or a doe is beyond comprehension. And they – the hunters – find it “pretty”. The hunters will suffer, and they will not know what for. This is the law of karma. Because they are people without compassion, God will not have compassion for them either. If only they would put down the rifles and get a camera with a telephoto lens or binoculars. That’s what I, a hermit, would recommend. Or does they find it heroic to cowardly shoot a deer in the heart with a rifle with a powerful scope? I myself have been a vegetarian since 1996; so for almost thirty years. I do not miss meat in my diet at all. Swami Maheshwarananda helped me a lot in my transition to a vegetarian diet. I needed reassurance that vegetarianism was the right decision and I had that in him. That is the Master’s task. I eat all kinds of vegetables and fruits, and also dairy products, so I am not a sensitive vegan, but a vegetarian like my Master. This is what I wanted to tell you about vegetarianism from the perspective of my faith.
© Swami Gyaneshwarpuri
E-mail: yoga@gyaneshwarpuri.cz
Web: www.hermityoga.cz
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SWAMI GYANESHWARPURI POUSTEVNÍK
