Is eating meat wrong?

Anything we do, if that hampers our body (physicality), mind (mentality), soul (spirituality), and behavior (humanity), then it is wrong.

Our body is made up of 60% water and 40% solid. Thus, our body needs more water (liquid) compared to solid foods. Anything that contains a high amount of liquid is easily digestible. Thus, raw vegetables and fruits are highly recommended for a healthy body. Soaked nuts and seeds are highly recommended than dried or fried ones. If it has to be cooked, it should be properly cooked so that its water concentration becomes high. Now, considering meat, how should it be cooked for easy digestion? Of course, boiled or steamed. But what we mostly consume is deep-fried, grilled, smoked and burnt (very rarely, properly cooked), i.e. we cook in such a way that it loses its available water content. We also claim that meat is needed for extra nutrition. But by eating improperly cooked meat for fashion or desire, we are actually degrading our health. Also, meat contains zero fiber. Foods with low water concentration and zero fiber take a longer time to be digested. Undigested food in the large intestine slowly causes constipation. And all the stomach problems start to happen one by one. So, for what reason do we think meat is good for health if we are consuming it all the wrong way?

Doing something is not bad. It becomes bad only if we are attached to it. Just take an example. You love all the greens and raw fruits. Now you have to attend a celebration party. Do you start imagining and feel extra happy thinking that you will go there and eat beans and lentils, raw carrots, spinach, etc? Of course not. You simply go there without any savory thoughts. Even if you had imagined, you won't care if spinach was replaced by cereal, or soya chunks by kidney beans. You don't feel bored or angry. You feel you can still adjust well with available alternatives. Now imagine that you have a friend who eats and loves meat. Go to the same party. If he doesn't find any meat recipes, he starts feeling angry, silently scolds the organizer, and whispers all the negativity about the venue to you. He cannot peacefully see the alternatives even if there are many. Now what I mean to say is, among all the foods, meat (and drinks) cause attachment. It is like a nerve tonic, not just physically, but also mentally. Meat is so pleasing to the tongue that you cannot stop thinking about it if you have not consumed it for a while, thus seizing your attention most of the time. And the restless mind can increase your blood pressure, anger and passion. It also becomes a great obstacle if you want to stay for meditation, or if you want to grow spiritually. Also the regular consumption of foods like meat, drinks, garlic, onion, and chillies generate unwanted heat in the body. When the body is heated unnecessarily, it becomes prone to restlessness. The blood pressure rises, and the person's natural tendencies grows beyond limit. This is also the cause for person's increased pressure, anger and passion. Therefore, if one wants to eat these foods for health, the he should eat in a proper way, proper amount, and in a proper limit, which most of us fail to do.

If I ask you who you are, of course, you will say "I am somebody". And if I insist you to explain a bit more, you will reply that you are a collection of bones, muscles, organs, skin and blah blah (with a great humor). Yes, this is how we perceive us. But if we try to see from the eye of a wise, we are a pure soul enveloped by a deceitful body full of qualities. Yes, a wise sees the soul and not the body. He considers himself to be a soul that is free of attachment, desire, anger, passion and color. And he sees the same soul in You, me, and on a goat and a dog. He sees the same soul hidden beneath a different body and a different intelligence. He sees all the creations and the creatures with an eye of equality, including himself. He sees same level of happiness and sorrow, just with a different dimension of expressing themselves. This is not my thought, but the thought of Lord Krishna which was spoken to Arjuna, and accepted by all the great sages like Vyasa, Agastya, Sukadev, Shankaracharya, etc. And who are we to deny it who holds only a fraction (or lesser) knowledge than what they possessed?

What do we do if we want to learn something? Of course, we look up to someone who can teach us about that, or we open some books (or google) and start searching ourselves for the article written by somebody else. To learn whether a cigarette is good for health or not, we listen to a doctor. To learn the importance of education, we listen to a teacher. To learn how to fly, we take lessons from a pilot. Whatever, we have to approach (or learn from) someone who is experienced in that particular field. We simply can't go to a butcher and ask how a planet works. So, instead of creating a circle with our own friends, let us approach the scriptures (written by experienced and enlightened sages) and try to learn what they have talked about soul, killing and violence.

नाकृत्वा प्राणिनां हिंसां मांसमुत्पद्यते क्व चित् ।
न च प्राणिवधः स्वर्ग्यस्तस्मान् मांसं विवर्जयेत् ।।
Meat is never obtained without having encompassed the killing of animals, and the killing of animals does not lead to heaven. Hence one should avoid meat.
Manusmriti, Chapter 5, Verse 48

अनुमन्ता विशसिता निहन्ता क्रयविक्रयी ।
संस्कर्ता चोपहर्ता च खादकश्चेति घातकाः ।।
He who approves (slaughter of an animal), he who cuts, he who kills, he who buys and sells, he who cooks, he who serves, and he who eats, all are considered as 'slayers'.
Manusmriti, Chapter 5, Verse 51

योऽहिंसकानि भूतानि हिनस्त्यात्मसुखैच्छया ।
स जीवांश्च मृतश्चैव न क्व चित् सुखमेधते ।।
He, who kills harmless creatures for the sake of his own pleasure, never attains happiness, neither while living nor after death.
Manusmriti, Chapter 5, Verse 45

विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि ।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ।।
An intelligent (learned) being looks with an equal eye on a Brahmin endowed with learning and humility, on a cow, on an elephant, and even on a dog and an outcast.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 18

आत्मौपम्येन सर्वत्र समं पश्यति योऽर्जुन ।
सुखं वा यदि वा दुःखं स योगी परमो मतः ।।
I regard them to be perfect yogis who see equality in all living creatures and respond to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were their own.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 5, Verse 32

य उग्रः पुरुषः क्रूरः पशुपक्षिगणानपि ।
उपरंधयते मूढो याम्यास्तं रंधयन्ति च ।।
कुंभीपाके तप्ततैले उपर्यपि च नारद ।
यावंति पशुरोमाणि तावद्वर्षसहस्रकम् ।।
He who cooks other animals and birds, that cruel ferocious, who is deluded, is cooked in return on the hot oil in the hell called Kumbhipaka by the messengers of Yama for thousands of years.
Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 8, Chapter 22, Verse 14-15

यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः ।
न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम् ।।
He who, casting aside the ordinances of the scriptures, acts under the impulse of desire, attains neither perfection nor happiness nor the supreme goal.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16, Verse 23

अवश्यमेव भोक्तव्यं कृतं कर्म शुभाशुभम् ।
नाभुक्तं क्षीयते कर्म कल्पकोटिशतैरपि ।।
Karma which has been made, whether good or evil, must inevitably be suffered. Karma not suffered does not fade away even in tens of millions of ages.
Garuda Purana, Chapter 5, Verse 57

So, eating meat is not good even for our soul or consciousness since it is the result of violence, greed and attachment. Hinduism talks about Karma. Buddhism talks about Karma. And we, who boastly consider ourselves to be spiritual (or consider ourselves to be an atheist just to be free from the bond of religious ordinances so that we can create our own rules and live accordingly), blindly follow western cultures and dwell ourselves in sensual flesh and drinks without considering how they have been produced and how they impact our body and consciousness (Karma) in long run.

Have you ever kept a cow or a dog in your home? If not, then I will share with you my experience. We had domesticated a few cows for several years, though one at a time. They are like humans. They have love for their family and to their home where they stay. They love their calf so much that they shed tears if anything bad happens to it. Once our cow had given birth to a male calf. She used to graze on the field all day, and on returning back to the shed, she used to embrace the calf for a while by keeping her neck on its back. She used to be so emotionally attached to her calf that she used to eat all its dung before it fell on the ground, and lick the calf's body several times a day. Once the calf was sent to the village, because, we had no place for two animals. The mother cow was hurt so much that she shed tears for several days, did not eat anything properly and did not give milk properly. But it became a habit later and she was fine all again. The reason I shared this story is to explain that animals have emotions. Even a dog shares a similar feeling. A dog is even more intelligent than a cow. Apart from its love towards its own babies, it can also understand its master's emotions and love them unconditionally. But you know what! Cows and dogs are only two of the examples. Any creature that falls under the animal kingdom have emotions and love towards their babies, and towards their home where they stay. Only the difference is some can express it more easily (like a dog), while some can't. We simply cannot say animals do not have emotions (just because we don't see it), and treat them any way we like.

For an instance, if I say I have emotions and feelings, but not you, will you agree with that? Then how can we selfishly say this creature has emotion and thus should be loved, and that animal can be treated as per our wish? Isn't that discrimination? Isn't that dominion over the innocent and the weak? We unhesitantly say we are dog lovers. But we cannot actually be a dog lover if we love our dog and hate or harshly treat street dogs. One cannot be an animal lover if he loves his pet and eats chicken, mutton and other non-veg dishes in the restaurant. One cannot say he is kind if he shows compassion only to well-treated animals and not to other creatures in the same ecosystem. Those creatures who born like us, who difficultly bear children like us, who grow like us, whose young children play just like our children, who grieve like us, who flow tears like us in pain and sorrow, who fear like us in danger, who build home like us (in their own way), who walk and run like us, who suffer from disease like us, and who die like us getting old; and thus, who are so much similar to us, how can anyone say with cold heart that they are meant for us to kill and eat?

People try to use their own logic if every of their assertions fail. Even if we see from a scientific point of view, our body is made for a vegetarian diet. Just compare our teeth with a cow and a tiger, or a dog (omnivorous). It matches more with a cow. It is designed for chewing rather than for piercing. Our intestines are much longer than our bodies, matching with herbivores. Carnivores animals have short intestines through which meat passes easily. But in our intestine, meat passes very slowly and is heavy to digest, sometimes taking up to 72 hours. At this time, it rots and ferments. Also, carnivores' saliva contains sulphuric acid which helps in breaking down the flesh for easy digestion. But human saliva doesn't do that. Our stomach's gastric juices and HCL cannot digest flesh, and thus, much of our body's energy is wasted on trying to digest it. But, on the other hand, vegeterian food easily moves through our intestine within a few hours. Even for the planet, a vegetarian diet is more eco-friendly. Just think about this: Chickens use 50 kg of food grains in a lifetime. Now we can only feed 4–5 people with one chicken, but we can feed 400 people with 50 kg of food.

But plants do have life. Isn’t eating plants the same as eating other animals? Yes. But what we consider here is less destruction. We cannot live without destroying or killing anything. Thus, we do that with less killing, less use of earth’s resources, and less violence. Even careless deforestation is discouraged, why? It’s not because we are killing life, but it’s because we are killing mass life without thinking about the future consequences.

Also, those living things which have less life span is highly encouraged to be destroyed (for living) than those with larger life span. It’s better to cut grass than to cut a tree. Because a tree has higher importance on earth than a grass. A grass can easily grow up again in much less time unlike the tree which takes years. It’s better to eat fruit than to cut down a whole tree. It’s better to eat rice than chicken. We use a few months of earth’s resources if we eat rice and other vegetables, whereas we use years of earth’s resources if we eat chicken and other animals. Now, which do you think is more eco-friendly? Which do you think gives more justice to the nature?

Some people say, “if we don't kill and eat animals, their numbers will grow and cause imbalance in the ecosystem”. Remember, what we see around is only a fraction of 1/4th part of the ecosystem. 3/4th part is under the water. There are many places above and under the sea where people haven't reached yet, and many places where people have reached but not inhabited (or less inhabited like rural areas). Have you ever heard in any media that the ecosystem in that place has gone wrong, and all the creatures are behaving insanely? Of course not. The ecosystem there is even better than where we live. If animals are left in thier own habitat, unnecessary and untimely mating will not happen and their numbers just stay in balance. They will not create havoc in the ecosystem. Because the only reason people claim such is to support their desire of eating meat, and not because of their intent in saving the ecosystem. Actually, nature doesn’t need our management. Nature is better without humans.

The main essence of writing this article is not to turn you into a vegetarian right from today. Rather it is created for you to understand and think properly before participating in killing and eating. If you want to eat, eat with guilt, but not with dignity, because from no angle you are doing the right thing. Be sorry every time you eat flesh. Try to understand that you are partaking in taking up something's life. Pray God to guide you to the right path and give you the right knowledge.

Don't claim that the goat's destiny is to die anyway, either being killed by a tiger, or by a human. A tiger's natural instinct is to eat anything that moves and has a life. As a human, we have better intellect to choose what to eat and what not. A tiger cannot depend upon grass, but we can survive on any kind of food that is healthy. Don't compare yourself with wild animals. Try to be a human, an intelligent creature, and think from the point of humanity. Try to go beyond your natural instincts. If you are a theist, try to consider it a sin to eat meat (because from the point of theist, any act that hampers our body, mind, soul and humanity, is a sin). If you are an atheist, try to understand the emotion of those creatures, and the pain and the fear they have to bear while they are being killed. Only this way can you quit the habit. You may think you can't stop slaughter in the world just by YOU being vegetarian. Yes, you’re right. Even if you don't kill or eat, another person will obviously do that. But I have a question for you. Even if you don’t steal, somebody in this world obviously steals someone’s property. So, just go and steal your friend. Will you?

People also say that we should not stop eating meat while our heart is still wanting it. However, just because our heart wants doesn’t mean we can do anything. We have to think ethically and act. Thinking of the beauty that lies ahead (which is not possible otherwise), sometimes we have to go beyond our sensual desires, just like a child should be motivated to study even if his heart desires to play (or watch T.V.) all the time.

Try not to take the example of somebody else whenever you want to support your silly idea. Don't you want to be different from them? Don’t you want to set your own principles? Don't you want to think more rationally than the rest of the earth's majority?

I chose "yes". What about you?

Composed On: November 17-18, 2022