Quotes on vegetarianism

Today is International meatless day. This campaign started in India on 25th November 1986 by a great Philosopher, Saint & Spiritualist, named J.P. Vaswani.

He said “Meat gives strength to the body, many people say, but the elephant - one of the biggest & strongest animals in the world - is a pure vegetarian.”

On this day I’ve shared below some quotes on abstaining from meat by some famous people.

"For fear of causing terror to living beings, let the Bodhisatva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion refrain from eating flesh!" - Gautama Buddha

"He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death." -  Buddhist Dhammapada

"It is more important to prevent animal suffering, rather than sit to contemplate the evils of the universe praying in the company of priests." -  Gautam Buddha

“One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one's time in religious offerings to the GODS.” - Dhammapada (Buddhist)

"To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple refrain from eating meat. The food of the wise is that which is consumed by the sadhus [holymen]; it does not consist of meat. There may be some foolish people in the future who will say that I permitted meat-eating & that I partook of meat myself, but meat-eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit meat-eating in any form, in any manner & in any place; it is unconditionally prohibited for all." - The Buddha in Dhammapada

“All beings hate pains; therefore one should not kill them. This is the quintessence of wisdom: not to kill anything.” - Sutrakritanga (Jainism)

“And the flesh of slain beasts in his body will become his own tomb. For I tell you truly, he who kills, kills himself, & who so eats the flesh of slain beasts, eats the body of death." - Jesus Christ

"God doesn't like the flesh & blood that you offer as sacrifice. He expects nothing but your absolute faith."- Quran

“The Utopians feel that slaughtering our fellow creatures gradually destroys the sense of compassion, which is the finest sentiment of which our human nature is capable.” - Thomas Moore (Irish entertainer, poet, singer, songwriter)

“I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals.” - Henry David Thoreau (author, poet, philosopher)

“No humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does.” - Henry David Thoreau (American author, poet, philosopher)

“One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make the bones with;’ & so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying himself with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him & his lumbering plough along in spite of every obstacle.” - Henry David Thoreau (American author, poet, philosopher)

“A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats the meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.” - Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist)

"A man can live & be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral." - Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist)

"As long as there are slaughter houses, there will be battle fields. A vegetarian diet is the acid test of humanitarianism " - Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist)

“If he be really & seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because, its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling -- killing.” - Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist)

“Vegetarianism serves as a criterion by which we know that the pursuit of moral perfection on the part of man is genuine & sincere.” - Leo Tolstoy (Russian novelist)

"I believe I am not interested to know whether Vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. To know that the results are profitable to the race would not remove my hostility to it. The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, & it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further." - Mark Twain (Russian novelist)

"Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he's the one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." - Mark Twain (Russian novelist)

"Non violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all living beings, we are all savages." - Thomas Alva Edison (American inventor & businessman)

"People who eat meat are responsible for all the pain that grows out of meat-eating, & which is necessitated by the use of sentient animals as food." - Annie Besant (British women's rights activist)

"We consume the carcasses of creatures of like appetites, passions & organs with our own, & fill the slaughterhouses daily with screams of pain & fear." - Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish novelist & poet)

“A carnivorous diet is fatal to real development, & produces the most undesirable results on both astral & mental bodies!” - C.W. Leadbeater 

"I don't want to make my stomach the burial ground of dead animals" - George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright)

"I look my age. It is the other people who look older than they are. What can you expect from people who eat corpses?" - George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright)

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity." - George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright)

"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?" - George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright)

“To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man? For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil & that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime.” - Romain Rolland (French novelist)

"The greatness of a nation & its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." - Mahatma Gandhi (Father of India)

"It is both auspicious & peaceful for people to choose vegetarianism." - Albert Einstein (German Physicist)

"It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind." - Albert Einstein (German Physicist)

"Nothing will benefit human health & increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein (German Physicist)

“Food affects the mind.  For the practice of any kind of yoga vegetarianism is absolutely necessary, since is makes the mind more satvic, pure & harmonious”. - Ramana Maharshi (Indian Guru)

"To feed on death is to become food for death. To live by other's pain is to become a prey for pain. So has decreed the omni-will. Know that & choose your course " - Mikhail Naimy (Lebanese author)

“As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter & justice cannot dwell together.” - Isaac Bashevis (Polish singer, writer & Nobel laureate)

“People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing to the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times" - Isaac Bashevis (Polish singer, writer & Nobel laureate)

“We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature.” - Rachel Carson (American Biologist)

“By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, destruction of forests, & the poisoning of air & water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference to the health of our planet.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Buddhist monk & peace activist) 

“Animals are brothers & sisters, because man has come from them.  They are our family.  To kill a man is only to kill an evolved animal.  To kill an animal is just to kill somebody who is not yet evolved”.” - Rajneesh Osho (Indian Philosopher)

“People eat meat & think they will become as strong as an ox, forgetting that the ox eats grass." -  Pino Caruso (Italian actor)

"I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat." - His holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso, a Buddhist monk)

“The very emphasis of the commandment: Thou shall not kill, makes it certain that we are descended from an endlessly long chain of generations of murderers, whose love of murder was in their blood as it is perhaps also in ours.” - Sigmund Freud (Austrian Psychiatrist & neurologist)

“All living beings desire to live & are afraid to die. We don’t want to be eaten by a tiger, so why should animals be eaten by humans?” - Ching Hai (Vietnamese Spiritualist)

References: -

1. R. Vegan (2012, July 8). ‘The Top 100 Vegan Quotes’, Pledge Vegan. Available online http://www.pledgevegan.com/vegan-spotlight/top-100-vegan-quotes (accessed November 25, 2013).

2. ‘What eminent person say.’ VegEdge. Available online http://www.vegedge.in/WhatEminentpersonsays.php (accessed November 25, 2013).

3. ‘Vegetarianism.’ Pyramid Spiritual Societies Movement, India. Available online  http://pssmovement.org/english/mvmnt/vegetarianism (accessed November 25, 2013).

Supremacy of Karna

Working on it.

Respecting ragpickers

Ragpickers are the people who visit the areas of our locality to pick up garbage generally. They collect useless household items like food remains, bottles, paper, plastic products like plastic bags, etc.

Without their service the useless remains would remain at home. House & locality wouldn’t be clean. Environment could become a breeding place for germs & insects. This can make people get infected easily due to the rise in germs & insects in the locality. This can make people ill. Even if one family member gets ill then his illness could spread to his family members. Children won’t be able to go to school. People who work may not show efficiency at work due to their illness & some may not go to work if illness is high. This can decrease work productivity. Decline in work productivity would affect profit & if profit will decline then even economy will suffer.

Thus ragpickers play an important role for any country’s economy but they don’t get the credit & respect they deserve.

Their work is very tough. Collecting useless products & dumping it at the place of collection & sometimes burning the waste keeps the environment clean. They do this monotonous job everyday sincerely even during harsh weather where many opt to stay at home. The work very hard but get paid very less. Many organisations consider them the last class of workers but in my opinion what they do is great.

People respect mostly those who’re better than them economically or have a good position in the society. We all must understand the significance of their hard work & respect them equally. One must be humble enough mentally to share pleasantries, smiles & statements with them without any hesitation as they are the prime conservers of our environment.

Purchasing a phone economically

I was bored with my HTC touch P3452 phone after using it for around 1 year. I was looking to buy a phone that has a 5 megapixel camera. I checked for many phones on Google but I wasn’t interested in spending that much.

I went to a mobile store & saw some phones kept for display purpose. I found that after being kept out for many months those phones are sold lesser than their actual price.

I felt that purchasing that type of phone would help me save some money. The phones kept for display are just kept out for customers to understand the phone’s features & in my personal humble opinion there isn’t any problem if one purchases it.

So to save some money I purchased a 5 megapixel Samsung galaxy smart phone.

Helping your own country person rather than helping a foreigner

Although I’m a believer of one world one family but when it comes to decide between an Indian & a foreigner I would prefer an Indian.

India’s economy is falling. 1 American dollar is somewhat equal to Rs. 64. 1 Euro is somewhat equal to Rs. 86. Some of my friends wanted to do their higher studies abroad but due to the fall of Indian currency against American dollar & Euro they’ve dropped this desire. They don’t want to be a burden to their family’s finance.

I feel sad for the fall of Indian currency. It’s high time to understand the problems & prevent it so that our next generation won’t suffer.

A simple way to improve our economy is by purchasing Indian products instead of foreign brands. By doing this Indian companies would prosper & foreign companies would suffer.

This will help Indian brands to grow & with their growth they can spread their products overseas & compete with foreign brands. This can surely happen as India is the second populated country in the world. If many Indians would purchase Indian products then popularity of Indian products would rise & it will inspire & motivate the Westerners to purchase Indian products.

Foreign companies in many cases shy to donate money to Government fund & NGOs during natural calamities like flood etc in India whereas mostly financial donations comes by Indian industrialists. The prosperity of Indian companies would help Indian industrialists to be more generous.

Thus as an Indian I humbly request you to show loyalty to Indian brands rather than western brands. Google search is free so please do some study before purchasing a particular product. Check weather its Indian or foreign & then buy it.

I agree to you that at times you’ll be compelled to purchase a  foreign brand as it can be better than an Indian brand but whenever possible please don’t hesitate to opt for an Indian brand.

A sign of being available for a relationship

Some months ago maybe this year’s February I was looking for an auto- rickshaw & so was a mongoloid female with 2 heavy bags. She was fair & with the help of colours had made her black hair become blonde. I found her struggling maybe because of the new place, hot weather, slow wind speed, high humidity, heavy luggage, etc. The hot weather even at around 17:00 hrs had made her face red. She was sweating a lot. There weren’t many people around.

After a long wait I got an auto-rickshaw before her. She looked at me with an expectation for the auto-rickshaw to be shared. Luckily we both were heading to the same direction hence shared the auto-rickshaw. In the auto-rickshaw I offered her water. The distance was long so we got to speak for some time. I asked her, ‘Are you new to this city?’ She replied, ‘Yes, I’m new to Mumbai & I’m from China.’ After a while she asked, ‘Do you reside in Mumbai?’ I remember answering yes enthusiastically. We spoke a lot about the positive aspects Chinese people have. She found it pleasing & found me knowledgeable & helpful person & took my phone number.

Some days later she contacted me as she wanted to visit some places in Mumbai for shopping economically. I helped her to do that. Whenever we met I noticed her wearing a flower on her left ear.

One day we were discussing Asia’s future due to climate change & she got to know that I know Astrology. She shared her birth details with me & I told her that soon someone is going to fall in love with you.

After some days she met & asked, ‘Am I not looking different today?’ I didn’t find her different but just to put a smile on her face said ‘You look pretty always but today you’re looking gorgeous ’My reply worked & she smiled but again asked me the same question & I became a bit blank as I didn’t know what to say.

She then asked, ‘Didn’t you notice I’m wearing a flower on my right ear today.’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ but asked, ‘What’s the big deal with it?’

She found me too innocent & naive. After some time she said, ‘A woman wearing a flower on her left ear means that she is available for a relationship & if it’s on her right ear then it means that she is either in a relationship or unavailable.’

I was glad to have learnt something that I didn’t know. I was overjoyed by the fact that she found someone who’ll accompany her for shopping & I can make myself scarce to complete my Master’s research.

To check if what she had told really had some significance I did a bit of Google search & found that wearing flowers on ears is a trend amongst Hawaiian women. I who follows Hawaiian path, Aloha didn’t know about it.

OM and Lord Ganesha

On 14^th August 2013, at around 14:30 hrs at Candies restaurant in Pali Hill I got a silver coin from an affectionate & a very nice lady I’ve ever met. The silver coin had the symbol of OM on side & the symbol of Lord Ganesha on the other.

I wondered whether these 2 symbols are connected & found that OM is written in different ways at different places. One of its forms symbolises Lord Ganesha. The upper curve is the head with trunk. The lower curve is the stomach.

Both OM & Lord Ganesha are very significant. People following Hinduism know that Lord Ganesha is the remover of obstacles & many pray to him before starting anything auspicious. Similarly people following Hinduism begin their auspicious work by saying OM once. Most mantras that Hindus recite begin with the word OM. Hindus while praying also use the word OM. OM is the symbol of the unchanging eternal universal supreme GOD. OM is the sound of the movement of the stars in the firmament; it’s the sound that manifested when the dawn of Creative Will stirred the Niraakaara (the Attributeless) into activity. (Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai. SSS6, Chap. 42. Pranava the praana.) OM is also the most sacred of symbols, representing the primeval sound of creation & our most powerful mantra in prayer & meditation.

Lord Ganesha’s head is of an elephant. An elephant is a very nice animal. It eats satvic food only & has immense strength. It signifies the importance of eating satvic food to progress spiritually.

Lord Ganesha’s large head & ears indicate that he gained wisdom from listening. An elephant’s trunk is one of the few instruments in nature that can perform both gross & subtle actions. It can not only uproot a huge tree but also pick up the tiniest of needles. It inspires us to be able to develop our intellect, our powers of discrimination, in both gross & material world & also in the subtle or spiritual world.

Lord Ganesha in his right hand holds a hook or Ankusa & in his left holds a noose or Paasa. These tools were & are used by elephant-trainers to tame wild elephants. Symbolically, mind at times is like a wild elephant that runs between past, present & future. So one must use ankusa to tame & control his/her mind & noose to tie it down & keep it close to self.

Lord Ganesha also has a big belly which contains the whole universe. It symbolises an art to live i.e. one must accept & digest whatever experiences one goes through be it good or bad. Thus during all the trials & tribulations one must be equal-minded & realise that all experiences are learning experiences which brings us closer to GOD.

Lord Ganesha sits with one leg folded up & another leg rests on the ground. The leg on the ground signifies that one can live in the world like anyone. But the leg pointing upwards signifies that one’s concentration & meditation should remain focussed on the godhead within.

Lord Ganesha holds a Lotus flower, a Lotus flower grows in spite of being in stagnant or polluted water. It inspires all to grow in spite of living with the negative & political people around us.

References

1. Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai. “Meaning behind the symbol of Lord Ganesha” [Online] Available: http://www.saibabaofindia.com/deeper_meaning_behind_the%20symbol_of_Ganesha.html (accessed August 16, 2013).

2. Bhagwan Shri Sathya Sai. “SSS6, Chap. 42 Pranava the praana” [Online] Available: http://sathyasai.org/search/volume06/sss06-42.pdf (accessed August 16, 2013)