Ardhanariswar
I'm back!
It bugs me whenever I hear of how Vegetarianism is key towards becoming a better Hindu. No. No. No. Whenever I occasionally visit Religiousforums.com, I get frustrated whenever newbie Hindus are led astray.
Yes, Vedic scripture suggests that a Sattvic diet is better for clarity of mind (no meat, no irritants like spices, no onions or garlic, etc). But Vedic scripture is meant to be read by priests. The Vedas where ONLY read by priests until fairly recently. These are people that NEED to live in a peaceful/trance-like state because that's their job. Normal people who live, work, and play, cannot survive on such a restrictive and frankly health-damaging diet.
Hinduism is not defined by its scripture. It's embarrassing how many people want to straight-jacket our traditions and practices into how they feel it should be. Yes, other religions are defined strictly by their scripture, but Hinduism is not. In fact Hinduism existed before the Vedas were even written, and still exists today in the form of folk religion. There are so many denominations and beliefs, its difficult to say which is the correct way, and which is incorrect.
Many times people bring up the concept of Ahimsa (non-violence) as well as an argument against eating animals. But these are usually the people who are reluctant to take the Ahimsa concept further like the orthodox Jains who wear a rag over their mouths to prevent ingesting small microorganisms by accident. Ahimsa is clearly relative. What makes animals more valuable than plant matter?
Why is beef forbidden? The answers are all very economic. Similar to how in the Medieval days, Catholicism enforced eating only fish on Fridays to enhance the business of the fishermen. Cows in India are sacred for a reason. They provide milk. India today is the largest consumer of dairy products in the world. Not only that, but water buffaloes are used to farm fields. If Hindus ate beef, this would significantly reduce cheap animal labor in the fields, and milk prices would drastically increase. Cows are not "the Lord incarnate" as some would like to believe.
It seriously makes me disheartened. I am a Hindu and my family is Hindu, and we have been eating animals perhaps since our cavemen ancestors started. It's so unfair that these people discount us and our faith since we don't fully believe in all aspects of Vedic Hindusim, but rather our Hindu folk religion, which predates the Vedas.
In addition, I really dislike the whole notion that eating meat is somehow impure. As someone who believes in evolutionary biology, I know that eating animal products is what has enabled humans to evolve into who were are today, which is currently the strongest, smartest creature alive on this planet. Believing in this Vedic pseudo science is a huge step backwards in my opinion.
Yes, Vedic scripture suggests that a Sattvic diet is better for clarity of mind (no meat, no irritants like spices, no onions or garlic, etc). But Vedic scripture is meant to be read by priests. The Vedas where ONLY read by priests until fairly recently. These are people that NEED to live in a peaceful/trance-like state because that's their job. Normal people who live, work, and play, cannot survive on such a restrictive and frankly health-damaging diet.
Hinduism is not defined by its scripture. It's embarrassing how many people want to straight-jacket our traditions and practices into how they feel it should be. Yes, other religions are defined strictly by their scripture, but Hinduism is not. In fact Hinduism existed before the Vedas were even written, and still exists today in the form of folk religion. There are so many denominations and beliefs, its difficult to say which is the correct way, and which is incorrect.
Many times people bring up the concept of Ahimsa (non-violence) as well as an argument against eating animals. But these are usually the people who are reluctant to take the Ahimsa concept further like the orthodox Jains who wear a rag over their mouths to prevent ingesting small microorganisms by accident. Ahimsa is clearly relative. What makes animals more valuable than plant matter?
Why is beef forbidden? The answers are all very economic. Similar to how in the Medieval days, Catholicism enforced eating only fish on Fridays to enhance the business of the fishermen. Cows in India are sacred for a reason. They provide milk. India today is the largest consumer of dairy products in the world. Not only that, but water buffaloes are used to farm fields. If Hindus ate beef, this would significantly reduce cheap animal labor in the fields, and milk prices would drastically increase. Cows are not "the Lord incarnate" as some would like to believe.
It seriously makes me disheartened. I am a Hindu and my family is Hindu, and we have been eating animals perhaps since our cavemen ancestors started. It's so unfair that these people discount us and our faith since we don't fully believe in all aspects of Vedic Hindusim, but rather our Hindu folk religion, which predates the Vedas.
In addition, I really dislike the whole notion that eating meat is somehow impure. As someone who believes in evolutionary biology, I know that eating animal products is what has enabled humans to evolve into who were are today, which is currently the strongest, smartest creature alive on this planet. Believing in this Vedic pseudo science is a huge step backwards in my opinion.