The reason that I don't eat meat is because I believe that other sentient beings hold importance. They have as much affinity to their life as I have for mine. Whenever we like to eat something like a chicken or a turkey or beef, it is important to realize that an actual animal was killed so that you could eat that piece of dead flesh. I sincerely believe that if people were to kill an actual animal before consuming it, it would reduce the number of meat eaters in this world by a great margin. I have come across several people who vouch that they could kill an animal, cook and then eat it. I believe that they are capable of doing that. I also believe that there are a lot of people who will not do that and their empathy would kick in.
Growing up in India one of things that was emphasized in our education was that one should not cause harm to any sentient being anywhere in the spectrum of life. I believe that a lot of progress in the civilization that we see is because of grossly undermining this principle of life. We are not even kind to each other let alone being kind to the animals of the world. I expressly believe that animals have a soul same way as humans do. They feel pain, they feel helpless when they are slaughtered, they experience fear and they experience love. Any other interpretation of these events is not just faulty, it is basically ignoring facets of life which are visible to all.
I did eat chicken in my life. There was a period of 3 years from 6th standard to 9th standard in high school when I used to eat chicken. My lure of chicken was more towards the gravy than the flesh. In my opinion I craved the fats and oils that accompanied the gravy in which the chicken was cooked. I have seen a chicken being slaughtered in front of me. I have heard the cries and the pain that creature experienced and it didn't affect me in the moment. I took the remnants home, cooked and consumed it. I believe at that time my abilities to comprehend the event were not as sharp as they are now. I believe that event did leave an emotional imprint on me.
When I was able to disassociate the spices and gravy from the chicken in my later life, I realized that eating chicken is avoidable. I realized that there are several foods in this world that I can happily ea. This rendered killing an animal both unnecessary and immoral. Therefore I decided to let go of flesh in my diet. I think I am healthy to a high degree and I am sure I have made a right decision.
As far as alcohol is concerned I believe that consuming it mars your judgment and affect your responses. A lot of people in my opinion drink alcohol just because there is no other way they could let out their frustration. This leads them into a hole and they are not able to come out of it on their own. Alcohol causes dependence. Out of all values that I have learnt in America, the most important in my opinion is independence! To be free is as basic life requirement as drinking water. Gambling it away by depending on alcohol is both a bad deal and highly deleterious to the body. It is much better to cultivate a habit which is not associated in any way with alcohol and which gives you the same high. It would be better if it is not part of your work but to each his own.
Growing up in India one of things that was emphasized in our education was that one should not cause harm to any sentient being anywhere in the spectrum of life. I believe that a lot of progress in the civilization that we see is because of grossly undermining this principle of life. We are not even kind to each other let alone being kind to the animals of the world. I expressly believe that animals have a soul same way as humans do. They feel pain, they feel helpless when they are slaughtered, they experience fear and they experience love. Any other interpretation of these events is not just faulty, it is basically ignoring facets of life which are visible to all.
I did eat chicken in my life. There was a period of 3 years from 6th standard to 9th standard in high school when I used to eat chicken. My lure of chicken was more towards the gravy than the flesh. In my opinion I craved the fats and oils that accompanied the gravy in which the chicken was cooked. I have seen a chicken being slaughtered in front of me. I have heard the cries and the pain that creature experienced and it didn't affect me in the moment. I took the remnants home, cooked and consumed it. I believe at that time my abilities to comprehend the event were not as sharp as they are now. I believe that event did leave an emotional imprint on me.
When I was able to disassociate the spices and gravy from the chicken in my later life, I realized that eating chicken is avoidable. I realized that there are several foods in this world that I can happily ea. This rendered killing an animal both unnecessary and immoral. Therefore I decided to let go of flesh in my diet. I think I am healthy to a high degree and I am sure I have made a right decision.
As far as alcohol is concerned I believe that consuming it mars your judgment and affect your responses. A lot of people in my opinion drink alcohol just because there is no other way they could let out their frustration. This leads them into a hole and they are not able to come out of it on their own. Alcohol causes dependence. Out of all values that I have learnt in America, the most important in my opinion is independence! To be free is as basic life requirement as drinking water. Gambling it away by depending on alcohol is both a bad deal and highly deleterious to the body. It is much better to cultivate a habit which is not associated in any way with alcohol and which gives you the same high. It would be better if it is not part of your work but to each his own.
