________________
54
tific interpretation of the Scriptures, they will never dream of quibbling over this question to eat meat or not to eat meat ? They wili no longer say that only life as contained in the human body is to be respected and that it is of no account if it happe. os to be cast in animal (lower ) form. As a matter of fact if we have no respect for Life itself, we have none for animal or man) As we can see at the present time, for, while he animal is looked upon as provender for stomach ; Mar is regarded as fit fcdder for guns,
We have seen tbat all killing is harmful to the soul. Nor is it any the less so, if it is for food The same evil traits of selfishness, the ughilessness, and beartlessness are engendered by killing, and eating flesh, giving rise to the saine excessive agl. tation of the soul wbich renders it more vulnerable to the mate rial Influx The disposition, tender by na:ure, is hardened {010 becoming callous and cruel. This implies change and no change takes place in au organism without the intervention of a modi. fying material cause. In circumstances such as this, when violent emi tion" are aroused, the inaximum changes cerur, and the soul's natural purity is defiled. Because the incis of killig and Litting flesh, are extremely selfish, and hard-hzaried 09:5, th-ee iw characieristics alrady majfeated, are ingruia d still desper into its substance, giving rise to stiil deeper impurity.
It is custodiary for most people to think that bleeb-foodsmeats, eggs, extracis etc are necesary for health, and for that reason insist on including them in their diet. But it is becoming more and more recognized in the materialist's world of to-day and even among the orthodox medical men, that tiey are not essential in any sense of the term, and tha: They are quite capable of doing more harm than good, 1:) many disea:es they are belrig eliminated from the diet or at least drastically reduced.
They produce over-acidity in the body, clogging it, and thereby, reducing its energy and efficiency. They lower the
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org