________________
Practicing Non-Violence through our Daily Food
Generally we use high sounding abstract words like peace, harmony, spiritual joy, divine love - but when we sit at our inner table, we become part of the biggest killing undertaken and sanctioned by the majority of religious men and women everywhere. And in so doing - we are passing on this cruelty and disregard for life, other than human, to our children. For humans today, due to the invention of cold storages and availability of refrigeration system in every household, are consuming more than ever, in its entire history, animal flesh without any remorse or conscience. Some kind of meat is used now three times a day and at every meal, instead of only once a week, or once a month in ages past. But, there is a price to pay - through sickness and deadly diseases like never before.
347
I feel that all of the world's religions and various churches should begin to address this issue very seriously. How else can cruelty and indifference to cruelty be addressed? Not just by a few lonely individuals alone.
One could also ask, how is it possible, that the killing of animals for food has never been connected with the killing of our own human species? And why has this issue been so igngored by most religions and so called spirituality? For, there is a definite and direct link through the consumption of animal flesh, the killing of an animal and the cruelty involved with it (even though someone else may do it for us). As the animal is killed, the vibrations of violence connected with this action, is absorbed by the helpless, dying animal. By eating the flesh of the animal, these vibrations are absorbed by the human body and has a direct impact on our body cells, nervous system, our glands, blood, our brain and our consciousness beginning from an early childhood. This, then, later on, extends to and expresses in killing and inflicting various tortures on our own species, with the same indifference that we show towards the killing of animals for our food.
Cruelty and violence does begin with the plate on our table. Our religious spiritual leaders, clergy, priests, monks and nuns should, themselves, first become an example to their parishioners and then, to the rest of mankind, by abandoning and abstaining from any kind of flesh eating. For, it has not worked by preaching about love, peace and non-violence, yet
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org