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Tulsa Jain Sangh Pratishtha Mahotsav 2004
means the removal of the strangeness, the restoration of shared experiences, and of compassion and sympathy."
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In this way when we learn to see the animals as ourselves we change our perception of them and become more compassionate towards them. When such an understanding dawns on us, the first change occurs in the food pattern. One starts to observe what one puts into the body where the soul is housed. For we know that, we are what we eat. What we eat reflects in our thinking and our thinking reflects in our action. If we want a healthy body, the body should be provided with healthy and wholesome diet, pure and untainted by bloody food. If we want a healthy mind, the mind should be provided with inspiring and positive thoughts.
One is often not aware of the fact that when one eats meat, one takes in protein along with the chemicals that are injected into the animals to fatten them up and antibiotics to control diseases and viruses. One also forgets that in flesh, the negative vibrations of pain, fear and rejection exist, and they permeate in every cell of the human body creating there the feeling of fear, pain and rejection. Meat contains no essential nutrients that cannot be obtained directly from plant sources. By cycling grain through livestock, we lose 90% of the protein, 96% of the calories, 99% of its carbohydrates and 100% of the fiber.
How does one hope to live with good feelings of health, happiness and sound mind when negative vibrations of pain blended with chemicals are working in the body? These are the main causes that lead to the fatal diseases of the mind and the body. That is the reason why we see so many people suffering from emotional, psychological and physiological diseases. Meat-centered diets are linked to many kinds of cancer, most notably cancer of the colon, breast, cervix, uterus, ovary, prostate and lung.
Statistically, approximately two million Americans die each year of which 68% are victims of the three major chronic diseases in which diet is major contributory factor: heart disease, cancer and stroke. The foods that have been singled out for special concern in connection with these diseases are eggs, meat, poultry, sea- food, animal fat and many more. If the body is fed with pure, natural and wholesome food, that involves minimum of violence, minimum of environmental damage and minimum of ecological imbalance it helps create harmony within the body and harmony without.
It is good to know the statistics. It takes 273 litres of water to produce 450 grams of wheat ie. (1228.5 cups of water), 1136.5 litres of water to produce 450 grams of rice and approximately 9092 to 27,276 litres of water to produce 450 grams of meat. A chicken processing plant uses 454 million litres per day - enough to supply the water needs of 25,000 humans. Livestock are responsible for consuming 80% of the world's water supply. A litre is 4 % cups of liquid.
Jain Education International
Methane from cattle accelerates the global warming and the ozone layer depletion. PETA's (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal) research shows that 26 billion animals are killed for food in the U.S. alone each year (9
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