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The Jaina Philosophy mountains which he cannot climb by himself. This is so far as physical strength is concerned. But there is not only the physical condition of the body that is to be taken into consideration, there are intellectual and moral reasons which are of more importance. Those who partake of animal food are not superior in this respect to those who live on vegetables. Animal food must create animal nature. It is necessary not to increase the animal nature by taking in animal food, but to make the mental and moral natures command the physical. The animal whose flesh we eat lived on vegetables, and when the animal character and propensities are given to the vegetable it is not well for the human being to take that kind of food, when these qualities have been added to it. A person who lives on animal food only is not able to enter into the studies of the higher sciences, which are very easy in the opinion of the people who live on simple vegetable food.
We know by instinct that the vegetable food is best for us; we do not like the smell of raw meat, and it takes a great deal of time to become accustomed to the use of meat. We have to teach the baby to eat meat; it has naturally no craving for it; so naturally man is not fitted, really speaking, to eat the animal food. It is also a great source of the passionate nature of the human being. We know by practical experiment that when hunters wish to prepare their dogs for the chase, to do that they confine the diet of hounds to flesh, so that their animal propensities are enhanced. This food would not give more strength to the hounds, but gives them more animal nature, and makes them more eager to kill. If we compare flesh-eating people and vegetarians intellectually, the Hindus have evolved a very subtle and deep philosophy, the like of which is not to be found in any other country. In India when a deep philosophical subject is discussed, the masses understand at once without asking a single question, and the street-sweeper understands these questions better than the missionary who is sent to convert him.
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