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Jain holy text “Purushartha Siddhupai written by Acharya Amritchandra says:
"Meat cannot be available without killing the animals. Hence for a meat eater, violence becomes necessary. Although it may be true that meat can be taken from naturally-dead animals, but infact in that dead meat also there are innumerable living elements, which when killed and eaten generate violence. Any one who touches and eats any kind of raw or cooked meat
causes violent injury to many living elements." An American lady converted to vegetarianism under Jain inspiration writes :
"I have come to realize that for me and my family, the vegetarian way of life is not only removing ourselves from supporting the machines of violence and the mentality of callousness towards helpless creatures, but it has also been able to give us a new and fresh outlook on life. I feel one with creation. I feel a deep kinship with the beings with whom I share this planet. I see them as energies, conscious, living, growing evolving energies in a myriad of different forms. They are as much my brothers and sisters as the downtrodden,
persecuted, suffering humans." Jain concept of vegetarianism also prohibits eating of even root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic or honey sucked from bees There is constant emphasis also on eating fresh food as well as properly filtered and/or boiled water. Jains also do not eat after sunset. The spread of vegetarianism in the western world in recent years has also witnessed the emergence of a strong VEGAN MOVEMENT, which prohibits consumption of milk and milk products both on grounds of avoiding cruelty to cows as well as on health grounds.
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A Portrait of Jain Religion
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