Is meat-eating sinful or is it just to be avoided for spiritual progress?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Is meat eating sinful for people in general or is it just something to be avoided for those who want to make spiritual progress? Both are true. Spiritual progress comes when we have a sense of empathy. If you do not see the life in living beings, especially when the life is so clearly manifested as in animals, then that indicates a very significant deadening of the consciousness.
And that is very unconducive for spiritual awareness. Ashugna, we say that those who eat meat, they cannot understand. Uman, Virejya, enough Ashugna, then we can also say so.
Definitely it is unfavorable for people who want to make spiritual progress. At the same time, there is a law of karma. By the law of karma, there are sinful reactions to the actions that we do.
And when we cause pain to other living beings, there are reactions to that. So, now if we see in the laws of nature, the pictures that were made based on Prabhupada’s direction, it is said that people who eat meat, they go to hell and suffer. And we see the fifth canto also, there are descriptions similarly.
The point is that in certain situations, meat eating may be a necessity. And when it is a necessity, it is to be done. But when it is not, it is to be avoided.
Certainly there are sinful activity. Killing life. Killing life is definitely sinful.
So, it is not that it is, when we say something, it is, something may be, the body may allow it, but that does not mean there is no karma in it. It’s like people can say I can have extra marital, pre-marital sex, my body is healthy, I can do that. But then, there is karma involved over there.
So, like that meat eating also, there is karma involved over there. Because the animals are killed and that is not the prescribed food. See, even Prabhupada says in that Isha Upanishad also, humans have canine teeth, like sometimes they can eat meat if they want.
But the prescribed food, the prescribed food is vegetables, fruits, grains. But in some situations something else can be eaten and there is serious karma involved over there. So, it is, it is, it is meant for exceptional situations.
It is not recommended definitely. And there is sinful reaction involved. So, both from the material perspective also.
Now, there is a lot of studies coming up which show that humans are much more healthier with vegetarian food than with non-vegetarian food. And I wrote an article on my website, a full article about eat to help the world. So, H-E-L-P is acronym.
So, how our own health, how the environment, how the livestock and how poverty. Our health is improved, the ecology is helped. We prevent livestock from having so much suffering and poverty.
We actually help in alleviating poverty by shifting to a vegetarian diet. So, definitely from both, from the negative perspective of karmic reactions, from the positive perspective of helping to create a better world. Vegetarian food is good, not just from the spiritual perspective, even from the material perspective also.
Clear? So, is meditation or sound preferable