VEGETARIAN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

Dear Sri Harsha-ji, you do not know me but I have followed your postings on and off for many years on many forums and thank you for sharing your profound wisdom and experiences with others. I'd like to share an alternative perspective on the topic of this post and trust you will take it in the spirit of love in which it is offered.

I do not have any problem with how or what you or any one chooses to eat but let us examine what you are saying with respect to Advaita. From the standpoint of pure awareness (Advaita), hunger is a sensation, not a requirement. All actions/sensations/emotions/thoughts/wars/killings of animals and humans are happening in and of their own as a consequence of the infinite power of the field of consciousness (not a `you' or a `me' or any person). Gita teaches that both the experiencer and the experienced are ephemeral, but experiencing itself is an automatic consequence of the field of consciousness, and not even a leaf can move without the power of this impersonal omnipotent field. What is real and eternal is love, joy, peace, beauty, Silence and that holds priority for devotees of Advaita over things of this world like belief systems, wars or killing of animals or plants for food…

If the field placed Arjuna in a situation of war, Krishna's advice is to fight, not run away. Similarly if I happen to be in a country, community or a family where it is normal to serve non-vegetarian, how do you think it make others feel when I refuse to eat because the food they serve does not meet the requirements of my belief system? I submit that a Jnyani eats to make other happy, and not to satisfy his body's hunger. My understanding is that according to the Rig Veda, each level of organic life "sacrifices" its life to the higher and thus karmically sanctifies its life and earns its own evolution to higher forms (life serves higher life). It behooves us as aspirants for Jnyani-tattva to examine all our belief systems and discard those that do not serve.

I was a strict vegetarian for many years until 2003 when I left my home in the Dallas area to visit a family in Austin some 250 miles away for a few days, and they served us what they thought was the holiest food that could be eaten but it was almost completely non-vegetarian! I was making faces when the first meal was served but one of my wise companions told me: "Arvind, from this day forward, you eat what is served. That is the most loving thing you can do for everyone here." Well, Sir, from that point onwards I have followed that advice and have not looked back, in the process earning unsolicited kudos from family and friends who apparently feel freed from the oppression of my previous posture of a strict belief system. To maintain harmony in this world of time and space, wars or killings are necessary else how could negative karma be undone? And so we accept the world as it is and change our perception of it, leaving every one free to be as they are or would be.

Thanks every one for your presence here and thanks be to Thee O Lord, the innermost Self of all, Invisible, Immortal, Unfailing, Unmoved mover of all!