vegetarianism Werespect all lives in the creative Plan of God. We can see by ourselvesthat all lives resist suffering and resist death. Therefore, whenwe kill or see animals being killed, they are suffering and theytry to run away. That means God empowered them with the instinctof wanting life. If we interfere and force their lives away, weinterfere with God's will. We should treat every being in thesame way as we ourselves like to be treated. Then our lives willbe blessed with grace, with longevity and with wisdom. 'As yousow, so shall you reap.' Then we will never blame God for anymisfortune. The more we cultivate, the better we become in speech,in body and in mind.
..... Tryto be as much as possible a vegetarian, it will help you. Evento be a vegetarian in a polluted area will help you be more immune,you must know that. Vegetarian people are less sick than the meat-eatingpeople. It gives you protection, your mind will be calmer, andyou will be thinking less. This is the good thing about a vegetariandiet. It is not only for its mercy quality. We forget that bynot taking other lives, our life will also not be at stake. Itis the law of karma, of cause and effect. If we forgive others,others will forgive us;
IT IS NICE TO HAVE dinner without thinkingthat someone else had to suffer for it. This is the main reasonfor a vegetarian diet. You chose your own way of life, and choseless suffering for us, as well as for others.
..... Q. Could you speak on vegetarian eating, and how thiscould contribute toward world peace?
M. You see, most the wars which happen in thisworld are due to economical reasons, prompted by the lack of foodin different countries, and the lack of equal distribution offood. Now, if you care to read magazines and the results of research,then you will find out that to raise cattle and animals for meatconsumption brings about an economical state of bankruptcy inall aspects. It causes the state of hunger in the third world.This isn't my conclusion. It is you, the American people, whoresearched and reached this conclusion. Read about food processingand the book called DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA. The author is theson of an ice cream millionaire, and he gave it all up in orderto be a vegetarian, and write a book against his family traditionand business. Such a stand means not only loss of money, but alsoprestige and business to him, but he did it for the sake of truth.But there are many more magazines and books giving you a lot ofinformation and facts about vegetarianism and how it contributesto world peace. You see, we bankrupt the resources of our planetto obtain flesh food, by feeding cattle so much protein, waterand medicine. We use a lot of manpower, cars, roads, etc., andmany hundreds of thousands of acres of land have been wasted beforea cow can yield one meal. If all these resources could be distributedto the underdeveloped countries, then we could solve world hunger.When a country is in need of food, it will probably invade anothercountry just to save its own people, but in the long run it createsbad causes and retributions. Remember what the Bible says, 'Asyou sow, so shall you reap.' If we kill someone for food, thenwe will be killed because of food later. It is a pity that weare so intelligent, so civilised and yet most of us do not knowthe cause of the suffering of our neighbouring countries. It isthrough our palate. In order to feed just one body, we kill somany beings and starve so many fellow human beings. And this guilt,consciously or unconsciously will weigh down our conscience andmake us suffer with incurable diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis,including AIDS. Ask yourself why the United States has the highestrate and suffers the most of cancer. Because we eat a lot of beef.We eat more meat that any other country. And ask yourself whythe Chinese or other communist countries don't have such a highrate of cancer. They don't have meat. That is the conclusion ofyour research, not mine. So, do not blame me!
..... Q. Must one become a strict vegetarian to become enlightened?
M. No, you don't have to. You can experienceenlightenment without a vegetarian diet. But to be completelyenlightened, and to keep the state of happiness all the time,we should grant happiness to all beings as well, in a completeway, give them no fear, have no threatening atmosphere aroundyou. This is a more complete enlightenment. Being a vegetarianalone doesn't bring you enlightenment, or help you become a Buddha.All the cows and horses are all vegetarians, but that doesn'tmean that they are enlightened. Vegetarianism is a great way forus to achieve complete enlightenment.
..... Q. If I continue to eat meat, will I still have enlightenmentafter initiation?
M. Meat is the cause of all wars and sufferingin this world, as well as in your personal self. To refrain frommeat is to contribute peace to this planet. If we terminate thecause of killing, we will not reap the result of being killedor being wounded. Also, to refrain from eating meat is a non-directaction towards the 'Thou shalt not kill' precept. Also, it nourishesour compassion towards all beings, so we can treat them as equalcreations of God. Therefore, it is best that we refrain from animalproducts. Even if you are enlightened after initiation with ameat-eating diet, you will suffer a lot of heavy karmic burdensbecause it has to be cleansed out. And sometimes if you reacha certain height in spiritual attainment, you will experiencesome side-effects of your physical impurity when clashed withthe absolute purity of Heaven. You understand! It is not alwayseasy to withstand the intensity of power within yourselves, whilehaving an impure physical and mental state of being.
..... Q. Is fish okay to eat?
M. It is all right if you want to eat fish,but if you want to be vegetarian, fish is not a vegetable. (laughter)
..... Q. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus fed thousands ofpeople with fish and bread, and also at a wedding, Jesus turnedwater into wine...
M. So what is the question? You want me toknow about this? I know. I have been asked a thousand times, andeven if I didn't know, I would have to know by now! You mean thatI say do not eat fish, and in the Bible it is said that Jesusfed fish to the crowd? But you must consider what kind of fishthis was! He used two fish to feed five thousand people! It wasa magic fish, made with air.
..... Q. Do you feel that there is more aggression in societiesthat consume meat than in ones that consume less?
M. Yes. You can compare India with other countriesthat eat more meat. You can also compare the rate of aggressionin religious communities that eat more meat than others, and thenyou will see the difference. You will also notice that animalsthat eat meat are more aggressive than herbivores. Even in theanimal Kingdom, one can see the connection.
..... Q. Dear Master, my wife is here today for initiation.She has been vegetarian for a long time. I tried, but could not.Please tell me why and how to.
M. Maybe your wife should go and learn vegetariancooking more. The poor husband cannot just eat when it's not tasty.So actually, enlightenment begins here too, (Master points toHer stomach) not just here. (Master points to the wisdom eye)(Laughter) When I first met my husband, (my ex-husband, he alreadyremarried) I was a vegetarian, he was not. He was a doctor, verypractical, very down to earth. He's a Taurus kind; he belongsto the bull in the zodiac of the orient, so he is a double bull.So he doesn't believe any nonsensical things, but because I cookedvery nicely, he ate every day with me and he had nothing againstvegetarianism at all. After I left him for "to save the worldkind of idea," (Master says jokingly) he gathered all myrecipes and cooked for his friends. He always advertised, "Mywife used to do this, my wife used to do that, and all the vegetablesare very rich in vitamins." He cooks exactly like the recipesI left behind.
If even a Westerner, a German, a scientific-mindeddoctor like that, could be a vegetarian, you could be too. Ifall the wives cook very tasty meals, you don't miss anything.For example, you eat a bowl of soup, like Chinese soup, you havenoodles and some pieces of meat in it. Instead of those meat pieces,you can have like gluten meat, tofu meat, or vegetarian ham meat,everything, all kinds. even fish. Everything can be made exactlylike the non-vegetarian, so it's a matter of skill. The way toenlightenment goes through the stomach, I believe. So you wives,please take care of your crafty fingers, make it nice and tastyso your husband will be able to eat with you. Women are easier.Truly. Once you believe something, you just eat anything. (Masterand all laugh) But men they are more scientific, they are morepractical not too sentimental like a woman. A woman can live bysentiment, affection, emotion, so she believes, then she eatsand she doesn't care how it tastes. (Laughter) But men, they'remore critical, so they please their taste first, and then enlightenmentcomes. (Laughter)
..... (Also see: Promotingvegetarianism)
