Practicing vegetarianism

You are what you EAT. the food is important because it influence your mind. this is what chandogya upanisad said. so one should be careful about his food, which can influence the thought forms.

Mind and its passion is more important than anything. it's true that- if you have controlled your mind then what ever food you eat does not matter either veggie or non-veggie. and also - if you have not controlled the mind, then what is the use of being a veggie or non veggie? is also correct. so the important thing is controlling mind.. if you have controlled your mind then nothing can affect you..but if you have not controlled it, then watch out wat you eat.. becuase mind is important and this mind is controlled by thought forms and thought forms are influenced by the food. so its important to eat the food which won't make you restless..

Chandogya upanishad said

"Food when eaten becomes threefold. What is coarsest in it becomes faeces, what is medium becomes flesh and what is subtlest becomes mind. 

"Water when drunk becomes threefold. What is coarsest in it becomes urine, what is medium becomes blood and what is subtlest becomes prana. 

"Fire(foods like ghee, butter and oily foods etc) when eaten becomes threefold. What is coarsest in it becomes bone, what is medium becomes marrow and what is subtlest becomes speech. 

"The mind, my dear, consists of food, the prana of water and speech of heat." "Please, venerable Sir, instruct me further." "So be it, my dear" 

"That, my dear, which is the subtlest part of curds rises, when they are churned and becomes butter. 

"In the same manner, my dear, that which is the subtlest part of the food that is eaten rises and becomes mind. 

"The subtlest part of the water that is drunk rises and becomes prana. 

"The subtlest part of the fire that is eaten"

I think vegetarianism put forward a remarkable concept, of non violence, so it became great. every thing in this world have life. "The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different."- Hippocrates. So how can killing an animal be different from killing a man? 

As said in a jain text- "All the living beings wish to live and not to die; that is why unattached saints prohibit the killing of living beings. Just as pain is not agreeable to you, it is so with others" Knowing this principle will help mortals to treat others equally with respect and compassion. this attitude of compassion is the growth of one's mind.. so thats why great Buddha said- "vegetarianism is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana.

I believe one can meat only when he degrade himself to the level of animals. just to satisfy his taste buds he is doing more harm to the world than hitler did. one have to understand that- the taste buds gives you happiness only a fraction of second, and once it reaches the stomach, taste leaves you along with that, health, kindness and morality also leaves you forever. when brutality is the order of the day then how can you imagine a clean world with peace? Its a shame to ears and disgrace to heart, when it hears- people speaking about the cruelty of killing people when they themselves don't have any problem in slaughtering fellow creatures which don't have a human body!

I believe the kindness of such people are just acting. Only foolish people believe that god created world only for man and the creatures for becoming their food. Famous writer mohammad basheer from kerala, once said in his Novels a beautiful concept. he was trying to destroy a few holes and other places where animal's used to live in his yard which he newly bought. Suddenly he got an insight that every one is gods creation so as a man have the right to live in this world, same is the right given to animals. knowing this truth he refrained from the process of destroying them. So let us not think that this universe is only for us. we only have the same right as an animal have.. Let me conclude my words with this wonderful quote of Pythagoras which clearly make one understand why should one become veggie.. 

"So long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

Few Quotes

We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" ~ k.d. lang

A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. -- Leo Tolstoy

"In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis"-Isaac Bashevis Singer.

"Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President

I think there will come a time, and this is down the road a great many years, when civilized people will look back in horror on our generation and the ones that have preceded it: the idea that we should eat other living things running around on four legs, that we should raise them just for the purpose of killing them! The people of the future will say, meat-eaters in disgust and regard us in the same way that we regard cannibals and cannibalism. -- Dennis Weaver

The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."- Leonardo da Vinci

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals. 

-- Henry David Thoreau

Thou shalt not kill does not apply to murder of one's own kind only, but to all living beings; and this Commandment was inscribed in the human breast long before it was proclaimed from Sinai.

~Author : Leo Tolstoy

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. -Paul McCartney 

"Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds?" Plutarch

Video file to support the points i have illustrated above..

EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers." The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix..

Conclusion:: i didn't say just by being vegetarian one will be good person or brhamajnani. a good person needs lot of other qualities and vegetarianism is only ONE important quality among that. and food has influence in ur mind, either u believe it or not.. the problem with us, is preference. what we prefer will be our second character and we support or defer based on those principles. but there were person who put forward concepts beyond their preference. our rishis were such people, who give more importance to the concepts than personal preferences. so, we are influenced by the food we eat is the concept put forwards by Upanishads and further supported by Gita.. and also by great people like, buddha, mahavira,etc and other western thinkers too.. even swami Vivekananda has supported that view, that mind is influenced by food we eat. he said an example, that, go to zoo and look at tiger and lion, you can see they are restless, and walking most of the time, and go to cow, you can see that cow is calm and resting.. so from this example you can't say a cow is Jnani!! that depends upon lot of other things, not just vegie foods. so wat i am trying to say, vegetable foods will have influence in ur mind than non veg foods. that influence does not mean one will be good... and my point is very simple its as Tolstoy said-"A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. so this attitude towards non-killing, shows that person hold a character which is appreciable.