animal slaughter | The Hare Krishna Movement

Happiness & Suffering

15 Jan 2020 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ahimsa, Buddha Tags: A. c. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, ahimsa, animal slaughter, animal-killing, Bhagavad-gita, ego, Eightfold Path, four noble truths, Lord Buddha, nonviolence, Srimad Bhagavatam

Ever since I was a small child, I have been attracted to the statue of Buddha. Don’t know why, but I had a statue of Buddha in my bedroom, and it was a Christian home. I didn’t really know about Krishna then or who the Buddha was…but I was so attracted to everything Eastern. As I learned latter in life, Buddha was actually an incarnation of Krsna.

“From the Bhāgavatam we understand that Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who appeared when materialism was rampant and materialists were using the pretext of the authority of the Vedas. Although there are certain restrictive rules and regulations regarding animal sacrifice for particular purposes in the Vedas, people of demonic tendency still took to animal sacrifice without reference to the Vedic principles. Lord Buddha appeared to stop this nonsense and to establish the Vedic principles of nonviolence. Therefore each and every avatāra, or incarnation of the Lord, has a particular mission, and they are all described in the revealed scriptures. No one should be accepted as an avatāra unless he is referred to by scriptures. It is not a fact that the Lord appears only on Indian soil. He can advent Himself anywhere and everywhere, and whenever He desires to appear. In each and every incarnation, He speaks as much about religion as can be understood by the particular people under their particular circumstances. But the mission is the same—to lead people to God consciousness and obedience to the principles of religion. Sometimes He descends personally, and sometimes He sends His bona fide representative in the form of His son, or servant, or Himself in some disguised form.” (from purport Bg 4.7)

I have included a short summary of the Four Noble Truths & The Eightfold Path, along with some references from the Vedic Perspective

Vegetarian Ethics

12 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Cow Protection, Vegetarianism Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Albert Einstein, animal slaughter, cow protection, personal awareness, St. Francis of Assisi, vefetarian ethics, vegetarian diet, vegetarian lifestyle

I ran across the following article on the Sampradaya Sun the other day on Vegetarian Ethics. It is a very nice collection of quotes on the importance of a vegetarian diet, and a case against animal slaughter.

“Many people consider the ethical reasons the most important of all for becoming vegetarian. The beginning of ethical vegetarianism is the knowledge that other creatures have feelings, and that their feelings are similar to ours. This knowledge encourages one to extend personal awareness to encompass the suffering of others.” (The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking)

“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” (St. Francis of Assisi)

Why Be Vegetarian?

25 Jan 2013 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Sri Nandanandana das, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarianism Tags: animal crulety, animal slaughter, bhakti yoga, compassion, Ferdinando Lambruschini, Isaac Bashevis Singer, karma, meateaters, Newton's third law of motion, non violence, peace, Prasadam, slaughter industry, spiritual path, universal brotherhood, vegetarian, vegetarian diet, violence to animals

…On the spiritual path, there are several reasons why a person is recommended to be vegetarian. One primary reason is that we need to see the spiritual nature within all living beings, and that includes the animals and other creatures as well. Universal brotherhood means nonviolence to both humans and animals. It consists of understanding that animals also have souls. They are alive, conscious, and feel pain. And these are the indications of the presence of consciousness, which is the symptom of the soul.

…Isaac Bashevis Singer, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, asked, “How can we pray to God for mercy if we ourselves have no mercy? How can we speak of rights and justice if we take an innocent creature and shed its blood?” He went on to say, “I personally believe that as long as human beings will go shedding the blood of animals, there will never be any peace.”

…The Buddhist scripture (Sutta-Nipata 393) also advises: “Let him not destroy or cause to be destroyed any life at all, or sanction the acts of those who do so. Let him refrain from even hurting any creature, both those that are strong and those that tremble in the world.” It is also said in the Buddhist scripture, the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, “The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.”

Why Be Vegetarian?
By Stephen Knapp (Sri Nandanandana dasa)

The Case Against Animal Slaughter

19 May 2012 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Cow Protection, Vegetarian Cooking, Vegetarianism Tags: animal slaughter, Care For Cows, cow protection, Kurma Rupa dasa, meat-eating, vegetarian, vegetarian cooking, vegetarianism, world food crisis

The Case Against Animal Slaughter
Back to Godhead Magazine 1976, Vol 11, No. 1

From the standpoints of health, economics and ethics, animal slaughter and meat-eating are detrimental to human society.

Health

Although meat is certainly a source of concentrated protein it is a very poor source of other food elements like minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates. In addition, eating flesh from the cow or any other animal is detrimental to the health of human beings for many reasons. For example, if a human, who has a much longer colon than the carnivorous animals, eats flesh, the following problems will ensue:

1. Intestinal bacteria in the long bowel will change from fermentative to putrefactive, thus causing poisons to be absorbed into the bloodstream. These poisons need to be eliminated, so energy is diverted from other essential bodily functions, including thinking.

2. The natural synthesis of vitamin B12 will be inhibited, possibly leading to anemia.

3. Animal toxins will tend to disrupt the proper metabolism of carbohydrates. This can cause diabetes.

4. Nonnutritive substances resulting from the digestion of animal flesh tend to be carcinogenic (cancer-inducing) irritants.

The minimum daily requirement of protein, which nutritional experts calculate to be between seventy and ninety grams, is easily achieved with dairy products and foods from the vegetable kingdom. Protein, is found in ample quantity in milk, cheese, yogurt, whole wheat, corn, many varieties of nuts and beans, and some vegetables. Thus vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy products provide a perfectly balanced diet. Consuming animal flesh, on the other hand, results in excess protein, which produces liver ailments, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries.