Page 1 of 6 12345 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 56

Thread: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

  1. #1

    Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    So guys I'm Back. I spent 2 months in India sweating and eating.
    I got my yagnopavit done there and this spiked my curiosity. I eat meat, but at the same time my family practices being brahmins(they eat meat). I'v very curious to know what the scriptures say about this. I have no experience with the scriptures and would appreciate a place where i could start reading about this issue.

    Also, i do not eat meat on tuesdays and thursdays. I'm trying to search for a reason for this also. All help would be appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    September 2007
    Location
    Canada
    Age
    70
    Posts
    7,191
    Rep Power
    5038

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    I'll just give my personal experience with being vegetarian, all scriptures aside. I became a vegetarian firstly for health purposes, and because my conscience at the time (I was about 18..so that was some 36 years ago.) At first, it was an experiment to see how I felt, healthwise. I definitely felt better, lighter, and my digestive system seemed to agree with it. So I stuck it out, despite being in Western Canada, Alberta to be specific, a definite meat eater's paradise. It wasn't hard, like giving up smoking. You can still eat, satisfy hunger, and don't worry about 'Where will I get my protein, and all that. That's just plain silly. The average North American diet of meat has about 300 - 400% of your daily protein requirement. Its a relatively minor adjustment. On the conscience level, my family were hunters. At age 16, I shot a deer. That was a tremendously negative experience, to watch that poor creature die and know that I was the cause. I gave the gun back to my father who had purchased it for me somewhat to his disappointment, and vowed to take up a camera instead, which I never got around to. There were some very awkward moments, especially at family gatherings, being the odd man out, but my conscience was stronger than that type of loyalty. I realised a man has to do what a man has to do. Only later did I come to know of the many other reasons. I would recommend reading "How to Win an Argument with a meat eater" for all the other reasons. In the end, its up to you and you alone. I don't hate meat eaters, just tolerate their freedom of choice, although obviously I think its a poor choice. Regarding scripture, I know several people who point to isolated passages they use to defend their meat eating, so I don't believe you will find your answer within scripture, but you will find it within yourself. Aum Namashivaya

  3. #3
    Join Date
    September 2006
    Age
    71
    Posts
    7,705
    Rep Power
    223

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Hari Om
    ~~~~~

    Quote Originally Posted by mblova View Post
    So guys I'm Back. I spent 2 months in India sweating and eating.
    I got my yagnopavit done there and this spiked my curiosity. I eat meat, but at the same time my family practices being brahmins(they eat meat). I'v very curious to know what the scriptures say about this. I have no experience with the scriptures and would appreciate a place where i could start reading about this issue.

    Also, i do not eat meat on tuesdays and thursdays. I'm trying to search for a reason for this also. All help would be appreciated.
    Namaste and hello mblova,
    There is a wealth of knowledge on this HDF post - take a look.
    http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=572

    Then you may want to poke around and ask more questions.

    regards and pranams,
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

  4. #4
    Join Date
    August 2006
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,162
    Rep Power
    1915

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Vegetarian food is easy to disgest. Actually one should not drink water during the course of a meal; only a half hour later; this is to induce natural secretion of saliva and the gastric juices that cause the digestion. Meat eaters always have wine or other form of alcohol at hand to 'wash it down' and the quantity of alcohol in the stomach dilutes the juices and imposes a heavy strain on the digesting mechanism.

    Anyway, here is a Kali Yuga brahman, who proudly declares partaking a meaty dinner that followed his upanayanam, let us welcome him. Does he sip water or wine for 'Achamanam' for his Sandhya Vandanam?

    mblova, I have nothing against you personally; it is your attitude of slighting the Hindu tradition and making a show of it that I seek to criticize. Your eating meat or drinking wine is a personal thing, but making a show of it is certainly not.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    October 2006
    Age
    73
    Posts
    321
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Quote Originally Posted by saidevo View Post
    Your eating meat or drinking wine is a personal thing, but making a show of it is certainly not.
    Well said.... Sai

    It may not matter much what goes in through our mouths but it does matter what comes out of our mouths (mind)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    August 2006
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,162
    Rep Power
    1915

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Hello vcindiana,

    You have said it even better! Thank you for sharing my view.

  7. #7

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Quote Originally Posted by mblova View Post
    So guys I'm Back. I spent 2 months in India sweating and eating.
    I got my yagnopavit done there and this spiked my curiosity. I eat meat, but at the same time my family practices being brahmins(they eat meat). I'v very curious to know what the scriptures say about this. I have no experience with the scriptures and would appreciate a place where i could start reading about this issue.

    Also, i do not eat meat on tuesdays and thursdays. I'm trying to search for a reason for this also. All help would be appreciated.
    Om Shanti,
    If you and your family eat meat what is it that makes you a Brahmin? Is this a position similiar to being a US judge, once you get it is yours no matter what?

    Namaste,
    Hiwaunis

  8. #8
    Join Date
    September 2007
    Location
    Canada
    Age
    70
    Posts
    7,191
    Rep Power
    5038

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    mblova, and others..Aum Ganesha..
    I have no idea how your brahmin family could have gotten into meat eating. Here are some possibilities:
    During the British rule, as you know, indentured labour was spread all over.. Africa, Guyana, Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad etc. In these new places, some of the Indian culture would be and was lost. Perhaps vegetarianism was one of those things. Then there is poverty. Try offering a peace of meat to a small child who is hungry. See if he breaks his 'vegetarian' vows. Here in the west I know several Brahmins who eat meat. (Not temple brahmins, but ones who have been taken over subconsciously by the west, and its set of ideas.. i.e. they're westernised, and no longer represent Hinduism well.) Sometimes this happened a long time ago. Even now, let alone 30 years ago, remaining vegetarian within some smaller communities would have been extremely difficult. There may not have been an Indian shop around for 100s of miles. So somewhat forgetting their roots, and for survival, or to get along better in their workplace (When in Rome...) some took up meat eating. I think this is a forgivable thing. I don't know mblova's history in this regard, so am unable to judge. Better to work on changing the person now in a non-condescending way, than to offer criticism. I know many of my Hindu friends (non Brahmin) who became meat eaters when they first arrived here in Canada. Some have returned to vegetarianism, others haven't (yet). I also am a bit familiar with Mauritius Hindus who have chosen to switch back once a swami or two came and pointed it out to them. Some of the indentured labour there was illiterate, not even so many generations back.
    I personally was non-vegetarian the first 18 years of my life. Do I hate myself for it? No. I forgive myself, as that was a personal karma blinded by the anava, and I did grow out of it. Not knowing mblova's history, it seems to me that some here are awfully quick to criticise. Vegetarians can also succumb to 'fundamentalism'. It goes outside Hinduism's spirit of tolerance for me. I know some awfully mean-spirited vegetarians and I also know some terribly nice tolerant meat eaters. Our characters go beyond that.
    Aum Namshivaya

  9. #9

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Quote Originally Posted by Hiwaunis View Post
    Om Shanti,
    If you and your family eat meat what is it that makes you a Brahmin? Is this a position similiar to being a US judge, once you get it is yours no matter what?

    Namaste,
    Hiwaunis
    Om Shanti Mblova,
    Please don't think that I am criticizing you but I've always thought Brahmins were the "creme of the crop" who followed all the rules and set the example for others to follow.

    Please forgive my ignorance but what is a yagnopavit?

    Namaste,
    Hiwaunis

  10. #10

    Re: Eating Meat/ Being a Brahmin

    Quote Originally Posted by saidevo View Post

    mblova, I have nothing against you personally; it is your attitude of slighting the Hindu tradition and making a show of it that I seek to criticize. Your eating meat or drinking wine is a personal thing, but making a show of it is certainly not.


    Well said, I dont understand what you mean by saying "making a show of it". My mother and her brother have given up meat. They have their various reasons, but my family continues to eat meat. I am simply searching for knowledge so that i am able to form my own thoughts and opinions.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •