Namaste EM,
I don't know if I got it right. In India, we get Soya products which appears as meat balls but these are pure soyabins. If that is the case, it certainly is vegetarian. If it is anything else, I can't say as I am not familiar with the stuff.
OM
"Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"
Vannakkam: We can buy soy chunks too. But what these guys are talking about here is fake meat ... so well flavored that you could fool the hardiest of carnivores ... my staff bought some fake meat burgers for me one time at a staff dinner, I guess they felt sorry for me or something, but I got caught up helping a student. By the time I got there the fake meat ones had disappeared down the hungry throat of some long-toothed carnivore. Good thing I knew fasting didn't kill you.
Aum Namasivaya
Fake meats can be really disgusting or tasty, depending on the manufacturer. In the Netherlands, we have a little store called the vegetarian butcher, they sell soy products that have the texture of meat and they are actually quite tasty. But other products that have these fake meat smell on them like sausages, in my opinion are disgusting. I bought this barbecue soy patties once and it was so disgusting, I couldn't even take more than one bite of it. But this is all a matter of personal taste. Objectively they are all vegetarian, as long as there is no meat in them.
Namaste.
There is no problem with mock meat, and I would be unaffected, were I you, by the opinion that it's something for people not committed enough to some idea of renunciation (for we who use computers?) to 'fully give up' meat.
Having been raised vegetarian in the US, I was also raised with mock meats. I was not eating mockmeat to 'replace' real meat in my diet, I was doing so as a palatable source of protein, and to prepare dishes requiring a meat analog. The distinction is a fine one, but an important one, I feel, from doing it to prolong one's hankering for meat.
For those of us who have previously eaten meat and are converting to vegetarianism, I still see mockmeat being a valuable tool in their process, although if you find that such is one's continued desire for meat, not satiated by the vegetarian meat one is substituting, that it becomes an impediment on the path, then maybe then one should revert to the wide variety of delicious, protein-rich even vegetarian food available.
Without this being the case, I would suggest an even more wide variety that vegetable (and fungal, eventually algal!) proteins have to offer, many of which requires no more than basic food processing as done in the kitchen oneself, ensuring purity of ingredients.
I see no more harm with mock meat than any other method of gratifying the tongue - whether that in of itself is harmful is the subject of another debate.
As some others have pointed out, many brands of mockmeat contain unwholesome ingredients. You can make your own from wheat protein flour (seitan), or textured vegetable protein (almost always soy), legumes & oats, soy beans.
If you have problems digesting gluten, and are leery of soy due to phytoestrogen concerns - then this is a health issue, not an overtly spiritual one (though to the extent that proper maintenance of one's body, especially according to ayurvedic injunctions as per the body type, health issues are certainly spiritual ones)
Namaste
Well, EM, I'm sure many converts (whether to vegetarianism or Hinduism) do eat vegetarian meats as a sort of stepping stone. But they are pretty good in their own right. I've been vegetarian my whole life, and I have to tell you there's nothing quite like a veggie burger off the charcoal grill!
It is my opinion and belief that the desire to perform an action is almost equivalent to performing it but to a lesser extent. Consuming mock meats to me should not be done by those who are vegetarian for spiritual purposes. Granted no animal was slain for that product to be made but still it causes the mind and body to crave the taste of meat which to me is not right. The desire for the taste of meat should never be within our minds whether synthetic or natural. With the abundance of vegetables out there I cannot understand why people consume these products. I've accidentally tasted a piece of mock chicken at a work event and I almost threw up. The taste was so similar to actual chicken it was repulsive. Also these products are so processed and drenched in chemicals I am certain they cannot be good for the body. Which may very well make them Tamasik like the very meats they are meant to replace.
Soya products are very processed and as such will not be as beneficial to the body and non-processed foods. Vegetables and beans are so varying that it's almost a shame to neglect these delicious things for some meat substitute.
Please note these are my personal views and as such may have little or no connection to scriptures.
Vannakkam Bhagavankibhakt,
but still it causes the mind and body to crave the taste of meatThe desire for the taste of meat should never be within our minds whether synthetic or natural.These are the very reasons as to why I feel the guilt from time to time. Yes it contains a lot of chemicals, and is rather unhealthy. But for people like me, who are still in the transitional phase to becoming a full vegetarian, I guess it would still be alright when taken occasionally.Which may very well make them Tamasik like the very meats they are meant to replace.
Aum Namah Shivaya
Last edited by Equinox; 24 October 2012 at 12:00 PM.
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