The Company of Saints and Others

From the beginning of recorded history we can see that vegetables have been the natural food of human beings. Early Greek and Hebrew myths all spoke of people originally eating fruit. Ancient Egyptian priests never ate meat. Many great Greek philosophers such as Plato, Diogenes and Socrates all advocated vegetarianism.

In India, Shakyamuni Buddha emphasized the importance of Ahimsa, the principle of not harming any living things. He warned His disciples not to eat meat, or else other living beings would become frightened of them. Buddha made the following observations: Meat eating is just an acquired habit. In the beginning we were not born with a desire for it. Flesh eating people cut off their inner seed of Great Mercy. Flesh eating people kill each other and eat each other... this life I eat you, and next life you eat me... and it always continues in this way. How can they ever get out of the Three Realms (of illusion)?

Many early Taoists, early Christians and Jews were vegetarians. It is recorded in the Holy Bible: And God said, I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; but for the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food. (Genesis 1:29) Other examples forbidding the eating of meat in the Bible: You must not eat meat with blood in it, because the life is in the blood. (Genesis 9:4) God said, Who told you to kill the bullock and the she goat to make an offering to me? Wash yourselves from this innocent blood, so I may hear your prayer; otherwise I will turn my head away because your hands are full of blood. Repent yourselves so I may forgive you. (Isaiah 1:11-16) St. Paul, one of Jesus’ disciples, said in his letter to the Romans, It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine. (Romans 14:21)

Recently, historians have discovered many ancient books that have shed new light on the life of Jesus and His teachings. Jesus said: People who have animals’ flesh become their own tombs. I tell you honestly, the man who kills will be killed. The man who kills living things and eats their meat is eating the meat of the dead men.

Indian religions also avoid the eating of flesh. It is said that, People can’t get flesh without killing things. A person who hurts sentient beings will never be blessed by God. So, avoid taking flesh! (Hindu Precept)

The holy Scripture of Islam, the Koran, forbids the eating of dead animals, blood and flesh.

A great Chinese Zen Master, Han Shan Tzu wrote a poem which was strongly against flesh eating: Go quickly to the market to buy meat and fish and feed them to your wife and children. But why must their lives be taken to sustain yours? It’s unreasonable. It will not bring you affinity with Heaven, but make you become dregs of Hell!

Many famous writers, artists, scientists, philosophers and eminent men were vegetarians. The following people have all embraced vegetarianism with enthusiasm: Shakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, Virgil, Horace, Plato, Ovid, Petrarch, Pythagoras, Socrates, William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Sir Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Emile Zola, Bertrand Russell, Richard Wagner, Percy Bysshe Shelley, H. G. Wells, Albert Einstein, Rabindranath Tagore, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer; and more recently, Paul Newman, Madonna, Princess Diana, Lindsay Wagner, Paul McCartney and Candice Bergen, to name a few.

Albert Einstein said, “I think the changes and purifying effects that a vegetarian diet have on a human being’s disposition are quite beneficial to humankind. Therefore, it is both auspicious and peaceful for people to choose vegetarianism.” This has been the common advice of many important figures and sages throughout history!