WHY VEGETARIANISM?

Dr. Mohan Gopala Iyer, Malaysia

OK so far! What then?

Let us get to the “meat” of the topic. (forgive the pun!).

Have you ever been to an abattoir? A slaughter house? And seen the animals - cattle, pigs, sheep, etc - in their stockade (pens) and heard them?

I can tell you a lot of details about all that, but will spare you the heart-rending experience! (A visit to the abattoir in Jurong in Singapore was part of our Postgraduate Health Course). Even from some distance away from the abattoir, one can hearing the pathetic lowing of cattle, squealing of pigs and blatting of sheep! Their sounds of terror and despair are unmistakable! They know that they are doomed and express their fear and terror of imminent death! How much more pathetic and pitiable when you actually see the pens near the abattoir and hear the wailing noises! You will never forget their pitiful bawling and squealing!

Let us consider some scientific facts:

(i). Emotions like fear, anger, hatred, etc liberate certain substances into the blood stream that are harmful to health. (Hence the reason why Scriptures of all religions advise control of one’s negative emotions – not only in material life, but for practice of the spiritual life).
Do not strong emotions cause increased Blood Pressure, a rapid pulse, loss of appetite, and affect other normal physiological functions? Such altered states certainly affect the bodily systems and cause diseases. This “dys-ease” in the Mind , leading to bodily disorders - diseases – is what is termed the “Psychosomatic” (psycho= psychological , mental; somatic = body) effect! Mind over matter!
(ii). When any living tissue is damaged, injured, cut, etc there is an immediate release of toxic substances (histamine-bodies) by the damaged cells into the blood circulation. These histamines are the cause of shock in severe injuries).
(iii). Putrefaction sets in (almost) immediately after any living tissue dies. Putrefaction occurs faster in warm or hot climates.
(iv). Even when frozen, meat loses its nutritive value rapidly. (In the book “The Secret Life of Plants”, the authors state that when food is stored in the refrigerator, meat loses 50% of its nutritive value in a week; milk loses value more slowly; vegetables retain food values much longer.).
(v). Animals are subject to dangerous diseases ( Foot-and-Mouth Disease, Bovine Tuberculosis, Anthrax, etc) and infestation by parasites (Flukes, Worms, etc) and harmful bacterial organisms found on the grasslands where cattle, sheep and other herbivorous animals graze. Meat Inspectors? There are still reports of negligence and lack of proper inspection by such Health personnel in the USA, UK, etc. Recent reports of outbreaks of anmal diseases in human beings from eating meat of diseased animals have been flooding the news papers.

Let us put all facts together:-
1. The meat of slaughtered (killed) animals, not only contains toxic substances produced by their terror of death ,and damage to cells in their bodies when slaughtered. 2. Most of the meat – except for small quantities from local private slaughtering – is generally imported from overseas. The meat is placed in cold storage for some time before it is exported to other countries – where it is again stored for some time before it finds its way to the retailers. (In the “supermarkets”, meat might lie in cold storage for weeks and, then, for a time, even, in the display cases! During all this time, the process of putrefaction has steadily and relentlessly taken place, and the toxins of putrefaction have also been accumulating in it. 3. The butchers who originally slaughtered the animals are not exactly persons of high culture and spiritual calibre, are they? Hence their thought-vibrations, will affect the meat. Then, there are the local butchers at the storage and retail shops who cut up the meat for sale. What is the mental calibre of the cooks in restaurants, diners etc? If it is not the housewife who does the cooking in the home, what about the paid cook and his/her mental make-up? In short, from the time the animal was slaughtered to the time it is served as food, not only has the meat has been affected by (and deteriorated from) all the factors stated above, but also by the thought-vibrations of so many people. After consideration of all the above, do you think that meat-eating is desirable and healthy?

Is this all? No! Let us consider some scientific, health and religious (scriptural) facts:-
Blood Transfusions:
If an individual is injured badly and requires a blood transfusion, can the doctor just take any human blood and transfuse it? Certainly not! The doctor will have to group amd match the blood - find out to which group the blood of the recipient (patient ) belongs and cross-match the blood of the donor and that of the patient, to find out if the donor’s blood is compatible (suitable) for transfusion. It is only after these procedures prove satisfactory that the blood transfusion is given. If the donor’s blood is not compatible with that of the patient, the patient will die from the transfusion!

There are four main Blood Groups in human beings –“A”, “B”, “AB” and “O”. (We shall not go into all the numerous sub-groups).

The “A” group patient can receive blood only from another “A” group or “O” group donor; the “B” group only from another “B” or “O” donor; the “AB” group can receive “A”, “B” and “O” group blood, and the “O” group can receive blood only from another “O” group donor. Any careless mistake in transfusion will cause disintegration of the blood cells in the patient and lead to his death!

My Question: Is it just mere coincidence that all human beings (populations) are found in four classes, categories (“castes”) and there are four main blood groups in them? I do not know the answer.

What about using animal blood for the transfusion?

That’s the surest way of killing the patient!

Organ Transplant: Is an operation to remove the diseased and non-functioning organ in an individual and to replace it with a similar compatible organ from another human.

(cont.)

Sparks சட்டநாத அய்யரும் ஷட்டர் கதவும்