Previous

Next

Ask a Question

Summary of Question:	Karma And Meat
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Thursday, 6/22/2000 11:49 PM MDT

It was stated: "Vegetables don't have and ego. They don't choose their behaviour. One of the reasons we don't eat meat is that we take on the karma of the thing we eat. Vegetables have not taken any actions, so they don't have highly developed karma. They are pure life energy without ego. You have enough karma in your own life, you don't need to be adding the karma of thousands of animals to your life."

How is is that we are taking in the karma of what we eat?????

********
REPLY
********
Dear One;

Sat Siri Akaal.

Over millions of lifetimes, it is said that people have reincarnated as animals also. So, when you kill another for your own personal purposes (or partake in that process by buying meat in the store), you take on the karma of animal(s) because the animals MAY also have had human lifetimes and karmas to go with them.

Guru teaches us that when you take the life of another for any INTENTIONAL reason other than self-defense, you cut their life and karmic experience short. Since that one had karmas they were to live out in the lifetime you cut short, you may then be responsible for experiencing their karma as well. Obviously, the higher you go up the chain of existence, the more significant this can become.

Think of it in terms of "you are what you eat". When you eat the flesh of dead animals, then you deaden your own life force. There is NO prana or life force in dead flesh. There is in fruit, vegetables, milk products, and nuts-- typical foods of vegetarians.

I hope this clarifies the matter. God bless you,
-DKK