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Summary of Question:	Indirect Meat/ Meat Bi-Products
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Monday, 4/15/2002 7:08 PM MDT

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!!

Dear jee, i'm a 17 year old sikh male. I am NOT an amritdhari yet, but i do my best to live up to a gursikh way of life. I used to eat meat, but recently i stopped eating meat. I only stopped eating direct meat. However, i still eat eggs...the regular ones available in stores, not the fertile kind. Also, i don't look out for the ingredients on the food that i buy...for instance if they contain Lecithin, or gelatin and byproducts like that..i don't mind. I hang around with a few amritdharis and they don't even eat products like that. Also some of them don't eat nothing from outside or something prepared by a nonamritdhari. (Some of them don't even eat langar in the gurudwaras saying that many non-amritdharis also help out in the preparations)

Now i was wondering if eating meat by-products is wrong, according to gurmat? Also, I was wondering if having an attidute like the one mentioned above regarding eating from non-amritdharis is encouraged by gurbani?

Avoiding food from outside does make sense in the sense that the type of food one eats affects his/her mental behaviour/aptitude towards things. Also, food prepared while thanking WAHEGURU for his givings, would be MUCH better and healthier than food prepared while counting dollars---yeah...that's another 5 bucks!! But, not eating langar is the next level thing. Langar as i know is GURU's Kitchen. and how could one say no to GURU's food. I personally think it's wrong to say that langar is not good enough for them to eat.

I would really appreciate any input. And, did i mention, i love constructive criticism. Please don't hesitate to say anything that you feel is right.

Also, i'm very sorry if i repeated this question. Actually, i have been regularly reading this forum for the past couple of months and i haven't seen somthing like this. But, i am sorry if i've repeated this.

Guru Rakha,
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!!

(REPLY) Sat Nam. You asked for an opinion, well, here's mine. Guru's langar is Guru's langar -- as far as I'm concerned it is blessed food. Everyone eats or doesn't eat what they choose, according to their best understanding. Guru Nanak said it was more important what comes out of your mouth than what goes in! But that doesn't mean to eat things that will pollute your body and mind, either. So, I would say that everyone (including you!) should eat what makes them feel righteous, and doesn't hurt their conscience. I was taught that Amrit Dhari Sikhs do not eat eggs. (Fertile or not, is not the question.) Gelatin does contain meat products, so for me it's off limits. I try not to be fanatic (about anything, except my sadhana) nor to be lazy -- and I try not to judge ( or condemn) what others do, but to do what I believe and feel is best according to my understanding. I don't eat meat, fish, poultry, or eggs -- and I think of it in terms of anything that "had a mother" - or could walk, crawl, run, or fly off my plate! One of the things that appealed most to me about the effect I felt from taking Amrit, was that I did not feel superior to anyone else, but rather extremely grateful to have "come home." I don't know who has taken Amrit and who has not, so how could I tell about who is preparing food for langar? It's none of my business. It is between God and Guru and the person. Well, that's my personal opinion. Glad to share it with you. Blessings, SP