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Summary of Question:	Re: "Can Amritdharis Eat Flesh?"
Category:	Other
Date Posted:	Monday, 9/22/2003 11:47 PM MDT

SSA All

Hope you are well.

I think this site is excellent and I congratulate you on the job you are doing.

I particularly like reading your Youth Q & A section and feel that most of your answers are very practical and reflect both Sikh principals and common sense.
However, there is something which I have been meaning to email you about for a long time and your reply below has prompted me to do so.

I am concerned that occasionally your replies do not reflect what the Sikh position is, or represent the opinions of other teachings/individuals as those of Sikhism. We are all human beings and all of us do this, however I feel that as this is a Sikh site the replies should be primarily based on whatever evidence we have about Sikhism's view.

I do enjoy reading the different perspectives which come from Yogic and other teachings - and I would still like to see these mentioned where relevant - but I feel that you should clearly distinguish and mention that these are not actually a part of Sikhism - though they may not be inconsistent with it.

With regards to your response below, I think it is wrong based on the evidence of Sikhism we have at the moment. In fact the evidence seems to contradict this.

1) Guru Gobind Singh instructed us not to eat halal. The very act of his doing this implies as a matter of common sense that non-halal meat is ok - if it wasn't then why say this at all? Why not just say "No meat"?
2) Some historians have stated that some of the gurus themselves ate meat. It may be that they did not each much meat and their diet was mainly vegeterian but this is persuasive evidence that there is no prohibition
3) I have seen in past debates on this site mention of Guru Nanak Dev's quotes on this and you yourselves have stated there is no specific prohibition mentioned
4) Last but not least, only halal meat is prohibited by the Rehit Maryada which states the official code of conduct for baptised Sikhs and I have read on your site that it has been further clarified that it is not prohibited for baptised Sikhs to eat non-halal meat.

My point is that a 22 year old youngster has written in to ask you about Sikhism's position on eating meat and your reply does not correctly reflect this or state any of the points mentioned above.

You may well be correct when you state that:

"when you eat meat, you add poison and toxins to your body. Those toxins interfere with the biochemical process that accompanies deep meditation. It is not a philosophical issue or a value issue. It is simply a matter of body chemistry..."

BUT, this is nothing to do with the Sikh position and is not stated anywhere in Sikhism. Rather, the correct answer based on the above is in fact that there is NO prohibition in Sikhism.

By all means add the points you have made - it may well be that there are strong arguments against eating meat today and it is possible the guru's would've agreed with those arguments if they were here today - but please distinguish these points clearly and do not pass them off as being the Sikh view on the matter.

This is the one constructive criticism I have of this site and I humbly request you to consider the above.

I sincerely appreciate your efforts in running Sikhnet and thank you for a site which has given me much knowledge about Sikhism and has assisted me in my spiritual development (and continues to do so).

Regards
-Richi

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REPLY
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Sat Sri Akal!

Thanks for your viewpoints. I too believe that the replies on this site should be strictly from a Sikh point of view and I think that we as moderators try our best to do this. We are all always learning.

I would like to comment on the the four points you made above:

1) You are looking at Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's dictum in the wrong light. The people in this time period were already vegetarians, as this was the way of the saints and bhagats of the time. It was only when the Muslims started invading did they start eating meat. The Muslims thought that if a prayer from the Koran was read before killing the animal then somehow it was okay to kill that animal for food - this was called halal meat. To clarify the situation, Guru Gobind Singh Ji said that halal meat was off limits. This meant that saying a prayer before killing an animal does not make the killing acceptable. To summarize: people thought eating meat was wrong, Muslims said that saying a prayer before eating meat made it okay, Guru Gobind Singh Ji clarified this and said halal meat was wrong -> thus eating meat of any kind is wrong. He didn't need to clarify that eating non-halal meat was wrong because people already knew that.

2) Some historians have stated a lot of things. Historians can make up their own history to suit their own needs. The facts are that there are no slaughter houses in any of the forts that Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji stayed at. There is no evidence of grazing fields, and indeed to feed an army with meat there would be ample evidence these things - yet none exist. Don't be fooled by people who are trying to espouse their own narrow views to support their own conclusions because they can not get over their own ego (including myself). Develop your own understanding as to what is right and wrong, reflect internally and there you will find the truth. But you really have to try it.

3) There is no specific prohibition of any kind given by the Gurus. Sikhi is not a way of rules and regulations. It is a lifestyle that gives us a chance to meet Waheguru in the quickest way possible. This is done by internal reflection - only then can we understand what is right and wrong. Most of us have no idea what is right and wrong and so we erroneously assign things to be either good or bad without even knowing anything. To truly understand good from bad, we must meditate on Naam and then by the SatGuru's grace, we will understand. So, just because there is no specific prohibition, that does not mean that we can do it!

4) The biggest Rehit of all is the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and what the Gurus have taught us. The SGGS supercedes everything, everywhere, every time. Go by what the Gurus have taught us, go by what your understanding is, not by what someone else decided what was right and wrong. When you meditate on Naam, when you begin understanding the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, then you will realize that eating meat is not the way to be on the path to Waheguru.

I agree with what GPK said in the reply. Sometimes when there is no specific reference to not doing something even though we know it to be wrong, we have to give some example. This is because people want concrete, solid answers and are unwilling to spend time to come to an answer themselves. People are unwilling to accept the fact that something is not the right thing to do without a hard rule.

Gur Fateh,
HSD