The Ultimate Liberator!

For the seekers of knowledge
Can there be a knowledge?
better than
The Knowledge of The Divine, Shri Rama!

The one who liberated
Even the blades of grasses
And all the swarms of ants

Leaving none behind
That ever existed
In the Good City of Ayodhya

And placed them in
An exotic heaven
Created exclusively for them
By the Great Grandshire Brahma!

-Nammazhvaar


Ramayanam is Agriculture
Bhagavatham is Harvest
-Me


The twin-syllable, Rama
When a devotee exalts!
The Birth-Death cycle
It permanently halts

Goodness and Wealth
It everyday brings
Sin and poverty
It cleanses and shrinks

-Kambar


Goodness Honesty Sweetness Simplicity
Gentleness Strength Humility Bravery
Valour Talent Prowess Success
Memory Trustworthiness Heroism Genuinity
Such adorable qualities and so much more
By chanting Rama's name you will score!

-Me

My Lord's Story: Goodness Incarnate

Ramayanam in English poetry.

The Supreme Lord of the Universe was once born on this earth as a Human Being, faced challenges and had His share of pain and pleasure going through both good and bad times like any of us. Like any of us He too, took His turn in laughter and cry.

This humility of The Lord, that makes Him come down to earth and share with us our difficulties to show us a way to handle them is what I admire in Him. This quality of Him, makes me surrender to Him unconditionally and makes me want to sing His Glory on and on and on.

My Lord's Story is an out pour of my devotion that seeps out in gratitude for the pains He took to be a lighthouse for us, to cross the ocean of Samsara.

Links to all the posts have been provided in an order on the right side column.


Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Vegetarianism and me


During college days I was a non-vegetarian. I always had strong arguments as to why being a non-vegetarian is not wrong. But then one day my mom, send me to buy chicken. There when I saw the little creature struggle for its life at the hands of the butcher, a thought struck my mind. “Any creature that we eat, pleads us to let go before we kill it. But we ignore it. Why not consider?” I didn’t know. I couldn’t tell why we don’t consider that plea.


When I talked about this to some non-veg lovers, they came up with different arguments.


“Don’t tell you get vegetarian food without killing. Is that not life?”


“It is not about killing. If it is about killing I know I can’t even brush my teeth”


“All creatures are created for human beings and it is our right.”


“May be it’s our right. But what is the compulsion?”


“If eating meat is sin then what kind of vegetables, God created for Lions and Tigers?”


“First of all it is not a question of sin or not sin. It is about considering a poor creature’s plea to live. Second, Lions and Tigers don’t have a choice nor do they have a discriminating ability to reconsider what they are doing.”


Then one of the most wonderful arguments came from one of my close friends.


“If all of us become vegetarians then the eco-system will be affected”


That only makes me laugh even now. The ozone layer has depleted in some parts of the world. So much deforestation has taken place. We are not inhaling the same pristine air that our grand parents inhaled. We have done nothing to improve it. So many wild creatures have become extinct. All these and much worse things have happened because of our irresponsibility. But now my friend is very much bothered about the eco-system.


I understood these things need not be argued nor justified. It is all an individual decision.

So I decided I will be a vegetarian. Not because eating meat is sin. Not because I should restrain myself from killing. Just to give my heart the satisfaction that I am not one of the many persons who ignore a creature’s plea.


15 comments:

jeevagv said...

Here are some resources for arguments:

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1993/07/1993-07-03.shtml

http://www.vegsource.com/how_to_win.htm

ramesh sadasivam said...

Oh.. thank you jeeva...

venuss66 said...

You have your points there. Keep it up.

venuss66 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ramesh sadasivam said...

Thank you venus.

Freddy said...

those were a great set of arguments! kudos to your decision!

ramesh sadasivam said...

Thanks freddy.

monsoon dreams said...

thats a great decision.i appreciate you.i liked the way u presented both sides of the argument and reached youe decision.all the best.

ramesh sadasivam said...

Thanks my friend

lakshmi said...

Hi
I know this is a very belated comment for a post done in July 2008.
These arguments abt veg and non are there forever.
Those who eat nonvegetarian food debate for it and those who dont debate against.
But this coming from someone who happened to be a nonvegetarian .....is something remarkable.............

ramesh sadasivam said...

Hi Lakshmi,
Thank you very much.Belated appreciation is also as encouraging as the timely ones. Thank you.

Niru said...

“First of all it is not a question of sin or not sin. It is about considering a poor creature’s plea to live. Second, Lions and Tigers don’t have a choice nor do they have a discriminating ability to reconsider what they are doing.”

WELL SAID!

ramesh sadasivam said...

Thanks niru!

ME said...

I am a vegetarian by birth. I cannot be anything else. But seeing a non vegetarian become a vegetarian makes me wonder...happy wonder. I think that is a strong decision & a difficult one too.

ramesh sadasivam said...

Thanks. It wasn't difficult but... I was mentally prepared before I quit,