I don’t know why I am a vegetarian. I was raised at a meatless table, but I was never told to be a vegetarian — my parents raised the subject only to remind that I am free to discard the tradition. And yet, without questioning, I adhered. For neither health reasons nor animal compassion, I simply adhered.
Dietary regulation is a sensitive topic among Hindu college students, because the subject is tangled with guilt. Conversations about the subject cede the higher moral ground to the vegetarians, and within the vegetarians to the vegans, and, within the vegans to the — silly as it sounds — fruititarians. Bitter notions of caste mix with the guilt, adding to our confusion about what binds us to our ancestors. Love your heritage, we all hear, cherish the culture you are from — but at what cost? Are vegetarians adhering to a morality that is no longer relevant here in America?
As usual, I don’t have the answers to these questions. I am severely biased, but regarding dietary restrictions, I respect the vegetarians-by-choice more than people like me, who are vegetarians-by-birth. I find it more worthy of admiration to abstain from something that has been enjoyed, than to abstain from something that one has been conditioned to avoid from birth.
This is a subject that crosses the minds of many first-generation Hindu college students here — I hope to spark more discourse on the subject with more posts in the future.
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2 Comments
I suppose I am a somewhat unique case. I eat every sort of meat possible – though I don’t particularly enjoy fish or lamb – even though I am more religious/spiritual than the average Hindu teenager. Though uncommon, my situation isn’t paradoxical – nowhere in the Hindu scriptures does it say not to eat meat. At the same time, many may argue that it is implied since nonviolence is one of Hinduism’s main tenets.
Somewhat similar to what you said, I do have more admiration for those who consciously choose to be vegetarian for the sake of nonviolence. I find that among college students who blindly follow vegetarianism, some are inadvertently hypocritical. They stay away from meat claiming it to be for religious weekends, but otherwise engage in other immoral activities.
I know it takes a lot of willpower to be vegetarian – but maybe vegetarians should re-evaluate their motive behind it.
It is interesting that Bhishma decries the partaking of meat in the Mahabharata:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b079.htm
…but has already described how meat-eating can satisfy one’s forefathers:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b053.htm
It is indeed confusing!
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