{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4580", "width": "2908", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "Hollinger Corp.\\npH 8.5", "height": "4189", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "133\\nA2 W56\\nopy 1\\nCOND COPY,\\nCOPIES RECEIVED,\\nVEDANTA PHILOSOPHY\\nLECTURE BY\\nSWAMI ABHEDANANDA\\nWHY A HINDD IS A YEGETARIAN\\nDelivered before The Vegetarian Society, New York,\\nMarch 22, 1898.\\nPublished by the Vedanta Society\\nNEW YORK\\nPRICE 10 CENTS\\nCopyright, 1900, by Swami Abhedananda, new york", "height": "4628", "width": "2924", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "58832", "height": "4189", "width": "2624", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "w*\\nWho can be more cruel and selfish than he who increases the flesh of his\\nbody by eating the flesh of innocent animals. Mahabharata.\\nThose who desire to possess good memory, beauty, long 1 life with perfect\\nhealth, and physical, moral and spiritual strength, should abstain from animal\\nfood. Ibid.\\nHighest virtue consists in the non-killing of animals. Ibid.\\nWHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN.\\nEminent physicians and dietetic reformers of the\\npresent day are deeply interested in solving the great\\nproblem of wholesome food for human beings, and in\\nintroducing food reform in Western countries.\\nThrough their efforts thoughtful Americans are be-\\nginning to know something of the healthful effects of\\nvegetarian diet, and to question whether they shall\\nbecome vegetarians. This question has never been\\ndiscussed in the West with so much earnestness as\\nnow. Among the ancient Greek philosophers we find\\nstrong advocates of vegetarianism in Pythagoras,\\nPlato, Socrates, Seneca, Plutarch, Tertullian, Por-\\nphyry and others; but the vast majority of Western\\npeople regard vegetarians with contempt and ridicule.\\nIn India this problem was solved by the Hindu phi-\\nlosophers long before Pythagoras was born, and in\\ntheir writings we find logical and scientific arguments\\nagainst the killing of animals and the eating of animal\\nflesh. Many historians and Oriental scholars are of\\nopinion that Pythagoras owed his ideas regarding", "height": "4538", "width": "2813", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "2 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\na vegetable diet to the Hindu philosophers, who from\\nprehistoric times had advocated and practised a strictly\\nvegetarian diet.\\nIndia is the only country in the world where vege-\\ntarianism has prevailed for centuries among the vast\\nmajority of people. The Hindus were the first nation\\nin the world who understood the fundamental prin-\\nciples of the vegetarian theory. It was from the\\nHindus that other nations, such as the Chinese, Jap-\\nanese, Thibetans, Siamese, Burmese, Ceylonese and\\nPersians became impressed with the idea that the\\nslaughter of animals for food is cruel, inhuman and\\nwicked. The greatest thinkers and sages of ancient\\nIndia gave arguments in support of vegetarianism\\nfrom different standpoints, such as physical health;\\nthe physiological structure of our organs; the chemi-\\ncal analysis of food; and the moral and spiritual ideals\\nof life. Native doctors and physicians in India do not\\napprove of animal food and agree generally with\\nmany Western doctors that animal flesh is one of the\\nmain causes of such diseases as dyspepsia, gout, con-\\nsumption and nervous disorders. Hindu physicians\\nargue that animals fattened for slaughter are more or\\nless diseased on account of their unnatural mode of\\nliving and the unnatural food which they are forced\\nto eat; that the germs of various diseases are intro-\\nduced into the human system and that parasites come\\ninto the human body through the medium of animal\\nflesh. They further assert that all flesh, being a prod-\\nuct of nutrition, contains some refuse matter and im-\\npurity, because their elimination is suddenly arrested", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 3\\nby the slaughter of the animal. Some of these refuse\\nmaterials are intensely poisonous, especially creatin.\\nAnimal flesh enriches the blood with unnecessary\\n-fibrin, and this produces unnatural heat in the system\\nand in turn is the cause of unusual activity and rest-\\nlessness, ultimately leading to the nervous debility\\nwhich afflicts many meat eaters. Constant use of meat\\nincreases the action of the heart and brings premature\\nloss of vital forces. Physiologists and comparative\\nanatomists like Sir Everard Home have shown from\\nthe structure of the teeth, stomach, alimentary canal,\\nthe microscopic human blood-corpuscles and the di-\\ngestive processes that man is by nature more related\\nto frugivorous animals than to the carnivora.\\nFrom the chemical analysis of different vegetables,\\ncereals, fruits, nuts, etc., and the flesh of different\\nanimals, and from the comparison of the constituent\\nproperties of vegetables with those of animal flesh, it\\ncan be shown that everything necessary for the growth\\nof the muscles, for the strength of the nerves, and for\\nthe nourishment of the whole body can easily be ob-\\ntained from the vegetable kingdom. As from animal\\nfood are obtained the proteids, fats and mineral matter, j\\nwhich are the principal factors in the nourishment\\nand healthy growth of the body, so from the vegetable\\nworld these elements are supplied in rich abundance,\\nand in addition to these the carbohydrates (starch and\\nsugar), which cannot be found in animal food. This\\nbeing the fact the question arises, why do we eat ani-\\nmal flesh Is it for nourishment No. The same\\nnourishment can be obtained from vegetables, cereals", "height": "4538", "width": "2813", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "4 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nand pulses. Is it for health that we eat meat No\\nbecause vegetarians as a class are healthier than the\\nmajority of meat eaters. Why, then, is meat eaten\\nBecause of the habit transmitted from generation to\\ngeneration, and because of superstition, prejudice and\\nignorance.\\nIn ancient times when agriculture was unknown,\\n/people lived upon fruits, nuts and other vegetable\\nproducts which they found in abundance. But when\\n1 the struggle for existence, which is so strongly mani-\\nfested in the animal kingdom, became more difficult\\non account of the scarcity of fruits and nuts, they lived\\nupon whatever they found around them. In that\\nstruggle the question of existence must precede the\\nquestion of food. The savage tribes who do not know\\nanything about agriculture and have not proper fruits\\nand nuts, live chiefly upon wild animals, birds, reptiles\\nand insects. Thus began the eating of flesh by man.\\nSome people argue that flesh is the natural food of\\nman, but this is not so. The meat-eating habit was\\nformed through the force of necessity, and was handed\\ndown from father to son. Most people in civilized\\ncountries learn to live on animal flesh from their in-\\nfancy, their parents teaching them by their example.\\nThey thus grow to think that they can hardly live\\nwithout a diet of animal flesh. Some savage tribes\\nbecame cannibals when they could not procure enough\\nmeat of wild animals. Shall the habits of cannibals\\nsignify that human flesh is the natural food of man\\nIn Australia the aborigines live on loathsome worms\\nand reptiles. In India there is a class of aboriginal", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 5\\nhill-tribes who eat poisonous snakes with great relish.\\nShall we say that these are the natural food for man\\nA man can eat anything with the help of cookery. But\\nshall it be considered that man is naturally as om-\\nnivorous as a pig The cows at Cape Cod eat the\\nrefuse of fish; horses can be taught to eat beef; bears\\ncan be trained to smoke tobacco monkeys easily\\nlearn to drink tea, coffee and wine. Will such arti-\\nficially acquired habits supply the arguments for man s\\neating flesh Certainly not. The natural food of\\nman is not animal flesh, but vegetables, fruits, nuts,\\ncereals, etc., which grow spontaneously on this earth.\\nWhen Hindu boys and girls go to school and read\\ntheir first lessons they learn the highest humanitarian\\nprinciples, and as they grow older they are kind tow-\\nard all living creatures. They are taught: Be kind\\nto lower animals. Do not kill them for your food,\\nbecause the natural food of man is not an animal.\\nI learned in the first book of Sanskrit: When enough\\nof nourishment can easily be obtained from that which\\ngrows spontaneously on the earth, who will commit\\nsuch a great sin as to kill animals for filling his\\nstomach and deriving a little pleasure of taste\\nCompare the eater with the animal that is eaten. The\\none has pleasure which lasts for a few seconds, and the\\nother is deprived of all the pleasures of life. Seneca\\nexpressed a similar idea when he said u Vegetables\\nare sufficient food for the stomach into which we now\\nstuff valuable lives.\\nIt is extremely difficult for people in the West to\\nrealize why it is sinful to kill animals for food or for", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\npleasure. Their religion stands like a great stumbling-\\nblock in the way of their understanding. It teaches\\nthat the lower animals have no soul, no mind, no feel-\\nings that they have been created for the food of hu-\\nman beings, and the duty of man is to eat what the\\nmerciful Lord has created for his sustenance and thank\\nHim in return. This is the reason that so many ani-\\nmals are killed for Thanksgiving and Christmas days\\nin Christian countries, as though the merciful Lord\\nwould not accept prayers unless some of His creatures\\nare killed and eaten. A minister of a high church in\\nLondon was present when I was talking about vege-\\ntarianism, and said to my friend Do not listen to\\nthese ideas; our Scriptures say they are the doctrine\\nof devils, referring to the passage in the New Testa-\\nment, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in\\nthe latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving\\nheed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils\\ncommanding to abstain from meats, which God hath\\ncreated to be received with thanksgiving of them\\nwhich believe and know the truth. For every crea-\\nture of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it\\nbe received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by\\nthe word of God and prayer (I. Timothy, iv, I, 3,\\n4, 5). How is it possible for people who believe in\\nsuch sayings as the word of God to think that the\\nkilling of animals for food is sinful? As it is impossi-\\nble for a Christian believer in this teaching to think\\nthat the slaughter of animals for food is sinful, so it is\\nimpossible for a Hindu to believe that the lower ani-\\nmals are created for this use bv a merciful Lord. The", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 7\\nidea that animals were created for food for man is en-\\ntirely Semitic in its origin. Such a doctrine is horrible\\nto the Hindus, because their religion does not teach\\nthat this world was created out of nothing by an extra-\\ncosmic personal God sitting on a throne somewhere\\nin the heavens and commanding men to eat animals\\nwhom He created for this purpose.\\nThe Hindu religion with all its various phases, such\\nas the religion of the Vedas (which is erroneously\\ncalled Brahminism), Buddhism and Jainism, is based\\nupon the one fundamental principle, the evolution of\\nman from lower animals. It teaches that one life\\nprinciple is manifesting in various forms of the min-\\neral, vegetable and animal kingdoms; that all are linked\\ntogether by a mighty chain of evolution and that from\\nthe minutest protoplasm to the highest man, each\\nstage of life differs from another not in kind, but in\\ndegree. The religion of the Hindus denies entirely\\nthat the lower animals are without mind, soul and\\nfeeling; and teaches that life and mind are manifested\\nsimultaneously. Wherever there is life there is the\\nmanifestation of the cosmic mind, the difference being\\nin the degree of manifestation. The least expression\\nis in the mineral, it is a little higher in the vegetable,\\nand still higher in the animal kingdom. Even a uni-\\ncellular amoeba has mind. It feels pain and tries to\\navoid that sensation. Advanced scientists of modern\\ntimes do not deny this. Prof. Le Conte expresses\\nthis idea most forcibly in some of his lectures. As we\\nrise in the animal kingdom we find the expression of\\nthe same life and mind in and through highly de-", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "8 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nveloped animal bodies; and ultimately, through the\\nmost individualized and complex organism of the hu-\\nman body. Each one of these animals possesses a\\nsoul, has individuality and the sense of I, can feel\\npleasure and pain, has fear of death and struggles to\\nlive. The germ of life in each one of these will gradu-\\nally pass through the various stages of evolution and\\nultimately appear in a human form. Therefore, the\\nreligion, philosophy and Scriptures of the Hindus\\nteach that as life is dear to us, so is it dear to the\\nlower animals as we do not wish to be killed, so they\\ntoo shrink from death. Do not kill any animal for\\npleasure, see harmony in nature and lend a helping\\nhand to all living creatures, say the Hindu Scriptures.\\nThe earliest writings of the Hindus, I mean the Vedas,\\nteach Ma himsyat sarva bhutani, that is, Do not\\nkill any living creature either for food or for pleas-\\nure.\\nThe great epic of the Hindus, the Ramayana, or the\\nexploits of Rama, teaches that we should treat lower\\nanimals as our brothers, and describes their value in\\nthe economy of nature in the most poetic and dra-\\nmatic way. It is said that Rama, the great Incarnation\\nof God in flesh and blood on earth, fought with the\\nking of demons in order to rescue Sita, his devoted\\nwife, who was captured by the demoniac King of\\nCeylon. His huge army consisted of all kinds of ani-\\nmals. The ape, Hanuman, the greatest of organized\\nlife beneath man in the scale of evolution, was the com-\\nmander-in-chief. The bear is described as the prime\\nminister, and other animals as soldiers. The whole", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 9\\nstory is written in such a masterly manner that who-\\never reads it can never be unkind or cruel to any ani-\\nmal, not to speak of killing it for food.\\nWestern people have the mistaken impression that\\nBuddha was the reformer who introduced vegetarian-\\nism amongst the Hindus. This is an error. Buddha\\nmerely popularized the doctrine of non-killing taught\\nby the Vedas, which was practised at that time by\\nonly a limited class of Hindu sages he also protested\\nagainst animal sacrifices performed by the priests.\\nThe priests sacrificed animals not for the purpose of\\neating flesh, but for propitiating the Devas or bright\\nspirits, through whose mercy they thought they would\\ngain higher powers and conquer their enemies.\\nSome people say that in the economy of nature the\\nstruggle for existence demands that one animal shall\\nlive upon another,, as birds of prey live upon other\\nbirds, as carnivora live upon other animals; and that\\nwe are therefore perfectly justified to live upon ani-\\nmal flesh. It is true that in nature we find the ex-\\npression of such a law. It is a law that governs the\\nlower animal nature. We may call it a brutal law r\\nBut there are other laws which govern our better na-\\nture. These are moral and spiritual laws which do\\nnot express themselves in low T er animals but in human\\nbeings alone. If we do not recognize these higher\\nlaws we shall never rise above the animal plane. Man\\nstands at the head of the animal kingdom not because\\nhe possesses in a highly developed form the same\\nqualities that the lower animals have, but because\\nhe is capable of subduing the animal nature by the", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "IO VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nmoral and spiritual. A man lacking this moral and\\nspiritual nature is in no way better than the lowest\\norder of brutes. Human beings have the power of\\ndegrading themselves to the lowest animal plane as\\nwell as of raising themselves to the highest plane of\\nspiritual enlightenment. They can manifest per-\\nfectly their divine nature. In short, they can live on\\nearth as embodiments of all good. The same human\\nbeing may carry destruction, havoc, disharmony, and\\ninhuman cruelty wherever he goes, or he may bring\\nhelp, good-will, peace, love and blessings. The same\\nenergy when guided by animal nature creates havoc\\nand becomes diabolical when directed by higher na-\\nture and love it brings happiness to all.\\nThink of the moral degeneration of the slaughter-\\nhouse butchers. The continuous contact with\\nslaughter blunts their higher feelings and at last makes\\nthem brutal. They do not hesitate to drive the\\nsame knives with which they kill helpless beasts into\\nthe hearts of their fellow-men. Chicago has the larg-\\nest slaughter-houses in the world. Many thousands\\nof animals are killed there every month by trained\\nbutchers. Most of the murderers in Chicago come\\nfrom the butcher class. Who is responsible for their\\nmoral degeneration and for the crimes committed by\\nthem Do the meat eaters ever think of this phase\\nof flesh eating They neither like to hear such facts\\nnor to think of them, because it shocks their sensi-\\ntive feelings. They want to close their eyes and ears\\nto such sights and sounds. But the truth is that\\nmeat eaters are responsible. They are indirectly the", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. II\\ncauses of all the wicked deeds done by those butchers\\nthey are the causes of their moral degeneration. If\\nthere be no meat eater, there will be no butcher. A\\nrefined woman would shudder at seeing a red-handed\\nbutcher, but she should remember that she must\\nshare the responsibility of brutalizing and degrading\\nhim. If she killed the animals by her own hands, for\\nher own food, it would be better, for this would save\\nanother from becoming an inhuman slayer for her. In\\nevery country butchers are considered as heartless and\\nfeelingless. In India they are debarred from the so-\\nciety of gentlemen, and the Hindus think that there is\\nno stronger curse than to call a man a butcher. In the\\nUnited States in some commonwealths no man con-\\nnected with this trade is allowed to sit in a jury for try-\\ning a murder case, because it is recognized that the\\nmind, feelings and whole moral nature become blunted\\nby association with the slaughter of animals. If the\\nprocess of furnishing flesh from the slaughter-house to\\nthe kitchen were remembered w T hen sitting at table\\nwith a savory piece of steak before them, I dare say\\ntwo-thirds of the meat eaters w T ho have any feeling at\\nall would give up meat eating without delay. A young\\nAmerican of my acquaintance who visited the\\nslaughter-houses in Chicago was so deeply impressed\\nby the brutality, cruelty and inhuman atmosphere of\\nthe place that he never touched any meat from that\\nday. No individual who eats animal flesh can avoid\\nmoral responsibility. He must necessarily take a share\\nin the cause of the moral degeneration of his breth-\\nren.", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "12 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY,\\nVarious objections have been raised by meat eaters\\nagainst vegetarianism. Some say if animals are not\\nused for food they will overrun the earth. The same ar-\\ngument applies to animals which are not eaten, such as\\nhorses, donkeys, dogs, cats and rats, as to sheep, cat-\\ntle, pigs and poultry. In India the Hindus do not kill\\ncows, but they are not overrun by them. The Hindus\\ndid not have any slaughter-houses until the British\\nGovernment established them. In the states that are\\nstill governed by the Hindu Rajas the wild animals\\nand birds are protected by strict laws. But these\\nstates are not overrun by wild animals, nor are the\\ninhabitants driven out by them.\\nAn American who recently made a short visit to\\nIndia, Dr. J. H. Barrows, formerly of Chicago, said\\nin a lecture in New York that he saw in the streets of\\nBenares some oxen lean and poor as compared with\\nthose which are fattened for the Chicago slaughter-\\nhouses. His heart melted with kindness and pity at\\nthe sight, and he said it is much more kind to kill cattle\\nfor food than to allow them to live half-fed or ill-fed.\\nWhat a curious notion of kindness is this Dr. Bar-\\nrows also said that if we do not eat fish the seas and\\noceans will soon become a solid mass of fish. Any ef-\\nforts of man to keep down the number of fishes would\\nbe vain without the operation of nature s laws, which\\nregulate production and preserve a proper ratio. But\\nthis sort of statement and argument is not uncom-\\nmon from friends of the flesh-eating habit. Others\\nhold that unless they eat animal flesh they will be weak\\nand useless for work and will lack bravery and cour-", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 13\\nage. This is a great mistake. You have heard of the\\nHindu Sikh soldiers in India, who are the bravest and\\nstrongest fighters in the British army. They never\\nturn their back to an enemy in the battle-field. One\\nSikh soldier can stand against three beef-eaters in\\nhand-to-hand fight. But these soldiers never touch\\nmeat, nor fish, never drink wine, nor smoke tobacco.\\nThey are strict vegetarians. Millions of Scotchmen\\nhave become healthy, strong, hardy and intellectual\\nwhile living on oatmeal. In a running race of seven\\nathletes in Germany, amongst whom there was one\\nvegetarian, it was shown that a vegetarian can win\\nover meat eaters even in athletic sports. A vege-\\ntarian diet gives great endurance and makes one even-\\ntempered. People generally mistake a ferocious, rest-\\nless and rash temper for courage and strength. These\\nsay that a tiger or a wolf is stronger than a horse, a\\nbuffalo or an elephant. They make ferocious nature\\nthe standard of strength. It is true that a tiger can\\nkill a horse, but has he the muscular strength which\\nenables a horse to draw a heavy load a long distance\\nA tiger can kill an elephant, but can he lift a cannon\\nweighing hundreds of pounds Ferocity is one thing\\nand muscular strength is another; we ought to dis-\\ntinguish the one from the other. The source of strength\\nlies in the vegetable kingdom and not in flesh and\\nblood. If flesh eating be the condition of physical\\nstrength, why do meat eaters prefer the flesh of\\nherbivorous animals and not that of the carnivora\\nSome meat eaters say that animal flesh has a large\\nquantity of vegetable energy concentrated in a small", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "14 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\ncompass. If that be their reason for the meat-eating\\nhabit, they ought to live on the flesh of carnivorous\\nanimals and birds, such as tigers, wolves, vultures and\\nhawks.\\nAs in the animal kingdom the carnivora are more\\nrestless than the herbivora, so amongst men we find\\nthat meat eaters are more restless and less self-con-\\ntrolled than vegetarians. As a peaceful, well-poised\\nand self-controlled nature is the first sign of spiritual\\nprogress, it is plain that animal food is not the most\\nhelpful diet for spiritual development. It is for this\\nreason that meat eaters find it so difficult to concen-\\ntrate their minds on one particular object. It is impos-\\nsible for them to meditate on their spiritual and divine\\nnature. Therefore the Hindus, who understand the\\nsecret of spirituality, object to meat eating. The Hin-\\ndus who devote their whole life and mental energy to\\nthe attainment of spiritual perfection are called Yogis.\\nAccording to them the non-killing of animals is one\\nof the conditions of spiritual progress, and killing any\\nanimal, either for food or pleasure, is a great stum-\\nbling-block in the path of spirituality. Again, they\\nclassify the killing or injuring of animals in three divi-\\nsions, committed, caused, and approved of.\\nFor instance, I may kill an animal myself this will be,\\naccording to the Yogis, committed. Secondly, I\\nmay cause another to kill and thirdly, I may approve\\nof the killing committed by another person, as by buy-\\ning the flesh from a butcher. According to a Yogi,\\nhe who wishes to practise non-killing must not kill;\\nmust not cause another to kill; and must not approve", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 15\\nof the killing done by another. When this non-killing\\nor non-injuring is perfectly established in a Yogi, he\\nreceives injury from none, not even from tigers nor\\nfrom snakes. Tigers and snakes injure us because we\\nhave the feeling of injuring them. In fact the Yogis\\nin India have carried the golden rule to its extreme\\nand applied it to lower animals even, thus succeeding\\nin making it a universal law. In the presence of Yogis\\nferocious animals become peaceful and render them\\ngreat service. Such a state is idealized in the images\\nand pictures of the greatest men and women Yogis in\\nancient India. The great Yogi Siva has most venom-\\nous snakes as ornaments on his neck, head and body.\\nThe great woman Yogi Durga stands on the back of\\nferocious tigers and lions. Truly speaking such Yogis\\nhave no enemies in the world.\\nAnother reason why a spiritually advanced Hindu\\ndoes not like meat, is that eating flesh and drinking\\nwine go hand in hand. It is a well-known fact that\\nmany people acquire the habit of drunkenness in try-\\ning to digest animal food with the help of liquors and\\nas drinking leads to all sorts of other vices, a Hindu\\nbelieves that one can most easily be free from those\\nvices by being a vegetarian. The Hindus are strongly\\nopposed to drinking wines or liquors. If a high-caste\\nHindu gentleman should go to a saloon or should\\ndrink publicly, he would lose caste. Hindu women\\ndo not touch wine. In Hindu society no one can find\\na drunken woman, as one finds in the streets of cities\\nin Western countries. The Hindus allowed no saloon\\nin large cities; but now, under the demoralizing in-", "height": "4516", "width": "2881", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "1 6 VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nfluence of the liquor trade of the British Government,\\none finds hundreds of saloons in some cities. Hindus\\ncannot understand how a civilized nation can approve\\nof liquor trade and opium trade; can seek to demoral-\\nize sober people by opening saloons in villages, and\\ninducing the poor laboring classes to acquire habits\\nof drunkenness by offering them strong liquors at no\\ncost. Many people have asked me again and again\\nwhether the Hindus have become more moral under\\nthe British rule. They would not ask such questions if\\nthey knew the demoralizing effects of liquor trade and\\nopium trade in India, and also if they remembered that\\nwherever a Christian missionary goes, a bottle of\\nbrandy or whiskey soon follows him. The vegetarian\\nHindus do not touch wine, even in the form of a medi-\\ncine.\\nLastly, a Hindu is a vegetarian from the standpoint\\nof love. Love means the expression of oneness. The\\nHindus love lower animals because of oneness. Their\\nideal is to realize that one spiritual Being is manifest-\\ning through all living creatures. The divine Spirit\\nwhich is dwelling within us and illuminating our inner\\nnature with the light of intelligence and conscious-\\nness is also dwelling in lower animals. Their ideal is\\nnot a vague, indefinite and meaningless word, such as\\nbrotherhood. They wish to realize that we are one\\nin Spirit with the lower animals, one with every living\\ncreature. Their religion teaches Love every living\\ncreature as thy Self, because the same Self or Spirit\\nis in all. Realize the Self or Spirit within you; then\\nyou shall be able to see the same Spirit everywhere.", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "WHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN. 1 7\\nHe who realizes the one universal Spirit everywhere,\\ncannot kill Spirit by Spirit/ He becomes truly unsel-\\nfish. He is ever ready to help all. Whenever we kill any\\nanimal tor our food or pleasure we are selfish. It is on\\naccount of extreme selfishness that we do not recog-\\nnize the rights of other animals and that we try to\\nnot ish, nay, even to amuse ourselves, by killing in-\\nnocent creatures or by injuring them, or by depriving\\nthem of their rights. This kind of selfishness is the\\nmother of all evil thoughts and wicked deeds. That\\nwhich makes us selfish and helps us to cling to our\\nlower self is degrading and wicked; that which leads\\nus towards unselfishness is elevating and virtuous.\\nThat which prevents us from realizing the oneness of\\nSpirit is wrong; that which opens our spiritual eyes\\nand helps us to see that Divinity is expressing itself\\nthrough the forms of lower animals, and makes us\\nlove them as we love our own Self, is godly and\\ndivine.\\nEvery kind of food which we take into our bodies\\nproduces changes in our system, both physical and\\nmental. Those who have carefully examined the\\nchanges that are produced in their minds by meat diet\\nand who have struggled for self-control, will find it\\nextremely difficult to govern animal passions, violent\\nnature and restless condition of mind without giving\\nup animal food. Thus, looking at the food question\\nfrom various standpoints, a Hindu is a vegetarian and\\ncannot advocate the eating of animal flesh.", "height": "4425", "width": "2806", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS A\\nniiiipiiiiiiiniiii*\\n029 81Q 71^ 3\\nPUBLICATIONS OF THE VEDAi^xT JLjIJ* l0\\nLECTURES BY SWAMI VIVEKANANDA:\\nTHE IDEAL OF A UNIVERSAL RELIGION.\\nTHE COSMOS.\\nTHE ATMAN.\\nTHE REAL AND APPARENT MAN.\\nBHAKTI YOGA.\\nWORLD S FAIR ADDRESSES, io cents each; i cent each for postage.\\nTHE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY.\\nA\\nLONDON ADDRESSES ON VEDANTA, 15 cents each; 1 cent each for\\npostage.\\nKARMA YOGA (8 Lectures), bound, 50 cents; 4 cents postage.\\nRAJA YOGA, new edition, 376 pages, bound, $1.50; 11 cents postage\\nLECTURES BY SWAMI ABHEDANANDA:\\nTHE MOTHERHOOD OF GOD.\\nTHE RELATION OF SOUL TO GOD.\\nCOSMIC EVOLUTION AND ITS PURPOSE.\\nTHE PHILOSOPHY OF GOOD AND EVIL.\\nTHE WAY TO THE BLESSED LIFE.\\nWHY A HINDU IS A VEGETARIAN, 10 cents each; 1 cent each for\\npostage.\\nREINCARNATION (3 lectures), 25 cents.\\nOther lectures by Swami Abhedananda will be published during the season\\nof 1899-1900.\\nPERIODICALS\\nAWAKENED INDIA, monthly, $1.00 a year.\\nTHE BRAHMAVADIN, fortnightly, $2.00 a year.\\nThese magazines are published^ India, and contain articles and lectures by\\nthe Swamis.\\nOrders received and filled promptly by the\\nCORRESPONDING SECRETARY\\nOF THE VEDANTA SOCIETY.", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "Hollinger Corp.\\npH 8.5", "height": "4425", "width": "2806", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS\\n029 819 713 3", "height": "4424", "width": "2920", "jp2-path": "vedntaphilosop00abh_0024.jp2"}}