Swami Shivapadananda on eating flesh

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 496

When we practise dharma [righteousness] and pass away, we [re] incarnate and start off again with our strong will. One of the questions Arjuna asked Sri Krishna was, 'Lord, what happens if a yogi goes haywire and falls from the path of dharma? Does he realise God or does he perish?' The Lord said, 'He is born in a good house.' This means that he is born in a Brahmin's house, a sattvic [harmonious, balanced] house where people remember God. There his latent or dormant impressions [samskaras] will wake up. Otherwise, higher than that, he will be born in the family of a yogi where he is directly in contact with the Divine Spark, the Light, the Fire.

Karma does not only imply physical action but also mental action. This goes to make up the sum total of actions [physical and mental] and is also called character. This character either gives us a weak will or a strong will. Why do we do all this? To realise who we are.

Swamiji Talks on Yama and Niyama:

According to Patanjali, the first discipline (yama – the things we should do) is abstinence from harming others – non-violence. 'Others' in this sentence refers to animals as well as mankind. Those people who eat flesh are harming others. I know that some people who have eaten flesh have realised God. That is all right, do not worry about them. But do not think that you will be given a chance by the metaphysical law called karma if you cut up animals and become an accessory to murder. Non-violence [ahimsa] in thought, word and deed makes a man indeed – it makes a yogi indeed. You must bring your mind to such a high moral standing that you will not be able to think about anything which is injurious to others. Because when you injure others you injure yourself first.

Once my guru [Swami Nischalananda Puri] asked me, 'What happened when you knocked your hand with the hammer?' I said, 'I swore at the hammer.' He said, 'You fool, you swore at yourself.' I said, 'How's that?' He said, 'Didn't you say it first in your mind?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'So you swore at yourself first and then you swore at the hammer.'

If you injure others then you injure yourself by bringing yourself low. Try to cultivate the kind of virtue that will not allow you to think about bad things. This must become a habit.

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