How far do we go?

Question

I'm a vegetarian and I love being one for the sake of my fellow sentient beings. I am also a very spiritual person and in being this way I think about the life of all creatures on earth. I was researching Buddhism and admire their dedication to life and compassion towards sentient beings. But in researching Jainism I came across something, somewhat disturbing to me as a vegetarian. They believe that even eating vegetables can harm life because insects and such are killed when planting vegetables. They hold this belief so strongly that they believe that dying of starvation is the ultimate practice of non-violence. Now I began to see that they have a point so I ask myself and others with similar beliefs, how far do we go since technically it will never be enough?

My question was mainly for the other vegetarians/vegans, for us to reflect on our way of life but I thank you all for your input. And no, not all Jainists are dead, they consider dying of starvation that epitomy of practicing non-violence but not all of them do it. Once again thank you all for your input.

Answer 1

well, think about it like this. every single being on earht has a negative impact on earth, even the insects. so, everyone damages the earth, not usally a lot, but they do. So, as a vegetarian I attempt to harm animals as little as possible, by not eating meat. Eating plants they say harms insects, but not eating beef hurts farmers in some ways right? Yet hurting a farmer is better than killing a defenseless animal, so we don't eat meat even though it has a slight negative impact on someone else. And as for your question, you go as far as you can without killing yourslef (literally) but in order to survive we have to do some damage to the environment, but then we can do positive things to make up for it (plant trees, protest cutting down the rainforest or something like that, anything is fine).

Answer 2

well i am spiritual as well
i was always taught that we cant avoid bad karma
because even fruits and vegetables were once living things
but if you eat them you will receive less bad karma than if you were to eat a pork or any other meat.
yes people do kill insects in order to grow food, but i dont really see how you can get the bad karma from someone elses actions (after all, you didnt kill the insects).

with all this being said, dont kill yourself in order to prevent the inevitable, everyone has received bad karma at once, and you cant prevent it from starving yourself, or else you might get it from comitting suicide.

by the way, are all Jainisms dead?
i mean wouldnt they all be extinct if they starved to death?
i mean there must have only been one generation of them, because it takes 9 months to have a baby, and you cant last a month without food.

Answer 3

I think in the world today, we are a planet struggling against itself. All you can do in this world, is do the best you can. You would have to live on air and water, and there are some people that do. I dont think we are judged so much by the foods we eat as the good we leave behind. Eve ate of the apple "Big No No", and that was a fruit. But I would like to believe that someone like Dianne Fossey, the defender of the Mountain Gorilla, no matter what she ate would be viewed in any religion on earth as a hero of man and beast.

Answer 4

I think that there is a certain point where you have to look out for yourself. If the insects and such knew that they were the cause of people starving, would they stop eating the vegetables? Probably not. Starving for vegetables is not going to help anyone, and the bugs will survive. It's a bit of a survival point of view in my mind.

Answer 5

To even make a connection between veganism and starving oneself is beyond foolish. The two are completely unrelated.

Jainism is thousands of years older than Christianity or Judaism. It is obviously outdated , extreme and is based on the intangible.

Veganism is not extreme and is based on reality and physical subjects.

Any Jain that starves him/herself is trying to escape the cycle of reincarnation to move on to the highest position in the universe. Such a person is inherently extremely selfish and motivated by ego.

Answer 6

food and what we as human beings can consume was put on this earth for us.

it's the way man deals with killing living things that I think turn alot of people off and make them become vegetarians.

I know this sounds twisted but I love meat.......I also love animals..........all kinds. If I ever saw the way they slaughtered animals I would probably never want to eat meat again in my life.

Darlin........ya gotta eat something........don't get all crazy and rapped up in it that you become unhealthy because that's not good and its not right. And if its not right then you shouldn't do it to begin with.

Different cultures ect. believe in lots of different things.
What if some place in the world people thought it was healthy to drink your own urine.....I've heard of people some place doing that. So does that mean your going to start doing that too?

Answer 7

Well, making oneself ill is counterproductive, if you ask me. Some Jains wear masks over their mouths and noses to avoid accidentally ingesting insects! They don't eat leftover food because they believe it harms lifeforms.

Harming tiny insects is almost impossible, as you probably step on them when you walk. You probably accidentally inhale or ingest them. There are some forms of harm you cannot avoid. But you can avoid harming cows, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals by going vegan, which is a lot easier than crouching in a cave to avoid harming animals.

Answer 8

As a sentient being, you must also realize that sentience has a tremendous variety. Even plants have been shown in studies to exhibit sentience!

As a higher level of sentient being, it is your duty to acknowledge other creatures' (or plants') awareness, but then to sacrifice them to your need for food in as respectful a manner as possible.

Whether you believe in God or evolution, you must agree that this earthly ecosystem is very well-designed, with predators, prey, carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.
What you eat or do not eat does not bring Karmic points. But how you treat LIVING beings does.

Answer 9

So basically your saying that every living creatures in the universe should starve themselves to death so as not to harm anything else. Nice logic. Get off the pipe.

Answer 10

thats a little far. you should be practical. helping others realize compassion will do more for sentient beings than starving yourself. i want to live in a way that others can see as beneficial to me and the earth so as to inspire them as well. and if you must starve, starve your desires not your body.