Confused about eating meat

QUESTION:

 

I read in these forums that said eating meat is allowed...i have been a vegetarian since i was 13 . im 21 now. i have always been told by many people who have read the scriptures that it is a sin to eat animals... i dont eat meat nor do i take any intoxicants .  being young i'm confused about a lot of things. may be u were right and i am not . i just wanted to make myself clear and ask for an opinion.

 

ANSWER:

 

Satnaam Veer Ji,

I also spent many years confused about this.  Really it is very simple.  While you are looking for answers to everything on the outside then you are confused.  Look for guidance from the outside, from scriptures, from the Saints and books, but there as many opinions as there are people.  And still god is beyond all of them.   The greatest way we have to test wether something is true or not is to try it.   God resides within our body, our soul.  Learn to listen to your own body then, that is God through nature talking to you.  When i was overridding what my body was saying because i thought i needed to be doing what others were saying in order to please God, I actually was just causing myself more pain and suffering.  It took me along time to realise to listen to my inner Eternal Guru.  And that means listen to your intuition, listen to your body and if you are still fonfused then listen to your outer Sant-Satguru.  Make one Sant-Satguru and then listen to them and put into practise what they say.  That is the only way to get rid of doubts, confusion and illusions. 

Whilst we have many teacher, scriptures, internet sites, books and people of relgious groups bomabrding us with their beliefs, then we will always be confused.  The first step to getting rid of confusion is to come to the Sant-Satguru with your head on the palm of your hand, then dont look back and pay no attention to what others are saying.  "jo tho prem kehelan ka chao sir dhar galee meree ao, ith marag paayr dreejaa, sir deeja khaan na keeja."  ...Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

The greatest thing that ever happened was after 16 years of being confused as amrit-dharee, God blessed me with putting my head on the lotus feet of Dassan Das ji and listening to him since then.  No there is no more confusion, no more doubts and no more illusions.  That is called Gurprasad bharam kaa naas ..by Guru's grace all doubts are dispelled...Guru arjun Dev Ji.

Back to the topic of meat, basically I was meat eater until 18, then vegetarian for next 16 years.  Then i ate loads of meat and realised i was just fulfilling my supressed desires of when i was vegetarian.   Now fitness and health is I realise the most important thng for the body - the carriage needs to be strong so we can do bhagti pain free.  So science of nurtition has more truthful answers about what food is good for us and what is bad, what our body needs and what is bad.  So now what i find is that i am on a healthy diet and meat/eggs/fish play a small part.  but there is no craving, mostly vegetarian and absolutely no confusion.

Baba Ji said that God has given us the right to kill for food and that is how nature is running.  But God has not given us the right to kill for fun, for sport and for cruelty.

On top of that, our tongues can make us slaves of tastes, wether that is meat or vegeatrian foods, so Baba Ji said we have to give up our desires and say to God whatever you give us is good.  "Thoo data datar tera ditaa khaavanaa ...you are the Giver, what you give us we eat." .. Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

So put your head on the feet of your sant-satguru, dont look up in ego, eat what suits you and allows you to be fit and healthy so you can do bhagti.

Kabir Ji was strict vegetarian as was his Guru Ramanand Ji.  But Sheik Farid Ji was a muslim so believed in halal meat.  Guru Nanak Dev ji said it wasa waste of time arguing about meat because it had nothing to do with reaching God and that we shoudl eat what suits our body, bhai gurdaas ji said eat little sleep little - so we shouldnt be lazy and miss doing our naam simran early morning.  Guru Gobind Singh ji wasa warrior Guru and there are many stories of the warrior Sikhs eating meat and living in jungles.  Bhai Gurdas ji writes Guru HarGobind Ji went hunting.  So did Guru Gobind Singh ji and their Sikhs.   

The truth of life and death is that its in God's hands.   We have enough brains nowadays to work out what suits our body or not and wether we are slave to our tastes.  And wether what we are eating is making us lazy or unfit so we miss amritvela and do naam simran.  Its as simple as that.

God bless you.

dust of your feet

Harjit

 

Saved By the Guru from a serious accident

Dearest Satnaam Satsangat Ji,

Wanted to share with you an experience I had today.

I was involved in a three-car very serious accident, involving a few
ambulances, long delays, and high emotions. My car is totalled and am just
a bit banged up, but very grateful for Satnaam Ji's mercy and grace he
bestowed upon us during the frighten ordeal. Many motorists came to
assist and offered nothing but kindness and divine intervention. I was
able to walk away without having to go the hospital and the emergency
crews were able to quickly transport those seriously hurt . This was
difinitely divine grace in action.....Thank you Satnaam Ji

D

===

Satnaam Satguru Satsangat
 
Dear D Ji,

God Bless You always and forever.
 
Gur Meray sang sada ha nalay ...
The Guru is Always and Forever With Me....Guru Arjun Dev Ji.
 
When we have our Guru with us in the form of the Light (Gur-Jyot) that is attached to the word Satnaam, which resides in our heart, then the Guru teaches us that even the hot winds cannot touch us, nor can a single hair on our body be twisted.
 
My Aunt's second husband was attacked by two hitmen hired by her ex-husband.  He was shot 25 times at close range in a stairwell.   He was airlifted by helicopter and survived - it was all over the Californian media as a miracle.  He had bullets going through his head and body at all angles but not one major organ, brain, eye was damaged.  He said while it was going on all he could see in his mind's eye was his living Guru in India.
 
Our Guru helps us more than we can every know.
 
dust of your feet
 
Harjit

Stressed parents 'make kids ill' - so chill out!!

Satnaam Ji,

 

Dandauth Bandhana ji

 

I asked Baba ji once about bringing up the kids once.  He said teach them what is right and wrong and leave the rest upto God.  Remeber they have to live out their own karma regardless of your hopes and wishes for them.   So just try your best and have faith in God f, do your own devotional loving worship of Satnaam (bhagti), and trust that Satnaam Satguru will take care of the kids.  This is very simple advice, but so great too.   Because most of the parents are stressed because they are worried "are my kids getting fat? Are they getting the best schools? Are they good enough at sports?  Are they helping around the house? Are they listening to me? Are they well behaved? Are they religious enought?" And so on.  So many things that cause parents stress about their kids, and also so many other things that cause parents stress as well - making money, paying bills, arguments with their spouse, bad health and so on.

 

Having a negative, stressful mind full of unfulfilled hopes and desires causes strss within the parent.   For all the good wishes of the parents for their children, they only actually end up passing on their stress to the kids.  This makes those kids and parents suffer more emotional , mental and physical illnesses.  The stress is passed onto the children.

 

So Baba Ji's advice is so great, trust in God, do your best, stay relaxed in your own mind and your kids will benefit too.

 

 

Here is an article about this :

 

** Stressed parents 'make kids ill' **

Parents with stressful lives may be making their children as well as themselves vulnerable to illness, research suggests.

< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/health/7302955.stm >

 

dust of your feet

 

Harjit

Prayer by Yogi Bhajan Ji

May your words have projective power, may your face shine like the moon, may your body radiate like the sun, may your brightness be acknowledged by those whom you touch, feel, speak to and befriend. May you learn all the faculties of God– totality, reality, infinity, kindness and compassion. May your prosperity shine through you to serve those who are in need and may you extend your hand of friendship to those who are lonely. May your essence flow, may you be recognized by your best qualities, wonderful manners and your livelihood. May this day bring you all these blessings plus more, so that you can live healthy, happy and holy. May your nine holes be under your control. And may you give your heart to that one who is like God to you, so you can find your infinity forever. Sat Nam.

 

 

http://ybc40.com/ybc40blog/

content of your character

satnaam ji - dandauth bandhana ji

 

What's more important?  Looking like a good person or being a good person? 

 

Once my student friend was stuggling with debt at University.  I was working at the time.

 

It was his own fault really, he said he was Amritdhari (initated Sikh) when he went to Uni. When he got there he started a Sikh Students society.

But instead of making others like him, he became like them.  He spent most of his money on his girlfriend and now couldn't even pay his rent.

When he told me his story, I really believed he had learnt his lesson.  He wanted a loan and even though £2000 was a lot of money for me at the time, I thought well firstly he is a Sikh brother, secondly he made a mistake and has learnt his lesson, and thirdly he has promised to pay me back within a year of starting to work. But one of my friends told me he had once lent this Sikh brother some £35 and had got nothing back except excuses.  I thought, no, I can see he has learnt his lesson and will keep his word.  He is doing his prayers again and leaving his bad ways.

 

A couple of years later when he was earning lots of money with a top IT company, getting sent all around the world for training and so on, I thought he can afford to repay the loan now.  That's when I encountered excuse after excuse after excuse.  I think for about one year I tried to keep reminding him of his word, but he would always say he would pay.  He did repay a little bit and then stopped again.   By this time I had also become a more worldy-greedy person, less generous and thought I needed the money back as I had my own bills to pay.   So I was getting more and more frustrated and angry with him as he avoided payment.  

 

The final straw came when I received an email from his new email address, in which he had changed his surname to  KHALSA.   I asked him to think about whether he really was a KHALSA?  Was he pure of mind and soul?  Did his actions match up to his name and his religious uniform that he wore with great pride at religious programmes?   He got offended by my reply and used it as an excuse to break off contact with me.

 

I found the thought of getting MY MONEY back from him was consuming my mind.  That even when I got up early to meditate, these thoughts would disturb me.   On top of which my family would tell me that I had got used, that I should go around his house and demand the money back.  

 

What helped me so much was Baba Ji's wisdom.  That the three things which most people's mind's cannot break out of are:

 

MY MONEY

MY FAMILY 

MY REPUTATION. 

 

So with Baba Ji's kindness, I let it go.  It wasn't MY MONEY anyway, money comes and money goes.  The Divine wisdom set my mind free, I left justice to KARMA.   I got peace and was able to move on with my meditation.   I asked Baba Ji about this once.  He told me that money does come and go, money is not a big deal.  But he also said that KARMA is a big deal. So if the other person SAID they would repay the loan, then if they dont do it in this lifetime, they WILL be reborn again and again until the debt is cleared.  That is how KARMA works.  Everything, given and taken,  has to be balanced out before we can go to God.

 

So a few years went by and I got a phone call from him again, "O I've been trying to track you down, I owe you some money, I want to repay it."    I recognised the same tone of deceit again and told him, "You can do what you want but I have let it go."     I never received the money ..as expected.

 

So what is this email all about?

 

Martin Luther King said, "Dont judge a person by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."

 

I gave the Sikh brother the respect of a Khalsa because he dressed like one and appeared repentent for his mistakes, I overruled the fact I knew about his character that he did not repay my friend even a small amount.   But really, we need to look at the content of our own character and see what we truly are.  Not to keep deluding ourselves that we are something because of the name and image we have created around us.  Do we keep our word?  How can we possibly attain to the Supreme Truth by following the Divine Words of gurbani, when we dont even honour the words that come out of our own mouth?  How can we be called Khalsa when we have no truthfulness in our character?

 

But does having a good character in this world have any value to anyone?  When money is the mark of success, then making money by any means necessary is ok.  My friend said was on a 3 month contract, he worked hard and honestly and finished the job in 2 months, he even turned down a job offer from another company which would have started after his current job finished.  He thought his employer would have valued his honesty and character and renewed his contract and kept him longer.  She didn't. He did the job early she terminated his contract.  His wife said to him, "You are too honest."

 

What will he do next time, do a slow job, betray his employer, go to the highest bidder, became a slave to money?  He sounded like he would.  Why?  Because there is no financial gain in having a good character, of keeping your word, of being honest and truthful.

 

So if you have made your god money, then say goodbye to character.

 

If you made Truth your God, then the content of your character and keeping your word is paramount, and trust God will give you everything you need.

 

And the word of the saint is so full of Truth, that whatever they say become true here and hereafter.  Meaning even God honours the word of the saint.

"nanak das mukh te jo bolay , eehaa oohaa sach hovaay." ...Nanak : whatever God's Servant speaks from his mouth, that becomes true here and hereafter...Guru Arjun Dev Ji.

 

So forget about your image, your family, your wealth, your relgious pride and ask within, "what is the content of my character?"

 

 

dust of your feet

 

 

Harjit