'2mn cows smuggled from India every year'

[possumlot]

Umm...Soma is not alcohol. There are many theories on what it is, and I have my own theory, but it is most definitely not alcohol. I just had to point this out in your post because the real Soma has a very interesting history.

Anyway, I'm really not interested in a continued religious quibble. It is a fact that hunting and meat eating were widespread in Vedic and hindu society, and it is a fact that the spread of jainism and buddhism coincided with the spread of vegetarianism. I am perfectly aware of their dietary laws as well, and the fact that Buddhists do eat meat. But my point was that ahimsa was not a central tenet of hinduism (it is for jainism), and that meat eating was not due to hinduism initially.

Now the larger point is this - religious laws do not matter for somebody who chooses not to follow them. Whether I eat beef or meat or not is not influenced by what a religious scripture states. Even if the first sentence of the Rig Veda and all Puranas was "Thou shall not eat beef because verily, cow is the most blessed amond animals" or some such crap, I would still eat my hamburger and fries if I like it.

Neither the vedas, nor the manusmriti nor the quran are part of the Indian penal code. So I will have a beer if I feel like it, I will have a burger if I feel like it.

Soma was an intoxicant and an possibly a hallucinogenic similar to Shamanic Plants used throughout history by various cultures, African or red Indian.

No knowledgeable Hindu will say that ahimsa is a central tenet of Hinduism, especially since both their main maha-purans called the Ramayana and Mahabharat deals with all kinds of violence and prescribes violence to address certain non dharmic activities. (especially when everything else fails)


A hindu is asked by his religion to protect the cows and as such it will fall within his rightful religious duty to attack you or anybody for killing a cow. It is his dharma.


So you can either choose to kill cows and start a riot or ban it and help establish peace and prosperity by sacrificing a unnecessary greed. Or do you wish to push the religious sentiments of the Hindus to pander to your spiteful ego and then find out what they are capable of ???

 

[Spring Onion]

Everyone can eat beef or pork ,infact that is their personal choice and freedom.A few years ago I have also consumed
beef even if I follow Hinduism.But then I avoid it not because of some enlightenment.But because of their treatment of that poor animals.And due to population explosion in subcontinent food items are not that reliable Be it vegetables or meat.
So we shpuld reduce our food consumption.Like that is mentioned in this article meat items should be reduced as maximum as you can.Otherwise worst diseases will infect you.

Some right wingers is attacking meat eaters in here .That is not fair because animal slaughter was a part of old ritual pf Brahmins.

in our part of the world some vegetables are costlier than meat :p

anyway agree with you its personal choice. I dont eat beef/meat/mutton whatever form it is and often everyone end up asking tum hindu ho kia

In India ladies are expected to be ( & found to be) pretty not cows.

in Pakistan even cows are expected to be as pretty as ladies if you dont believe then common Eidul Adha we try to buy the beautiful cow

 

[nair]

Indian cows are not pretty for some reason.

What reason??????

 

[SarthakGanguly]

tum hindu ho kia

Tum hindu ho kya? (expecting answer - rondooo)

 

[nair]

Tum hindu ho kya? (expecting answer - rondooo)

Rondoooo????????

 

[SarthakGanguly]

Rondoooo????????

I don't know the meaning. She keeps saying that.

 

[third eye]

in Pakistan even cows are expected to be as pretty as ladies if you dont believe then common Eidul Adha we try to buy the beautiful cow

Hmm... that explains the comment by the webmaster

I just hope the ' man' of the house can tell the difference between the two !

 

[janon]

No knowledgeable Hindu will say that ahimsa is a central tenet of Hinduism, especially since both their main maha-purans called the Ramayana and Mahabharat deals with all kinds of violence and prescribes violence to address certain non dharmic activities. (especially when everything else fails)

That is precisely what I was pointing out to @Indrani, that sanctimonious defender of hinduism who doesn't know much about hinduism, and calls everybody who disagrees as a "secular". (As if that is mutually exclusive or as if it is insulting.)

Hinduism does not have any central tenets or "foundational principles", and definitely not ahimsa.

Soma was an intoxicant and an possibly a hallucinogenic similar to Shamanic Plants used throughout history by various cultures, African or red Indian.

Unlikely that it was intoxicating (in the sense of alcohol), but very likely that it was a hallucinogenic. Could be related to one of those mushroom varieties, but then agin, maybe not. What we do know from the scriptures is that it used to be found in plenty from Afghanistan to western India at one time, but later got extinct. There are verses in later scriptures lamenting that fact.

Anyway, the possible candidates for Soma is a very interesting thing to investigate, but off topic for this thread. And yes, many native American religions and Siberian shamanic religions used similar plants for similar purposes. (Ayahuasca, Salvia divinorum, fly agaric etc.) There is even a theory that some aspects of Santa Claus originated from such practices of pre chiristian Shamanic practices.

 

[Spring Onion]

Tum hindu ho kya? (expecting answer - rondooo)

Rondoooo????????

The one who is pure vegetarian.

 

[possumlot]

That is precisely what I was pointing out to @Indrani, that sanctimonious defender of hinduism who doesn't know much about hinduism, and calls everybody who disagrees as a "secular". (As if that is mutually exclusive or as if it is insulting.)

Hinduism does not have any central tenets or "foundational principles", and definitely not ahimsa.

Hinduism does have a central tenet. Its central tenet is the upholding of Dharma. For the self and in society.

That is the foundation on which spiritual enlightenment is sought.

 

[janon]

Indian cows are not pretty for some reason.

Do you mean the bovine variety, or the rather voluptous human females who get called "cows"? Either way, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[HariPrasad]

In India, Dalits are treated worse than cows.

Wonder of reeducation camp.

 

[janon]

So you can either choose to kill cows and start a riot or ban it and help establish peace and prosperity by sacrificing a unnecessary greed. Or do you wish to push the religious sentiments of the Hindus to pander to your spiteful ego and then find out what they are capable of ???

That's a false dichotomy. There are plenty of places in India as well as outside, where I can kill cows and eat beef without starting off a riot. Not all hindus are riot prone, as you seem to imply. Go to Mangalore, Goa, Kerala, many parts of Andhra, and you will see hindus and everybody else eating beef. Not to mention all the burgers I've had at McDonalds' in the US. (OK, that last one is not a very wise thing to do, for health reasons.)

 

[DingDong]

Rondoooo????????

Rondoooo = Crybaby.

 

[janon]

I don't know the meaning. She keeps saying that.

I'm curious about that as well. She has applied that epithet on me as well, on many occasions. Not to mention Indians collectively. @Spring Onion aunty/behen/beti, care to clarify what that means?

Hinduism does have a central tenet. Its central tenet is the upholding of Dharma. For the self and in society.

That is the foundation on which spiritual enlightenment is sought.

That's not a "tenet" or dogma, that is a goal.