Swami's Words on Food

August 8, 2009

Sai Ram Dear Sis Hetal I read your email on Shridi Baba's Philosophy on Food. I wanted to reply earlier but could not find time to do so.However your article has been on my mind and I feel that its important that I respond to it. I'm aware that thousands of Sai Brothers and sisters are linked to this site, so its important to clarify.What the saints and sages did in the past thatis not our concern, anyway we were not even around to verify if that is so. Whether one can gain Enlightenment being a Vegetarian or not is not the issue here.In fact would you not agree that an Enlightened Soul would not partake in food of violence [where pain has been incurred.] The point I'm would like to highlight here is :Our current Master Lord Of All The Universe Sathya Sai Baba has made it explicitly clear in regards to the eating of FLESH.On 28th July 2002 in a personal interview Swami gave me His Blessings and Approval to speak to Sai Devotees on the subject of Vegetarianism and since then I have been doing so therefore I feel that I'm only doing my duty and what is expected of me.To put things in perspective so that all will be clear and if you have any doubts before, hopefully this will help remove your doubts and help you see things clearly.. These are the words of Our Dearest Lord Sri Sathya Sai BabaThis is taken from Sanathana Sarathi December 1994 p315"Today, let it be anyone,whether one deems himself a devotee or not, he should give up meat eating. Why? Meat eating promotes only animal qualities. it has been well said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. by eating the flesh of various animals, the qualities of these animals are imbibed. How sinful is it to feed on animals, which are substained by the same five elements as human beings! This leads to demonic tendencies, besides committing the sin of inflicting cruelty on animals. Hence, those who genuinely seek to become devotees of God have to give up non-vegetarian food. Calling themselves Sai devotees or devotees of Rama and Krishna, they fatten on chickens. How can they be deemed Sai devotees? How can God accept such a person as a devotee? Therefore, whether they are devotees in India or outside, they should give up from this instant meat eating...... those who aspire to become true devotees of God have to give up meat, liquor and smoking."Swami's Divine Discourse given on 23th Nov 1994 [swamis 69th Birthay]Embodiments of Love!! You are deeming this day as the 69th birthday of Swami. I have no desire to celebrate such birthdays. as I was coming I was greeted by many wishing me" Happy Birthday". I am always happy. Why should anyone wish "Happy Birthday" for me. Be Happy yourselves. Your happiness is my happiness.Today as an offering to Swami, give up meat eating, consuming liquor and smoking. By renouncing these three, you will benefit yourselves as well as society and the nation. Swami's sole aim is to promote the welfare of the family, the society and the nation. If you wish to carry out Swami's aim, renounce from this moment itself these bad habits.This is from Summer Showers In Brindavan 1997 p182"You should not misunderstand and misinterpret what I say. It is my duty to convey to you the truth as it exists. Today the reason why the human population is increasing is because of the attitude of the people. For man to eke out his living to fill a small tummy of his, God has created plenty in the world. HE has created a large amount of rice, a large amount of fruit, a large amount wheat. While such good food has been created by God, yet we go and eat meat and fish. And all the fish which we kill and eat are reborn as human beings."This is from Conversation with Sai Baba p19"There is another spiritual reason. When you kill an animal you give him suffering, pain and harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give such pain? Sometimes when someone beats a dog he cries, he feels so much pain. How much more pain then in killing. Animals did not come here for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They came here to work out their own life in the world. When a human being is dead the foxes and other animals may eat, but we have not come to provide food for those that eat the human body; we have not come for that purpose. Similarly, man eats the animal, but the animal has not come to provide man with food. Meat gives the blood its effect, like passion and similiar qualities. Dirty thoughts come with fish. Although fish is always in water, it has a bad smell."This is from Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1994 p37"There should be some regulations with regards to food. Many doctors emphasize the value of proteins and recommend meat, eggs, etc. Proteins in this form build the body but do considerable harm to the mind........... The Vedas have declared that the mind is the cause of man's bondage or liberation. This means that the mind has to be used properly and turned Godward. Equally, the mind is responsible for health or sickness. in this context, food is all important."Discourse given on Nov 22nd 1994 and published in the Sananthana Sarathi December 1994 P323." I have been stressing the vital importance of people giving up this habit of eating non-vegetarian food even from my boyhood days. Meat eating fosters animal qualities in man making him descend to the demonic level. ....... Violence in any form is evil and to kill innocent animals is tantamount to blatant savagery"........Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1995 p33"............ It has been said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. You develop cruelty when you eat the flesh of cruel animals.......So people who want to be devotees of God must give up eating meat completely. How can you call yourselves devotees of Sai or Rama or Krishna, when you kill animals? Those people are real demons. Such people never get the grace of God. So whoever they are, whether Indians or from other countries, they should follow Swami's command. Give up eating meat, now!"Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1995 p16"................ It is a sin to kill an animal. You may reply that an animal was killed by the butcher. That is incorrect, it is only because you are eating them that the animals are being killed. If you stop eating animals, then no one will butcher them to sell in the market. Thus the sin is committed by the one who eats as well as the one who kills." Dear Sis Hetal I believe I have given you enough material on what Swami has to say on the subject of Non Vegetarian food. It is very clear and concise. There is no compromising. We are living in the era of the Sathya Sai Avatar and therefore his words take precedence over what has been said and done in the past.I just like to add a little more, in the yr 2000 I wanted to hold a vegetarian workshop and invited a friend of mine to speak [ she has been Blessed with many interviews and gifts from Swami]. She then asked Swami in an interview if she should speak and Swami's reply was "Yes Yes Go This is Very Important work We must Stop this."Prior to this she told Swami that she had been very vocal about animals rights and is she should continue to be so. Swami bent over in the interview and said to her " Animals cannot talk, animals cannot speak you must speak on their behalf."In another interview that I had with Swami with this friend of mine, I asked Swami if I should speak to the Sai followers on this topic of vegetarianism and Swami immediately said "yes" and gave meHIS complete approval and Blessings since then I have been doing so.All we now need to ask ourselves is this:1. How serious am I towards my path to Spirituality?2. If all the Information that has been given to me does not lead to Transformation, then of what good is it?3. Do we love Swami [ the present Avatar Sathya Sai Baba] enough to obey His commands?4. Has knowing SAI made a difference in the way I live my life?5. Am I prepared to move out of my' Comfort Zone' in the way of my eating habits? Thank you to ALL for your time and patience in reading this lengthy email. May Swami Bless us all. With Sai Love and LightRosemarie Chandran[singapore]

August 9, 2009

Sai Ram Brothers & Sisters,

Dear devotee who wrote this piece has taken a lot of pains in collating Swami's messages from different sources.

I had seen this forth coming, but it could come as an ever bright VEGETARIAN debate, I could not foresee.

Fortunate are members of this forum who are made aware on these issues from time to time by learned devotees, giving each member devotee an equal opportunity to become better as a devotee and also as a human being, be they hindu or muslim or christian or sikh.

But, that takes me to the delicate question:

Are devotees so ignorant, so attracted to relishing dead flesh, that despite repeated drummings, they still do not change?

Such devotees have gone so cold to their HIGHER SELF, that they cannot even imagine living without the dead flesh in their mouths. My advise to them is to follow the reform processs adopted by devotees as given below.

In reforming their lives, some are taking steps to become vegeterians, but one piece of non-veg is there in their plate which they may or may not eat and some others eat vegetarian main meals, but have snacks and mid meal sandwiches lined with dead flesh makings.

These are not powerful pulling of the triggers, but fooling our selves. If these above given reform process have been going on for more then two months its a failure. Stop it a with immediate effect - stop all dead flesh eating. STOP IT.

There are so many stories, some instil fear like the ones in which when we leave these bodies we are faced with giant chicken and sheep with tiger teeth who pounce on all dead flesh eaters and give each one as much pain as they did give to the animals to fill their stomach. This is painful.

And some stories terrorise us - we have to be born as all the animals and suffer the pain of the slaughtering.

For the piece of dead flesh in your mouth, are you ready for all this price to pay.

Some Shirdi Baba devotees say, "Our Baba used to make mutton" so there is no harm. To all Shridi Baba devotees i say, Shirdi, Satya and Prema are three faces of this Kaliyug divinity, if you are in the time of Sathya Divinity you must open your eyes to Sathya Baba's Message as much as you open to Shirdi Baba's Divine Message.

The same SHIRDI BABA is there in all Present and Past Avatars.

From the FULL take out the FULL, what will remain will still be FULL.

Sai Ram ~ Be Happy

Captain Jatindar Shad

+919811225753

www.sairamji.com

NEW OFFER OF 50% OFF: http://www.sairamji.com/html/free_offer.html--- On Sat, 8/8/09, RoSem@riE D@iSy <rosemarie_54 wrote:

RoSem@riE D@iSy <rosemarie_54[saibabanews] Re: Swami's Words on Foodsaibabanews Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 12:42 PM

Sai Ram Dear Sis Hetal I read your email on Shridi Baba's Philosophy on Food. I wanted to reply earlier but could not find time to do so.However your article has been on my mind and I feel that its important that I respond to it. I'm aware that thousands of Sai Brothers and sisters are linked to this site, so its important to clarify.What the saints and sages did in the past thatis not our concern, anyway we were not even around to verify if that is so. Whether one can gain Enlightenment being a Vegetarian or not is not the issue here.In fact would you not agree that an Enlightened Soul would not partake in food of violence [where pain has been incurred.] The point I'm would like to highlight here is :Our current Master Lord Of All The Universe Sathya Sai Baba has made it explicitly clear in regards to the eating of FLESH.On

28th July 2002 in a personal interview Swami gave me His Blessings and Approval to speak to Sai Devotees on the subject of Vegetarianism and since then I have been doing so therefore I feel that I'm only doing my duty and what is expected of me.To put things in perspective so that all will be clear and if you have any doubts before, hopefully this will help remove your doubts and help you see things clearly.. These are the words of Our Dearest Lord Sri Sathya Sai BabaThis is taken from Sanathana Sarathi December 1994 p315"Today, let it be anyone,whether one deems himself a devotee or not, he should give up meat eating. Why? Meat eating promotes only animal qualities. it has been well said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. by eating the flesh of various animals, the qualities of these animals are imbibed. How sinful is it to feed on animals, which are substained by the same

five elements as human beings! This leads to demonic tendencies, besides committing the sin of inflicting cruelty on animals. Hence, those who genuinely seek to become devotees of God have to give up non-vegetarian food. Calling themselves Sai devotees or devotees of Rama and Krishna, they fatten on chickens. How can they be deemed Sai devotees? How can God accept such a person as a devotee? Therefore, whether they are devotees in India or outside, they should give up from this instant meat eating...... those who aspire to become true devotees of God have to give up meat, liquor and smoking."Swami's Divine Discourse given on 23th Nov 1994 [swamis 69th Birthay]Embodiments of Love!! You are deeming this day as the 69th birthday of Swami. I have no desire to celebrate such birthdays. as I was coming I was greeted by many wishing me" Happy Birthday". I am always happy. Why should anyone wish "Happy

Birthday" for me. Be Happy yourselves. Your happiness is my happiness.Today as an offering to Swami, give up meat eating, consuming liquor and smoking. By renouncing these three, you will benefit yourselves as well as society and the nation. Swami's sole aim is to promote the welfare of the family, the society and the nation. If you wish to carry out Swami's aim, renounce from this moment itself these bad habits.This is from Summer Showers In Brindavan 1997 p182"You should not misunderstand and misinterpret what I say. It is my duty to convey to you the truth as it exists. Today the reason why the human population is increasing is because of the attitude of the people. For man to eke out his living to fill a small tummy of his, God has created plenty in the world. HE has created a large amount of rice, a large amount of fruit, a large amount wheat. While such good food has been created by God,

yet we go and eat meat and fish. And all the fish which we kill and eat are reborn as human beings."This is from Conversation with Sai Baba p19"There is another spiritual reason. When you kill an animal you give him suffering, pain and harm. God is in every creature, so how can you give such pain? Sometimes when someone beats a dog he cries, he feels so much pain. How much more pain then in killing. Animals did not come here for the purpose of supplying food to human beings. They came here to work out their own life in the world. When a human being is dead the foxes and other animals may eat, but we have not come to provide food for those that eat the human body; we have not come for that purpose. Similarly, man eats the animal, but the animal has not come to provide man with food. Meat gives the blood its effect, like passion and similiar qualities. Dirty thoughts come with fish. Although fish

is always in water, it has a bad smell."This is from Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1994 p37"There should be some regulations with regards to food. Many doctors emphasize the value of proteins and recommend meat, eggs, etc. Proteins in this form build the body but do considerable harm to the mind........ ... The Vedas have declared that the mind is the cause of man's bondage or liberation. This means that the mind has to be used properly and turned Godward. Equally, the mind is responsible for health or sickness. in this context, food is all important."Discourse given on Nov 22nd 1994 and published in the Sananthana Sarathi December 1994 P323." I have been stressing the vital importance of people giving up this habit of eating non-vegetarian food even from my boyhood days. Meat eating fosters animal qualities in man making him descend to the demonic level. ....... Violence in any form is evil

and to kill innocent animals is tantamount to blatant savagery"... .....Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1995 p33"........... . It has been said that the food one consumes determines one's thoughts. You develop cruelty when you eat the flesh of cruel animals..... ..So people who want to be devotees of God must give up eating meat completely. How can you call yourselves devotees of Sai or Rama or Krishna, when you kill animals? Those people are real demons. Such people never get the grace of God. So whoever they are, whether Indians or from other countries, they should follow Swami's command. Give up eating meat, now!"Sathya Sai Newsletter Spring 1995 p16"........... ..... It is a sin to kill an animal. You may reply that an animal was killed by the butcher. That is incorrect, it is only because you are eating them that the animals are being killed. If you stop eating animals, then no

one will butcher them to sell in the market. Thus the sin is committed by the one who eats as well as the one who kills." Dear Sis Hetal I believe I have given you enough material on what Swami has to say on the subject of Non Vegetarian food. It is very clear and concise. There is no compromising. We are living in the era of the Sathya Sai Avatar and therefore his words take precedence over what has been said and done in the past.I just like to add a little more, in the yr 2000 I wanted to hold a vegetarian workshop and invited a friend of mine to speak [ she has been Blessed with many interviews and gifts from Swami]. She then asked Swami in an interview if she should speak and Swami's reply was "Yes Yes Go This is Very Important work We must Stop this."Prior to this she told Swami that she had been very vocal about animals rights and is she should continue to be so. Swami

bent over in the interview and said to her " Animals cannot talk, animals cannot speak you must speak on their behalf."In another interview that I had with Swami with this friend of mine, I asked Swami if I should speak to the Sai followers on this topic of vegetarianism and Swami immediately said "yes" and gave meHIS complete approval and Blessings since then I have been doing so.All we now need to ask ourselves is this:1. How serious am I towards my path to Spirituality?2. If all the Information that has been given to me does not lead to Transformation, then of what good is it?3. Do we love Swami [ the present Avatar Sathya Sai Baba] enough to obey His commands?4. Has knowing SAI made a difference in the way I live my life?5. Am I prepared to move out of my' Comfort Zone' in the way of my eating habits? Thank you to ALL for your time and

patience in reading this lengthy email. May Swami Bless us all. With Sai Love and LightRosemarie Chandran[singapore]