the speaking tree - Is It All Right For Me To Eat Eggs?
Interaction: J Krishnamurti
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Do you advocate vegetarianism?
Would you object to the in clusion of an egg in your diet?
JK:Is that really a very great problem, whether we should have an egg or not? Perhaps most of you are concerned with non-killing. That is really the crux of the matter, is it not?
Perhaps most of you eat meat or fish.You avoid killing by going to a butcher ... that is only dodging the problem. If you like to eat eggs, you may get infertile eggs to avoid killing. But this is a very superficial question the problem is much deeper. You don't want to kill animals for your stomach, but you do not mind supporting governments that are organised to kill.
All sovereign governments are based on violence; they must have armies, navies and air forces. You don't mind supporting them, but you object to the terrible calamity of eating an egg! (Laughter) See how ridiculous the whole thing is; investigate the mentality of the gentleman who is nationalistic, who does not mind the exploitation and the ruthless destruction of people, to whom wholesale massacre is nothing but who has scruples as to what goes into his mouth ... You may refrain from using animals and degrading them, you may be compassionate about killing them, but what is important in this question is the whole problem of exploitation and killing not only the slaughter of human beings in wartime, but the way you exploit people, the way you treat your servants and look down on them as inferiors. Probably you are not paying attention to this because it is near home. You would rather discuss God, reincarnation but nothing requiring immediate action and responsibility .
So, if you are really concerned with not killing, you should not be a nationalist; you should not call yourself Sinhalese, German or Russian. Also you must have right employment ...Obviously , the army, the navy, are wrong professions; so is the profession of law which encourages litigation; and the police, especially the secret police. So, right employment must be found and exercised by each one, and only then can there be the cessation of killing, which will bring about peace among men. But the economic pressure is so great in the modern world that very few can withstand it ... Unfortunately , most of us are concerned with immediate pleasures, with everyday living; and if we can get them, atisfied. We do not want to look we are satisfied. We do not want to look into the deeper and wider problems; though we know they exist, we want to avoid them ... But you will tell me that I have not answered the question about the egg, whether to eat an egg or not. Surely , intelligence is the important thing not what goes into your mouth, but what comes out of it; and most of us have filled our hearts with the things of the mind, and our minds are very small, shallow. Our problem is to find out how to bring about a transformation in that which is shallow and small, and this transformation can come about only through understanding the shallow.
Those of you who want to go into the question more deeply will have to find out whether you are contributing to war and how to avoid it, whether indirectly you are the cause of destruction. If you can really solve that question, then you can easily settle the superficial matter of whether you should be a vegetarian or not. Tackle the problem at a much deeper level, and you will find the answer.
Would you object to the in clusion of an egg in your diet?
JK:Is that really a very great problem, whether we should have an egg or not? Perhaps most of you are concerned with non-killing. That is really the crux of the matter, is it not?
Perhaps most of you eat meat or fish.You avoid killing by going to a butcher ... that is only dodging the problem. If you like to eat eggs, you may get infertile eggs to avoid killing. But this is a very superficial question the problem is much deeper. You don't want to kill animals for your stomach, but you do not mind supporting governments that are organised to kill.
All sovereign governments are based on violence; they must have armies, navies and air forces. You don't mind supporting them, but you object to the terrible calamity of eating an egg! (Laughter) See how ridiculous the whole thing is; investigate the mentality of the gentleman who is nationalistic, who does not mind the exploitation and the ruthless destruction of people, to whom wholesale massacre is nothing but who has scruples as to what goes into his mouth ... You may refrain from using animals and degrading them, you may be compassionate about killing them, but what is important in this question is the whole problem of exploitation and killing not only the slaughter of human beings in wartime, but the way you exploit people, the way you treat your servants and look down on them as inferiors. Probably you are not paying attention to this because it is near home. You would rather discuss God, reincarnation but nothing requiring immediate action and responsibility .
So, if you are really concerned with not killing, you should not be a nationalist; you should not call yourself Sinhalese, German or Russian. Also you must have right employment ...Obviously , the army, the navy, are wrong professions; so is the profession of law which encourages litigation; and the police, especially the secret police. So, right employment must be found and exercised by each one, and only then can there be the cessation of killing, which will bring about peace among men. But the economic pressure is so great in the modern world that very few can withstand it ... Unfortunately , most of us are concerned with immediate pleasures, with everyday living; and if we can get them, atisfied. We do not want to look we are satisfied. We do not want to look into the deeper and wider problems; though we know they exist, we want to avoid them ... But you will tell me that I have not answered the question about the egg, whether to eat an egg or not. Surely , intelligence is the important thing not what goes into your mouth, but what comes out of it; and most of us have filled our hearts with the things of the mind, and our minds are very small, shallow. Our problem is to find out how to bring about a transformation in that which is shallow and small, and this transformation can come about only through understanding the shallow.
Those of you who want to go into the question more deeply will have to find out whether you are contributing to war and how to avoid it, whether indirectly you are the cause of destruction. If you can really solve that question, then you can easily settle the superficial matter of whether you should be a vegetarian or not. Tackle the problem at a much deeper level, and you will find the answer.
