Q: What kind of food should we eat? Is it ok to eat meat?
A: Sikhism encourages healthy living by consuming simple and natural food only. Over-eating and eating unhealthy food should be avoided. The concept is not to hurt anything or anyone and live in harmony by sharing with others.
Eating meat has recently become one of the hot topics in Sikh religion. Guru Nanak Dev Ji made it very clear not to fight or argue regarding eating meat. However, many Sikhs still find themselves arguing about eating meat. Sikhs that eat meat try to interpret Guru Granth Sahib Ji in their favor and vegetarian Sikhs try to interpret Guru Granth Sahib Ji in theirs.
We at Real Sikhism are merely interpreting Guru Granth Sahib Ji without any affiliation with anyone. While many verses are found in Guru Grant Sahib Ji that seem to be prohibiting eating meat, none are found that approve of eating meat. The verses prohibiting eating meat are then interpreted by meat eating and non-meat eating Sikhs differently to make their point.
Site promoting eating meat: http://www.sikhphilosophy.net
Site promoting vegetarianism: http://www.sikhism101.com/node/77
A Sikh is to consume a simple diet and live a simple life, free of all worldly entanglements. Since there are no verses in Guru Granth Sahib Ji that states, “It is ok to eat meat”, we at Real Sikhism cannot say that eating meat is in compliance with the beliefs of Sikh religion. If you would like to be in compliance with the beliefs, it is best to eat vegetarian food. Think of it as this way: If eating meat is ok, then both vegetarians and non-vegetarians are in compliance with the Rehat Maryada and Sikh beliefs, however if eating meat is not ok, then vegetarians are still in compliance but non-vegetarians are not.
It is safe to consume diet containing products from plants and dairy including all vegetables, milk, cheese and milk products. Basically, not to eat anything that goes into killing animals. One should avoid eggs, meat, fish, and all seafoods.
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