His Holiness Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

Message: H.H. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
Featured in Highlights Newsletter, August 24, 2012

For those who have been a vegetarian for health, moral, ethical, ecological, or spiritual reasons, it was heartwarming to see the growing interest in vegetarianism at this year’s Veggie Fest at the Science of Spirituality Center in Naperville, Illinois.

In 1968, when I first came to this country after graduating with a B.Tech degree in electrical engineering from I.I.T. Madras (Chennai), India, to attend graduate school at I.I.T. (Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago for my Master’s degree in engineering, there were few vegetarian options in restaurants. As I was brought up in a vegetarian household and had been a vegetarian from birth, as a student in Chicago it was hard to get much to eat at restaurants or cafeterias other than grilled cheese sandwiches, some salads, and pizza—for which Chicago was well known. Those became my staple foods when eating out.

Now, forty-four years later, it is a joy to see the growing number of people who come to Veggie Fest in Naperville, the numerous vendors who offer vegetarian foods at their restaurants and stores who either exhibited or had food booths in the food court at Veggie Fest, and the number of people taking the “Vegetarian Challenge” to try the diet for a while. 

It is also confirming to see that doctors and medical researchers are now promoting the vegetarian diet for optimum health and wellness of the body and mind. They point to the many health benefits from eating a vegetarian diet such as lowered cholesterol and a reduced risk of diseases, including heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, digestive ailment, circulatory problems, and cancer. Many doctors and health care professionals presented workshops at Veggie Fest, which helped people learn how they and their families can reduce their risks of many ailments by adopting a plant-based diet.

Besides the health benefits, there are spiritual benefits of eating a vegetarian diet. Since we ingest plant-based foods which have a calming effect, they give us more peace. For those who meditate, the more peaceful we are, the better we can concentrate. This calmness radiates from us to all those we meet, bringing peace into our outer relationships and environments. We also develop a respect for all forms of life, and no longer want to see any animal suffer so that we can eat. We realize through the findings of medical research that we can get all the nutrition we need from plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, peas, beans, nuts, seeds, and grains. For those who are not vegan but are lacto-vegetarian, it also makes them more conscious of the ethical treatment of animals so that if one does eat dairy, and includes in their diet milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, they are more observant of choosing producers who treat the milk-giving animals humanely. There is also a growing interest in the effect diet has on the planet. Thus, having love for others also means having an awareness of the benefits of organic foods or methods of farming that give back to the earth, rather than just take from the earth, so that future generations will have enough.

Many notable people from the past, whether saints, mystics, spiritual Masters, religious founders, philosophers and humanitarians, as well as well-known people from modern times, whether athletes, artists, musicians, actors and actresses, writers, or people in civic roles, have adopted the vegetarian diet and praise its many benefits.

In our scientific era, where people analyze and question to find proof for every hypothesis proposed, we are fortunate that there is undeniable evidence from the medical and scientific community that a vegetarian diet can improve our health and well-being. We are happy that at this year’s Veggie Fest 2012, the over 25,000 people who attended the festival, plus the millions who read about it through articles in the newspapers or magazines or on the Internet, or who heard about it on radio or television, have information to help make informed choices for themselves and their families as to what we can eat that will keep us healthy.