Is it possible to be spiritual and eat animals

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Is it possible to be spiritual and eat animals?

Acharya Prashant: No, it is not at all possible.

It is just not possible.

The spiritual one would know who he is and what is happening through him. He would not be blind to what is kept on his plate. To be spiritual is to be non-fragmented. One would then really know, what is this thing called hunger, what is this thing called food, and what is thing called food-chain.

One would just not open the can, take the flesh and munch it. One would know where the whole thing is coming from, both in a physical way and in a mental way.

When you know where the entire thing is coming from, it simply does not happen. You see, a spiritual man does not relate to the other in terms of body. It is something of the eye.

I often ask those who consume meat, instead of proceeding with a packaged product like meat, why don’t you slaughter the thing yourself, and when you slaughter the animal yourself, why don’t you know it fully?

Even as you slaughter it from a perspective of self-interest, if something is going into your body it makes sense to know it fully.