Here is Roy's comment to an issue that came up in a thread between
Martha and I last month. It was emailed to me privately but I thought
it was too good to keep for myself, and so I am forwarding it to the
list with Roy's permission:


"Most present day Hindus are not vegetarian (though almost all avoid
beef). Their Hindu/vegetarian culture does not make them any more
peaceful (or honest, or anything else..)
Personally I have found the Buddhist and Jain cultures (the latter is
strictly vegetarian, while the former is not) more peaceful.
Having seen half a dozen communal riots, I find the Moslems to be
generally belligerent, militaristic, ready-to-fight. But beyond a
point, the Hindus rally and become equally capable and vicious.
As an aside, the vegetarian aspect of Hindu culture is pretty recent.
(Post Buddhist/Jain). Historically Aryans have been meat eaters. The
religious taboo against Beef was created by the clever Brahmins, who
reared cows for dairy, to prevent the Kshatria warriors from stealing
and eating their cows. The vegetarianism is more of an influence from
Buddhism and Jainism. (My Yoga teacher even claims that ancient Indian
Yogis ate raw meat. My teacher is not a vegetarian either, and he says
he wants to try being an instincto.)"

Best, Peter
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