"The Benefits of Being Vegetarian"



Today, modern society has placed an emphasis on "healthy living". A well balanced diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle habits are significant to physical well being. In this sense, many individuals choose a vegetarian eating pattern.

There is no single vegetarian eating pattern. The vegetarian diet is mainly plant foods: vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts. By meticulous observation we agree that the vegetarian eating pattern consists of low fat and no cholesterol dishes. In addition, we can actually have a great vegetarian meal without meat or any animal products. Besides the salutary aspect that most people would care about health, diet, and figure when they converse about the vegetarian diet, the spiritual aspect of a vegetarian diet is also remarkable.

All live beings desire to live and are afraid to die. We do not want to be eaten by a cannibal, so why should animals be eaten by humans? Eating meat is against the universal principle of not wanting to be killed. Although, eating plants is also killing living things, but the effect is trivial. As we have to eat to survive, we should choose the food which has the least consciousness and suffers the least.

In this Perspective the level of consciousness of the plant is so low because it consists of 90% water. Furthermore, when we eat vegetables, we do not cut their roots, but rather by cutting branches and leaves we help their reproduction. The result can actually be beneficial to the plant. This is even more evident with fruit. When fruit ripens, it will attract people to eat it. If we do not pick and eat it, the fruit will become overripe and will fall to the ground to rot. So, eating vegetables and fruit is a natural tendency that brings to them no suffering at all.

In conclusion, vegetarian diet is an effective way to ensure healthy living. In another perspective, if human beings eat many animals, they will probably be affected with animal instinct and quality. Moreover the life span of the flesh eating people is very short on average.

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One of the Iranians customs:

Being polite is considered as a part of the Persian culture. Tarrof has deep roots in the Iranian custom of treating politely. It is a cultural custom that consists of refusing something which has been offered to you even though you want it.

According to it, if you are offered s.th, like a tea or sweet, even if you want it, at first you decline it until the offerer persists and the insistence becomes greater . So,this tradition encompasses different levels until the fellow ultimately accepts the offer or may refuse it .As an example when you want to buy s.th. and ask for the price; the shopkeeper will inevitably, out of politeness, refuse to quote a price and say it is worth

nothing. However,in reality, he would like to be paid and is just being humble.

A host is obliged to offer anything a guest may want, and a guest is equally obliged to refuse it. This ritual may repeat several times before the host and guest finally determine whether the host's offer and the guest's refusal are real or simply polite.

In some occasions,when you offer s.th,you may ask the addresser not to t'aarof, but that request raises new difficulties, since the demand itself might be a type of t'aarof.

((Eternal Memory))
I wish he were alive…!

He was a kind hearted man who had sacrificed a lot in his life. When he was a little boy, he was deprived of the God's gift of having a father. However he was an orphan child, he could pass through the corrugated tides of life deftly. In his early age, because of the imposed forces that his mother could not afford the children, he decided to leave the education and began to work. In the path of life, he was galloping through the obstacles and could endure all the problems. In fact, he was acting as a heroic figure who could feat in the war of troubles and could accomplish a long, arduous journey intrepidly.


After a long time, when he was retired and wanted to feel a zest of life, he faced with another impediment which deprived him of another God's gift of being healthy. Yes, he had been ill with an illness said to be incurable. In this stage of life, he had the feeling of being unable to give up the delicious excitement of life that was nothing except spending time with his grandchildren and having fun with them, which was the only thing that could be called living for him.


Now when I as his grandchild repeat all these immortal memory in my mind
I wish he were alive…!

By Roya to my lovely grandfather who has taught me everything and remains in my mind forever.

WALK YOUR OWN WALK

You have to walk your own walk in this life.

As you are traveling down your road, do not look down at your feet.

Keep your head up and your eyes focused on what you know to be true.

Be neither a follower nor a leader.

When you get to where you are going and you look back, it is your own footprints you want to see, not someone else's.

Norooz:

Norooz is the Iranian's new year which means "new day" in Persian language. Norooz is about nature-celebrating the awaking of the natural life. It represents two different meanings; the End and the Rebirth – End of the presence of the evil forces and darkness in winter and Rebirth of nature in spring.

A few weeks before the beginning of the new year Iranians prepare themselves to welcome Norooz; They rearrange their homes, buy new clothes, bake pastries and germinate seeds as a sign of renewal.



Norooz customs:

Haji Firooz: is a traditional character that wears colorful clothes and by singing and dancing through streets spread the news of the new year.

Chahar shanbeh soori: on the last Tuesday evening of the year, every family gathers wood and branches of trees to make fire and jump over the burning fire .


Haft Seen: setting the Haft seen (Norooz table) and sitting around it at the turn of the year is another custom in harmony with the rebirth of nature. Collecting every symbol of life with seven items which each starts with the Persian letter seen (in English s) is a traditional custom.
The seven items are:
1. Sabzeh (grown wheat) symbol of rebirth.
2. Sekeh (coin) symbol of prosperity and wealth.
3. Sir (garlic) symbol of health.
4. Samanu symbol of sweetness.
5. Senjed (dried fruit of Lotus tree) symbol of love.
6. Somaq (sumac berries) symbol of warmth.
7. Serkeh (vinegar) symbol of patience.
Muslim Iranians place the Holy Quran on the table to represent their esteem for this divine book around these items and light candles as a symbol of ancient Persian's respect for fire. Iranians also put other items in this colorful table such as painted eggs, which represent fertility, a mirror for reflection of life and a fish in a bowl that shows the flow of life.



Sizdah Bedar: the 13th of Norooz Iranians go out of house with their relatives. They have a picnic and end their holiday hopefully.

The seconds before the beginning of the New Year;


Dear God, help my eyes to see
all the good you've sent to me.

Dear God, help my ears to hear
calls for help from far and near.

Dear God, help my feet to go
in the way that you will show.


Dear God, help my hands to do
all things loving, kind and true.

Dear God, may I helpful be,
growing every day like you.

AMEN

SADEH FESTIVITY:

Sadeh, which means hundred, is a mid-winter feast that was celebrated with magnificence in ancient Iran. It was a festivity to honor fire and defeat the forces of darkness, frost and cold. Two different days were observed for its veneration. One celebration marked the hundredth day before the religious Norooz on the first day of the Farvardin, or March 21.(religious Norooz is different from the seasonal spring Norooz). The other one was the hundredth day after Ayathrima(one of the six feasts of obligation) held to be the beginning of winter.

In ancient times the fires were always set near water and temples.
The great fire meant to help revive the declining sun, and bring back the warmth and light of summer. It was also designed to drive off the demons of frost and cold, which turned water to ice, and thus could kill the roots of plants.

For these reasons the fire was lit near and even over water and by the shrine of Mihr, who was the lord of fire and the sun.



The fire is kept burning all night. The day after women would go to the fire and each one will carry a small portion back to their homes and new glowing fires are made from the ritually blessed fires. This is to spread the blessing of the Sadeh fir to every household in the neighborhood.

The festivities would normally go on three days. Evenings are spent eating and giving away khairat (sharing food).

Today, Sadeh is mainly celebrated on 10th of Bahman. The fires are not lit outside and all activities take place inside the shrines.