--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pythagoras was the first to introduce…" description: "\"Pythagoras was the first to introduce vegetarianism to the West. It is of profound depth for man to learn how to live in friendship with nature, in fri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/536/rajneesh-54_creatures_pythagoras-was-the-first-to-introduce-ve_2670314.jpg" --- # Pythagoras was the first to introduce vegetarianism to the… ![“Pythagoras was the first to introduce vegetarianism to the West. It is of profound depth for man to learn how to live in friendship with nature, in friendship with creatures. That becomes the foundation. And only on that foundation can you base your prayer, your meditativeness. You can watch it in…” quote by Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/536/rajneesh-54_creatures_pythagoras-was-the-first-to-introduce-ve_2670314.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/536/rajneesh-54_creatures_pythagoras-was-the-first-to-introduce-ve_2670314.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/536/rajneesh-54_creatures_pythagoras-was-the-first-to-introduce-ve_2670314.jpg) > “Pythagoras was the first to introduce vegetarianism to the West. It is of profound depth for man to learn how to live in friendship with nature, in friendship with creatures. That becomes the foundation. And only on that foundation can you base your prayer, your meditativeness. You can watch it in yourself: when you eat meat, meditation will be found to be more and more difficult.” [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Vegetarianism fosters harmony with nature and eases meditation, suggesting diet influences spiritual practice. **In simple terms:** Plant‑based diet supports spiritual clarity. Key Takeaway Adopt mindful eating. Themes spirituality environment diet Mood reflective calm Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - yoga - meditation - ethical eating Key Concepts mind‑body connection ethical living Questions to Reflect On - How does food affect your inner peace? - Can non‑vegetarians achieve similar focus? A Different Perspective Cultural traditions may differ on diet. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficult/) [Eat Meat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eat-meat-288064/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Foundation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Introduce Vegetarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introduce-vegetarianism-2497301/) [Introducing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/introducing/) [Meat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meat/) [Meat Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meat-meditation-2497302/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Our prayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-prayers/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Vegetarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetarianism/) [Vegetarianism West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetarianism-west-2497303/) [Watches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watches/) [West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/west/) ## Related quotes > [Vegetarianism has nothing to do with religion: it is something basically scientific. It has nothing to do with morality, but it has much to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/vegetarianism-has-nothing-to-do-with-religion-it-is-something/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [When people ask me why I don't eat meat or any other animal products, I say, 'Because they are unhealthy and they are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-affleck/when-people-ask-me-why-i-don-t-eat-meat-or-any-other-animal-products/) [Casey Affleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-affleck/) > [If you could see or feel the suffering you wouldn't think twice. Give back life. Don't eat meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-basinger/if-you-could-see-or-feel-the-suffering-you-wouldn-t-think-twice-give/) [Kim Basinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-basinger/) > [Some people are still going to want to eat meat. We do agree though that vegetarianism is a healthier diet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-stroud/some-people-are-still-going-to-want-to-eat-meat-we-do-agree-though/) [Dave Stroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-stroud/) > [I think the mother of all arguments against eating meat now is the climate change argument. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-jamieson/i-think-the-mother-of-all-arguments-against-eating-meat-now-is-the/) [Dale Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-jamieson/) > [To consider yourself an environmentalist and still eat meat is like saying you're a philanthropist who doesn't give to charity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-lyman/to-consider-yourself-an-environmentalist-and-still-eat-meat-is-like/) [Howard Lyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-lyman/) > [Vegetarianism that is me. I don't eat meat. It's been over 10 years. Actually it's been 11 and a half years and I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/traci-bingham/vegetarianism-that-is-me-i-don-t-eat-meat-it-s-been-over-10-years/) [Traci Bingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/traci-bingham/) > [People eat meat and think they will become as strong as an ox, forgetting that the ox eats grass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pino-caruso/people-eat-meat-and-think-they-will-become-as-strong-as-an-ox/) [Pino Caruso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pino-caruso/) > [The idea of vegetarianism is of immense value; it is based on great reverence for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-idea-of-vegetarianism-is-of-immense-value-it-is-based-on-great/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Vegetarianism should not be anything moral or religious. It is a question of aesthetics: one's sensitivity, one's respect, one's reverence for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/vegetarianism-should-not-be-anything-moral-or-religious-it-is-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It is the other way round: food cannot make you spiritual, but if you are spiritual your food habits will change. Eating anything will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-is-the-other-way-round-food-cannot-make-you-spiritual-but-if-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [No vegetarian has been able to achieve a single Nobel prize. It is a clear-cut condemnation of vegetarianism. Why do all the Nobel prizes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/no-vegetarian-has-been-able-to-achieve-a-single-nobel-prize-it-is-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Vegetarianism is a conscious effort, a deliberate effort, to get out of the heaviness that keeps you tethered to the earth so that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/vegetarianism-is-a-conscious-effort-a-deliberate-effort-to-get-out-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Jainism is the first religion that has made vegetarianism a fundamental necessity for transforming consciousness. And they are right. Killing just to eat makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/jainism-is-the-first-religion-that-has-made-vegetarianism-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [With me, meditation is the only essential religion. And everything that follows it is virtue, because it comes of its own accord. You don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/with-me-meditation-is-the-only-essential-religion-and-everything-that/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More by Rajneesh > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It all depends on you. You can go on sleeping forever, you can wake up right this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-all-depends-on-you-you-can-go-on-sleeping-forever-you-can-wake-up/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The greatest mystery in life is not life itself, but death. Death is the culmination of life, the ultimate blossoming of life. In death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-greatest-mystery-in-life-is-not-life-itself-but-death-death-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [This mind is a prison. It cannot find any freedom anywhere. It must die before freedom comes to you. But we have taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-mind-is-a-prison-it-cannot-find-any-freedom-anywhere-it-must-die/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Money should not be in the hands of individuals; otherwise it will create this problem of being burdened with guilt. And money can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/money-should-not-be-in-the-hands-of-individuals-otherwise-it-will/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Marriage is going to disappear, should disappear. And now the point is coming in the history of humanity where it becomes possible that marriage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/marriage-is-going-to-disappear-should-disappear-and-now-the-point-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A mature mind is one who understands the impossibility of knowing the ultimate, and with this understanding there is a new dimension: the dimension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/a-mature-mind-is-one-who-understands-the-impossibility-of-knowing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The word religion comes from an origin which means "coming together." But priesthood has been doing just the opposite, it has created splits in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-word-religion-comes-from-an-origin-which-means-coming-together/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Love and laughter go together; and laughter is one of the greatest medicines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/love-and-laughter-go-together-and-laughter-is-one-of-the-greatest/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [There are people who want to become rich; they become rich. If you persist you can fulfill any kind of stupidity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/there-are-people-who-want-to-become-rich-they-become-rich-if-you/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Just take one thing out and the whole palace, the whole edifice of the human mind collapses. Take effort out of it and desiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/just-take-one-thing-out-and-the-whole-palace-the-whole-edifice-of-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [To me, man means awareness of death. I am not saying become afraid of death; that is not awareness. Just be aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/to-me-man-means-awareness-of-death-i-am-not-saying-become-afraid-of/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [So your life becomes a vital celebration, your relationship becomes a festive thing. Whatsoever you do, every moment is a festival. You eat, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-your-life-becomes-a-vital-celebration-your-relationship-becomes-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > ["Serenity" is the flavor of meditation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/serenity-is-the-flavor-of-meditation/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) [Explore all 1,885 Rajneesh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) ## More Creatures quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Almost everywhere we find . . . the use of various coercive measures, to rid ourselves as quickly as possible of the child withinus--i.e.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-miller/almost-everywhere-we-find-the-use-of-various-coercive-measures-to-rid/) [Alice Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-miller/) > [We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-need-in-a-special-way-to-work-twice-as-hard-to-help-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [No creature can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ananda-coomaraswamy/no-creature-can-attain-a-higher-grade-of-nature-without-ceasing-to/) [Ananda Coomaraswamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ananda-coomaraswamy/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [My dad's family were political and he was always a theatrical creature, whereas my mum is really musical and her father was the touring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-jones/my-dad-s-family-were-political-and-he-was-always-a-theatrical/) [Grace Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-jones/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What greater weakness can there be than not to know what is the source of one's being, of one's life, of one's senses, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/what-greater-weakness-can-there-be-than-not-to-know-what-is-the/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) [Browse all 3,703 Creatures quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creatures/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pythagoras was the first to introduce vegetarianism to the West. It is of profound depth for man to learn how to live in friendship with nature, in friendship with creatures. That becomes the foundation. And only on that foundation can you base your prayer, your meditativeness. 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