It is not a question of religion; it is simply a question of intelligence. So don’t postpone it – that when you become enlightened or a man of Zen you will stop meat-eating. There is no need to postpone that long. You have just to be a little sensitive. You will not become enlightened by not eating meat, but it will help. It will make you softer, it will make you more loving, it will make you more compassionate. It will make you more a part of the living atmosphere that surrounds you. We are a part of it. And what can you do now? Why postpone it?

The man who has become enlightened certainly will have a tremendous change in his life. But even without becoming enlightened you can have great changes in life, out of sheer understanding. And those changes will help you to become enlightened. It works both ways: you become enlightened and there will be changes in your life; you change your unconscious patterns of life and it will help you to become enlightened.