Oxford dictionary says:

Vegetarian (n): person who, for humane, religious or health reasons, eats no meat.

Like most of the people around the world this is what we may also say.

However, judging from years of practical experience and ground reality, the above meaning seems to lack in portraying its in-depth understanding. If we ponder wisely we will come to realize that vegetarianism in real sense is much beyond its literal meaning than what we seem to surmise definitively and categorize people in accordance to it. In fact we even need to look at the term 'vegetarian' that, broadly speaking, seems to derive from the word 'vegetable' that is defined by Webster's dictionary as '' of, or having the nature of plants in general''. This clearly defines that many of us who believe to be vegetarians are in reality not vegetarians as per its literal meaning. Milk derived from animals (not plant based) and eggs are not part of plants. The least to mention of chicken, fish, and turkey that some of us feel is anything but a meat consumed of a living animal. So clearly there is a dilution of its actual meaning in the present time and what we may have presumed to be we are not. Thereby, a need indeed arises to point out the clarity of its actual meaning to the people in general.

Now coming to the more important aspect, other than its definition, is to understand its true nature. The basis of vegetarianism is and should emanate from compassion and loving-kindness backed by sound wisdom. Therefore, there are many cases whereby due to our ignorance we seem to miss this crucial point. That is why we happen to witness people who are by definition vegetarian or vegan yet they carry and display much negative thought and actions. Likewise we also see there are many non-vegetarians who are kind-hearted and helpful in nature. These things one do experience in life. Thus it is of paramount importance that we grasp the right understanding of the true essence of vegetarianism. A fine example can be quoted of Devadatta who was a cousin of Buddha Sakyamuni and he wanted to implement a strict code of vegetarianism among the sangha of monks. Despite being a vegetarian he was evil minded and tried to assassinate the Buddha in numerous occasions and put lots of obstructions in his noble path. Without the core ingredients of compassion and loving-kindness being a mere vegetarian is lifeless and incomplete like a cover without content or like a body without a soul or a mind. Of course ideal would be if one is able to extend this good innate nature into the practice of vegetarianism keeping in mind the other determining factors like for example the influence of geography and circumstances.

The other important thing to note is that animals are not only killed for food. They are subjected to various forms of suffering and death for purposes like sports and entertainment, clothing, laboratory testing, sacrifice ritual, etc. that needs to be rid of too. Also countless of them are enslaved, beaten, and forced to perform various tasks for almost all their lives. Large number of animals in the process dies all around the world. Then there are whole lots of insects and rodents which in fact even many vegetarians or vegans would not hesitate to kill in the most cruel form. Are they too small and don’t look pretty enough for us to feel for these sentient beings? Surely taking account of all these loss of lives and sufferings cannot be ignored.

At the present time sadly we have created a scenario that is virtually almost next to impossible to avoid things related to every form of exploitation to animals. This kind of situation has to be changed globally. The only antidote or cure for this is simply compassion and loving-kindness backed by wisdom and tact. Just like a saying in Tibetan goes it is the one medicine for hundred illnesses. It should be our universal responsibility to work perpetually towards developing a good human being. The success of the true form of vegetarianism in spirit and practice will emerge from it and be more sustaining. People who posses these qualities will be a lot more receptive, supportive, open-minded, tolerant, constructive and positive in their attitude. They will always posses a natural inclination towards a plant based food and be supportive of it in one form or other. When one meets an accident on the roadside, we do not see if the person is vegetarian or non-vegetarian but we simply just rush to help the victim. A good human nature always comes on the top.

So there is much to bare and learn of the term vegetarianism in totality than the plain meaning of it. In fact it is important to learn that the word 'vegetarian' was coined only around 1840 whereas vegetarianism had existed much much before that with or without any name worldwide.