OK, Srila Prabhupada said that being vegetarian is in and of itself not great. He cited the example of monkeys living in the forest. They are vegetarians, but this habit doesn’t make them civilised. Nonetheless, Srila Prabhupada wrote in ITALICS in his Srimad Bhagavatam about the fact that vegetarianism was such an important first-step in spiritual life, and how eating flesh foods could disqualify a neophyte from going further. Since readers of these ‘thoughts’ don’t see italics, I’m capitalizing them in the citation. Here goes: “Maharaja Pariksit said that only the animal-killer cannot relish the transcendental message of the Supreme Lord. Therefore if people are to be educated to the path of Godhead, they must be taught first and foremost to STOP THE PROCESS OF ANIMAL-KILLING AS ABOVE MENTIONED. IT IS NONSENSICAL TO SAY THAT ANIMAL-KILLING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SPIRITUAL REALIZATION. By this dangerous theory many so-called sannyasis have sprung up by the grace of Kali-yuga who preach animal-killing under the garb of the Vedas.” (excerpted from the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.24)