The moral vegetarian

ok, let's assume plants do suffer. isn't it better to reduce suffering in the world to a minimum? you eat plants and animals, so there's lots of suffering. you eliminate both, you die. or, you cease from eating the animal kingdom, which posess central nervous systems like us, and obviously suffer as seen in many slaughterhouse videos while animals are writhing an screaming in pain as they're murdered, bludgeoned to death, or have their skin ripped from their bodies by machines while they're still conscious. hmmmmm... let's see i think i'll do the minimum and decide not to eat the flesh of other sentient animals. plants react to light and nutrients. they do not move away from danger, they do not fight back, animals do. they fear and fight for their lives as they're murdered. people cannot use plants as an excuse to eat meat, because if they REALLY WERE concerned with suffering, then they would reduce it to a minimum to where they could still live also by going vegan.

If plants do in fact, suffer, we know they do not to the same degree as animals. But, even so, by eating animals that then eat plants, you are doing even more damage.

Did you know that 70% of all grain produced in the US is fed to livestock?

I personally believe that eating animals is wrong, but I understand why other people might not. However, eating animals that have been abused, confined, have their babies taken away from them at birth, and forced to live in squalor their whole lives is unimagineably cruel. It's totally preventable as well.

The idealic image you have in your head of the quaint little family farm where pigs, cows and chickens roam free just isn't reality any more.

I suggest you read "The Food Revolution" by John Robbins for a holistic view on vegetarianism and veganism.

There was a book (paperback) called "the Secret Life of Plants" a few years ago that offered proof the plants DO 'feel' and 'react' in a similar manner as 'sentient beings' i.e. they had a measurable GSR (galvanic-skin(?)-response) that varied and reacted to outside stimuli almost as if it was 'human'. Take it for whatever you think it's worth.

Dear Friend,
I can relate fully to your question, as I had to make this same decision following some experiences of spiritual awakening many years ago. At the time, I decided to eat plants simply because I had to eat something to live. Over time, I came to understand that even though all things are created from consciousness, there are levels of capacity for suffering, with plants having less capacity than animals, animals less than humans. This same scale is a measure of our spiritual capacity, meaning that as human beings we are both the highest in physical manifestation, the highest in the food chain if you will, so in "divine" or natural order we are legitimately both the recipient of plants and animals and their steward.

At first I ate plants to survive, still feeling guilty about creating suffering, but I had a spontaneous vision that gave me relief from the guilt and a deeper appreciation for all life. I was lovingly stroking the silver fox collar on a coat that had been given to me and while I object to suffering and wouldn't support the fur industry, I truly loved this precious collar and frequently stroked it. Unexpectedly, in my mind's eye I "saw" a fox run out of the woods, lay down at my feet and die out of love for me, because I loved it. There is a saying, that All above are gods to all below, and what I saw and experienced in my own heart was the understanding that animals...and plants...willingly give up their lives to serve us. The American Indians understand this and offer up both apologies and prayers of respect and gratitude for animals they kill. Plants do have feelings, and I know this not only from reading books such as The Secret LIfe of Plants, but have actually heard them talk to me, including hearing vegetables sing. I believe they are totally happy to serve us, and that we should grow them, prepare them, and eat them with joy and love. I believe that the more pleasure and appreciation we experience in preparing them and eating them, the more joy they feel in serving us. I feel that our repsonsibility to plants is that we nurture them naturally, organically, protect them from man-made chemicals and manipulation of their internal intelligence with DNA, and finally harvest and prepare them with love, then we can fully enjoy eating not only free from guilt but as an act of creation itself. What we eat is what we become, so those plants are reborn as the living cells and blood and bone of a being that is higher in consciousness than it was in its original form. Eating is a way of making love with nature.

P.S. May I use your question in my book?

Dear Michael,

You ask good questions. I especially liked your question about how can you see for yourself. Seeing for oneself is the most authentic form of knowledge, with verification by ancient scriptures and modern obejective science being two other ways. If a thing is actually true, all three should be in agreement.

The greatest challenge is expanding consciousness, awakening one's inner potential to larger perception and understanding. For me, it came through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation which is a mechanical, non-religious technique that expands mind, heart, and health while removing the blocks to higher states of consciousness. As one grows internally, awareness about everything else grows. The more alive and aware I became, the more conscious I was of what my body needed, and the more spontaneously aware I became from within myself of what was morally right and wrong. Ultimately, all law should come from within oneself, not as a thought-out philosophy (although this has value on the journey) but as spontaneous living. Judging by your excellent questions, you are on the path, at a point where it is your intellect that is trying to decide what is and is not right to do. If I may offer advice, it is first of all to meditate regularly (by any form, but research studies indicate that TM is the simplest, most natural and most effective) and live by the philosophy to "do what you know to be right" as best you can. BE SIMPLE. Simple is always closer to truth. Be gentle with yourself. Don't get caught up in a lot of heavy intellectual pondering. It is energy consuming and rarely if ever produces satisfying answers. Read, observe, ask questions, then allow the answers to come to you. Regarding food, the best advice is probably the oldest, from Ayur Veda, the 60,000 year old health care science, which says, "Eat the foods you enjoy and that make you feel good afterwards." It bears saying again, Be Simple. Feel, don't think, about your food. Ask the universe for guidance then give praise and thanks for whatever is set before you. If you mind wants to go 'round and 'round with doubts on some issue, then sit quietly and let your attention go to your body until you feel some peace come. As someone who has been where you are, I can tell you that that mental worry is an expression of general anxiety more than it is important in itself. When it arises, it is a signal that it is time to be especially good to yourself, to be self-kind and patient. Don't dwell on the idea that you fall short because you don't "see" the answers, but rather turn that energy toward something that will bring you more purification, more joy, more learning. Be simple, be simple, be simple, be simple. Eat simple and enjoy every bite.

I hope this helps and that I have not appeared too bossy. I just felt to speak because your questions remind me so much of myself many years ago. I think you will succeed.

Namaste,
Sharalyn