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In a Time of Cuisine

the vegetarian

A fact the gourmet euphemism can’t silence:
vegetarians eat sex, carnivores eat violence.
— Les Murray, April 2004

Vegetarianism: The Peaceful Diet
by Demitra M.N.

Our choice of diet is a subject I feel very strongly about, though I often refrain from speaking too openly about it in public, for obvious reasons. The fact is that I am not keen on thrashing it out with those who are too intent on defending their dietary habits instead of genuinely listening to the facts when they are being presented.

Too many (even the most so-called spiritual amongst us) continue to be protective about their 'meat', and interpret an anti-animal-farming stance, as intrusive to their right to indulge as they please. But I am a firm believer that our choices, every single one of them, affect the peace/war levels on this planet. The types of foods we focus on processing, and then consuming, are especially significant, since eating is the major daily activity around which we arrange everything else we do. I have no doubt that to change this one thing in each of our lives would powerfully tip the scales on this planet in favour of peace and in so doing could literally change everything overnight. However, though most give the concept of peace excellent lip-service, everything they actively engage in opposes their heart's desire into keeping things exactly the way they are.

I am a firm believer in the adage, 'we are what we eat' and as far as I'm concerned, virtually all meat and meat byproducts sold in supermarkets are thoroughly soaked in terror and fear, not to mention, massive quantities of hormones and antibiotics. Pesticides aside, a vegetarian diet at least assures me that I am nurturing my physical self with the calm tranquility of the plant kingdom.

Plain and simple, the most common way one justifies maintaining any habit, even when it is not in their best interests (on any level), is to turn a blind-eye to anything that may even remotely threaten their desire to keep doing what they are doing. So though there is much in the way of information out there for people to read and watch regarding the animal farming practices and their systematic abuses of the animals, it is fairly certain that those who defend their right to maintain their dietary statusquo never bother availing themselves of these facts. And for that reason very little changes from day-to-day in terms of conflict on this planet. Bottom line, as I see it:

1- there is a high level of terror and cruelty inflicted on helpless and innocent animals daily across the planet during every stage of today's accepted farming practices. 2- all that terror, cruelty, and toxicity finds its way into the mouths of millions of willing consumers, daily 3- not surprisingly, a huge percentage of the Earth's population also live lives of fearful desperation (yet never make the connection between what they eat and how they feel). 4- fearful and desperate people are too focused on their personal rights to notice that they are inadvertently contributing to the war & terrorism on other humans by supporting the war and terrorism against other sentient beings every time they satisfy their carnivorous dietary impulses.

Point in fact, animal flesh is strictly protein & saturated fats. The human body requires much more in the way of vitamins and minerals that can only be extracted from Nature's bounty. Also, protein is found abundantly in the vegetable kingdom. (I would ask all those who insist on passing along fabrications to the contrary to kindly look up the facts first.) Again, all food is an acquired taste--this means that we are taught to like one kind of foodstuff over another--the implications of this statement is blatantly obvious to anyone with a modicum of intelligence.

Our supremacy on this planet can be that of kindly stewards for the lesser evolved species on this planet, or it can be that of beastly brutes overrunning a planet. And so, metaphorically, as well as literally, we CAN acquire the taste for less blood and more fibre, for the perennial question remains: To evolve or not to evolve?

Is it possible to eat meat and not be brutal against animals?

Only you the individual can answer this question. No one else knows exactly what's in your heart, and an attempt for someone else to answer it is something of a "trap" because it never really resolves the real issue for having asked the question in the first place. Perhaps in asking yourself the following question you'll be closer to your own truth on the matter.

If killing and butchering animals yourself was the only way to put meat on your plate, could you? And would you still do it if you were offered a vast array of nutritious and healthy alternatives? How you answer this question for yourself is the true answer to your original question as far as you go, because the question is simply not one that can be answered definitively across the board for everyone.

Basically, a willingness to hunt down and kill animals, or to raise them for the eventual purpose of slaughter, in a world where many healthy food alternatives are easily obtainable, reveals something vital about who is asking the question. If you would not, and could not kill and butcher an animal, but you eat meat any way, then you are, without question, ignoring your own spiritual impulses and undermining your integrity. Ultimately, one just has to realize that there is nothing morally superior in our choice if the real difference is only that we are able to afford the higher cost of having someone else do the dirty work for us. Something to think about.

Vegetarians say they don't eat animals because they're living things, but aren't plants alive too? What's the difference?

I am a strong proponent for vegetarianism for a number of reasons. I won't go into all the details here, however I would like to point out that there is a huge and very distinct difference between the plant kingdom and that of the animal one. Yes, plants are indeed alive, however, they represent consciousness at a lesser evolved level--the dreaming stage of consciousness. As such, they are presently not actually reproducing themselves as mammals do, for instance. Compared to the plant kingdom, animals are subject to thresholds of pain and suffering that we ourselves can identify with, being as they are composed of flesh and bone and numerous sensitive nerve-endings. Also, plants don't "birth" their young, nor do they lay eggs and mother their young as mammals do. Animals, when allowed to, will raise, nurture, and protect their offspring in family units, while plants clearly don't.

Ultimately, what makes plants the ideal food source & not animal flesh (particularly for those who are on the path of spiritual refinement & ascension) is that it offers one a diet that is more complete in its solar nutrient content. From veggies, one can so easily get proteins, vitamins, minerals & water content, whereas the solar nutrient in meat is second-hand and less viable, as a result.

To those who take their health seriously, I would like to also point out the following: meat takes a very long time to digest, mainly because it must putrefy in the intestine before it is eliminated. Such is not the case with plants, being as they are primarily composed of water and fibre. Therefore, the less toxic of the proteins is to be found in fresh plants and their byproducts, rather than in the meat of dead carcasses. As well, the absorption of meat protein saturates the blood with uric acid, which the body must actively continue to flush out from the system (overworking the kidneys in the process) or risk developing porous and brittle bones. This is why so many in today's society develop the irreversible condition called osteoporosis (a thinning of their bones) even before old age sets in, not to mention, kidney stones. In a society of heavy meat-eaters, these are common and inevitable health issues.

The Bible says we are meant to eat meat. What do you have to say about that?

What is most critical to me about any written material I would be studying is that it be written in a language of my times by people of my times. In this way I can be certain that the situation I am assessing and determining is coming through to me in a comprehensive manner, one that I am not unconsciously reading into my own hidden agenda.

Truly, my opinion regarding old scripture/holy bible is that it is subject to too much speculation and interpretation. This means that anyone can state a case for or against it with virtually nothing to back up their position other than their faith in what they believe the writers genuinely intended. In this sense, biblical material is not based on evidence that I personally consider concrete and irrefutable by itself. The reasons for this is as follows: much of the holy bible was written 2000+ years ago in an ancient dialect that no one in our world speaks anymore. To learn any language solely for purposes of translating old text is not the same as it being your mother tongue. As a result, translations are by their nature unavoidably subject to gross misinterpretation and error despite the translators good intentions. Also, the bible has gone through numerous translations over the course of the centuries, it's original meaning naturally altering and changing to suit the different times and the different historical power figures, not to mention the multiple additions, deletions, and revisions it has undergone. A great deal is lost in the "translation", as they say, and so, though biblical scripture certainly makes for excellent fodder for philosophizing, its content is way too open to speculation. As a result, what may seem like perfect evidence in support of meat eating to you, is not to me.

Is a vegetarian diet right for everyone?

I have not always eaten a vegetarian diet. Only as an adult was I able to make this decision and adopt it as a lifestyle for myself and my own family. As a child, I was forced to eat meat like many children are, not having much choice in the matter. However, I have always been very sensitive to the effects of food on my body (Moon is in the 6th house of my natal chart.) I experienced a great many instances of food poisoning from consuming bad meat. Though many people have tried to tell me that my illnesses were all flu-related I have, through serious research into the matter, discovered that "stomach flu" as such, simply does not exist. The ill-effects of what we call stomach-flu is not caused by a viral infection, instead, it is the poisoning effects of having consumed contaminated meat. Research by others has proved this to be the case in virtually every case of "stomach-flu".

I admit that not everyone is as sensitive as I am when it comes to digesting meat, which explains why so many continue to follow the age old tradition that our wandering ancestors made in order to survive despite the many other nutritious alternatives that are available to us today. Just the same though, a great many like my self are making the same sensitive connection to meat and their byproducts, and are themselves transitioning towards a diet that is lighter and more refined than not. The times they are a changing..

What makes us all different is that we are all experiencing different stages of evolutionary possibilities. Those who are genuinely aspiring to ascending to the higher levels of living experience (the 5th Dimension), sense intuitively that a diet of meat protein and their accompanying saturated fats are simply too heavy to support this goal. For them, the higher dimensional vitality stored naturally in a vegetarian diet is more in order. On the other hand, those who are content with the third dimensional life experience will no doubt crave foods that require more time and energy to properly digest in the body in order for them to maintain a feeling of grounded-ness, which is required by the 3rd Dimensional experience. Neither is right or wrong in itself, it truly is a choice. What is wrong, in my opinion, is the mass production of meat; all sense of the sacred is removed from such a process. The taking of a life should never be taken lightly, otherwise we risk the desensitization that sets us on a course of spiritual degeneration and aims us towards the dark side. After all, animals are not mere fruits and vegetables that can be planted, plucked, and packaged with no consideration to the effects our actions have on them, as well as our karmic Selves.

My decisions and choices in life are always based on the facts. I arrived at the decision to adopt a strictly vegetarian diet based on the overall effects that meat eating had on my physical body mainly, but also by gathering as many facts together from out there to substantiate my decision as a healthy one to pursue in the long term. To me, a fact is something that can, with relative ease, be found by looking around in one's present environment, assessing the real actions of others, and by reading materials from different authors pertaining to the subject that I seek to understand. Regarding this situation, I looked at the farm industry and its practices, all across the board....by talking to people directly and by reading other people's experiences regarding today's farming industries, I concluded that I not only did not wish to ingest the toxins and poisons that meat contains, but neither did I wish to be a complicit participant to the atrocities and violations carried out upon other sentient beings everyday just because it all occurs behind closed doors.

Ultimately, because I wish to open myself up more and more to the higher spiritual dimensions, a highly refined diet is necessary. So I not only refrain from meat these days, I am also limiting my sugar intake as well. For those who aspire to deepen their own spiritual experience you will discover, sooner or later, that a meat-eating diet will only take you so far. Also, because most processed foods on the supermarket shelves contain very high sugar contents, a concerted effort must be made by the spiritual adherent to cut these out of the diet as well. If you seek to facilitate your personal evolution to rise to higher levels of existence, you will find that the vegetarian low-sugar diet is the one that will ratify the way there.

Where I stand at this time vis-a-vis Vegetarianism vs Veganism.

Finally, it ought to be clear to the reader by now that I am not a meat-eater, however, neither am I a die-hard vegan with strict dietary rules either. One thing that is certain is that I refuse to pin a static label on others or myself one way or the other. Static labels by their very nature have a crystallizing effect; they coerce one into becoming rigid with the self and dogmatic with all others. Dogmatic rigidity has never before, nor will it ever be, responsible for producing the changes we would like to see in the world around us. Still, in the spirit of clarifying my dietary philosophy at this particular time, it is best to say that I am an evolving vegetarian. For me, this means that though I refuse to eat the flesh of dead animals, there are times still when I will consume cheese, eggs and honey. The strict vegan would gladly judge me as willfully participating in the continuing exploitation of animals. However, in my own defense, I am not only doing the best I can at this time but I am doing a whole lot more than most are doing when it comes to the rights of animals. In the end, it is my belief that changing one's dietary status from A to Z really ought to be a mindful endeavor. Because mindful endeavors must issue from the heart, they often take time. Hence, I am respectfully being patient with myself, and bringing about the changes in a slow and natural way. Therefore, I do not expect sudden and abrupt changes from others, either. I merely hope that others will give this subject as much thought and consideration as I do. If we all did just a little bit everyday towards this end, our small individual efforts could realistically bring about a significant palpable change to our planetary collective in our lifetime.

...

A must read; a persuasive argument for the vegetarian diet: The Food Revolution, by John Robbins

A list of vegetarian recipe books: Books on Vegetarian Cooking

..Namaste^

© Demitra M. N.

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