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Originally Posted by verklingen
is violence not waged against plants also, or is violence limited only to creatures with organ systems similar to our own?
i do agree that mindful gratitude ought to be an essential part of eating, though. our and every being's life is made buoyant by the remains of others. this process deserves our utmost respect and reverence
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SageTree
For me choosing not to eat meat has to do with my opinion that I am at a place in my evolution that I don't have to eat meat to survive, I can choose other, less violent options. This isn't to say I don't see that, as Verk mentioned, all life leans on others' existence, but I mindfully choose to not add to that, in this manner.
The practice of non-violence in my diet, has spread into aspects of my life and has taken away that 'answer' to living, down the subtle scale of choice.
Animal vs. Plant:
Ultimately whatever you eat, it certainly is part and parcel of a much larger thing. Everything coexists. A tree isn't just a tree and neither are we just an I. So I feel that being thankful for all life forms that help us sustain our lives, no matter what your choices on diet are. You can still live in total gratitude for the animal, the grass, the farmer who grew the grains, the butcher, the person who makes the butchers food.
Mindfulness of the cycle is the most important with in the topic of discussion, for me.
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I don't think I said it wasn't violence.
Practicing non-violence, is a choosing the least violent option, for me. And I do recognize that every moment the present becomes past, dying, so that we may go on as well. But this action, to me, seems natural and causes less violence, in theory than blowing my brains out.
And this is perhaps all selfish assuming that we
should even go on, at all. Are animals meant for consumption? Are plants? Are we? What is the answer? Animals suffer when they are killed, perhaps plants do as well, as I've see interesting things about how plants avoid poisons. And is that suffering equal? I don't know.
All I am saying is a wild cat, has to eat meat to survive. Humans are at an evolutionary point, and have been for some time, to know that we have other choices than other animals and humans even based on climate.
In my opinion plant based diets are a subtle level of violence that sustains me, as opposed to a beast's death, which to me, feels more in vein and uncalled for.
I am not doing the killing myself, and don't want someone else at the slaughter house to have to experience that as well. Talk to someone who has worked at a house, they won't have that many awesome stories. Not like someone who says, you know I worked hard today tending the crops, and my back is sore, but my mind is clear.
This is a practice of non violence to ourselves and others as well. Picking an option that is easier on the conscious of the worker.
Since we can't remove all the factors, since interdependence abounds, choosing a plant and a farmer is holistically less violent than getting a worker to kill an animal and a piece of themselves.
This is why I say in a larger window, plants, as it seems to me, are less violent.
But can't we just keep propping up our egos with the right answers about why we deserve to live more than a plant or animal, and why we shouldn't be cast into the fray?
