Quote:
Originally Posted by Virtue121  Who ever develops their compassion to a certain degree of purity: they will refrain from meat eating. It is possible for someone who is not that compassionate to become a vegetarian but it is not possible that someone who is deeply compassionate to become a meat eater.
People who become vegetarians for other reasons may fall down again into the meat eating habit but those with awakened compassion will not slip back to the uncompassionate diet of meat eating. |
This is an extreme and judgmental viewpoint. In my opinion, things are rarely as black and white as some people would like.
For example, does the LOA not apply to animals? For any animal with the intention not to be eaten it is universally impossible that the animal attract being eaten. In the end, there are no victims only co-creators or participants.
When I eat an animal I feel great compassion and gratitude for the animal who gave its life for me to eat it. I never eat a living creature or plant without deeply feeling and acknowledging the offering made to me and I never eat more than my body asks for.
For a long time I felt tremendous guilt at eating an animal, which is why I became vegetarian, but after some time realized guilt is a poor reason to do
anything and that it is not up to me to alter or judge the balance which the planet regulates herself. Obviously, we are all so different from one another. Some people clearly thrive on a vegetarian diet, others do not and I disagree that this has to do with levels of consciousness or awakened compassion. In fact, some of the most compassionate and enlightened people on the planet eat a moderate amount of animal flesh (Dalai Lama, Louise Hay, Eckhart Tolle).
In essence, extremist and militant views are rarely the answer and you won't get very far with meat eaters by telling them they lack compassion.
I like this article written by a vegetarian on the matter:
Olivia Rosewood: Yoga Levels: Meat Eaters are More Spiritual than Vegetarians