Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolazy  So I wonder if it makes sense to choose to live vegan if you also believe in a subjective reality? |
I'm kind of jumping back to the original question and offering a new perspective as I just discovered this thread today. I have been vegan for 4 years and have great passion for the subject. But I think this question requires digging into the definition of subjective reality.
I really like this question because it points out the contrast between morality and compassion versus manifestation of intentions, encouraging us to contemplate the nature of reality. As I see it, the answer boils down to a fundamental question; who am I and what is the nature of my consciousness?
Here are three potential answers that each seem to fit a subjective reality paradigm and attempt to address the question at hand.
1. I am that which experiences the five senses of my one and only avatar and I am all that exists; everything that is experienced by the one and only consciousness (me) do not exist outside of my own experience of them. I have complete control over all my experiences and if I believed I could eat animals and be healthy and if I wanted to I certainly could. And since there is no outside experiencer of animal feelings I can just detach myself from the killing and be completely happy with no moral concern, for as a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it doesn't make a sound so is the absence of pain to a calf slaughtered with no consciousness there to experience it. My health will be fine if I believe it will and I have plenty of examples of people who have lived happy healthy lives into there 90s eating an animal based diet. So in this model, veganism doesn't make much sense unless I really feel like eating vegetables.
2. I am that consciousness in which and for which all existence manifests. Although there is only one experiencer and therefore only one experience, all of existence is a precious part of my Self. Therefore I will maximize the joy of my experience if I treat everything in my creation as important parts of my Self. Although I know the animals don't experience pain as I do for there is only one experiencer and one experience which I'm having, I know my creation will be more harmonious if I have compassion for every component of it. I am in control of what I experience, but I created these animals and I feel happier if I don't eat them. Also, the factory farming of them is not congruent with what I have already manifested, so it introduces problems such as bird flu that I will have to deal with as a result. I have created my reality with laws of nature that purposefully have causes and effects that are not easily manipulated. This allows for a stable reality that is a perfect medium for the expression of my creativity. The consequence of setting the laws up as I did is that choices have to be made. Choices that will either result in more harmony and joy or less health, harmony and joy.
3. I am the container of consciousness, that which is prior to the manifestation of experience. All experience arises from me and is made up of me, but duality is a necessary part of the manifestation of experience. Every manifestation of existence is conscious and separately aware yet made up of the one. Every experience and experiencer is impermanent yet eternal at its core. All consciousness is here to be aware, to experience and at least the human form is here to participate in creation and enjoy life. Everything in time comes and it goes. The purpose can only be found in the present moment. Compassion and morality can only be found in how you feel. Pay as much attention to how you feel in every crevice of your being when you are eating or deciding what to eat and how you feel after you eat; there you will find your answer.
If you don't like these make up your own model of reality and see how it holds up against and addresses complex issues such as morality.