Confederation and meat consumption

[Diana]

There are many "living masters" who mandate a vegetarian diet for their followers.

There are also many that ate meat, and never stopped.

Allow me to clarify, because perhaps it was my own lack of explaining clearly that led to this. I don't follow anyone or anything. So "living masters" was only a reference to certain people here who are presumably concentrating on spiritual evolution. In retrospect, I would have been smarter to leave any reference to them out of this conversation, as it is really ambiguous at best.

However, there are certain effects from consuming animal products (which are addressed by {some} spiritual leaders) which can be considered, some of which have been mentioned in this thread. Of course, this subject has been canvassed extensively on these forums. But it must be mentioned that there is a reason for this constant resurfacing. And the reason(s) need not be laid at one (or more) person's feet, in the form of attack, with accusations of an agenda. That is a pretty extreme way to view someone's (a conscientious member) opinions.

Instead, why not consider what is posted open-mindedly? You may say that you have, and this may be true. We are all in this world dealing with challenges on every front. And the more we become aware of, the more decisions must be made (or decisions not to decide) in light of that awareness.

You're going to find 'spiritual sources' whom are on both ends of the spectrum. It all comes down to what you idealize. You will affirm those 'masters' who reflect those teachings which you yourself support. It's called confirmation bias. That is how people navigate philosophically.

True. People will seek out validation for their beliefs and behaviors.

But I will add that not all people do that. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that some people endeavor to seek expansion of consciousness without seeking validation. One great way to do that is to have working theories instead of beliefs. 

...In general, it seems their philosophy is "it's okay to eat meat as long as the animal wasn't killed specifically to be meat".

In what circumstances would this be?