In regards to eating meat

[Ankh]

Monica, I replied to another member. You chose to respond to that.

?? You can see from the above set of quote notations, that you replied directly to me, and I then replied directly to you.

On page 107, I answered to a post made by Shemaya, quoting her, post #2134. You chose to reply to it, post #2135. This is the post I am talking about. You made statements in that reply, to which I answered. Then you made further questions to that reply, to which I responded that I did not wish to continue deepen the discussion anymore. It was the first time I made this kind of post, and I appologise for that! It has nothing to do with you personally, but with me.

But this has happened before though: on page 94 I answered to a post made by Oldern, quoting him, post #1875. You chose to reply to that post too, post #1876. But that time, it ended up in just a little discussion.

The dynamics of this thread is, among others, separation between non-meat-eaters vs. meat-eaters.

This has been stated several times, but I strongly disagree. If that were true, then how is it that Austin and I have been able to converse so respectfully? And yossarian and I? In both cases, they eat meat and I don't; yet we haven't had any friction.

I should have added to my statement "how I see it", in short the above quoted statement of mine should have been: "The dynamics of this thread is, among others, separation between non-meat-eaters vs. meat-eaters, in my opinion, or how I see it."

I am glad to hear that Austin and yossarian and others could be of good service to you. I wish that I could be of that service to you as well. Maybe if you are patient with me, I will be too, in time. Believe me, Monica, I am trying. Very, very hard. Again, this work has nothing to do with you personally, but with *me*.

I don't think the separation is between meat-eaters and non-meat-eaters. I think it's between those who wish to actually discuss the topic, and those who prefer to feel, as Tenet would say, butthurt, and blame those who are actually discussing the topic for their feelings.

I am not butthurt, Monica. But I am struggling with my own lessons. I am sorry if I unintentionally hurted you, and that I am not able to be of service to you, for the moment.

If that were true, then I wouldn't consider Austin as working on the same side of the issue as I am. But I do. He is part of the solution. He and I are on the same team. I see that. I'm pretty sure he sees that. But apparently, a lot of others can't see that. They have fabricated in their minds some sort of "us vs them" division, like football teams, and have chosen their side.

The reason to why I see a separation is because of statements like below:

I contend that the vegetarians have done a damn fine job of accepting the meat-eaters. After all, we all interact with meat-eaters on a daily basis. I even shared how my own husband occasionally ate meat, for many years. So please don't tell us we don't "accept" meat-eaters! It's simply not true. If we didn't accept meat-eaters, we wouldn't be able to function in society, because we are the minority.

On the contrary, it seems to be the meat-eaters who are unable to accept the vegetarians. Some of them have labeled us fanatics and zealots. Why? Just because we make a different choice of diet? Just because we happen to think that animals deserve our compassion?

Several of the vegetarians have shared how this thread has helped us develop more sensitivity and compassion towards spiritual seekers who eat meat. But did any of the meat-eaters reciprocate? I asked, not once but twice, whether any meat-eater had found it in their heart to feel more love, acceptance, and compassion for the vegetarians. NO ONE responded publicly, though 2 people did respond to me privately. (You know who you are, and you know how much I appreciate you! )

But to the rest of the meat-eaters - those who couldn't find it in their hearts to reach out to us - What do you make of that? WHY are you not able to accept us and actually feel compassion for US?

So please: Do not tell us we are the ones judging. Please do not tell us we are "causing separation" because of our convictions.

It is the lack of acceptance for others' convictions, that is causing the separation, NOT the convictions themselves.

What I personally read (subjectively, and that is not meant in an objective kind of way) is: we=vegetarians accept this and that, so do not judge *us*; and you=meat-eaters did this and that... In short, I see "us" vs. "them" dynamic.

Then you say that Austin and yossarian is on our (=vegetarians) side, no other of *them* (=meat-eaters). I am glad that they are able to bridge this separation for you, and be of service to you. But this is what I see, Monica. I have to work to see through this wall of separation.

Again, I *do NOT say* that "one side" is doing this, and not the other side. On contrary, I said, that both sides are doing it. That we are all creating this distortion. This is a group dynamic. You can read it in this post I made, to your reply:

I wasn't speaking to you personally in my post. I was speaking to another member about things that I spoke of in that post to that member. And I wish to not to be stuck now in a debate of who is doing what, because as Tenet pointed out this is a group energy.

Peace, love and light to you. I mean it.