A Friendly Conversation: Exploring Omnivorous vs. Vegetarian Diet

[Tenet Nosce]

We already know from Ra the criteria for graduation. We know that it's the overall love/compassion/service to others that matters, and eating meat or not eating meat is but one of many considerations. As I've previously said in this discussion, my main question regarding polarizing is: Was the person given an opportunity to feel compassion, and if so, how did s/he respond? It seems to me that diet per se has nothing to do with polarization/graduation, but our response to the opportunity to feel compassion has quite a lot to do with polarizing/graduation.

I'd say that's a fair assessment! The core notion which I have taken issue with [generally speaking, not something you have personally promoted] is that food choices somehow drive spiritual growth.

In my opinion, there is a spiritual pitfall or trap which occurs when a person is just starting to awaken. All of a sudden they are inundated by all these "guides, gurus, lightworkers, etc." who are all too happy to start expounding all these "rules and regulations" that one must supposedly follow in order to spiritually grow. It's like- no sooner does a person get a taste of true freedom then all the vultures descend and start pecking out their eyes!

Now I know that pitfalls are part of the journey. And they also create opportunities for others to come in and offer gentle reassurance to the spiritual newborns that all of these rules and regulations are hogwash. Of course, the gentle reassurance often gets drowned out by the screeching and squawking of those who feel the need to recruit others onto their "one true" spiritual path.

In my experience and belief, spiritual growth works from the inside out. Like a flower which blooms. Any approach that promotes an outside in strategy- whether following a certain diet, saying certain prayers, enacting certain rituals, dressing a particular way, or whatever, is the wrong approach. And by "wrong" I mean it doesn't create the intended outcome of enlightenment. All it does is confuse people and create an even larger glut of half-awakened "gurus" telling other people what to do. All of these things are perfectly valid as expressions of spirituality, but are not the cause of it.

My reaction to these people is much like that I described in the protein thread. They don't know what they are talking about. People who think spiritual growth has anything to do with "outside in" methodologies are simply mistaken. Their hearts might be in the right place, so to speak, but they are just plain incorrect in their beliefs. Growth happens from the inside out. That's just the way it is. There aren't too many things in life that I would make such a strong absolute statement about, but this is one of them.

All that spiritual "rules and regulations" do is create guilt and self-hatred and endless bickering among different groups following different sets of rules. And all of that is certainly not, as you say, love and forgiveness.

Now that all being said, I have indeed found in my own experience what I always suspected I would find. As I continue to unfold and progress in my spiritual growth, I have found that certain foods carry less appeal and/or just don't seem to sit right in my system. Meat is one of those items which has taken a dramatic fall. I just don't want it as much anymore.

Though on the other hand, I still eat some meat, and won't turn it down if it is served to me. I certainly don't sweat the potential "depolarizing" effect, if it exists.

But perhaps surprisingly, meat was not the first thing to start falling off. In fact, it was grains and sugar. Again, I still eat all of these, but to a fraction of a degree as, say, 20 years ago.

Yes, I do feel more compassion for the animals. Also for people in general. But for the most part, my experiences of compassion are more profound when toward somebody (could even be an animal) that is in my direct awareness. Most poignant have been those experiences of compassion which have been directed at my self.

Maybe one day I will grow to feel deep compassion for people halfway around the world whom I never met, or for a chicken in a factory farm a thousand miles away. But I'm just not there yet. And I just don't feel that is a necessity for progress at the stage of the game we are currently playing.

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Not sure if meat is all that money. It is subsidized by govt. If govt pays to have it promoted, pays to have the consumer prices kept down, do we want to know if there is a reason for this?

Technically speaking, the govt subsidizes grains, which are then fed to the animals, and also directly to humans. This causes health problems for everybody. Good for the pharmaceutical business though!

There is a store near me that sells a small amount of organic produce. More than double the price, and some is quadruple the price, of organics elsewhere. The store does not sell any of it, and it all goes to the trash after it has wilted.

Wow! That's pretty bad! Around here, some of the organic produce is even the same price as conventional in big chain grocery stores.