Can a truly spiritual person eat meat?

[iamthat]

I think that we all draw the line where we feel comfortable, and over time that line may change.

So I have not eaten meat, fish or eggs for nearly 40 years, but I do eat cheese, partly because it is more convenient when eating out.

There are many reasons for being vegetarian, including:
Compassion for the suffering of animals reared for meat,
Vegetarianism makes less demand on the planet's land resources,
Most meat available now is filled with hormones, antibiotics etc, all of which affect us - the alternative is organically produced meat but that is more expensive,
If we choose to eat meat then we do not necessarily become less compassionate or less spiritual, but energetically there is a change in our vibration.

Or maybe it simply comes down to the fact that putting bits of dead animals in my mouth seems such a bizarre idea!

Peace.

[ocean breeze]

Originally Posted by Hemera

That would be logical if talking about roadkill but sadly the majority of animals are bred and raised to be killed for human consumption. If people stppped eating meat overnight, there would be no need for factory farms. It's supply and demand- people want meat, animals are killed to get it and most suffer horribly. This is the foundation of vegetarianism.

Unfortunately they suffer horribly prior to becoming food. I do feel it is natural for humans to want to consume other animals as food.

Originally Posted by Hemera

That would be logical if talking about roadkill but sadly the majority of animals are bred and raised to be killed for human consumption. If people stppped eating meat overnight, there would be no need for factory farms. It's supply and demand- people want meat, animals are killed to get it and most suffer horribly. This is the foundation of vegetarianism.

It seems that humans are carnivores like many other species in Nature.
But I do wish for a system where, if someone wants to eat meat they must slaughter the animal(s) themselves. You don't get a lion or tiger popping in the convenience store to pick up a piece of ready-made mass-produced killing. Why should humans be isolated from this process? Squeamish, no doubt.

I eat meat. I give thanks to the animal for giving up its life for me to eat and ask for it to be duly noted in the world of spirit. It takes but a couple of minutes before starting a meal.

I've visited a very poor country where people couldn't even start to enjoy vegetarian cuisine and maintain any degree of health. They regard killing an animal as sacrificing its life so they can eat and providing a few other things including offerings to their spirit deities. Perfectly natural to them.

Edit - also agree about factory farms. They should simply be outlawed then if people want meat they pay more. It isn't that much more either. about 50%, but it would make people value their meat more.

♥

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Hemera

This is a complex issue and while I'm sympathetic to it (I eat fish but no meat) it's not as straightforward as saying truly spiritual and compassionate people don't eat meat. People who are more awake to the exprerience of pain and suffering often try to reduce their contribution to it and that is a wonderful thing, but it's all a matter of consciousness. Some people may do wonderful good in the world but are conditioned into eating meat and it's so natural for them that they don't question it. Some people have such severe stomach/health issues that eating meat is their only option if they can't eat vegetarian sources of protein - this can be argued as having compassion for oneself in giving the body what it needs. And of course some people argue that meat can be produced humanely to reduce the suffering produced in factory farms, which opens up a whole can of worms of its own.

As I said, a complex issue, and one that often provokes strong feelings. It's good to be mindful of one's feelings about the matter. At the end of the day there is never a right or wrong answer, or any answer at all really in this case, apart from doing what feels ultimately right for each person.

This is basically how I feel about it Hemera. I don't eat meat because that is my personal choice based on my feelings for animals and why they are alive. But I would not consider myself 'less or more' spiritual than another person who does eat meat.

[Nature Grows]

Yea it's sad what happens to the animals, i see the vegan people in my city sometimes protesting and doing there stuff, i understand where they are coming from. I didn't eat meat for a couple years, every now an then i eat fish now. One time though i was at the fish market and i saw a box with crabs in it, they were tied up with wire, still alive and struggling to move! i couldn't have this, so when no one was looking i grabbed the box and walked off with it, i took the crabs to a nearby beach and let them all go, one of the crabs even stopped at the edge of the water and looked at me like it knew what i did.

Originally Posted by Hemera

This is a complex issue and while I'm sympathetic to it (I eat fish but no meat)

Fish is the only animal i eat too, how is fish not meat? you said (I eat fish but no meat) a fish is a animal just like a cow, chicken or zebra so it's still meat.

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

It seems that humans are carnivores like many other species in Nature.
But I do wish for a system where, if someone wants to eat meat they must slaughter the animal(s) themselves. You don't get a lion or tiger popping in the convenience store to pick up a piece of ready-made mass-produced killing. Why should humans be isolated from this process? Squeamish, no doubt.

Oh yea that would be something, i can imagine some people getting real mad if they had to do it themselves but i think it could be a good idea.

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

I eat meat. I give thanks to the animal for giving up its life for me to eat and ask for it to be duly noted in the world of spirit. It takes but a couple of minutes before starting a meal. ♥

Yea the mindfulness and blessings are good, i do that to.

[Shivani Devi]

I find there are worse things affecting my 'spirituality' than eating meat. Refined and processed food, wheat products, saturated fats, coffee and tea...actually meat is way down on the list there.

I only eat white meat, however I also feel the need to give that up too and not for any humanitarian or compassionate reasons whatsoever, but to purify and balance the prana/apana ratio within my body.

Eating meat takes a long time to digest and toxins build up in the system. It's why carnivores have much shorter intestines than human beings.

I need to give my whole diet an overhaul, including Krispy Kremes *sigh*

...and drinking more water.

[Nature Grows]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

I find there are worse things affecting my 'spirituality' than eating meat. Refined and processed food, wheat products, saturated fats, coffee and tea...actually meat is way down on the list there.

Yea, there's chemicals in some stuff, processed stuff to, yea it's all no good also they put salt in alot of things.

Yea your right, eating as raw, organic and alkaline as you can is good for us, super foods, herbs aswell. These things are our natural medicine too.

[Hemera]

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

Unfortunately they suffer horribly prior to becoming food. I do feel it is natural for humans to want to consume other animals as food.

I agree it's natural for most humans to want to eat meat -that's what goes on in nature. What many people (including myself) object to is the FrankENstein-style approach to rearing factory animals which goes against nature , hence the gradual shift in awareness towards more humane farming that I've noticed in recent years. This doesn't sit right with everyone of course, but seems to me to be a positive step in raising awareness of the issues.

[Hemera]

Originally Posted by Lorelyen

It seems that humans are carnivores like many other species in Nature.
But I do wish for a system where, if someone wants to eat meat they must slaughter the animal(s) themselves. You don't get a lion or tiger popping in the convenience store to pick up a piece of ready-made mass-produced killing. Why should humans be isolated from this process? Squeamish, no doubt.

I eat meat. I give thanks to the animal for giving up its life for me to eat and ask for it to be duly noted in the world of spirit. It takes but a couple of minutes before starting a meal.

I've visited a very poor country where people couldn't even start to enjoy vegetarian cuisine and maintain any degree of health. They regard killing an animal as sacrificing its life so they can eat and providing a few other things including offerings to their spirit deities. Perfectly natural to them.

Edit - also agree about factory farms. They should simply be outlawed then if people want meat they pay more. It isn't that much more either. about 50%, but it would make people value their meat more.

♥

I agree with all you say. The majority of people are shielded and completely disconnected from their food. A lot of people don't even associated meat with the animal it once was, and that's really quite shocking. Being conscious of what we're taking into our body, feeling that connection to nature, regardless of personal choices, is what I believe is the spiritual path. As you say, vegetarianism is hardly an option for everyone, everywhere - and as someone who has struggled terribly with poor stomach health in the past, I'm sympathetic to this and never argue that everyone should avoid meat/be vegan or whatever. There are no rights or wrongs in this world. We can only work with what we have and endeaver to be mindfully aware of our choices in responses to the issues at hand.

[Hemera]

Originally Posted by Tobi

This is basically how I feel about it Hemera. I don't eat meat because that is my personal choice based on my feelings for animals and why they are alive. But I would not consider myself 'less or more' spiritual than another person who does eat meat.

Yeah we can't compare or compete spirituality, we're all on a path of discovery.