In regards to eating meat

[Shemaya]

I eat animals and am not oblivious to suffering. I am very grateful for their sacrifice that nourishes me.

I asked Gaia once about this, and her answer was that the when animals are preyed upon, they are immediately caught back up to Spirit where they become immediately aware of the perfection of creation. Here's a what I wrote previously :

"

It resonated with the answer I received from Gaia when I asked a question regarding predator/prey relationship. I was asking in the context that humans live as omnivores, and we see animals hunting each other for food in the circle of life. I asked Gaia if the predator/prey dynamic caused her any distress.

She responded with surprise that I would think it caused her distress. She said that animals have no discontinuity of their spirit and body. When the body dies, the spirit is immediately released to Eternal Spirit, and the animal understands this circle, that by it's death it gives life to another.

So to me, Q'uo response resonates in that it gives us as humans an active step, prayer and thanksgiving, to acknowledge the gift of life we are given by the food that we eat.

I didn't feel that Q'uo's response endorsed or excused the terrible, life-robbing system we have created in the meat industry, factory farms, and slaughterhouses. I am glad for the many people who feel passionate about this, who bring awareness and are taking active steps to end it.

All of us can be more conscious of where we buy our food, there is a movement afoot now to localize food production, get away from agribusiness, and get back to home gardens and local farms. When we stop, as a collective, supporting factory farming (by no longer buying from them!) they can't survive....we, as a collective, keep them going by our purchases."