In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

More often than not, I am buried with guilt of not doing enough, of not meeting my own expectations, and not performing my best. I think that I should try harder and do more, and that encompasses *everything*.

I think that I should recycle more, that I should engage more in environmental issues, not use any cars, but to walk and cycling, not to consume anything, not use too much power, too much water, and too much paper, and not produce any garbage, but to do everything in my power to save this planet, to save her resources, and to be the love and the light that shines for animals, and humans, and the planet itself; that I should do more things with my daughter, with my friends, with my patients, with my relatives, with my mom, with my granny, etc. etc. I also think that I should focus on spiritual studies more, and do my duties more effeciently, so that I can be more effective, and more loving, and more serving, and more understanding, and more happy; that I should take better care of my body too, by exercising more, eating better, and take care of my spirit too, and to do more work in consciousness... And... And.. And...

Ah... I fail to meet these expectations every.single.day.

We all do. We all fail to meet those expectations. We can't all do everything. There is so much suffering in the world.

And that is precisely the point! Eliminating meat is arguably the single most effective way to accomplish so much...It's something we CAN do, that doesn't take any more time or money. In fact, it's cheaper to eat a vegetarian diet than to eat meat. It's something we CAN DO.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;

1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;

70 million gallons of gas -- enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;

3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;

33 tons of antibiotics.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:

Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;

3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages;

4.5 million tons of animal excrement;

Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.

...According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. See how easy it is to make an impact?

Globally, we feed 756 million tons of grain to farmed animals. As Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer notes in his new book, if we fed that grain to the 1.4 billion people who are living in abject poverty, each of them would be provided more than half a ton of grain, or about 3 pounds of grain/day -- that's twice the grain they would need to survive. And that doesn't even include the 225 million tons of soy that are produced every year, almost all of which is fed to farmed animals

from http://www.alternet.org/environment/1346...t_one_day/

Why do the meat eaters speak as though they are being asked to start a garden and spend hours every day growing their own food? or cook elaborate meals? Why do they speak as though being a vegetarian is a lot of work?

It simply isn't. If anything, it's easier. You don't have to worry about disinfecting your cutting board after cutting up meat. You don't have to worry about the stench of spoiled meat in the frig. You will save $$ on your grocery bill, and maybe even on healthcare costs long-term.

It's simply a myth, that becoming a vegetarian takes more time, money or work. That's simply not true.

Going veg is easy! It really really is! Granted, going vegan or raw vegan does require more education and a little more adjustment on shopping and eating out. But just going vegetarian - meaning, still eating eggs and dairy - is ridiculously E-Z!!

And there is no other single action that has such a profound impact on one's health, the environment, and other people. (Since saving the animals from suffering doesn't seem to be a reason to do it.)

With that being said, it doesn't mean that we should stop caring, or not doing anything. But stopping for a second, and just appreciating the moment, and appreciating ourselves exactly as we are and all the efforts and the service we are already doing - that's empowering, imho. And sharing that with other people, by building them up, is what raises the vibrations of the whole planet, right? And I never heard about guilt and doubts doing that to a person, but that love and respect does. And gratitude, and appreciation is what washes our souls, so that we can believe ourselves being that love and that light again, each equally admired and adored by the Creator no matter what.

Sure, those things do all raise the vibration of the planet. So sure, let's do that too!

But meanwhile, the suffering of untold billions of animals on a daily basis is lowering the vibration.

No vegetarian on this forum has said anything that shot anyone down, or imposed guilt on them. I invite you to consider where the guilt is coming from. It's not coming from me, Pickle, Diana, yossarian, Pablisimo, or any of the other vegetarians (if there are others I've missed).

I don't feel any guilt about the starving children in Africa. I feel sadness and compassion, but not guilt. Why? Because I'm not doing anything that directly is causing that.

You can talk to me all day about why I 'should' feel guilt, and it won't make one iota of difference. I'm not going to feel guilty about something I'm not directly causing. Sure, I will still do my prayers and meditation for those children, and I will consider how I am a part of the collective. But I'm not responsible for those starving children in the same direct way as I would be if I went out and intentionally killed someone.

Do you see the difference?

Guilt, when there's nothing we can do, is counterproductive.

Guilt, when there IS something we can do, serves a purpose.