DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
I have made living a conscious, loving life which reflects and supports my deepest felt sense a priority for many years now (there’s our first value!), that pulling out the most essential elements is a little difficult—which perhaps is all the more reason to reflect on it.
- Firstly, I’ve chosen a vegetarian diet for over 15 years now. When people ask me why, generally my response is simply, “…it’s a choice I’ve made to reflect my respect for all life.” Another way I often describe it is as ahimsa—a commitment to doing no harm. This leads me to another value…
- I find that rigidity and dogmatism are simply not helpful and tend to polarize people, discredit our own positions and shut the listening of others down. That being said, I am not a militant vegetarian (as I said, the choice was made out of respect for ALL life).
- I believe in the power of a radically open mind. Having my views, beliefs, opinions, and assumptions challenged is a gift, and opportunity to expand my understanding from my limited perspective to something larger and more encompassing. We’re all viewing the world through a unique lens, and I think we need each other to share what we observe from our vantage point if we’re ever going to get the slightest glimpse of the larger picture.
- I try to give everyone I interact with, no matter how mundane or superficial, the respect of my full presence, attention, and open mind.
- I take each dollar I spend as a vote for something, so some of the questions I ask before making any purchase are, “is this an industry/product I want to support? Where did it come from? What was involved in its creation? Where will it go when I’m done with it? Is it harmful? Is it helpful?” For this reason, as well as a consideration of my own health and wellbeing, I choose to eat nearly entirely organic and local when possible.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
1. Eleanore Tisch
A militant vegetarian is a phrase I've never heard before and absolutely love it!
These are not easy bullets to live by, they require an immense amount of summoning power from you. It seems like you've really embodied who you want to be: a kind, open, caring, citizen of the universe. I can feel your presence, attention, and open mind in class; with what you say and what you dont say.
Listening is so important. That's one of my first priorities is full body, whole hearted listening. I see you truly listening in class and just wanted you to know I love it :) I also see it as a undercurrent in all of the above bullets, which is great.
In vegetarianism, I see listening to nature and industry. Listening to Nature, who is being irrefutably destroyed by the meat industry. In stating that you're not a militant vegetarian you open yourself up to discussions of the topic, to dialogue (which are both one-half listening). This feeds right in to your next bullet, where you're opening yourself up to discussions of any topic not just something familiar to you. Interactions with anything are so much more satisfying when you're fully present and awake to your life. That gets the biggest thumbs up ever in my book.
The last bullet is still about listening. You listen to what you're money is doing, you listen to economy and industry and act on what you hear. I think this is especially important in this day and age when no one listens to anything, let alone the quiet murmur of the machines we overdepend on.
09/22/12, 07:04 pm