Becoming a Vegetarian
January 25th, 2009 by John Wolfe
Have you ever had an experience in which you honestly felt you weren’t fully responsible for making the decision or the choice to engage in a set of circumstances or an event – it just sort of slipped up on you? This line of thinking is not my normal approach with regards to taking full responsibility for everything in our lives. However, I’m willing to entertain such a thing because I felt something similar regarding my “choice” of becoming a vegetarian in 2008.
Prior to this last year, I had always been a meat eater. That’s not a fact I’m proud of, but it’s something I’m willing to admit. Though I was raised in a household where my mom was a vegetarian, I still consumed meat. Even after embarking on the path of becoming more consciously aware and respectful of all living things, I continued to consume meat.
The contradiction in that last sentence should have been obvious to me at some point, but it wasn’t. Just like so many of the issues I’ve had to face in becoming more self-actualized, my “taste” for meat (as a young adult) was motivated by my own issues of low self-esteem.
As a teenager, I was constantly teased for being painfully thin. This situation only compounded an already burgeoning state of insecurity. By age 18, I began a very serious bodybuilding and weight training hobby, with the hopes of shedding my old appearance. I had grown to hate the body I saw in the mirror and was willing to do almost anything to permanently alter or change it, even if it meant hurting myself in the process. My motto was: “I can’t do anything about my face, but I can certainly do something to fix my body” – somewhat empowering, yet simultaneously self defeating, wouldn’t you say?
Because of my strong desire to outgrow my old body, I began devouring any and all bodybuilding literature, videos, conversations in the gym, etc. Everything pointed in the same direction with regards to a muscle building diet: animal protein and more animal protein. I submersed myself in the lifestyle and lost sight of the consequences of my actions. While this post isn’t about body image (that’s coming up in a future entry), it’s important to point out how easy it is to make unconscious decisions when we’re suffering emotionally. The dietary habits I formed during that decade of self-destructive bodybuilding had become ingrained. Throughout my late twenties and early thirties I continued to eat meat.
However, in 2008, this practice came to a screeching halt. While I’ve been completely aware of the vegan and vegetarian lifestyle for years, my personal change had nothing to do with intentionally emulating these admirable actions (at least it didn’t feel that way). I don’t actually know how to explain the manner in which I became a vegetarian. This takes me back to my statement in the opening paragraph: I didn’t feel fully responsible for making the decision.
I woke up one day, and it was as if my taste buds for meat had been removed. It began with beef in March of last year and worked its way down the list of the other animals (e.g. chicken and fish) I was consuming. Honestly, I attribute this change to absolutely following the wind of my soul, whether I was aware of it or not.
Based on my current path, becoming a vegetarian was the next logical step in my development and evolution. It appears “something” knew that better than I did. Feel free to call it whatever you like: a subconscious motivation, a conscious choice that I chose to overlook, or some form of soulful intervention; all I know is that I’m currently far more satisfied with my food choices, by no longer being responsible for contributing to the slaughter of animals. My dietary intake still includes large amounts of protein, but they now come in the form of protein powders, dairy and soy based products only.
I’m not here to judge anyone’s choices when it comes to eating or not eating meat. Just as I had to go through my own experience of waking up, so will others and I respect that.
However, in closing this post, I will leave you with this concept: if an animal is killed in a violent manner (name a slaughterhouse in which that’s not the case) and a person chooses to eat its meat – that same animal’s molecules are melding with the molecules of the individual; this includes everything the animal felt, coursing through its veins, at the moment of death.
We compound the poisoning of our own vibrational state, by first killing and then eating that which has been violently killed. Yet, if we’re already in a place of psychologically poisoning ourselves on a daily basis, what other actions would be fitting to take, if not those which mirror our own internal turmoil? I’m not defending the killing or carnivorous action; only understanding the lack of awareness in why it’s committed, because I used to be there.
If you enjoyed this post or found it beneficial, please consider sharing it with others. Thanks for supporting Wind of the Soul.
Tags: Living Consciously, vegetarianism
February 11th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
When it’s put like that it brings a whole new understanding. I remember someone telling me about meat being anger food about five years ago and I’ve been trying to become a vegitarian since then. That would most likely explain the violent thoughts that plague me on occasion when certain moods hit.
Sometimes you want to make changes without fully understanding why you’re making those changes but this blog helped me clearly to see the effects. I’ll pass it along.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Thank you, Elaine. After becoming a vegetarian, I’ve wondered how I was able to go so long eating meat – especially when I considered myself an animal lover. I definitely believe the vibrational state of whatever we eat becomes a part of us.
I received your email and I’ll write back soon.
Thanks again for reading and commenting on this entry.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Hi John,
I have recently found your podcast and website through references to the Holographic Universe, and the Seth Material. I’ve really enjoyed your material so far, please keep it up! I’d like to share a bit about myself on this particular topic, and to say that I respect not only your choice, but your open honesty in self examination.
I haven’t eaten meat in nearly 9 years now. Interestingly, my mother too did not eat meat (from when she was about 16) but I did not arrive at the same choice until I was about 19. I personally don’t like to be called ‘a vegetarian’ as I really don’t like to be labelled or categorized, and its not even that I _do_ something in particular, but rather, something that I choose _not_ to do. In any case, its only a word, so I’m really not all that uptight about it
My impetus for choosing to stop consuming meat involved two main reasons:
The first, is the _reality_ of the meat _industry_ (not so much the actual consumption). Because meat production is on such a huge scale, we see absolutely horrendous living conditions, outright cruelty (I have seen extremely disturbing video from the 2nd largest slaughterhouse in the USA), and so on – and no matter which way I cut it, if I am buying their product, I am supporting these practices.
Second, is the grim fact that beef and pork in particular are ridiculously wasteful from a resource perspective. A pig or cow has to consume 20-25 pounds of human-edible grains (some are advertised to be fed Grade-A grains, at that) in order to produce a single pound of meat. As a result, a huge amount of the agricultural land in the world is devoted solely to feed crops. Now, considering how many people in the world die _every_day_ either directly of starvation, or, of malnutrition-related diseases, this was a difficult fact to swallow.
That being said, I do not, as a rule, judge or hate on meat eaters, ever. My own wife and most of my family consume meat. I consider one’s choice of food to be highly personal. You are, and should be, free to consume whatever you wish. I’m not fond of the idea of killing any living creature, but, I do not believe it is wrong to kill an animal to feed yourself, if and only if, that is your only source of sustenance and you do so without cruelty. There is reference to this in the Seth Material, I would be most interested to hear your thoughts.
Best regards!
April 15th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Ross,
Thank you for your great feedback. I’m absolutely on the same page with you pertaining to everything mentioned in your message. I’m definitely not big on labels either. Like yourself, I use them not as a means to define myself or others, but rather for the sake of communication and clarity.
You bring up a great point regarding the wastefulness of overfeeding cattle and pigs simply to feed humans (humans that typically only eat meat as a “luxury” commodity anyway). You’re absolutely right about that being an asinine practice when we consider how many humans are starving.
There are many people in my own family as well who still consume meat products and I too do my best to not judge. I’m also in agreement when it comes to a matter of eating meat for survival. If that’s all a person can do to feed themselves and their family, then I totally understand. Unfortunately, there are far more “recreational” meat eaters than there are necessity meat eaters in the world.
Thanks again for your feedback.