Non-violent vegans

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Non-violent vegans

To make non-violence work, to make a habit of it, we must be ‘mindful’ not to slip back into violent ways, even when we’re on the defensive.  There’s violence in all of us, and most of us wish it weren’t there; if we still practise violence we’re probably still holding onto attitudes we can’t shake.

           

Violent habits show up at home, where we’re so well known that we can’t fool anyone.  If we take a black mood to the breakfast table, things can fall apart quickly.  We say something harder than we should, and with this one small violence the damage is done.  It happens so quickly, and then it’s hard to pull back.  The feeling of it is left hanging.  Others remember it and in future try to avoid stirring us up.  And so it goes on.  No one’s relaxed.  We begin to dislike ourselves for it.  We promise ourselves that we’ll change.  We try to become a truly non-violent person.  Then we try to deny violence altogether. 

           

Good intentions can modify things, but it needs to be written into daily practice, and no better way than by starting at the breakfast table – with how we think and with what we eat.  Food mirrors attitude.  By being vegan we stand the best chance to awaken our non-violent personality.