Vegan principle

1418: 

Meaning no harm to animals, is at the heart of vegan principle.  So, when I decided to stop eating all this animal stuff, the main persuader was the animal-harm necessary to produce any of it.  But my reluctance sprang from my pleasure in eating it.  Becoming a vegan, I knew it would mean giving up my favourite breakfast.  No need to mention what it was because it wasn’t anything unusual, but I liked it very much.

The idea of going vegan was a huge step, but actually taking the first step wasn’t as hard as I’d expected.  The hardest part was meal-making.  Without a huge variety of quick-to-cook or ready-to-eat foods, I realised I’d have to make almost everything from source, although now, vegan ready-mades are more available and not too costly.  But still, vegans have nowhere near the same variety and choices that omnivores enjoy.

Going vegan costs time, effort and convenience.  It means missing out on many food items and treats.  So why is it that most vegans I've met, never consider ‘going back to being non-vegan’?  It’s not because they’re extra nice people or especially disciplined.  It's because the plant-based-food-benefits are just too good to be true.  To experience this sort of plant-driven energy each day is indescribable.  So, I won’t try to describe further.

But it isn’t just about food, it's the whole lifestyle and thought process that goes with it.  It’s what Jeffrey Masson calls “a somersaulting-forward process”.  If you decide to try to become vegan, you open yourself up to a new world, and that’s just on the personal side.  In terms of acting on the non-destructiveness principle, by becoming vegan we feel as though we’re no longer acting against our world.

What ‘going-vegan’ implies is global health.  This principle of harmlessness doesn’t necessarily make everything easier for us, but it gives us a taste of what it is like to be dancing with the angels, to feel the power behind inspiration. 

Admittedly, it’s easy to fall to the ground with a thud, as I’m often flung back to the reality of being vegan in a non-vegan world.  I’m sobered by the hardness of people.  But the impact of daily experience of this inspiring way of life motivates me to stick with it and to try to inspire others.