Energy

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By being no longer guilty of compliance with violence, we give ourselves a better chance to use energy constructively, to balance the pushing-forward and the holding-back of energy, to produce energy by a most novel means.

By giving out energy (that is not draining it by doing shameful things, like exploiting animals) we get generous amounts of it back. Just in that one attitude of showing disrespect for all forms of exploiting and a gratitude for what we can have without using violence, there is a potential furnace of energy. And that type of energy, feeding back into whatever we do, helps us hold back ‘wanting’, for it’s the wanting that does so much damage.

This is surely the most noble state of mind - not wanting those things we shouldn’t want and not even contemplating using the ‘heavy human hand’ to grab it. If ‘un-wanting’ is close to contentment, it must be the main key to bringing about a transformed human. Surely anything which could relieve the mayhem of our present attitudes (made manifest in today’s human society) surely would be worth finding?

If an omnivore ever takes veganism seriously, ‘self denial’ will become a first consideration, and that means giving up all sorts of familiar animal-based stuff. When we first consider the pros and cons, self-denial is weighed against the availability of certain attractive things. Those ‘certain things’ may bring us pleasure but probably also represent ‘the pit’ from which we’d all like to escape. By dropping our dependency on animals we give ourselves the best chance to escape the pit. The pit is violence and waste. And it’s our prison, albeit an escapable one. To be vegan, and make vegan living work for us, is a lifetime’s project, aimed at escape.

Of course, there are other great projects, like raising children and caring for less able people, but if we aren’t escaping this particular pit all we are doing is improving prison conditions. It runs parallel with the attitude of improving the welfare of animals as opposed to liberating them completely.

If we can focus on the non-violent principle, we can escape prison and help others to escape too.