Soul change

1156: 

For those who won’t accept the dietary changes being suggested by vegans, there’s a hard lesson to be learned, concerning the poisoning of the body, mind and soul (whew! That’s one heavy pitch!) notably in the health dangers of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, each being associated with eating animal protein and animal fats.

And what about the “mind and soul”?

       

It’s not just human physical health, it goes deeper. It touches conscience ... and if I’ve got a weak conscience it’s likely I’m going to be into advantage-taking. I’ll be using my position of ‘superiority’ to benefit me. I might be abusing women or children, or the environment,or my own body. Or I might be contributing to a mega-abuse, like the fishing-out of oceans or the caging of hens. None of which are particularly good for the mind. Who wants to maintain a guilty conscience for the rest of their lives? And guilt is not good food for the soul!!

       

Abuse and exploitation has a sting in the tail, even though it might not be immediately obvious. It’s because it isn’t obvious that we blithely continue abusing; everyone seems to be doing it, and eventually I copy them, and think nothing of it; then it seems too late to change.

But that’s the weird thing – it’s never too late to change, and late change is often the most thorough and permanent type of change, and therefore the most effective. I’ve seen people in their 80s make a complete change, dietarily and attitudinally. They saw themselves caged-in by a lifetime’s bad habits and didn’t think their own cage door could ever be opened. And they proved themselves wrong about that.

Perception-wise, the door is shut because we just can’t believe it’s openable. As soon as empathy kicks in, we take the emphasis off our own situation and look about us. We see cage-doors everywhere. And as soon as we begin to empathise, we begin to care more about the animals’ plight than our own comfort. And that allows us to give away some of the advantages of habit, for the sake of the greater good. And feel all the better for it.

       

Sure, at first we might have to deal with some inconvenience, but in the long run our decisions will be justified by some surprisingly wonderful improvements. We’ll be enjoying better health as well as a lighter conscience.

       

It’s a straight forward switch, from being an abuser to being a repairer. We all have to move that way sooner or later, and as soon as we do, we’ll notice a gratifying expansion of consciousness.