• Veganism and Subjective Reality

    edited by Alexander Becker on November 07, 2006 | Link

    A recent discussion taking place in Steve Pavlina's forums questions the implications of subjective reality on a vegan diet.

    This essay is part of The Subjective Reality Series.

    What if factory farming, over grazing, and the destruction of the rainforests to raise cattle, are all extrapolations, projections of a subjective reality -- indeed, they have to be. What if we separate the cruelty from the meat?

    Once all reality is subjective and addressable by your thoughts, by your mind or by your self for that matter, some say that ultimately, the peaceful way of eating like a herbivore is practically unavoidable. On the other hand, eating vegan is said to be almost a prerequisite for discovering, achieving and eventually following your bliss. Then there is the notion that all reality, your subjective reality that is, depends on your good intentions, implying that a hypothetical child can eat meat without any conscious wrongdoing. That child would therefore thrive only to realize later that eating meat does in fact harm others and consequently adopt the conclusion and the guilt of doing harm him- or herself.

    Benefiting from a particular diet obviously depends on your own perspective. There are as many proponents of a high carbohydrates and low fat diet as there are people who are convinced that the optimal diet consists of low carbs and high fat. And we're not even talking about meat vs. plants here.

    Based on the assumption that all reality is in fact subjective, there is absolutely no point in exchanging scientific data of any kind. Research supporting both sides is available in abundance and you can freely choose which particular diet is your personal and most effective way of eating.

    Whatever works for you is working because you adopt a perspective and a model of reality that is most plausible for you. There is not one optimal way of eating because there is not one reality but only yours. There is one constant across all diets, be it herbivore or carnivore, omnivore or hunter-gatherer, a system of beliefs about reality and a theory that you basically sell yourself in order to follow it. The better you are in selling it to yourself, the better results will return at the end of the day.

    Most abstractly, whichever way you choose, you are successful when adhering to a strong theory that, in order to experience, you are required to exert a certain amount of discipline. You believe in the theory of your current choice, you adopt its prescriptions, you reassure yourself -- through discipline -- that you continually believe and you get your results delivered as expected. You break your discipline only to get delivered what you expect in this case: The negative proof of your theory.

    An intriguing implication of eating vegan for spiritual reasons is the conclusion that eventually even animals have to stop eating animals. This is absolutely possible -- it's your reality after all and your vegan spirit is not supposed to harm or kill any animal.

    Let's, for a short moment, go back to plain subjective reality without any preinstalled features and requirements. While the discussion revolves around the consequences of eating vegan, the question can be extended: Is eating herbivorous required to achieve the peak of spiritual awareness?

    Are we hunters or gatherers, do we intend to be predators or not? Isn't the absolute taboo of killing (animals) a somewhat limiting belief? Obviously, the answer is as subjective as reality can be. You decide and you manifest. Once you are absolutely positively convinced, beyond any doubt, that eating meat -- and thus killing animals -- is reasonable because you are a predator for example, then you, by the laws of subjective reality have no choice except for thriving in your reality.

    Related Items

    Tags

    Labels:

    If you liked this post, please take the time to bookmark it or subscribe to get updates.

Subscribe to the new format to have the latest items conveniently delivered for free. You can also subscribe by E-mail.

Previous Posts

Free Download

Peer pressure, vanity and behavior, motivation tricks and hacks, success and pain, and how to excel, Celebrate Your Beauty -- whatever it takes. Download your free ebook.