Vegetarianism

Path Of Creator

Vegetarianism In Relation To The Path Of Creator

The journey of Self-Transformation is about becoming happier than the day before. 

So, let us look at the ways a vegetarian diet can be constructive and destructive to one's journey.

Let us realize first that when one's habits are driven by Negative Ideas, then one will experience Suffering.

Negative ideas are ideas that promote Self-Rejection. 

For instance,

“It is not ok to eat meat.”

“It is bad to destroy the environment.”

“People who do not care about the animals don’t deserve to live.”

And so forth.

So, when our habit patterns are driven by Negative Ideas, we can experience anger and judgement towards those who do not adopt the same beliefs as us.

We may even judge ourselves when we slack off on our diet. We may even react violently when someone tries to sabotage our diet.

It's important to become aware of one's Negative Ideas because the health of the body will always be determined by the health of one's mind. It is said that all diseases begin from the gut, but realize that it's the mind that has been choosing the food to be in there.

So, if one follows a healthy diet with an unhealthy mind, the benefits from one's chosen diet will be cancelled out.

To have a healthy mind is to accept that everyone has the right to live the way they want, though in saying this, it can certainly be difficult to accept others unconditionally, especially when one knows that they are doing something terribly wrong! 

So when one feels the "need" to compare the superiority of their diet to others, or to judge others, one can learn to accept others by learning to "share" their knowledge rather than "force" their beliefs. The latter way of communication can often enrage others rather than helping them learn. 

It can certainly be easier to love animals than a person!

Health Reasons

Let us explore some health benefits of having a vegetarian diet.

A vegetarian diet can be an extremely healthy diet if one also learns a bit about nutrition. 

If one follows any diet without one bit of knowledge of nutrition, one can end up with malnutrition! 

For instance, not all vegetarians are healthy. Some can end up eating too much junk food, oily foods, ice creams, lack of fruits and nuts, which can lead to severe health problems!

The "junk" foods one eats can actually rob one of their nutrition. Instead of gaining more energy from these types of foods, the body can end up expending more energy to cleanse them out of one's system.

So, just because one doesn't eat meat does not mean that one is healthy!

So learning about nutrition can help one to know what foods to eat and what to avoid. 

Gaining knowledge from one's experience will also be important because we will all have unique gut floras. So some of us will be able to digest something easier than others. 

Realize that even though you may have eaten something nutritious, if it can't be properly digested and assimilated by the body, it can cause more harm than good. But fortunately, the gut flora will change with time and accommodate itself to what you are eating as long as the switching to a new diet is done at a gradual pace. So it's a journey of testing, experimenting and monitoring your progress.

Generally speaking, a vegetarian diet can be a healthy one because it's an alkaline diet. As long as one is taking in adequate protein—which one can easily lack in a vegetarian diet—and eating a range of vegetables rather than focusing on a narrow range, one can be quite healthy. 

A vegetarian diet is also easier on the stomach as vegetables are much faster to digest than meat. So if one has digestive problems, a vegetarian diet, with some help of probiotics, can greatly help. 

Eating meat on the other hand will create an acidic environment in the body, the perfect grounds for disease to thrive. 

However, this is not saying that a meat diet is bad. If it's balanced with mostly vegetables, then it can be a healthy diet. It's just that the meat these days are often laced with harmful chemicals for bulking purposes and also to prevent them from spoiling or looking too gross.

Although vegetables can be laced with pesticides as well, as long as they are washed properly the effects can be minimized.

If one has the time or money, buying or growing organic foods is a much better option as the pesticide-free soils from which they are grown will allow them to be more nutritious.

Vitamin B12

One important thing to watch out for is the lack of Vitamin B12 one may encounter on a vegetarian that is lacking in organic foods, dairy or eggs.

Vitamin B12 is often found in soil, but because commercially sold vegetables are often grown in soils that have been heavily sterilized, B12 will be mostly absent, or in negligible amounts, in the vegetables we eat.

So it's important to check one's blood levels regularly and supplement B12 if needed. 

Protein

Protein is what the body needs to repair and rebuild muscle tissues. 

The fear that some people may have in switching to a vegetarian diet is not getting enough protein. 

It is true that a meat diet will indeed contain comparatively much more protein compared to a vegetarian diet. But as long as one knows what to eat to get their protein from a vegetarian diet, i.e. lentils, tofu, nuts, tempeh, brown rice, quinoa, millet, etc. one will encounter no problems.

Weight And Muscle Building

A vegetarian can lose weight from a vegetarian diet if one is not eating enough fat or protein. This is especially true for people who are born with higher metabolisms.

So, if one wishes to develop muscles on a vegetarian diet, one will have to include protein-rich foods and also adequate amounts of fatty foods into their diet. Without doing so, one will not gain muscles as easily as one would in a meat diet. 

Learning about nutrition will help one to learn how many calories and protein are needed for one to develop muscles. So, being on a vegetarian diet will require a lot more work and study than a meat diet that is already rich in protein.

When one works out too much without enough nutrition, one can end up losing muscle mass. If one encounteres such a problem, one can either work out less or simply eat more. Sometimes, people can lack the awareness that the body can burn up its reservoirs if one is not eating enough.

Nutrition thus is something that one will have to be more aware of when one's on a vegetarian diet. 

Points To Consider

A vegetarian diet can seem like a diet that requires more study and self-responsibility. 

So, why would one want to switch to a vegetarian diet?

Firstly, when one has been eating meat all their lives, their body can become an acidic one. Switching to a vegetarian diet will help the body to regain back a healthy pH level again, helping the body to heal itself of the diseases caused by the acidity.

So, a vegetarian diet can be chosen for recovering and healing reasons. 

A vegetarian diet can also be chosen for nutritional reasons. As long as one is eating a variety of vegetables, one will have no problem with their nutritional levels. 

On the meat diet, one can often forget to eat enough vegetables, lentils, nuts and fruits because meat can be very filling and much more flavorful.

Spiritually, eating vegetables can also help bring the mind and heart together. This is because deep down, a lot of us can carry shame and guilt for killing animals to fill our bellies. By choosing not to eat animals can help to bring the mind and heart as one, helping one to live aligned with their True Self.

In saying this, the other way to bring the heart and mind as one is to release the negativities one has towards eating animals. To do so, one will have to work on loving one self unconditionally for one's choices and transform the negative states of guilt and shame within. 

So, both meat and vegetarian diet can be used as catalysts for greater Self-Transformation.

At the end of the day, how healthy and happy you are will all be determined by how responsible you are to your own body and mind. 

So the destination is towards knowing what is good for you from testing and experiencing from your own experience, and living in a way that is in line with how you really feel deep down inside.