Compassion Through Vegetarianism

I used to joke around that if God didn’t want us to eat animals, he wouldn’t have made them so tasty. As I continue my Vipassana meditation and read Ghandi’s autobiography, I realize more and more how practicing non-violence toward other beings, including being vegetarian, is an act of compassion. It’s more for me than for the animals who are already dead.

As a human, as ruler of this planet, as a being blessed with reason, logic, and intellect, I have the privilege of making wiser choices. Instead of abusing my privileges by consuming those whom failed to defend themselves, I can choose to show compassion toward them and not eat their flesh.

It is the same choice I make when I shoo a mosquito out of my room rather than slapping it. It is the same choice I make when I acknowledge the other person’s point of view when they are yelling in my face.

I choose to be compassionate toward all beings, no matter how yummy they are.