So our family's time eating a plant-based diet can now be measured in years.
Eating plants, also called vegetarian eating—although in some places I do not use that term because I do not want to create a misunderstanding that the reason is religious.
Here, we no longer need to list the benefits of eating plants in terms of human anatomy, science or their impact on the surrounding environmental ecosystem, because there is already so much information about that. Nor is this piece intended to persuade anyone to become vegetarian. It is for the many people hesitating over the choice: Vegetarian or Meat? Now or When?
I believe we should not be vegetarian merely because of some dogma, belief or theory. If you do that, you may be forcing your mind and tending to treat it “harshly.” Living under the pressure of being a “good person,” a “kind person,” a “giver” or a “saintly person,” then sitting in 1 corner of your room at night crying over your own wounds, is not an approach we like to “recommend” to others.
Eat plant-based food when your heart wants to. If it is not ready, do not force it. Give it time to transform gradually.
So how do we make the mind ready?
Through a nonviolent way of life and daily practice to fully develop our own qualities.
And in that practice, meditation is very important.
I had meditated for 6 years, and then 1 day my vibrational frequency reached the necessary threshold. That day, I smiled and told the whole family, “We will start eating plants.”
What is interesting is that your transformation happens alongside the transformation of your surroundings. When I said this, there was not even 1 trace of resistance, however small, in the hearts of my family members. Any resistance from people outside you merely reflects your own mind: you still have contradictions and are resisting yourself. It appears so that you can recognize it and work with yourself.
The next day, I ate plant-based food entirely naturally, without any effort to force myself to do it.
My wife, children, and even our housekeeper have eaten a plant-based diet very naturally since that day. The housekeeper even said gently, ‘This is something I've wanted to do for a long time.’ Your entire surrounding environment is created by your own consciousness.
Little Max has eaten plant-based food since birth. We let him choose, and he chooses not to eat meat when it is served. Naturally, he tends to prefer vegetables and fruit.
We eat plant-based foods without needing determination, resolve, or willpower, without “I've eaten this all month and am so tired of it; I'll try to keep going.” It is entirely natural. It is a lifestyle transformed to align with consciousness.
I understand that if you have that consciousness, congratulations: you are 1 quite progressive person.
But do not let that make you harsh, judgmental, or even hateful toward people who do not, or do not yet, follow a vegetarian diet.
I have seen many people become more dogmatic, strict, judgmental and divisive the more they practice. They do not understand that the further someone evolves on the spiritual path, the more they must fully respect other people's paths of evolution. Each person has 1 different program for their life. We are all one. So have compassion in understanding that we are all equals. Being vegetarian or cultivating morality should not make you divisive or feel better than others, or even lead your mind to judge many people. That leads to a false goodness on the surface, and it is a dead end.
If you are vegetarian and judge non-vegetarians because of it, you are actually not very different from a terrorist. A terrorist also always believes his faith is supreme and those who do not share it are demons, and is willing to carry out a suicide bombing to destroy everyone with opposing beliefs. Well, perhaps you do not do this in action, but you do it in your mind. For that reason, you are vegetarian and also become a vegetarian terrorist.
You leave “attachment to existence” only to become attached to “attachment to nonexistence.” To you, anyone who still “has” is bad, and only those who have “nothing,” like you, are good.
We eat mainly plant-based foods, and our lifestyle is built around this. We have moved beyond attachment to “eating meat,” but are not attached to “being vegetarian” either. When we need to blend into the world, we are ordinary people, and I can still eat very ordinary foods like everyone else, again without attachment and entirely naturally. When eating with me, you need not feel awkward, because my inner vibration is not governed by whether the food is meat or vegetarian. However, when it causes you no inconvenience, we always aim to eat plant-based as much as possible—99%.
This article's message is very simple: eat vegetarian only when your heart truly wants to. You can meditate or continue developing virtues, and when 1 day your heart truly wants it, do it in 1 utterly natural way—as naturally as the sun radiates light supporting all life without knowing it, simply following nature. The sun does not criticize the moon. Light does not criticize darkness. These are natural ways, and if it is natural, do not force yourself to become 1 vegetarian terrorist.
Wishing you joyful eating and happiness.
TMT
