Vegetarianism
As you progress with your personal development you will become more aware of the world around you and your impact upon it. This will lead you to question certain aspects of your life and how you are currently living it. See also A Life Well Lived - Personal Responsibility.
You are likely to consider how you affect:
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the environment and what you can do to minimise damage done
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other people and how you interact with each other
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the well being of other living creatures
The environmental issue is ongoing and ever changing and will always be such. There is plenty of information available regarding the impact of modern living upon the planet and what the current thinking is with regard to how best to minimise the negative aspects of it. This information changes constantly as new things are learned so therefore we will not comment upon it other than to say that whilst environmental awareness is of great importance, so is keeping a sense of perspective and remembering that life is still to be lived albeit responsibly.
Your interaction with other people is dealt with in A Life Well Lived - Personal Responsibility and also Turn The Other Cheek.
During the learning curve that is personal development something that very often arises is the ethical issue of eating meat, fish and fowl. This is very understandable - after all, you are accepting the responsibility for how you treat all living things during this earthly life and many people begin to feel uncomfortable with the concept of killing something in order to eat it and begin to question whether it is spiritually acceptable to do so.
Spirit have no difficulty with meat, fish and fowl being consumed, they are an important part of the food chain and should be respected as such. What is important to consider however, is the quality of life of any living creature and the humanity with which that life is ended. A well cared for animal given the freedom to live as natural and unencumbered a life as it is possible for it to have and a quick humane death will reward with good quality food that can be enjoyed with a clear conscience. To then use as much of the animal as possible - for example the skin for leather, is to show the animal respect.
However, to kill or maim an animal in order to use a small part of it for financial reward with disregard for the animal's suffering shows it great disrespect and will incur karmic debt.
There will be some people who, having read this, still feel uncomfortable with the concept of eating meat. There is nothing wrong with this, it is personal choice and as such anyone has the right to make the decision to follow a vegetarian diet.
Whatever diet you decide to follow, ensuring that it is nutritiously balanced is, once again, your responsibility.
