Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
Sun, Co-Founder of
GentleWorld.org
March2017
Veganism is as essential to peace as peace is to Paradise. It topples the foundation of violence and cruelty upon which our terribly imperfect governments, cultures, societies and religions are built. It frees us from the self-absorption that fuels our conflicts. It inspires an expansive and inclusive way of living heretofore unknown to our species.
“Not in my eyes alone is Paradise”
- Dante
Nothing in human life, from birth all the way through to death, is even
close to the way I would have designed it, had I been endowed with the
omnipotence of the gods. Although admittedly, there is much beauty, truth
and goodness to be found in this world, if I had the power of creation in my
hands, I would have eliminated all that was not beautiful, truthful and
good, so that life on Earth would have been perfect in every way. But, I did
not; nor do I or anyone else know who or what did. What we do know is that
whoever or whatever it was, for reasons unfathomable to me, infused a
limited consciousness into a vulnerable body, sprinkled it with a defective
moral character and then, placed it in an entropic, hostile environment.
This is the frightening reality each one of us faces, upon entering this
world. What we choose to do about it tells the story of our lives. As for
me, after recovering from the shock and wondering what he, she or it could
have been thinking, I considered my options. Having been told from the onset
that perfection is impossible to attain in a world in which imperfection is
its defining trait, I decided to do what I think most people do, which is
whatever was necessary to make myself as comfortable as possible, while
awaiting the inevitable unknown. Over the years, I stood by, pitying and
helpless, as I watched myself sacrifice my most precious values, including
time itself, to a life that demanded I tolerate the intolerable, justify the
unjustifiable and defend the indefensible.
And yet, even as I appeared to accept the unacceptable, there was a voice
inside me that refused to believe that imperfection was an unchangeable fact
of life. Granted, it wasn’t my loudest voice, or the one I listened to as
often as I did my others, but it was there, reminding me, lest I forget, to
hold fast to my dream of a perfect world, with the promise that if I could
expand my consciousness, strengthen my body, and evolve my moral character,
despite my environment… if I could, in essence, somehow live a virtuous life
in this world… that dream could come true.
As Dante said, I don’t think I’m the only one who hears that voice. Legends
of Paradise have been teasing our imaginations since the first human being
dared to believe in it. All through the eras, we have envisioned it, painted
it, prophesied, wrote and sung about it, yearned for it, and secretly hoped,
in the privacy of our hearts, that somewhere out there in the vast
mysterious we-know-not-what, there really is a world as perfect as this one
is not. In those rare moments of epiphany that feel more real to us than all
others, it is this shared, mystical voice we hear, beckoning us Home.
Ah, Home… where the joys of beauty, safety, comfort, sweetness and light
fill our days and nights… where gentleness has triumphed over violence, so
that all beings live together in peace… a concord of many in harmony with
all. Whether our visions of a perfect world include roses as far as the eyes
can see, or the scent of gardenias in every breath we take, I think we would
agree, after all these centuries of living in terror of one another, that
first and foremost, Paradise must be peaceful, because however beautiful it
may be, without peace, none would be perfect enough for any of us.
Before my vegan epiphany, I believed, as many do, that peace is an
airy-fairy dream, as unattainable as Paradise itself. But on that day of
revelation, when in awe, I witnessed the light of truth shining upon the
violence and cruelty I was causing with every non-vegan choice I made; in
that holy moment when I looked into the mirror of my behavior and saw not
the peacemaker I had always imagined myself to be, but an animal holocaust
supporter, I knew, more surely than I had ever known anything, why the peace
I longed for had eluded me all my life… and that in order to attain it, I
must first make peace with all who live.
Veganism is as essential to peace as peace is to Paradise. It topples the
foundation of violence and cruelty upon which our terribly imperfect
governments, cultures, societies and religions are built. It frees us from
the self-absorption that fuels our conflicts. It inspires an expansive and
inclusive way of living heretofore unknown to our species. And perhaps most
important, it teaches us that when we choose to live the virtues necessary
for a peaceful world, such as kindness, gentleness and justice, we are
empowered to create it.
Without veganism, peace will remain the impossible dream that it is.
With it, we are Paradise-bound!
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