Why a Vegetarian or Vegan Lifestyle :: Recommendations

It is all very well to say that individuals must wrestle with their consciences--but only if their consciences are awake and informed. Industrial society, alas, hides animals’ suffering.

For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better.

There’s a schizoid quality to our relationship with animals, in which sentiment and brutality exist side by side.

Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the tortured and cruel life experience of a pig--an animal easily as intelligent as a dog--that becomes the Christmas ham. [excerpt from Vegan Outreach].

Ahimsa is a Sanskrit term meaning to do non-violence to self, others, animals – any sentient being for that matter, as well as the environment and planet which we all share. Ahimsa calls upon all of us to treat ALL being with compassion. Dharma Mittra, internationally recognized yoga instructor, maintains that “eating meat is participation in violence and that it puts spiritual bliss out of reach.”

This is a very personal decision to make. It also does not have to be absolute today. Allow it to be a process – a moving towards. Even having one meal per week that is vegetarian to start is contributing toward global change, reducing cruel and needless suffering and makes a definite difference in the life of at least one animal.

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise to walk by the ocean's edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.

As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night's tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort. "The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves," the youth replied. "When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea."

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth's plan became clear to me and I countered, "But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, "I made a difference to that one."

I left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said. I returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish in to the sea.

Below are some of my favorite links to inform, educate and increase awareness in how you can make a difference in reducing suffering on this planet, improve your physical and emotional health, and reduce your negative impact on the environment and global warming.

Check out my vegetarian book recommendation page for some of my favorite titles include fantastic cookbooks.

I am often asked by clients for recommendations on book titles, educational videos and other online resources. Below I share some of my favorites.