Start with the thought of backing off from harming others. It will eventually benefit you first, then others and the planet.

Photo by Deryn Macey on Unsplash

Over ten years ago when I went to some parts of Europe, when I was taken to lunch in  restaurants outside the big cities, I usually either had an empty plate or had to explain to the chef exactly what to do. It took a bit more effort than nowadays.  In those days, being a vegan , was definitely “weird”. Not mainstream.

 

I was weird.

 

Fast forward 15/20 years, it’s super cool to be vegan in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia……….(not so cool yet in Portugal, Spain). It’s fast becoming mainstream.  

 

It’s definitely “in”.

 

It’s interesting that when I ask people in Europe why they are vegan, they normally take a little time to formulate a logical answer.  

 

Some people say it’s for the environment. Others say it’s good for the planet, or they want to stop cruelty to animals, and some others say it’s good for their health.

 

But one answer I have never got from modern people is that it’s good for our own mind. Not only good. It’s actually a priceless gift we can give to our mind.

 

It’s a “selfish” motivation compared to saving the planet and environment. But it’s a powerful starting point for creating miracles in our lives. A vow to back off from harming others actually starts a virtuous cycle of being kinder to ourselves and others, which feeds more kindness back to ourselves and to others, and the miracle to reducing suffering manifest itself.  Once we start seeing the benefit to our mind, the benefit expands infinitely.

 

Until a few decades ago, the vegans were generally Buddhist vegetarians, who do not eat any food derived from animals including dairy and milk products. The motivation was from the first precept, which is a vow to back off from harming other sentient beings. And why do we back off from harming others? Because it will harm us eventually. Everytime we harm another, we are planting the negative seeds which will ripen in a future time.

 

Every thought, every word and every act which harms a sentient being will eventually harm us.  And it will leave a mental imprint in the continuum of our mental consciousness.

 

I’m curious, would people fall off their chair with laughter if one would say that he is vegan because he has vowed to back off from harming any sentient being and to nurture the positive seeds in our mind? May be one of you who is vegan can try this out today?