I personally never eat meat. When I read about Yogananda many years ago, I decided that meat eating wasn't for me. It was the easiest thing I've ever given up because I never liked the taste of meat much anyway. It is really the things on top of meat, like ketchup, that really tastes good to me. But there aren't many options for vegetarians in the small town where I am at this writing. Meat is a staple here. Still I manage. There are scant vegetarian options in fast food, although after 8 years of vegetarianism you learn all the veggie items on the menus. Family gatherings are awkward.
That reminds my home when a young boy!! Actually it was my father whose staple was meat. I was relieved when I stopped eating that. After innumerable tough pieces of meat requiring interminable chewing, eating cheese was a heaven
It interests me. Have we come to this period to help or are we here because of our own bad karma? Or is it perhaps a little bit of both? All i know is that i have spend a lot of energy defending my vegetarianism over the years and i can think of a lot better ways of using my time. In the future some of these ideas we have given on this thread will b passe. Why? Because the general population will be vegetarian and meditation will be part of life for most people as the ages progress. We must at some point recognize that we are tested in a spiritual sense to see if we are above the cultural norms of the day. We must carve our own destiny independent of the sickness we see around us. i pray for friends here on the forum who have kept their integrity and have not let the meat industry and the sickness of normalcy effect their life style and eating habits.
