vegetarian mystics speak

We modern humans speak our world and the words entrap us. But there is no need to fret. Mystics immerse themselves in the innate state of wordlessness and show us how to be free. Vegetarianism seems to be part of the answer.

Language has limitations. It creates sentences that link subject, verb and object. Speakers are therefore forced to oversimplify when verbalising about the vast numbers of causes and conditions that exist and about the many resulting effects. This is InterBeing.

Language evolved 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. It improved communication amongst groups of hunters and gatherers who were busy with nutrition and reproduction. Language is not ‘perfect’ but it is ‘good enough’ to have enabled humanity to flourish at an unprecedented rate.

Language never stands still. It adapts to changing cultural realities by creating figures of speech that highlight new linguistic territories – nature red in tooth and claw - my love is like a red red rose – an indivisible atom is like a billiard ball – subatomic particles are like planets in the solar system.

But there is a downside. Most people learn only one language and they are thus imprisoned by its culturally conditioned limits and boundaries. How many colours in the rainbow? How many constellations in the night sky? … But … ‘liberation’ is possible.

THE LABOUR OF MYSTICS

mystic

Division of labour evolved as we moved from hunting and gathering into settled agriculture and eventually to the computer age. One of the divisions was for creative types. Their key role was to be different and innovative in a wide range of fields.

One of these fields was philosophy. This was linked to religion and thus to politics and to foundational value systems. These value systems were the basis of morality and ethics and drew ultimately on spiritual and mystical insights. ‘Liberation’ is a possibility.

William James wrote about the ‘varieties of religious experience’; Aldous Huxley wrote about the ‘Perennial Philosophy’; and Joseph Campbell wrote about the ‘Monomyth’. The idea is that in all places at all times there are a few ‘creatives’ who seek liberation from parochial and xenophobic worldviews. They do it both for themselves and for those with ears to hear.  They claim that liberation and enlightenment are possible in this lifetime.

The mystics transform themselves by using thoughts and feelings in a special way. They become still and quiet both physically and psychologically. This ensures distance from the existentially poisonous chatter of the busy, ‘civilised’ mind.

Free from the noise of sensory input the deep mind of the spiritual mystic awakens to its hard wired nature which predates humanity by a long way. There is reunion with the Oneness that is beyond verbalisation. The subjective experience is mainly of selfless peace and compassion. Words cannot do it justice but bliss and happiness are linked to it.

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

And yet - there is the ferocious beauty of the top predators. Nature red in tooth and claw. A Cheetah is conscious but not perhaps conscious of its consciousness. Existentially it is a killer. It evolved that way and is not yet extinct. It is a survivor. No angst. What would it feel like to be a cheetah?

Cheetahs are meat eaters (carnivores) and their teeth are designed for cutting. Cows are plant eaters (herbivores) and their teeth are designed for crushing and grinding. Humans eat meat and plants (omnivores) and our teeth are designed for both cutting and crushing. Dentition is destiny. There are three types of feeders and three types of teeth. There are also three types of guts. And presumably there are three types of brains and minds.

It is in our human nature (genes) to be omnivores but most mystics favour a plain vegetarian diet. This is presumably because hot spices and animal flesh agitate the body and mind. They will therefore work against the quest for stillness and quiet and thus for liberation.

Some key thinkers feel that nature-lovers and techno geeks should expand their boundaries of self. They should work towards more inclusive belonging. Here are three venerable verbalizations.

“A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.”
― Leo Tolstoy

“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
― Albert Einstein

“By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh