[QUOTE=Richard1986;85534]Hi, I’m new here. Haven’t introduced myself yet but this topic caught my eye. The argument from ahimsa is something I’ve been thinking about alot lately. My take on ahimsa is multifaceted. The concept has a few layers to me. One of them is not that unlike the sin nature in Christianity, and this applies to all the aspects of yama not just ahimsa: you can’t do it. Unless you are totally “in” the true self it can’t be done with 100% effectiveness. If you could, you wouldn’t need yoga at all. Only people who still have egos to work on need yoga, hence why we are all here. But the benefits of yama as are the benefits of all the limbs are that they are rungs that get you to that place. The more you do, as you do, the more you gain from it and the more the world gains. You can’t live a life where you cause no suffering to anything. What is life? Does it need to be conscious for “nonharming” to apply? Is a fruit therefore more moral than a root vegetable like a potato because you don’t have to kill the plant to eat it? What about the organisms living inside you? What about a virus?[/QUOTE]
The entire planet is a war zone of death and dying including your very body, life feeding on life, it?s impossible to exist without causing irreparable harm, everything and nothing you perceive is absolute perfection else it would not happen, the only chaos in the world are the illusions your mind creates, what?s normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.
[QUOTE=Richard1986;85534]You have two options. Say these things don’t count, or aknoladge that your ahimsa can’t be perfect…But it can be better. And being better at it does improve you. Many text describe an aura of peacefulness that comes from ahimsa that has an almost super natural (if not literally super natural) effect on others and the world around them. Ahimsa is just one rung. You can’t do it perfect - but you can do it well and reduce suffering. So anything you do that reduces suffering is a good step to take when you can take it. So to me, the ahimsa argument for not consuming meat holds up even if it is not an end all. This is coming from a very recent meat eater by the way. But this is only my take on it.
Another issue I’ve been writing about personally is that a major aspect of ahimsa seems to include not harming yourself. Something that is bad for you would itself neglect ahimsa and this may apply to diet in many ways.[/QUOTE]
Are there really options, are you anything but perfect; if you feel compelled to do something by all means get out of the way and do it. Misidentify yourself to be the food body and suffering is inevitable, calamity creating more calamities, cause and effect. My responses do not hit home with most; realize they are simply attempts of spontaneity in this dance of consciousness, nothing personal is happening here.
[I]?That which you are, your true self, you love it, and whatever you do, you do for your own happiness. To find it, to know it, to cherish it is your basic urge. Since time immemorial you loved yourself, but never wisely. Use your body and mind wisely in the service of the self, that is all. Be true to your own self, love yourself absolutely. Do not pretend that you love others as yourself. Unless you have realized them as one with yourself, you cannot love them. Don’t pretend to be what you are not, don’t refuse to be what you are. Your love of others is the result of self- knowledge, not its cause. Without self-realization, no virtue is genuine. When you know beyond all doubting that the same life flows through all that is and you are that life, you will love all naturally and spontaneously. When you realize the depth and fullness of yourself, you know that every living being and the entire universe are included in your affection. But when you look at anything as separate from you, you cannot love it for you are afraid of it. Alienation causes fear and fear deepens alienation. It is a vicious circle. Only self-realization can break it. Go for it resolutely.? ~Nisargadatta[/I]
Kudos.