YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND…
I have been a vegetarian since I was 13. I am absolutely animal obsessed, and for me there is no difference between a piglet and my dog (I have a bulldog, so the comparison is very fitting!)
But, I am about to turn 46, and I am starting to really consider what body I want in my older years. Protein has started to become a bigger conversation than I would like to admit!
So I started to consider eating meat.
What I observed in myself, is my attachment to my vegetarianism
“But I am a vegetarian- I don’t eat meat’
This is actually something really worthwhile catching, because here’s the thing…
You can change your mind.
About anything.
Who you are. What you like. What you said you’d do.
You can change at any time, because the only one connected so deeply to that identity… is you.
The reality is, no one would really give a shit if I ate meat- in fact I think my dad would be pleased, he has always said chickens can be eaten because they are stupid (don’t come at me vegans, it’s a joke!)
Patanjali speaks into this here-
Yoga Sutra 2.15
"Parinama-tāpa-samskara-duhkhair guna-vrtti-virodhāc ca duhkham eva sarvam
vivekinah"
Translation:
"To one with discernment, even what once brought comfort can eventually bring suffering because everything changes."
EVERYTHING CHANGES!
So, what was once in alignment for us, may not be anymore BECAUSE EVERYTHING CHANGES!
Growth changes us. And hopefully, we are forever growing!
A well known Buddhist quote on this-
‘Everything changes, nothing remains without change’
So, in order for my relationship to meat to change, my relationship to my identity as a vegetarian has to change.
Strip away that title, I am still me.
I am also still a vegetarian just fyi- I tried chicken, it was absolutely disgusting!
P-dawg goes on to remind us, that we cause ourselves the most suffering when we confuse impermanence as permanence -
Yoga Sutra 2.5 — Avidyā
Anitya-aśuci-duḥkha-anātmasu nitya-śuci-sukha-ātma-khyātir avidyā
Translation:
“Avidyā (misunderstanding/ignorance) is seeing the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasurable, and the non-self as the self.”
This sutra speaks directly to suffering arising when we cling to things as though they will stay the same — identities, relationships, circumstances, seasons of life, even versions of ourselves (chatGTP interpretation there!)
I wonder where else in my life I am holding on too tightly to an identity that is no longer mine and no longer serves me (and maybe never did?!).
Am I causing myself suffering, because I cannot let go of a title that is not me anyway?
Such good food for thought huh.
Food…
On that note, I am off to eat a vegetarian burrito- all good chickens, you are safe for now!