In the world of nutrition, I see many people trying to end their suffering through diet. Now, there’s no doubt that diet can greatly enhance wellness and health. It’s certainly helped me, and now, as a Nutritional Therapist, I help others make dietary changes to improve their health.
But I also see many people who are trying to end ALL of their suffering through diet and exercise. They become obsessed with daily exercise routines and adhering to what they see as the “perfect diet.” This could be veganism or it could be a meat-centered diet such as the Paleo diet. They think they’re going to live to 100. Some even make it their life’s purpose.
And this of course is ridiculous. It’s ridiculous because of these three words:
Life is suffering.
I truly feel sorry for anyone who disagrees with that statement. I know they have not yet looked deep inside themselves to see the truth in it. But I think most people would agree with it, especially the older we get.
In this blog, I’d like to share my experience with suffering and a way I’ve found to escape it. In so doing, I’d like to offer a perspective that can ease the heated arguments between plant-based diet advocates and meat-based diet advocates.
First, a little personal background.
In the fall of 2000 I became a vegetarian. I did it for a lot of reasons, but at the top of that list were health reasons. And then, over the course of the next seven years, my health declined dramatically. Fatigue and digestive issues became my everyday companions.
In the fall of 2007, when I learned that meat from the right sources can be incredibly healthful, I returned to eating meat. And my health improved greatly. Fatigue lessened and over the course of the next six months my digestive issues vanished. But I did not go back to eating meat right away. It took me some time to deal with the conflicting thoughts and emotions about it.
For me, the hardest part was the conflicting messages I had to process as someone who had become involved in the practice of meditation.
In meditation circles, there is a very strong bent towards vegetarianism. Many styles of meditation say you will progress on your path better as a vegetarian. Some say it helps to develop compassion and kindness to all living beings. Some say it helps to develop higher levels of awareness in meditation.
And this is certainly the case with Vipassana meditation. Vipassana stands for “insight” and it’s a non-secular form of Buddhist meditation that has become very popular. Vipassana is taught in 10-day residential retreats in over one hundred centers around the world.
In 2001, I did my first 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Thailand. There are many similar but different styles of Vipassana. The style I became involved with is known as the “Goenka” style, so named for SN Goenka, the Vipassana teacher who brought the technique from Burma to India, from where it began to spread around the world starting in the early 1970s.
When I tell people that I’m going away for a 10-day meditation retreat, a frequent response I get is, “Sounds wonderful! I wish I could get a 10-day vacation!” And then when I say what I do on the retreat, many say, “Oh my god. I could NEVER do that.”
I vehemently disagree and always try to explain why they could and should do it. But it is true, Vipassana retreats as taught by SN Goenka are no joke. They are a serious undertaking. And they are brutal - the most brutal physical thing I’ve ever done.
I’ve never been to a boot camp, but many folks wind up at Goenka retreats because of the intense psychological suffering they endured while in the military. And they always say that boot camp was nothing compared to a Goenka retreat.
These 10-day retreats challenge you on every level – physical, mental and emotional. They do this not to test your will or your strength but to bring about a radical new understanding of who you are and what life is about.
So let me explain a little what happens on these retreats and the inner shift they bring about and how that perhaps can relate to diet.
The retreats are silent. That means no talking. One is permitted to speak with the teachers at certain times of the day, but there is no speaking with the other meditators. The men and women are segregated. There is no reading. No writing. No listening to or playing music. No computer use. All cellphones must be turned in before the retreat starts. So there is no contact with the outside world.
During the 10-day retreats, one eats all vegetarian food for breakfast and lunch. The first time students are allowed a light snack at night while “old” students, those that have done at least one retreat, do not eat anything after noon.
The daily schedule is as follows:
4a.m.: morning wake up bell.
4:30-6:30: meditation
6:30-8:00: breakfast and rest
8:00-11:00: meditation
11:00-1:00: lunch and rest
1:00-5:00: meditation
5:00-6:00: tea and/or light snack
6:00-9:00: meditation and nightly discourse
9:30: lights out
All meditation is done in the sitting position. There is no standing or walking meditation allowed. No one ever sits longer than one hour at a time, though the breaks are short, five to ten minutes at most. During the rest periods, walking is permitted outside. Students are asked to suspend all other forms of exercise for the ten days, including yoga.
Though the schedule seems intimidating, it’s structured to turn our attention within ourselves, something we’re never taught to do and something that can be quite awkward at first.
The first three days are spent doing a simple breathing meditation called Anapana. This serves to calm the mind so that one can go deeper in Vipassana. Though this proves to be quite difficult at first, over time, tensions start to ease. We start to feel good, sometimes even blissful as our minds become quieter. For all you scientifically-minded nutrition nerds out there, one could say that we start to heal our adrenals and reduce our cortisol levels.
But stress-reduction is not the purpose of true meditation. The true purpose is to root out deep psychological complexes that live within us in the form of conditioned mental and emotional reactive habits such as anger, depression, lust, anxiety, negativity, fear, worry, etc. These habits cause us pain. Intense pain. And we all have them in different degrees.
Vipassana intentionally throws us into the fire of our pain and shows us how to start extinguishing it.
So how does Vipassana do this?
Through physical sensations on the body. On day four, students shift their attention from their breath to their body. Meditators are guided each day how to systematically go through each part of the body and become aware of the different sensations without reacting to them. And what one finds is all sorts of sensations. Pain, pressure, lightness, heaviness, heat, cold, tingling, vibration, etc.
Sitting for long periods, physical pain is there for sure. One is asked to be aware of physical pain as just a sensation. Sharp pains in the back, heaviness in the legs, burning in the feet, throbbing in the head, etc. Oh so much pain!! But when one truly starts to observe it without reacting to it, it begins to lose its power. It literally starts to melt away. We start to sit for longer and longer periods without fidgeting. This is fascinating to watch in oneself. And this helps sharpen our awareness of the subtler sensations that are at the true root of our suffering.
Through constant self-observation, hour after hour, day after day, we begin to literally feel our thoughts and emotions as sensations as well, in particular, very subtle but painful ones. Past hurtful experiences bring up various uncomfortable sensations in us. And we begin to clearly see that our conditioned reaction is to run away from the pain. And outside the retreat, there are endless ways to do this – drugs, alcohol, food, even minor things like watching TV or doing crossword puzzles.
But now, without outer distractions, these conditioned patterns become intensified as our attention goes to their associated physical sensations. We feel mental and emotional pain as we’ve never felt it before. We feel the heaviness of depression. We feel the burning of anger. We feel our negativities as actual sensations. And it hurts like hell.
But then something magical starts to happen. By not reacting to sensations, they start to unravel. Tensions we’ve held for years start to crumble. Our body softens. The painful sensations start to turn to pleasurable sensations. And we have moments of great bliss. And what happens is we start to crave them. However, those pleasurable moments, as powerful and transformative as they are, are still temporary.
The next time we sit for meditation, we’re looking for pleasure but instead we’re faced again with painful sensations - heaviness, pressure, burning, and we see how it intensifies when we try to push it away and want something different.
So we start to see more clearly that we’re always craving pleasure in some form and we’re always running away from pain. Both pain and pleasure are two sides of the same coin.
Which is suffering.
The insights that come out of this are nothing short of remarkable.
We see clearly how our pain is self-created through our inner reactions to things that happen outside of us. We see how we’re never really satisfied with the present moment. We see clearly that when negativities arise in us, we are the first to suffer.
And we see clearly how to free ourselves from suffering. Anger subsides. Depression lifts. Anxieties fade. Many overcome their addictions in the ten days.
These insights also begin to transform our relationships. No longer can we blame anyone outside ourselves for our suffering no matter how horrible the things they did to us. We learn to forgive others. No longer can we blame ourselves for some of the pain we may have inflicted on others. We were unconscious. We learn to forgive ourselves. And no longer can we see other human beings as separate from ourselves. We see the universal nature of suffering. We learn to be more kind and compassionate.
These insights also begin to transform our understanding of religion. For many, religion is no longer needed. The present moment becomes the true savior, the true path to free oneself and to help others free themselves. But for many others, they embrace a new found understanding of their religion. Texts from religious scriptures start to make more sense not as literal interpretations but as metaphors to bring about a new consciousness, a new awareness within oneself.
Of course, no one becomes enlightened after 10 days. Stresses will overwhelm you again. Anger will re-emerge. Depression will re-emerge. Our conditioned mental and emotional patterns don’t completely evaporate. They will steer us off course time and time again.
And so we go back.
Once a year I do a ten-day retreat to re-center myself, to chip away at the rough edges that live within me.
And this means that every year I go back to being a vegetarian for ten days.
But when I leave the retreat center, I return to eating meat. I learned the hard way that vegetarianism does not work for me outside the retreat settings. For seven years I thought vegetarianism would strengthen my meditation practice and make me more spiritual, so to speak. None of those things happened. I learned to be gentler with myself and honor my physical needs through my diet.
But after the retreats, I don’t go back to eating just any meat. I follow the dietary principles of the Weston Price Foundation, which supports animal products from small, pasture-based farms that treat their animals well. And in my nutrition practice, I use them to help others address their health issues.
That being said I am not anti-vegetarian. I know many who do well on a vegetarian diet, and I do think such a diet can promote health. But I don’t get bogged down in the plant vs. meat-centered diet debate. Yes, I promote animal-based diets, but in the end, both will fail us!
And of course, so much of the plant-based vs. animal-based diet arguments revolves around which one better promotes longevity. And both sides have studies to prove their point. And that’s the problem.
Scientific studies can’t change your inner world. No matter how much they prove your diet is best, they won’t change your reactive patterns. They are the realm of the intellect. They observe the outer world but they can’t teach you how to observe your inner world. They can’t free you.
In my opinion, the undercurrents of these diet debates are really about the fears behind aging and death. No one wants to die. So we use our intellect to think ourselves into various life philosophies. And we protect our beliefs by arguing, criticizing and preaching. Because if we’re wrong, we have to face the unknown and that can be scary. Our egos don’t like the unknown.
Meditation practices that bring about a shift in our inner world also help us to loosen our fear of death.
As the great spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says, “It is not life and death. It is birth and death. Birth and death are the two poles of life, which is eternal.” That realization, that Life is eternal is not something I have experienced. But there’s something about Vipassana retreats and the insights they bring that start to orient us towards a greater dimension beyond our thinking minds.
Yes, diet is important for health. But it’s not everything.
If there is one gift I could give to anyone, it would not be improving their physical health through diet. The greatest gift I could give anyone would be improving their “spiritual” health, that is, to learn to stop the unconscious inner forces that promote suffering. To me there is no price on that.
And that is why Vipassana retreats are free. For 10 days, you are fed and given comfortable accommodations for absolutely no charge. As Vipassana has spread around the world, so too has the gratitude that people feel for the experience. People donate money based on what they can give so that others can benefit. I’ve seen people give ten dollars, and I’ve seen people give thousands of dollars. Regardless, the retreats run on donations, and this never ceases to amaze me.
If you are interested in signing up for a retreat, go to www.dhamma.org for a list of centers and schedules.
Finally, I don’t want to pretend that I’m any sort of authority on Vipassana meditation. Though I have done many retreats I still feel very new to this path. I know Vipassana is but part of a larger global movement of consciousness that is transforming humanity. So I enjoy hearing others perspectives and experiences on this topic. I frequently learn from others and that includes how they conduct themselves in their comments on others blogs! Care to share?
Photo credit: Buddha statue in meditation pose, robe, blue, concrete, Lake City Way, Seattle, Washington, USA by Wonderlane on Flickr
Hi, my name is Craig Fear. And yes, that 's my real last name. Welcome to Fearless Eating, my blog about traditional foods where I dismantle common food myths and help you eat, well... fearlessly!
I'm also a certified Nutritional Therapist as well as a GAPS certified practitioner. My practice, Pioneer Valley Nutritional Therapy, is located in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Life may have suffering but life is Not suffering. That’s a man-made concept.
Thanks for your comment, Chris. I agree to a degree. Things are as they are. We interpret our experiences in both positive and negative ways and outside our mental concepts, nothing is inherently bad or good. So yes, life is suffering is a concept but it’s one that’s often used in Buddhist teachings to point the way to our own pain, which is very real and tangible when we observe it.
Life is pain. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
That, or they’re ignorant or enlightened.
That’s a William Goldman quote! (The Princess Bride)
Craig,
I have been trying very hard to eliminate sugar from my diet and I’d like to know if Stevia in it’s various forms (i.e., Pyure, Truvia, etc.) is a reasonable substitute for sugar or honey. Please let me know.
Thanks in advance,
Wayne
Hi Wayne,
Yes, Stevia is a good substitute for sugar. Many people have a hard time with the taste though. If that’s the case for you, I would say that raw honey is a good substitute as well.
Craig
Dear Craig,
I so appreciated your sharing of the Vipasana retreat process and the experience of freedom that such a path can offer. Your point about the magical investment that folks can put into finding the perfect diet for perfect healing is very well made and taken. I’ve forwarded the link to several of my dear ones.
Hugs,
Lilly
Thanks, Lilly!
Hey Craig,
Great article and I apologize for yelling at you over the phone. This is such a great blog and I enjoy your writing style. Not to long ago I read about you giving up Kombucha and when I saw you were going back to being a vegetarian I lost it.
I was a vegetarian for many years and my health was awful. Following your advice I became so much healthier. Stuff that used to have me doubled over in stomach pain has vanished. I have not had to take Pepcid in months because of your advice which I resisted when I first started with you. So the fact that you were going back to a plant based diet had me confused.
I guess I should have read the article before I called.
Thanks again for all your help!
Nice post, Craig. I found it very enlightening, though apparently I have a long way to go to enlightenment! Are you familiar with Ariel Kaminer’s “The Ethicist” column in the Sunday NYT Magazine? You may want to enter her contest, “Tell Us Why It’s Ethical to Eat Meat.” The deadline is April 8. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/magazine/tell-us-why-its-ethical-to-eat-meat-a-contest.html?_r=1&ref=theethicist
Thanks, Peter. Yes, I’m aware of it and have been meaning to enter. My problem, as you can probably see, is I have a hard time being brief. I don’t know how I could do it in 600 words. I may try though! And BTW, nice comment in the editorial section of the Gazette yesterday.
wow, great piece. I often talk to my clients about listening to your body and pain and the messages it brings. You described it beautifully and I was on the edge of my chair the whole way through reading it.
Thanks, Maria!
Thanks for this wonderful post, which came my way via Weston Price Foundation sharing it on Facebook. Your description of the purification process during retreat is one of the best I’ve ever read.
One thing I would urge you to consider at some point is experiencing the richness of the Theravada tradition outside of the Goenka retreats. Valuable as those retreats can be, within the broader context of the Theravada tradition Goenka is what one would have to call “Buddhist Fundamentalism,” in that he and his devotees claim their way to be the only way, what the Buddha originally taught, and that even other forms of vipassana meditation (e.g. as taught at Spirit Rock/IMS), let alone the teachings and practices of other Buddhist traditions, are fraudulent. You might enjoy checking out Jack Kornfield’s article on trying to integrate the opposing views of Goenka, Mahasi and Thai forest masters like Ajahn Chah at Spirit Rock: http://www.spiritrock.org/page.aspx?pid=308
As a long time Buddhist practitioner myself and veteran of many retreats I share your views about diet as well. Dharma practitioners who really want to live in the spirit of the Buddha need to be radical - to go to the root - as the Buddha himself did, and seeing the living and dying of beings and our conscious consumption of animal flesh can be part of a Jewelled Net of Indra. Folks like Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry have been pointing this out for decades, but the dharma community tends to naively embrace vegetarianism as doing no harm. I always recommend that folks read Lierre Keith’s “Vegetarian Myth” as one of the most provocative “non dharma Dharma books” around.
Getting back to meditation, what the Buddha actually taught and practiced was anapansati (mindfulness of breathing) leading to jhana (deep concentration) and using that in the service of liberating insight. There is no such thing as “vipassana” meditation in the suttas, and what Goenka (and Mahasi Sayadaw) teach was invented out of whole cloth in the early 20th century on the basis of the Abhidhamma and other commentarial literature. I suggest giving yourself permission to explore practice and study outside of the Goenka walls. You might check out Ajahn Brahm’s “Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond” or Google search Bhikku Sujato if you’d like to connect with some other views.
All the best,
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your input. I do have to say that I’ve never heard Goenka or any other practitioners of Vipassana claiming it is the only path or that others are fraudulent. That being said there is this moment during one of the nightly discourses where Goenka says “this is the only way” but he does not mean his specific teaching. He’s simply referring to the very scientific process of self-observation. It’s an awkwardly worded segment and could be easily misinterpreted by some new students. Because the 10 days are so powerful, perhaps some naive practitioners go around claiming this? I don’t know but I would never say that.
Also, I am not a student of Buddhist scriptures so I can’t comment on your claim that it was adapted from other texts. However, even if it was, I’d probably still work with it as I find it so practical to everyday living. I had tried other styles of meditation prior to my first Goenka retreat but none of them got to the depth that Vipassana did.
Thanks also for sharing your views on diet as well. I’ve also read The Vegetarian Myth. Great book. I’ve always wondered how many vegetarians refuse to read it because of the title which I think creates a barrier. It really should’ve been called “The Agricultural Myth”. Oh well.
Best,
Craig
That was great, Craig. Thanks. It’s great that we live in an area where people are so focused on diet, fitness and nutrition. But I hear you on how people (myself included) think this is the only equation in the play.
Thanks, Chris. Let’s go Mets!
I feel like you took me with you on your retreat! Thanks! And I agree that diet isn’t everything. During times when it has been, I was dissappointed. And if I had to pick spiritual health or physical health, well I know spiritual has more importance. But then again how do you separate the two? They intertwine so very much. So my answer is “I want both!”, haha. ♥ you Craig!
Thanks, Cynthia!
When I noticed your FB reference to this blog post I thought, “Ooh, I gotta read that” .. so I make my way over here and begin reading, shortly to become disappointed at your “detour” into spirituality .. hahaha .. ok, so now that I’ve read all the way through I’m like ready to sign up for a retreat! GREAT post, Craig!
Thanks, Ig. If you can find 10 days, sign up soon! I promise you won’t regret it.
Craig,
This is a fantastic. I also counsel others around nutrition and food. Like you, I’ve also gone back and forth with vegetarian and local meats (Weston Price style) so I relate very much to your story.
I have never heard of this form of meditation and retreat and I’m so intrigued and excited. I immediately put in on the list for the future years to come. I’m a little stuck with the fact that I would have no way to speak with my 2 1/2 year old son for 10 days… are there any small exceptions in your experience, by chance…?
Thank you again for an awesome post!
Hi Renee,
Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions as far as I know. A ten day vipassana retreat is a very serious undertaking. No contact with the outside world is important. It’s hard to explain why, but if you do it, it would make perfect sense. And it’s only ten days! It goes by quick. Also, on the morning of day 10, silence is lifted and you do talk with others. At that time, you are allowed to make phone calls.
You should definitely do it! If my blog motivated only one person to actually sit a course, I know it would be one of the most important blogs I’ve ever written. That’s how strongly I feel about the 10 days.
Let me know if you ever do a course. I would be touched.
Craig
Hey there, I just wanted to say how refreshing it is to read and hear you from a place of balance and compassion. I am deeply involved in natural health/wellness and I often am pulled into the meat vs veggie, vipassana is insane vs vipassana is amazing, the list goes on. I completely agree on all accounts- this life is your life, your body, your mind. Everyone’s journey is unique and in my own experience, ive found that labeling myself- everything from dietary preferences to profession-hasn’t served me well.
When we allow ourselves to see the true beauty in life, the suffering doesn’t dissipate nor disappear..we begin to realize it is all one in the same. I am constantly learning to appreciate and love myself in each moment instead of allowing guilt and depression to grip me like the vices they use to be
.
I have come to realize that..well its just like they say, its all about balance. Thank you again for your insight and inspiration.
Thanks, Bonnie, for sharing your thoughts. That was really sweet.
For many years” i ” have been studying/searching for the meaning of life and yes i believe carbs have been killing us. ” i ” have always said “The salt of life” means something. Adkins diet…as close to as you can tolerate it. You have to have a donut once in a while. Our species started out as an amino acid, so eat as many aminos as you can. Even my best home made Sour dough with the best flour turns to sugar.
Tolle’s book was an inspiration to me but left me with a journey none the less. I am trying to put together a book “The power of Cow”. The ego and the sense of self are the real problems. Meditation and other spiritual teachings are for people looking for an answer. The “rub” is that the journey is what is wrong. My moo-ology is way to simple. Ask yourself what a cow would do. A cow eats…makes pies…and farts. Alas my “book” is going to be very short unless ” i” want to take you on a journey. Yogi Berra once said “If you come to a fork in the road…Take it”. A cow wouldn’t even notice there was a road. OK all together now MOOOOOOOOOO.
Terrible tom
MOOOOOOOOOO!
[...] I see so many Americans (especially here in western Massachusetts) who are highly influenced by the spiritual teachings of India and become vegetarian for spiritual purposes. Though health reasons were my initial impetus for going vegetarian, a meditation practice became further fuel for my vegetarian beliefs. [...]
Such a lovely post!
I have had this bookmarked to read for a while, as I was vegetarian for many years and was encouraged (gently) by several naturopathic nutritional therapists, one who was vegan herself, that eating meat may well be good for me.
It was a real surprise to then find out that the post was also about vipassana meditation, as that is a practice I have also been doing for a while now. I guess it is a path that many of us take and so we are not as alone on it as we think we are.
Have you read the book ‘beyond broccoli’? There is a great chapter in that on the anthropological history of Indian vegetarianism and its political rather than spiritual beginnings.
Hi Katie,
I have not read that book and would be interested to check it out. Thanks for the tip. And it’s nice to have a fellow vipassana meditator comment here. It is such a wonderful practice, isn’t it?
With all respect, I think the point is being missed and is unfortunately reductionist, dogmatic and species-ist.Vegetarianism (or the name that works for practitioners) is about Mindful Consumption: the *first* precept in the teachings: not harming living beings. The first precept: of primary importance. The reason for this is what? As a long-time Vipassana practitioner, I’d like to encourage all frineds that vegetarianism is one of many powerful and effective gestures of non-violence available to us to transform ourselves and our realities. As Vipassana students we are so fortunate to have a practice that gives us experiential understanding of this…the interconnectedness of not just all living beings, but of everything.I can see no mention above at all about the sentient beings that suffer the violence of being killed for our consumption, often after a lifetime of misery (in the case of industrial farming). Commentary about ‘the practice’, ‘the path’, ‘the journey’ is contextualised in relation to this compassionate aspect of practice. The suffering of one living being is the suffering of all living beings. This is ultimately why consuming mindfully will help one’s meditation practice.
And with all due respect on my end, I think you are missing the point. It is so frustrating to me that you’ve reduced this post to one about vegetarianism. Though the title implied it, this post is NOT about vegetarianism. This post is about the practice of vipassana and its potential to transform us, vegetarian or not. The first precept does not say, “You are required to be a vegetarian.” I know many vipassana meditators that are vegetarian and many that are not. As I said, I tried it for 7 years and it did not work for me. Not even remotely. Thousands if not millions in America will tell you the same thing. And I clearly stated that I do not support industrial farming practices. By reducing this post to merely one about vegetarianism you’re moving the discussion away from what I hoped to achieve which is encouraging people to try vipassana and see it as a viable tool for self-transformation beyond dietary beliefs.
Craig, this is an amazing post. I really relate to how you write about the journey and experience of eating, diet, and health. It’s hard to remember that longevity isn’t everything.
Thanks Kendahl!
This was a really powerful post, thanks for sharing! I really am enjoying your blog as a new reader. Your description of the Vipassana retreat was so descriptive and sure; I am more than intrigued if this is something I could do in my lifetime. Like Renee I’m the parent to young children (4 + 7), and like her I can’t imagine being cut off from communication with them. I imagine their suffering in not speaking with me for that long, and it would perhaps be the hardest thing ever.That said…maybe when they’re older! I also wanted to note that while I am a distant follower of the Weston Price philosophy and diet, and also like your emphasis on spiritual path as necessary…I would love to see you emphasize exercise too. A friend who is a traditional practitioner of gastroenterology repeatedly states that if his patients would regularly exercise, they would solve many of their digestive issues in combination with dietary changes, but diet can’t do it alone. I wish more would be said about this! Thanks again.
Hi Tina,
Thanks for sharing. Regarding exercise, it’s probably not something I’ll write much about. It’s just not my area of expertise.
As for doing a 10 day retreat someday, everyone needs to find the right time. Kids are at the top of the list for really good reasons to not go BUT if it’s at all possible to do it sooner than later, I promise you it will be worth it in the long run. Many parents report the retreat experience gave them insights into being a better parent.
Love the post. It’s as though you crawled into my head and said,
“This, this is what you need to hear today.”
Thank you.
Hello Craig,
A very well written article. What hit me most is “The limits of science” part. I was a vegan for more than a year and was not very happy with it even though I do not eat too much of meat or dairy. I eat fish or chicken once in a while but the thought of being restricted did not work well for me. I tried fighting with it but never found peace. So I am back to being on a non restricted diet and taking into consideration the benefits of all the types of diets out there, I am mindful of what I am eating and eat healthy. So indeed they cannot free you from the inner you
. Its really good to read about your experience. Thanks
Food for thought: how much of vegetarianism/veganism is a desire to escape pain? How much of meditation is? The way I see it, there are those who become vegans in order to try and prevent pain in other creatures (not aware of the pain they could potentially be causing themselves). Some go to meditation in order to numb intense feelings-fear, anxiety, stress, etc. Could there be another way? A way where we can raise animals to have a happy life, and slaughter them with respect and gratefulness, using their incredible energy to better the world? A way to accept all of our feelings, to look at the sometimes painful parts of life and not flinch?
[...] Why I Went Vegetarian, Why I Stopped and Why I’m Going Back [...]