- My Journey of Compassion For All Beings - March 15, 2021
My journey toward veganism follows my path of healing and compassion for all living beings, and ultimately, for our world.
I have always been a believer in non-violence. Even as a child, the thought of hurting or harming another, whether human, insect, or animal, was at times too much for me to bear. I think I was like many, though, who ate their food without really paying attention to where it came from. It was not until I was in graduate school that I really started thinking, deeply, about what I was eating and how that was inconsistent with my fundamental beliefs as a pacifist and follower of non-violence.
Eating With Compassion
I became a vegetarian and started appreciating the wealth of food, seasonings, herbs, and more that could be combined to make yummy dishes.
Being in California, I was surrounded by grocers, restaurants, and cuisines that supported a vegetarian diet – Chinese restaurants that had whole sections of their menus dedicated to those on a Buddhist diet, middle eastern grocery stores where I could purchase fresh pita breads, select olives in large ceramic containers, and where I came out of the store with my hair smelling of fragrant incense and herbs – I loved this.
And Japanese grocers who sold their own freshly made tofu, so soft that it melted in your mouth and so different than what we get in grocery stores in east Tennessee. It was during this time that I grew to love the cookbooks that were published by Moosewood and found my circle of friends who were mostly vegetarian, too. I was happy, satisfied, and enjoyed both my principles and my eating!
An East Tennessee Challenge
Then I moved to Maryville in 1994, where the workers in Kroger’s had never even heard of pita bread, let alone hummus. I was in a culture shock as I was surrounded by BBQ, ribs, fried chicken, and meat – even in the vegetables! What ensued were many years of on-again and off-again vegetarianism. It was not until I had had my stem cell transplant and regained my health and strength, that I fully committed to a practice that focuses on a total plant-based lifestyle, veganism. This was not a diet or a way to lose weight. It was, and is, a total change in my life perspective.
A Medical Challenge
What sealed it for me was that I am forever indebted to my anonymous stem cell donor – who returned to me the possibility of life in December 2014. You see, in July 2014, I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia – and in fact, my medical team said it was the worse type, with the lowest chance for a cure. They said that without the stem cell transplant, I would not survive the relapse of leukemia that would surely happen within a period of about 6 months. Getting that kind of news causes you to think about the priorities in your life, that’s for sure!
A Re-Birth
I celebrated my 6-year re-birthday this past December and I am determined that no animal or human should be harmed because of my life-extension. For me that is a strong motivator to remain a plant-based eater – and I am working on making the transformation towards total veganism in all ways – what I eat, what I wear, what I consume. I do not strive for perfection; I strive to TRY. It is interesting that my motivation has had such a strong impact for me, that I do not feel that I am missing anything at all!!! I want to live my life in a way that matches my intentions toward a compassionate, peaceful, and loving interconnectedness with all beings. And I TRY to do this – moment-by-moment.
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