Veg Pledge - Commitment Fulfilled!

[wmw111]

Committing to Vegetarian Pledge
http://www.kechara.com/news_view.php?a=1&p=677

[John]

How can other people join the list?

[Zenji]

How can other people join the list?

"Always thinking of innovative ways of encouraging us cause less harm to others, regular followers of Rinpoche’s Twitter account (http://www.twitter.com/tsemtulku) will have noticed that he has recently made a pretty special offer.  For everyone who goes vegetarian, they need only submit their names to Rinpoche via Twitter, along with a short message saying how long they will commit to a vegetarian lifestyle.  Alternatively, contact Liaison Ooi Beng Kooi or Khong Jean Ai to submit your name and commitment."

Found here.   

[irene]

If only animals could speak in our language... they will say "Love us, not eat us.  All lives are precious".

[irene]

Need to demonstrate to people what meat contains. If you ironize a piece of meat, you will  find steriod, toxin oozing out of the meat ...... uuuuuurgh.  This help people to change their mind not to eat meat and to become vegetarian.

[Blueberry]

Need to demonstrate to people what meat contains. If you ironize a piece of meat, you will  find steriod, toxin oozing out of the meat ...... uuuuuurgh.  This help people to change their mind not to eat meat and to become vegetarian.

Hi Irene...
I agree with you.  Although i dont know much about the contains..hehhe.. but as result is great, so people start to ask. Initially i felt bit "unease" cos people wud raise their eyebrows " you become vegetarian? since when? how? why? bla bla bla"
... then time to give testimonial lor  And now i enjoy to propaganda it

I feel most people understand and accept benefit being vegetarian, but always follow desires and attachment..

I am glad that my group of colleagues (6 persons ) now always have vegetarian lunch out everyday. There is still one person is bit difficult cos of attachment tho.. just most time she gave in due to vote..haha..  But its good step anyways 

[GonzoEnder]

I've got 4 months and 10 days so far with 3 days of no meat per week. Alot of the time it ends up 4 days. thats like 54 days out of 130 days. Not bad for a lifetime meat eater.

[pummy369]

Go Gonzo!  That makes my heart want to sing today.  Imagine how many whole entire animals are not dying for your gastronomic pleasure in one year, compared to how many were dying before your effort to eat less meat? Even if it is just 1 animal - that's 1 precious life.  Everytime you choose a meal without meat, I wish for you a rush of joy that no animal has died for your meal and I wish for you a recognition of the compassion that you are choosing in that moment.   It's no small feat in a meat eating culture.  It really is something that you are trying to do and I take my hat off to you.

[GonzoEnder]

Wow thank you soo much! It's incredibly easier with this type of support! I wish you the same success in all your endeavors.

I have actually officially changed my pledge to 4 days a week now.

Un-officially... about 5 days ago I had 1 slice of peperoni pizza (my favorite) and I had to send the second slice back into the box because I just couldn't handle the feeling of meat/suffering after so long without it, and no reason to eat it because all my excuses to kill have long dried up (I get better digestion and a better well-being, as vegetarian). This is very much a fact for me but I can't really describe it properly and scientifically).

I began with not killing insects or anything on purpose. I started this practice around 2005-2006. Soon around this time I came into contact with Rinpoche's teachings online. I had never seen a guru speak so eloquently at a level I understand perfectly. Then I easily and naturally began not to eat any meat because logically, stopping mammal suffering is the next step after stopping insect suffering.

Rinpoche says becoming a vegetarian gradually is not the best way. Cold turkey (literally) is what he has officially recommended If I recall correctly. As a former drug abuser I shun the words cold turkey, and in the same manner, I have slowly tapered off meat, and I am continuing to do so. Perhaps if you have extreme attachments, you should proceed slowly, and if you are more secure, then cold turkey is better.

Initially i felt bit "unease" cos people wud raise their eyebrows " you become vegetarian? since when? how? why? bla bla bla"
... then time to give testimonial lor  Wink And now i enjoy to propaganda it

-Blueberry

EXACTLY. It really comes down to ME rather than THEM. I don't want my mother or GF to cook a great meal and never understand why I can't eat it... That is hard! My perception becomes more of the problem than the problem itself.

[pummy369]

I am a very 'soft' vego.  People around me know that I prefer to not eat meat and although initially I refused to eat meat dishes offered to me as a guest, I now try to not make such a fuss and eat what is served - avoiding the meat as much as I can.  I had found that it actually made people a bit cross with me, or like I was coming across like some princess with special requirements just for me.  I got so frustrated with it as I really have tried to escape this 'princess' image that I have somehow acquired for myself in my earlier years (maybe from being a fussy eater, or a pretty blonde little girl in my youth or the fact that I just was always somehow 'different' from the people around me and I made different choices...I don't know exactly) and I don't want to be the 'pain in the arse'  at the family dinner.  So, I pretty much eat what I'm given (but small portions of meat) and have hoped that over time people would come to realise that I rather not eat meat and therefor no need to pruchase extra meat when I am coming to dinner but maybe cook a few extra vegies.  I don't know how successful I have managed to be in this endeavour. It's tough in a meat eating culture.  I have found it is just easier to say to people "I prefer not to eat meat if there are other things I can have" and leave it at that.  Maybe I'm not very strong in standing in my own principles or maybe my committment just isn't strong enough and is easily worn down.  Not sure.  I do wish my resolve was stronger though, as animals are my best friends, my saviours and my heart and 9 times out of 10, I prefer them to human companionship.  Right there's a good motive for me to eat less and less meat.

[wmw111]

Pummy, keep trying don't give up on what you believe in .

It helps to know the psyche of the people you are going for dinner with . I think some people just feel threatened , when the word vegetarian comes up, sometimes they might feel you are self righteous, sometimes they probably dare not think of the thought of being a vegetarian lol. Yes people are scared not to be able to taste the blood or meat of animals anymore. There is such a fear hehe.

They love MEAT !  if you ever tell them they could be eating their past mothers, they might freak out, or the fact that animals are sentient just like humans or that we also could end up as animals some day .   They do not want to hear that at all .  We just have to be skillful , to see what we say to who   .  I 'm pretty good at picking out the greens, sometimes I go to functions unless they ask , i don't need to tell them , to put them at ease 'lah' . Makes them happy .

[Joey]

I've been vegetarian for like 3 days a week now and it really a lot more easier

now i dont have to feel guilty when i visualize offering my food to the 3 jewels before eating them

[GonzoEnder]

Try avoiding meat TODAY and if you call and tell our company you DON'T feel better PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, and SPIRITUALLY, and I will send your money back no questions asked. You have nothing to lose! Check out these testimonials by REAL PEOPLE (not paid actors)!

Awesome joey. Right on buddy. I moved to 4 days a week a while back. In reality I'm at once a week on average right now! I'm cutting off one day at a time so far and its working awesome. And I'm always one day ahead of the Veg Pledge Commitment I say im doing in order to avoid accidentally breaking samaya.  Especially knowing Rinpoche does a special part of his daily puja's for those who commit to this lifestyle. Guys and girls, I am so much happier, like joey says, just to cut off a few days. IT WILL GROW. You won't be able to stop eating meat once you start to enjoy the alternative. You will feel so good about yourself, cutting your self-cherishing mind and helping sentient beings at the same time!

Meanwhile, my meat eating friends. You can help out too by never making fun of a friend for being vegetarian or allowing others to make fun of your veggy friends! This will help create the causes for you to break your attachment at a later time when you are more comfortable making the switch.

[pummy369]

The attachment to meat.  Such a weird thing.  I had my parents over for din-din ( ) last night and Mum told me that the anticipation of a meat-less main meal sent my Dad into a slight panic and resulted in his eating bacon from breakfast and a steak for lunch.  I think he liked the vego meal I made (which I put huge effort into - wanting to show that a vego meal really can be satisfying), but it defeated the point a little, having him scoff meat for the other meals.  Bless him though.  Amazing what kind of panic it can bring up in those of us so used to eating meat everyday.  I am not being condescending about it as I do understand somewhat.  My efforts at being vegetarian are somewhat compromised by the occasional choice of the odd meat flavoured meal when the vegetarian offerings are not at all to my taste (I hate egg-plant and in a meat-eating culture, eggplant is the most common vego offering you will find on the menu  ).  I also find that if I feel very weak, I very occaisionally choose to eat a small portion of meat; a primative  idea that I must need meat to ensure my survival.  So, I get it - but it still amazes and annoys me the attachment that meat can create.

On the up-side, it can actually work the other way too.  Yesterday I worked at a sausage-sizzle to raise money for a good cause (kind of a contradiction in some way but the sausage sizzle is a good money spinner in Aussie culture, especially on a Sunday) and the smell of the cooking meat was such a shock to my senses that I had to walk away for a bit so as not to pass out from it.  After an hour or so and a change in wind direction, I was ok.  I also got woozy recently when I walked into a pet-food store whose counter was covered in dried meat products, and I had to leave very quickly.  That was a bit of shock.  I notice that my stomach turns when I walk past a butcher and also in the meat section of the grocery store. 

Moral of my story: meat products seem to have a strong hold on us initially, but once we break through the worst of that attachment, we can actually start to find the smell or sight of it quite difficult to take.  It's interesting, at the very least.

[wmw111]

I think people are attached to an identity - that I can eat meat, I think the idea/thought of losing the freedom of eating meat is the scariest of all.

After sometime becoming vegetarian, meat is not considered food anymore.