Ethical Eating as Spirtual Practice, Pt. I

This is a two part sermon offered by Lisa Nuttal and Nina Vecchi:


Friends we gather here today to reflect upon our human-ness... Our predicament as a species in which we struggle with what is coyly called the "human condition." 

To quote one of my favorite spiritual guides, wikipedia-- second only to a Google search--

The human condition can be described as the irreducible part of humanity that is inherent and not connected to gender, race, class, — a search for purpose, sense of curiosity, the inevitability of isolation, and fear of death . . . . 

In other words  we are here to reflect upon our disconnectedness with an inner purpose and the world we live in.  Our inward search for a "peace of mind." 

In the vibrance of this beautiful morning -  let us celebrate that we are not alone in this journey... we all suffer in a similar manner -  with this challenge of humanness... Yet we each carry a unique gift to help one another along the path towards feeling at home with ourselves and living in harmony with each other and nature.

***
We gather here to reflect upon ethical eating as a spiritual practice.

Again we can turn to the Great Wikipedia definition of spirituality:

As an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality;[1] an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.”  Spiritual experience includes that of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or community; with nature or the cosmos . . . 

We have come here today to CONNECT and to make CONNECTIONS.

Many  UUs  are avid book readers. We read books and then relish in their discussion. Our viewpoints need not be tethered to one creed or religion. I'd like to think our reflections come from our own insights and intuitions.

UUs are explorers in a most classical sense. We "Leave Home" and make the hero's journey. 

This is one of the topics that is discussed in "The World Peace Diet" - by Dr. Will Tuttle: 

In consciously contemplating and questioning the worldview and practices of our parents, family, and culture, we make leaving home a vital foundation for our spiritual growth A spiritual quest in which we leave the confines of home and culture, undertake an inner and sometimes outer journey to attain higher understanding . . . We then return to our culture with new powers to reform, vitalize, and uplift our community through the insight attained on our journey.

Tuttle is a native of Concord Massachusetts, and left his home with his brother in an exploration for the truth. He became a Zen monk and spent several years reflecting in meditation upon the messages in his book.  I am here today to share some of the observations I experienced with others in a 12 week study with Tuttle and then as a facilitator of an eight week study we offered at the Gardner UU church.

The World Peace Diet asks the reader to step outside of our culture's most fundamental defining practice... for what can be more primal or basic as the choice of our nourishment?  What we eat as a species defines our place in the web of life. This is an essential determining factor when we classify other species. Humans should not be excluded from this consideration.

The most crucial skill a parent passes to its young for survival is choosing what to eat, and how to obtain the nourishment that is necessary to live.  Therefore these choices are deeply rooted in our psyche. They lay underneath our personas as part of the building blocks of our identity.  And that is why questioning our culture’s most fundamental and defining practice, of imprisoning and butchering animals for food is often a taboo and emotionally heated topic.

The UUA was courageous and progressive in putting forth a statement of concern for the significance of our food choices. Bravo!

To paraphrase Tuttle:

We UUs have practiced leaving home and embarking on a spiritual journey that at times put us fundamentally at odds with our culture’s values, but that at the same time makes it possible for us to be heroes who can help uplift and transform our ailing culture.

How many of us have left a previous religious or cultural tradition to discover our own truths? Is it not the UU way to question the status quo? To look for avenues to uplift our communities, with justice, fairness, and compassion as our barometers, to show tolerance and acceptance of those who may be different, to offer concern for the struggles of those who are less fortunate. To be thoughtful of our presence on this planet.

This planet we call the earth is our true mother. She provides for us in every way and is our only home. Climate change, pollution, devastation to natural resources are no longer something that are concerns for the future. They are happening here and now. How we face these dilemmas and where we gain strength and insight to rise above stems from our connection to our innate wisdom which is the source of some of our greatest talents as humans... our  intuition and creativity.

In the United Nation's - 2006 report "Livestock’s Long Shadow," the Food And Agriculture Organization found animal agriculture was a major contributor to the most severe ecological stresses the earth endures. The report estimated that over 18% of man-made greenhouse gas is generated by this industry. This is more emissions then all of the transportation on the planet.  Additionally the land occupied by animal industries demands nearly 60% of our agricultural resources worldwide.

How does this level of consumption impact those brothers and sisters that are less fortunate economically and socially? What of those who are forced to work in an industry that requires they disconnect. How does it feel to perform the task of repeatedly shooting a steel rod through the head of cow, pig , goat or sheep, or to slit the throat of screaming chickens  as they struggle in shackles?

There is another book I'd like to mention; like a tasty bag of potato chips there can never be just ONE book on any topic covered by a UU.

Dr. Melanie Joy -  psychologist and professor at Umass authored a book titled Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. In this book she shares the information of a study that concludes that the human brain is essentially wired for empathy. We have emitters in our brains that stimulate our physical body to echo a mirror of sensations when we view the suffering of others. How many times have you winced to see another beings injury? This phenomena is not exclusive to the perception of our fellow human's suffering.  I do need a text book study to exemplify this. For I have experienced it myself. None of us enjoys to watch the pain of another being ... regardless if it is a human, a pig, cow, duck, puppy, or fish. Our knee jerk reaction is to cringe. We feel a deep empathy whose source is authentic - from our inner most center. Yet our culture grooms us to ignore such feedback.

It can be quite unsettling to reflect upon matters at this level. I know and have experienced the voyage first hand... and at times  ... it was not easy.

The Word Peace Diet asks us to look past the veil of cultural ideology and into the inner most center of our essence.

We often use animals in our society to engage children, to teach life lessons. Stories involving animals help children to grasp concepts of morality and ethics because like humans animals have families and bonds to others. Animals exhibit feelings of care and joy towards each other and humans. Many times animals are fundamental in therapy for those who have experienced trauma or serious physical injuries or limitations. The recipient senses that animals are authenticate and joyful. The animals bring healing.

We tell our children to be kind to the animals, not to pull their hair, tails or ears. We show them how to gently offer the animals food and affection.

And then We kill them.

This is the hidden system of violence that creates a disconnect between our hearts, our minds and our souls. 

In the Spring, we gather our children and them to plant seeds and till the soil. In the Fall we rejoice in the harvest, strolling through fields of pumpkins and apples.

I have never heard of a Sunday drive for a picnic at a slaughter house. Why is it that our culture hides from sight the most basic information on a crucial survival skill?

For the most part its source is covered up and never discussed. At least this was my experience as a child. As an adult I never questioned it. I never thought of it.

***

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately sensed a tension or negativity that was present?

Often times we pick up on  vibrations without any indication. Sometimes ... we just know in our gut something is going on. We seem to have an internal barometer that detects these energies and feeds our intuition.

What might we encounter if we could view the energetic atmosphere of our planet?

What would the slaughter of 60 BILLION sentient beings a year,  look like on a vibrational level?

Tuttle depicts the following vision:

If we could look over the world we live in with the eyes of an angel we see centers (hidden in the country side)  rise gigantic, towering over the landscape.  The intensity and thunderous volume of the suffering within their walls billowing up as roiling vibrational fields of grief, terror, panic, and despair. This massive and unremitting negative energy, ripples out through the vast and intricate webs of thought, energy, and consciousness that form our human relationships with each other, with animals and nature, and with our children, our dreams, and our aspirations.

In speculation... Could it be that the vibration mentioned in this vision is so intense and widespread that our human barometers have no baseline of a world without it?

Tuttle offers us great hope an inspiration:

By recognizing and understanding the violence inherent in our culture’s meal rituals and consciously adopting a plant-based diet, becoming a voice for those who have no voice, we can attain greater compassion and happiness and live more fully the truth of our interconnectedness with ALL life.

We will naturally increase our ability to heal our divisions, nurture our creativity and joy, restore beauty and gentleness, and be role models of sensitivity and compassion for our children. As we look more deeply at our food, the healing of our children can begin, and our work can be resurrected as an instrument for blessing and bringing joy and caring to our world. We can all return home, in our hearts, our spirits and in peace to heal our beautiful planet.

The planet is calling us to evolve and to step in to harmony with her and the other beings we share it with, the other earthlings whom she also claims as her children and sustains. How we answer this call depends on our ability to adapt and change and create sustainable, harmonious means for our survival. She calls us to reach beyond the status quo, to break out of behaviors and ideologies that not no longer serve our presence here.

I have great hope and faith in the intrinsic compassion of human heart. I see this every time a duck tries to cross the road and cars line up to wait, every time a child caresses a beloved animal friend and in the friendly stranger reaching out to help those in need. 

Blessed be.