August 1, 2021, Sunday Afternoon, Private Session, Excerpt
On Killing for Food
Aaron: The question was raised about food and feeding. Why was a mammal presence chosen for the human? Why not something that needed no food?
Because you needed the catalyst; it is your teacher.
When you eat something and you take it into your system, it seems to you you’re killing it, but instead you’re keeping it alive in yourself.
Every distinct individuated living being eventually passes away. The tree falls to the earth. It rots. It enriches the soil and new trees grow, and the insects thrive within that rotting tree. The small creatures come along and eat the insects. The bigger creatures eat the small creatures. The largest creatures also eventually dissolve, and the energy dissolves into and is part of the earth.
As long as you believe yourself to be separate, you create a barrier. But when you release that belief of separation and know yourselves to be part of everything, then nothing can eat anything else, in terms of doing harm to it. It is simply keeping the energy alive and expressing in new and beautiful ways.
Where harm comes in is when you go after any sentient creature and attack it without asking its permission.
In Native cultures in which I have lived a hunting party would never dream of taking a life without asking permission.
I, as the hunter, would see the animal in front of me and would pause and connect my consciousness to its consciousness, would say, “My people are hungry. Are you willing to offer this life that you are right now to give us food?” It would look at me, and it would either run away—and I certainly would not chase it—or it would pause and stand there, allowing itself to be killed. We were able to transmit these thoughts and intentions.
People have forgotten how to do this, have forgotten the necessity to do this. Barbara’s cherry tomato plant is filled with tomatoes. Yesterday she walked up to the plant somewhat mindlessly, saying, “Oh, I want a tomato,” and I literally had to say, “Wait, stop—you forgot to ask permission.”
So she asked, “Which tomatoes would like to come and be part of my lunch?” And it was very clear—this one and that one. The rest, some of them would probably drop to the earth and rot into the earth, restore the earth; that is their free will choice.
The question, then, is not about the eating of another living being, taking the life of another living being, but taking that life without asking permission, and listening if permission is not granted, even to the point of one’s own demise.
This is part of the way that you more fully remember that everything is part of and expression of the One and everything is to be cherished. And it is that knowing that helps raise your vibration, and the cherishing that raises the vibration of the whole earth.
I pause for any questions.
Q: Lately when I eat food or I feed my cats, I honor and bless all the beings whose life and energy— or the microbes in the soil, or whatever it is—has gone into bringing this food here. I ask forgiveness for suffering because I know there’s suffering in there, and I invite it to blend with my energy and together we’ll serve, and eventually that all goes back into the universe.
So I understand that process. I think where I have a hard time is that I know, say, if I have a can of cat food for my cats, many beings were raised in horrible conditions and slaughtered in big factories. I couldn’t ask their permission. And I want to transmute or ask forgiveness and release the energy of their life, to go forward for the highest good. But is that sufficient? Is my intention sufficient?
Aaron: If you stop and open the can of cat food, hold the intention that this food will support the life of your cats, that you consecrate their light and energy to the highest good, to the expression of love. Literally holding the food in front of you, offer blessings and gratitude to all that offered themselves, or simply did not have the opportunity to offer to support it, to provide this food. Your blessing, your love goes a long way.
The other thing you will do, of course, is to work to prevent the conditions that create such suffering in the beings that created the food. At this point on earth there should not be the various animals held in horrible conditions until they are simply slaughtered. You can move past that. You will move past it when you know yourselves all to be one.
There’s a beautiful blessing in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. It starts with “Seventy-two labors…”, and of course, that’s simply a metaphor.
Seventy-two labors brought us this food.
We should know how it comes to us.
This food is a dharma gift.
Do my virtue and practice deserve it?
And if the answer is no, it doesn’t mean you don’t eat; it means you start to pay more attention.
I accept this food to sustain my life, knowing the value of each individuated expression of the One, and accepting this as a gift.
I accept this food to attain awakening to the way.
It’s a beautiful practice to use before eating. And you can hold your cat in your lap and say it, too.
That original “Seventy labors brought us this food…”—thinking about, for your cat’s food, the fisherman who caught the fish; the fish themselves; those who prepared the fish, probably deboning and whatever was necessary to put it into a form that would go into a can; those who created the cans; those who created the labels; those who did the scientific research as to what nutrition the cats would need. All of this came together to provide this wondrous can of cat food!
(More on “Seventy-two labors”, the Meal Gatha:
https://www.existentialbuddhist.com/tag/meal-gatha/)
Q: As we endeavor to become increasingly aware, practiced, and functional in 4th density dynamics, is there an appropriate approach toward food and diet for the human body? There is the opportunity to become vegetarian, opportunity to move away from farm animal production of dairy products. I have been vegetarian for many years, but also for many years I have returned to occasionally eating meat because of body condition of anemia, and some occasional red meat gives me a big boost.
But I’m curious if it is in the better interest to move more into, shall we say, lighter dietary behavior, or is that something we leave until our next incarnation when hopefully earth is more available to full 4th density expression? Thank you.
Aaron: Thank you for the question. There is no right or wrong beyond the point of respect and cherishing of every being and its individuated needs, each being an expression of the One, each being cherished as such expression.
I would not recommend people buy meat that is raised in horrific conditions and slaughtered in such conditions. I know that the—I don’t know your terminology, but the farm-raised meat that is slaughtered in a very kind way, if we can think of slaughtering as kind, but free of fear. Do that. Say no to the slaughterhouse conditions.
But it is not respectful to your body not to meet your body’s needs. After this meeting Barbara will eat a steak for dinner. She does not eat steak often, but after she has been channeling she often eats steak because she needs that high boost of energy.
She does so lovingly and respectfully, thanking the food. However, she does not say, “Oh, I really want a steak! I’m not tired, I don’t need it, but I really want a steak.” Well, that’s just want.
I don’t want to express an idea that you should not want, but when wanting comes up—”I want steak. I want ice cream. I want a cup of coffee.”—who wants? Move into your practice and be sure that one is not wanting so much as, this body would be best supported by this right now. Eating mindfully.
Choose wisely; choose lovingly.