Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Elightenment Traps

Personally, I love fruits and vegetables. My thing is to eat as much good food as I can while I have time left on this earth. But the fact that I love fruits and vegetables does not mean that I don't like to consume meat (charred flesh, as a good friend of mine calls it). A number of years ago I went vegetarian. I was very careful to make sure that I was getting all the iron rich foods so that I would not have low iron levels. I was consuming copious quantities of these foods. I still ended up anemic and needed to go back to having meat in my diet. Here is the thing. Once I got away from consuming meat I thought that I was going to feel so much energy and vibrance. Quite the contrary. I was sluggish and low on energy and ambition and felt somewhat depressed. After 2 years of wondering what was wrong with me, I re-introduced meat into my diet and BAM! I felt so much better!

The truth is that back then I fell into what is called an Enlightenment Trap. An Enlightenment Trap is any belief that has an undercurrent of "I know what is best for me....and for you." I had everyone around me raving about how vegetarianism and veganism were the only way to go. I completely bought in. And I almost killed myself in the process. So why is it so much easier for people to believe someone when they say, "I stopped eating meat and wow do I feel so much better" than it is for them to believe someone when they say, "I started eating meat and wow do I feel so much better"? It is the Enlightenment Trap syndrome. It may as well be something like "I chose Jesus and wow do I feel so much better!" Radicals are radicals no matter what form they come in. We don't become enlightened by embracing a particular religion or diet or even philosophy. We become enlightened when we do our personal work and get over our personal issues in life. A diet or religion or philosophy is not going to do that for you. Dogma is dogma, no matter what the form. I get really frustrated with people who think that I am not enlightened and therefore could not possibly be a good healer just because I eat meat. That is just a bunch of bull. How would they feel if I said similar stuff about them because they were one of those "wacky vegans"? I don't say stuff like that, but they think that they have the right to say stuff like that about me or anyone else who eats meat. It really is quite ridiculous. It is very much like reverse racism. I am white so I can't say anything negative regarding anyone else's race (not that I do) but oh boy! Try to tell anyone of another race that they can't say anything negative about me based on my color! Them's fighting words!

I would really like it if people would leave others alone and not threaten them with "You're gonna die of cancer if you continue to eat meat" kind of ridiculous statements. To each their own. And I love having 2/3 of a plate of salad or vegetables and 1/3 meat. So there. Deal with it. No matter how you look at it, we are gonna kill an animal or a plant in order to live. It is called the circle of life. Deal with that too. And get you head outa your a.... and grow up!

 Blessed Be
 Trent
 http://www.deerhornshamanic.com/
 http://www.youtube.com/trentdeerhorn

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this can go both ways. I've heard people get so crazy about the importance of meat in one's diet so far as to say the brain can't properly grow without it and it is child abuse to deny children of it. I think it's great either way whatever one chooses and sometimes what may happen is that people get so excited about what they just learned that it comes across as above and beyond pushy. Or - perhaps they are just ignorant imbeciles!! Personally, I like to spread the word anytime I learn something new and even if I get intense about stuff or sound like I'm preaching it I do still realize that it is about choice. That is key. Some people want and love to be vegetarian or vegan and it works for them and some do not wish to or feel it is not right for them and that's up to everyone individually!

Gail said...

There are some who walk this earth who wouldn't have a clue what to think if it weren't for dogma.

Trent Deerhorn said...

Oh absolutely. I also think that it is very important for people to become aware of how their food has been created. How a plant or animal has been treated before its demise and how it has been prepared before it hits your plate are very important issues. I also think that there are gracious ways in which to bless all the food on your plate so that any trauma is taken out of the essence of what we ingest.

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear! It was worth coming coming out of my seclusion to post!