Why I Eat Very Little Meat

For the benefit of those friends who can’t understand my previous post in Chinese, this is my explanation of why I've grown to dislike meat.

I’ve not been eating a lot of meat in the last few years and it is definitely not due to a religious reason. Out of the blue, three years ago, I decided to go on a vegetarian diet (or should I say, no meat diet, because I do eat eggs) for a whole month. I just wanted to try out and see if I had the determination to stick to that diet. Surprisingly, this diet of mine not only was easy to adapt, it became a habit. Until today, my first meal of the day will not consist of any meat at all. In fact, I normally only eat a little meat during my dinner. With this diet, I later realised that I became less fussy with food and best of all, I began to lose weight, all without paying a single cent to those slimming centres. Isn’t that great? But of course, I have been exercising regularly too and that does help in weight management.

Venerable Xing Yun mentioned in his book “Between Ignorance & Enlightenment - 2” that vegetarianism was actually a Confucian ethic. In the Chinese quote it said, a noble or gentleman will only want to see things alive, not dead, and will not eat the flesh after hearing the sound it makes. Perhaps it is also this decision of mine not to kill lives unnecessarily that made me stop eating live animals. About two years ago, while I was waiting for my food at a coffee shop, I noticed a fish tank full of crabs, all tied up and stacked one on top of another. When I saw the crabs struggling to move, I felt really sad for them. Why do we humans do such things? The crabs looked like prisoners on death row awaiting their execution…sigh! How can I ever eat live crabs or any other live seafood anymore? I just can’t bear to do that.

If vegetarianism is healthy to our body, helps to calm our mind, develops a sense of compassion in us and trains us to be more tolerant, as explained by Venerable Xing Yun, I think everyone could consider trying out eating more vegetarian diets rather than meat diets. However, my advice for everyone, we should not be too particular or attached to any one form of eating habit or thought…just be happy, whatever you eat, whatever you do.

I still eat meat…just don't like the taste and texture…that’s all.