Recognizing The Source

Sumptuous lamb chops. Mouth-watering T-bone steak. "Heavenly" crispy pata (fried pork leg). Delicious chicken empanada (meat pie). Those of us who aren't full vegetarians would happily wolf down our favorite dishes without a moment's thought. But if someone puts a butcher's knife to your hand and tells you that you need to slaughter the animal you're going to eat, I bet most of us would balk at the thought.

Most people don't realize the process by which their meat gets to the table. This makes it easier for people to eat the end product, because they don't consciously make the connection between the animal and the meal they're eating. But come face to face with the animal and suddenly, most people can't even bear the thought that parts of the animal will eventually end up inside their guts.

In one of the episodes of Wowowee (when Willie Revillame was still with ABS-CBN), they had butchers as contestants. Before starting each game segment, Willie usually interviews the contestant about their work, why they joined, etc. More often than not it's this pre-game interview that gets Willie in trouble, but in this particular episode it was interesting to find out that butchers actually feel pity for the animals they are about to slaughter. Some of them even say prayers over the animals or at least perform some sort of ritual to ease what is about to happen.

On the one hand, it's encouraging to know that butchers aren't heartless, but on the other hand we should thank them for taking on the burden most of us wouldn't bear ourselves. If this isn't enough to make us into full vegetarians, it should at least make us more respectful and thankful for the meat that we eat.

This situation with how we perceive meat also has greater implications in how we relate with other people. Back in college, I remember finding an old propaganda booklet in the library. It was printed in the US back during World War 2 and was entitled something like "Know the Enemy". The booklet contained detailed descriptions of Japanese customs and beliefs, all in a negative light, of course. Enemies are always demonized in order to make fighting and killing them more palatable. Propaganda like this is still quite prevalent, especially in the way media portrays supposed "enemies of the state."

The problem with this mindset is that it perpetrates the "us versus them" attitude. Anything or anyone that is different from one's beliefs or from one's family is "evil." Most people eat meat without a second's thought because they don't recognize that the parts they're eating come from an animal they would otherwise feel pity for. This is the same type of thinking that leads us to easily hurt others. After all, they're the "enemy" and "we have nothing in common" so they'd be better off wiped from the face of the Earth. Isn't that the usual thought process when we're really pissed off or boiling with anger at someone or a group of people?

Many people forget that we are all spirits, perhaps inhabiting and using different forms, but all from the same source nonetheless. If people just saw more of the divinity in others, perhaps there would be less tendencies to hurt other people..

This disconnection, the failure to see the oneness in everything is also evident in how we are treating Mother Earth. The environment is something outside and separate, so many people think that they can throw trash in the ocean or deforest the mountainside and none of it has any effect upon them. But the many disasters in 2011 spawned by such ecological mismanagement show the folly of such thinking.

Since 2012 is already here and many are expecting a change in consciousness anyway, why don't we start by affirming the divine nature of everyone we meet. The Indians have a term for this: namaste. When you say namaste to someone, you are in effect telling the person that you recognize the divinity in him/her. You may be surprised at just how much inner peace and harmony you can generate by a change in how you see other people.

Namaste!