So, we never made it to Macchu Picchu, oh well. We enjoyed wandering around Cusco greatly. Getting a tour in a rickety trolley, seeing an art exhibit, going to a traditional dance show, trying out all the vegan options (better all vegetarian restaurants than Minneapolis!), and getting out of breath from the altitude every time we walk to our hostel :) Relaxing, how it should be.
I went to the dentist today and had a cleaning, it was about $25. When I said I had been a nutritionist, he asked if I was vegetarian. He said he wasn´t vegetarian, but he preferred vegetables to meat, and he knows many vegetarians. To him, vegetarians seem more peaceful (tranquilo). Is it the personality of someone who chooses to be vegetarian, or does avoiding meat make one more peaceful? He asked my opinion. I said, I don´t know, some say that eating meat makes you more aggressive, but there´s no proof.
It was funny, I had always assumed people who choose to be vegetarian were more peaceful, and the effect didn´t go the other way. But last summer, my dad (very agnostic/maybe atheist, not vegetarian at all) surprised me by saying he thought there must be some connection--you eat pork, you get to be more like a pig, etc. And that that could be concerning. And then I learned about the chemicals released by animals before they die, and how you literally consume their terror. And then learning about yogis and all that. So of course it´s not a one-to-one connection, but more and more it seems like there is a big effect. You can still be a vegan jerk, but at least you don´t have meat going in your system making you even more aggressive.
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3 comments:
Gandhi talked a lot about how animal products ignite "animal passion". And yogis tend to avoid meat, eggs, onions and garlic because they cause mental restlessness.
Interesting stuff to consider though. I know very gentle people who don't kill bugs but eat animals--they simply don't make the connection between meat and violence. Out of sight out of mind.
I was also happy to read about Ithaca fighting fluoridation.. I had not known this.
Interesting, I haven{t read as much of the yogi readings as I would like, I love to hear different perspectives. At the Tree we would always talk about things being }sattvic}}--garlic and onions weren}t sattvic, so we didn}t use them. I like and use both, but I also get that connection--sometimes it probably does serve to avoid those foods. Especially if you are feeling aggressive or restless already.
Gandhi was also kind of a dick, though, so I wouldn't take his lessons too seriously.
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