When Spirituality Became Awareness

This is what I’ve been thinking about today after hearing animal consumption described as spiritual, because the truth is, I used to believe many of the same things. But the more I questioned what I had been taught, the harder it became to reconcile spirituality with unnecessarily taking another sentient being’s life. Spirituality, to me, is the journey from incompletion to completion, from separation to interconnectedness, from unconscious habit to conscious awareness. I’ve known circumstances where survival wasn’t theoretical, so I understand necessity, but necessity and choice are not the same thing. When alternatives exist, no prayer, blessing, tradition, or spiritual label changes the fear, suffering, exploitation, or death experienced by the animal. My awakening wasn’t about believing I had suddenly become better than anyone else. It was realizing I could no longer call something spiritual while looking away from the being who pays the price for it. Veganism isn’t extreme. It asks you to see beyond what you’ve always known as normal.