to fellow vegans

I've never considered Buddhism a religion. In fact one of the things I appreciate about it is the lack of central God figure - especially a punitive God - and the fact that Buddha encouraged people to question and challenge what he taught, and to figure out if the teachings held true for them.

To me it's more of a way to be in the world that I aspire to.
 
Well said Vee. Buddhism is a philosophy of life rather than a religion according to the Dalai Lama. You can be Christian, Jewish, etc and still practice Buddhist teachings.
 
Vee said:
So to me Buddhist means someone who seeks inspiration for their own spiritual journey from Buddha's "sharings" rather than a traditional participant of a formal religion.
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That makes a lot of sense.
And that means that I'm a Buddhist rather than an agnostic (though if I'd tell other people I was a Buddhist, they definitely wouldn't see it according to this definition).


As for pets and pet food: that is something I've grappled with for quite a while.

I'm vegan as much as I can be (somethings, like the animal byproducts used in tires, are unavoidable, but I adhere to the principles of Ahimsa of doing the least harm, and making the best choices that I can to live in that way). On the other hand, I can't imagine not having cats in my life, but I know that they cannot safely eat a vegan diet. I'm feeding three of them "Pet Promise" which is a brand developed by Andrew Weil, with the animal ingredients coming from family farms and not factory farms. The fourth is on a special prescription diet which strangely enough seems almost vegan...when I read the ingredients, I thought I could almost eat it! (the main ingredients are grains---horrible for cats, I know, but it seems to be the only food that keeps him from having urinary tract problems, though I haven't tested that for a while. I might just switch him to PP as well and monitor him closely and see how he does).

Maybe at some point I'll end up with rabbits or some other herbivore pet, but I just don't relate to them the way I do to cats.
 
Kathryn,

Being agnostic is completely consistent with Buddhism the way I understand it.

Unless one attains enlightenment it is indeed imposible to "know" for sure whether there really is a state such as enlightenment and what, if anything, divinity (I use the term divinity to avoid a reference to God as a super-human entity who is separate/different from mankind) is.

Constantly evolving, learning, questioning and trying to be a better person is a wonderful spiritual path.
 
Vee said:
Constantly evolving, learning, questioning and trying to be a better person is a wonderful spiritual path.
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That's a lovely thing to say, Vee! And beautifully put. (As I've done with another of your quotes, I'm saving this, putting it in a pretty font, and printing it out as a positive reinforcement to put on my wall.)

Quite more accepting than my stepmother, who I think at times feels I'm a godless heathen, or destined to burn in hell, or that I 'use animals as my God' (as she once told me...I guess in her view, one has to have SOME kind of God, and if it's not her dude...who strangely enough seems to be named "God" as well as be one, :cool:, it's got to be something else.)
 
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I used to refer to myself as an Agnostic Buddhist. :D I don't refer to myself as anything anymore, but out of all the other labels, that one fits me best.

My sister thinks my soul is in trouble. My interest in yoga, Buddhism, and homeschooling puts me in the "fringe" category. I don't dare bring up Veganism.
 
yay Kathryn!! Once again I learned something!! The pet Promise food sounds awesome. It does have barley though and we did an allergy work up on my dog and he is boderline allergic to barley. But all the other things he is positive for are not there...his worst is beef and wheat. And green pea..go figure! I am going to try it and see how he does. Thanks for the heads up...the whole by products and food not fit for human consumption thing with dog food has bothered me for a long time.

another question what beauty products/companies do you like that you have found to be vegan? I use aveda for hair and bare minerals for foundation. What else would be good?!
 
Unfortunately none of my cats will eat Pet Promise. I cook for my dogs and I do cook meat and chicken for them tho I am looking at them thinking "veg?!" Not so for the cats. I have two friends whose dogs are vegetarian and they look amazing--the dogs I mean. They are both older dogs and look and act half their ages. The funny part is one of them belongs to our local butcher. The dog was raised vegetarian by his sister and when she could no longer keep the dog he took him. He says the dog prefers vegetables and will once in awhile have meat but isn't really interested. I am starting to feel uncomfortable cooking animal products for the dogs. I used to also cook meat etc. for my family but no longer.
 
This thread has just gone in so many different, and interesting (!), directions.

There are books available on how to prepare food for you cat that is more natural for them. http://www.kymythy.com/index.html. Beware though - her book for people is a raw food book which includes meat and fish. I know a few raw foodists who are omnivores and it looks like kymthy is in that category as well. Personally not my thing - but I can see raw meat as a natural part of a cat's diet. My local natural pet food store sells frozen raw meat for cats too but I just can't bring myself to getting that for them.
 
I got the frozen raw foods for both the dogs and the cats. The cats wouldn't have anything to do with it and the dogs would have liked me to cook it please. I have tried a few different brands with the dogs but while they ate it being dogs they didn't look too happy.
 
My cat loves canned tuna, but will not touch the fresh stuff we buy and grill up.

He loves a good pop tart, only if frosted though, in addition.
 
PhyllisG said:
I am starting to feel uncomfortable cooking animal products for the dogs. I used to also cook meat etc. for my family but no longer.
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*nods* I'll cook for my family ~ me refusing to make animal products would cause more harm than good in our house ~ but if I can find a suitable diet for my dog, I'd love to get him off meat and chicken.

Shelsmaha, I found this site last week: http://www.sevicosmetics.com/

I'm currently using: https://www.everydayminerals.com/index.php

According to an email one vegan received, the only item that isn't vegan is the silk powder.

Jerry, your cat and my daughter. She'd live on pop tarts if I let her. :rolleyes:
 
Lori I went to the everyday minerals website. The prices are so reasonable. Do you like it? What can you tell me about the line? I use bare minerals now...
Thanks! :) Shellie
 
I really like their stuff! There are so many colors from which to choose, so it's easy to end up with 8 blush samples, 10 eye shadow samples, a few concealers, face brighteners... :eek:

Shipping is fast, and every month the owner offers up some kind of deal. The samples last a long time too.

I ended up going with EM because their products don't break me out like Bare Minerals did.

Here's another good site that Kathryn introduced to me: http://www.larenim.com/
 
I, too, use and love Everyday Minerals. Super customer service and prices, great products - they make my skin look flawless. I love them. I use Aveda for hair care, and Origins for skin care (and their products are also free of harmful pertroleum based chemicals - I was extremely impressed by their mission statement on their website).
 
Hi all - I just want to chine to say that while I truly respect the eating decisions you are making for yourselves, please, PLEASE do not impose these on your pets. Mother nature didn't mean for them to be vegetarian.

Cats and dogs are meant to be primarily meat eaters. Even though dogs have more omnivore tendencies than cats, they have evolved on an animal protein diet. They're DNA is just the same as wolf DNA.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but really needed to put this out there. :)
 
Gayle said:
Hi all - I just want to chine to say that while I truly respect the eating decisions you are making for yourselves, please, PLEASE do not impose these on your pets. Mother nature didn't mean for them to be vegetarian.

Cats and dogs are meant to be primarily meat eaters. Even though dogs have more omnivore tendencies than cats, they have evolved on an animal protein diet. They're DNA is just the same as wolf DNA.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but really needed to put this out there. :)
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I would like to add further that human beings are designed to eat both, meat AND plant products.
 
Katerchen said:
I would like to add further that human beings are designed to eat both, meat AND plant products.
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Is that so? Do you have any actual science to back this up? How does that explain all the healthy vegetarians and vegans who have piped up here?

You've opened up a can of worms! Enjoy! :)

Amy
 
pixiesis said:
Is that so? Do you have any actual science to back this up? How does that explain all the healthy vegetarians and vegans who have piped up here?

You've opened up a can of worms! Enjoy! :)

Amy
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Well, start looking at your teeth: They are both, for plant eaters and carnivores. Second, the digestion tract. The enzymes in the stomach acid are designed to break down animal and plant products (horses for example are only plant eaters according to their teeth and digestive fluids). Third: In order to get 100 % of the daily nutrition values you have to eat a balanced animal and plant diet. As the humans evolved there were no artifical B12 shots, we got the B12 from animal products.

Any basic human anatomy class is teaching that humans are designed to eat both.

Vegetarians/vegans are just fashion eaters but they do not eat the way humans are designed to eat.

A balanced diet from ALL THE FOOD GROOPS is what we suppose to eat.
 
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