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And ahimsa isn’t the only reason given for a vegetarian diet in these traditions. Meditative discipline and traditional Indian medicine, Ayurveda, teach that meat can harm health and reduce life span, something Western science has also confirmed, as we have seen. Indian traditions also teach that vegetarian diets modify the chemistry and hormonal balance of our bodies, promoting calm, focus, and increased energy. For many spiritual practices, vegetarianism is seen as a basic prerequisite, opening human possibilities closed to those who cannot curb the desire for flesh.

The Buddhist scriptures relate that the Enlightened One advised that “those who keep close company with me must not eat meat. Even if, in a gesture of faith, almsgivers provide them with meat, they must shrink from it as they would shrink from the flesh of their own children,” because “eating meat destroys the attitude of great compassion.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, a world-famous Vietnamese Buddhist monk who has inspired millions of Westerners, strongly advocates becoming vegan or at least significantly reducing the amount of meat you eat. Hanh likes to emphasize just how many wonderful reasons there are to motivate this diet: among other things, he says, it is a way to stand against global warming, land degradation, and water pollution.

Perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh’s major teaching is “mindfulness,” a practice of deep awareness of how we are living in the world from moment to moment. Hahn encourages mindfulness in all areas of our lives and, since eating is something we do multiple times every day, eating mindfully is especially important. Hahn explains that we don’t need any special teaching to realize the spiritual advantages of vegetarianism. All we need to do is eat mindfully.

Hanh teaches that by eating mindfully, for example visualizing for a moment how that meat on your plate really got there, will make us realize that by eating meat “we are eating the flesh of our own children.”

Hanh doesn’t mean that literally of course, but if we think about the impact of the meat we eat, we will realize how we are harming the entire planet and ultimately hurting ourselves, especially the young among us. By our indifference to cruelty and our direct harm to the environment, we create a worse rather than better world for our children. In essence, Hanh is saying that if we listen to our better instincts, they will naturally guide us toward vegetarianism.

Try a thought experiment yourself. Imagine what it takes for a piece of chicken leg to end up on your plate (confinement, transportation to slaughter, slaughtering, defeathering, skinning, butchering, slicing up, and cooking). Now imagine the process involved in eating an apple (pluck it off the tree) or loaf of bread (harvesting the grain, milling it ino flour, baking). Would you rather have your energies contribute to a world of slaughter or one of harvest? It’s a decision we make every day.

I came away from my research and soul searching with the clear perception that a shared directive runs through all the major religions and wisdom philosophies, and it is this: cultivate compassion, and do so actively. If we do nothing else but this, our lives will be spiritually successful.

PROMISE 10:

You Will Evolve—and Take the World with You

I’M SO GLAD YOU ARE STILL WITH ME. I HOPE THAT AS YOU HAVE read along you have made some new connections and seen the immense promise and possibility that lies in the choice to become a veganist. I think it is safe to say that whether we are talking about healthy trimming down, living longer and better, reducing animal suffering, helping the global poor, or shrinking your carbon footprint, there are few things you can do that have the broad impact of a plant-based diet. This is why I’ve spent so much of this book documenting these benefits and telling the stories of those for whom a vegan turn has been transformative.

Perhaps the greatest promise of a plant-based diet, in my view,