The World Peace Diet: Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony

290 / the world peace diet
spiritual connection between animals and humans grows out of understanding
that we are all expressions of eternal benevolent consciousness,
and as we acknowledge this interconnection and live in harmony with
it, our lives become prayers of compassion and healing. A positive
approach is essential because it mobilizes our spiritual resources, generates
enthusiasm, and brings more joy and love into our world.
Just as waves are manifestations of the ocean and inseparable from
it, we are both the light that makes the movie possible and the images
on the screen illuminated by that light, each of us unique and contributing
our voice, passion, and spirit to the unfolding story. With this understanding,
we can live to help and bless others with both a sense of
urgency, which is required and appropriate, and a sense of spaciousness
that doesn’t blame others or fight with them. Blaming and fighting only
generate resistance and reinforce the delusion of separateness. Our
human spiritual evolution is a calling to liberate ourselves and the animals
we hold in bondage. It’s founded upon recognizing the unity of
cause and effect: whatever seeds we sow in our consciousness we will
reap in our lives. The ancient teaching holds true: “Hatred ceases not by
hatred, but by love. This is the everlasting law.” 10 In the end, as
Mahatma Gandhi emphasized, we must be the change we want to see in
the world.
The Elk’s Message
One August night in 1991, high in the Olympic mountains of western
Washington, I was climbing up a seemingly endless and steep series of
switchbacks, trying to get back to my van parked at the trailhead. I had
gone too far to reach an alpine lake, and now returning many miles in
steep terrain, without food or water, I was as physically exhausted as I’d
ever been in my life. Every step took enormous effort, and in the dim
moonlight I prayed for the strength and energy to continue the arduous
climb back up to the top of the ridge. Feeling almost completely spent,
I thought I might have to bivouac on the cold barren slope when I felt
a presence beside me. Plodding along in the eerie light, dragging each
foot with all my strength, I looked to my right and saw, only four or five
yards away, a magnificent elk walking slowly along beside me. In the