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

Living the Revolution / 291
somewhat surreal mental state I was already in from being exhausted
and alone on the mountain in the moonlight, it somehow wasn’t surprising.
We continued along together for several minutes, and just having
this powerful animal walking so close to me gave me an enormous
boost. Mentally thanking him as we walked for caring and for helping
me, I felt a profound sense of kinship, beyond the usual concept of that
term. I felt our utter relatedness as a basic fact. With him beside me, it
was natural to feel my energy increasing, and soon I was able to walk
faster and with more confidence. Before long, the elk picked up his pace
and crossed over in front of me, disappearing into the night. Within
another ten minutes, I made it to the top of the ridge and could descend
to the parking lot.
Though I was enormously thirsty and hungry, and my little van was
well stocked with food and water, I waited and silently thanked the elk
and the benevolent mystery of this universe. My heart was filled with
gratitude for the overwhelming presence of love and compassion I felt
shining on me through the elk. I saw I didn’t need to thank the elk, my
brother, with thoughts or words, for he understood our connection. Any
thanks I could give him could only be through my actions to protect him
and all my brothers and sisters of this earth, sacred expressions of an
infinite love that smiled at me that evening from the elk, the stars, the
moon, and the night mountain air.
The elk taught me to take time every day to be grateful, to feel my
connection with the great Mystery, and to open to the inner wellsprings
of joy and peace. The most powerful antidotes to cruelty, abuse, and
indifference are not anger and sadness, but love, peace, joy, and openhearted
creative enthusiasm for this precious gift of a human life. Just
as Thich Nhat Hanh has wisely said that without inner peace, we cannot
contribute to the peace movement, so it is also that without inner
freedom, we cannot contribute to the liberation of animals, which is the
essential prerequisite to meaningful human freedom.
The experience with the elk is one of many blessings I have found
that being vegan brings. Veganism kindles a deep sense of peace in
nature and of kinship, fellowship, and harmony with all life. It encourages
a sense of inner richness that keeps growing and deepening as years