For many years, I have been thinking about how do I awaken people’s minds and hearts? We need more love and compassion, especially for the nonhuman animals of this Earth. During the years of research, self-contemplation, meditation, from my own experience and learning from my mentor and true friend Dr. Will Tuttle, I finally understood how we can create a world of love and peace. It does not start by changing or trying to awaken people, it starts by awakening and transforming ourselves. 

 

We have all been wounded from a young age, from all the years of cultural indoctrination. I have been programmed from my parents and various institutions since I was an infant. May it have been the food that I ate, or the clothes that I wore or the language. We are all taught etiquette, but does etiquette have anything to do with love, compassion, and kindness for others? I don’t believe so. Let me give one example. Our parents and our culture taught us, the proper way to dress. However, if I choose to wear an old shirt and shorts to a function, I look like a hippy to everyone, and they may judge and criticize me as being dirty, different, and extreme or radical compared to others. Though we say we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we do the opposite of that.

 

The way I think, live and dress today is surely not the way most of the society dresses, thinks or lives. Most people would view me as different, extreme or radical once they hear my viewpoints of life. I like to dress casually, I like to eat and live cruelty-free, without oils, salt or animal products and try to include fairly traded products. I like to be a minimalist, not using toilet paper, not using cleaning chemicals and buying only when absolutely necessary. And if I do buy anything, it has to be used or fairly traded. And to me, this is not enough. I want to do more for all the damage I caused to the world. As a vegan, I still used toilet paper and bought and worked in jobs that were not fully ethical, destroying the environment and harming animals and humans in the process. Will Tuttle calls this the stages of veganism. In my book The Interconnectedness of Life, I talk about this.

 

“Though there are a few main stages of veganism, there may be more stages beyond this. The first stage is the ‘shallow vegan’ stage. One may go vegan for health reasons or because one saw a cruelty video and switched one’s diet to include only plant foods. Sometimes one eats a lot of vegan junk foods and does not fully understand why to go, vegan. A lot of people in this stage fall back and eat some meat, dairy, and eggs.

 

The second stage is called the ‘angry vegan’ stage where one understands more of the ideas behind veganism, but one gets angry and judgemental of others. These vegans might shout at people wearing fur or eating animal products and they may view the rest of the world as other and be themselves so viewed. This is not positive vegan advocacy as it deters many away and makes vegans look like extremists.

 

The polar opposite of angry vegan is referred to as the ‘closet vegan’ stage, the polar opposite of the angry vegan stage. A closet vegan is someone, who just wants to keep one’s views to oneself and let others do as they please.

 

After this stage comes ‘deep veganism’ where one truly understands the vegan message and embodies the lifestyle to the fullest. One lives by example and tries to minimize harm whenever possible and does not get angry or upset when speaking to someone. One sees all animals as sentient beings and does not eat, wear or use any animal products whatsoever. One does not see meat-eaters as different from oneself, but rather as pre-vegans, people who will eventually be vegan in their lifetime. One sees them as one once was oneself, and respects and loves them. One is non-judgemental, non-violent, caring and usually soft-spoken. One addresses people’s questions with ‘I’ statements and not with ‘you’, as the latter is a form of judgment. After deep veganism, there may be other stages of vegan consciousness. Learning by self-educating, speaking to people and years of experience gives us the knowledge and empowerment to be a better and more efficient vegan activist.”

 

As a deep vegan, I think we are obligated to go even further than vegan. To live in a house or some sort of dwelling that is totally or almost fully sustainable, causing the least harm to any creature and to nature. To not use products, or to use products that cause the least harm. This also includes the cars we drive, and other items or services we purchase and use. Sometimes to be totally ethical and sustainable we don’t buy anything, but use old items and turn them into new products, upcycling and grow our own food veganically, living as lightly on the Earth as possible.

 

I consider myself an anti-capitalist. What does that mean? It is a person who does not want to participate in anything to do with what we call capitalism. I don’t celebrate meaningless holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines or any other silly rituals that absolutely do nothing to benefit the environment or help others, human or nonhuman. It is to stop shopping like crazy, buying useless junk that eventually we store in our closets or that end up in landfills, and to purchase items, like chemical cleaners that are harming the environment, animals, and humans. Though there are some practices that I still unfortunately support like paying taxes, paying rent, live in a non-sustainable apartment, using writing/printing paper etc. I am ashamed because I really don’t want to be supporting any of these practices that go against everything I believe in to do with love and compassion.

 

It is sad as I write this, billions of nonhuman animals are killed and devoured for their flesh and secretions only because we like the taste, and because of this tens of thousands of children are starving at this very moment. It is impossible to fathom the incalculable deaths and violence we cause on this planet. What can we do? How can we create a positive transformation, and awaken humanity’s past of violence and bloodshed? Is it even possible to awaken humanity to our true innate kindness and compassion that we’ve lost as children? Is it really possible to go back to a time where we worked with the Earth rather than against her? I really do think so.

 

It starts with all of us. Each one of us can transform and change the world, but it first starts by questioning our culture and awakening to our true selves, that which we are, eternal consciousness. We must see ourselves in all other living beings and not as materialistic, but as consciousness, divine unique creatures living and working in harmony with one another. We mustn’t see separateness in one another, but rather interconnected with all other beings. Because in reality we are not separate from one another, but rather one, interconnected. Science, religion, and spirituality have proven this. We need to reconnect and reexamine our lives, our jobs, and our possessions and fully connect with the Universe. Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the meaning of life? We need to meditate on the idea of “Who am I?” and continually meditate on this idea until we come to the full realization, of who I truly am. As we look back at our lives, we question, is this all that there is, or is there more to life?

 

By Michael Lanfield