Printed in the Spring 2019 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Miles, Standish,"Members’ Forum: On Compassion and Ahimsa" Quest 107:2, pg
By Miles Standish
I have been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1946. I joined because I felt drawn by the concept of compassion and ahimsa, although I was not yet familiar with the word ahimsa. The first Theosophical book I read (at age ten or eleven) was At the Feet of the Master, by J. Krishnamurti, containing what he said were instructions by his master. All of that book was highly influential for me, but perhaps the most influential part was the reference to “the still more cruel superstition that man needs flesh for food.” I was raised in a meat-eating family, but as soon as I was on my own, free of the restraints imposed by military service, I began eliminating flesh foods from my diet.
There was little or no science to back up the assertion that flesh foods are unnecessary, but the concept resonated strongly with me. Sadly, I didn’t realize that the production of dairy foods and eggs involves as much suffering as meat production. Even later, when I got cancer in 1972, I still did not know about the hazards of consuming dairy products.
The cruelty affects not only the animals but the humans who consume these products
Around 2012, I read The China Study, by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. He talked about experiments showing that with a moderate dose of a carcinogen, you can turn cancer on and turn it off by varying the amount of animal protein in the diet. Also, meat eating consistently causes the accumulation of plaque in the blood vessels, which eventually lead to cardiac “events.”
Campbell’s book does not address ahimsa per se, but all of us are victimized by the firmly ingrained superstition that we need flesh for food. This superstition is perpetuated by the animal-food production community and by the pharmaceutical industry, which sells drugs to lessen the effects. The government is drawn in through lobbying.
A big revelation was given to me by Professor Jane Plant, who reversed advanced breast cancer not once but several times by eliminating all dairy products from her diet. I think dairy products were highly instrumental in my falling prey to testicular cancer in 1972. I now try to keep to a vegan diet, and at age ninety-three have no disease calling for medication.
Several powerful documentary films show the health hazards, the gross cruelty, and the unsustainability of the animal-food industry. Three that I recommend are Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret; What the Health; and Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home. Another outstanding book on this topic is How Not to Die, by Dr. Michael Greger.
I think the Theosophical Society would do great service to all life on the planet by becoming a leader in encouraging humans to move to a plant-based diet.
Miles Standish, a retired Air Force major, has been active in several branches and regional federations of the TSA.