Around 18 years ago I was reading many books on the subject of Buddhism. It was when I read that Buddhists were mostly vegetarian, and that they would not harm or be a part of harming any living creature that something in me just clicked. It resonated with me, it was like a lightbulb moment. From that moment on I did not eat meat, and nor did I miss it. I think I was lucky that I had grown up with mostly only chicken breast and beef mince as meat in my diet. My Mother didn’t really cook other meat, therefor there wasn’t much for me to miss. I don’t think I ever particularly enjoyed meat or grew very fond of any particular type. It was an easy decision for me to turn my back on it, and I did it for the love of animals, and the rights of animals, in the way I understood it from Buddhism.
I never really considered becoming vegan until many years later. The first thing I stopped consuming was milk. For some reason it became disgusting to me, I started drinking black coffee and buying almond milk for my cereal and shakes. I did however still enjoy yoghurt, and cheese, was certainly my weakness.
At that moment in time I only had my eyes open to the cruelty of slaughtering animals and hadn’t even considered the harm that I was doing by still consuming eggs and milk by products. It was documentaries that opened my eyes and made me understand how much I was still contributing to the problem by being vegetarian rather than vegan. I was contributing to the terrible treatment of dairy cows by consuming yoghurt and cheese. I was saying “It’s O.K” that male chicks are being ground up alive by eating eggs on occasion. It was then that I understood it was imperative that I became vegan. For the animals, for the planet and for myself. I am grateful that my eyes have been opened.