What is a spiritual life?  Is it about positive affirmations, prayer, meditation, reading uplifting spiritual books, worrying about karmic issues?  Or is it about what we do rather than what we say? 

I have seen many people who stand on podiums and proclaim their faith or spirituality yet whose actions demonstrate a different story in their private lives. 

One area of significance is manifesting love in our lives via compassion for all life, humans and creatures.  Personally I choose to show my caring and love of others by not killing and eating them - animals or people!  Why are people shocked at the thought of cannibalism but not at all when animals are killed and eaten?

It is my belief that animals also have souls and they also reincarnate as part of their evolutionary journey.  Animals may be younger, less developed souls but as such they need our love, caring and nurturing, not to treated as a commodity that is used, abused and traded.   Think of the accumulated burden of soul pain they must carry as a result of ages of such treatment.

I am so pleased that times are changing and more and more people are becoming enlightened and demonstrating compassion by living the vegetarian life.  Even so I have been surprised when attending meetings or workshops with apparently spiritual people to find that vegetarians were a small minority and the catering was centered around meat dishes.  We must keep the carnivores happy!  To you vegetarians out there, how often have you been to a function where the vegetarian food is quickly scoffed by the carnivores with no thought to the fact that we won’t eat the steak sandwiches? 

As a vegetarian myself I have to confess to being rather disappointed in the demonstrated lack of compassion.  If you ever visit me be warned that I do not cater for carnivores!

One last thought on vegetarianism.  There are two kinds of motivation for choosing it.  Some people say “It is good for my health to have a vegetarian diet.”  This is true.  There are other people who say, “It is good for the health of the creatures that I do not eat them.”  This is also true, it is also showing concern for the wellbeing of others and not just oneself.

In response to a comment from Monica where she asks if thought forms once created may change, my experience this does not happen.  I perceive them as having the originator’s intent and thoughts imprinted upon them like a kind of programming which just keeps running, until either the originator or someone perceptive and powerful enough dissolves it.   

If we have hurt someone by sending  negative energy to them we can heal the effects by seeking mutual forgiveness, sending light and love for healing.  We can even call back the energy we sent and consciously undo the programming we created.  

It is rather humbling to know that we can at times unwittingly hurt others with just our thoughts.  I think the bottom line is to be aware of our intent, do we really and truly want to exact revenge or hurt someone?  Or are we just letting off steam.   In terms of our own path, when we are truly contrite (sorry) and we know we won’t repeat a misdeed.  In fact many people demonstrate their contrition by expressing compassion towards those they have hurt.  Remember that the Divine forgives us, but we also need to forgive ourselves in order to move forward and be a better person in the future.