Family, Karma, Plants & People

I’ve debated writing this post for about a month now, as I don’t want to turn this blog into a soapbox, but I do want to share this perspective and get some feedback and there’s only one way to do that so, …here goes. Please forgive me if ideas presented here seem only nebulously connected. ~*

While getting my hands dirty planting applebaby and harvesting greens, I also spent much of this August cultivating my (human) family tree, attending a family reunion and discovering connections I hadn’t known of previously. In my dharma studies, one thing I’ve become more and more acutely aware of is that as my family grows and evolves, so does the extent of my shared/co-created karma. And as that awareness grows, so does my awareness of the karma I share with all beings, including those I eat. Oh how I love good food! 😀

click photo to watch!

Some months ago I (gratefully) got to see the above TED talk, scientifically proving something I’ve known all my life and that indigenous cultures have known since the dawn of humanity: trees (& other plants) talk to each other. In light of this, I feel less crazy admitting that trees also talk to me. Don’t worry, I respond, I don’t ignore them–that would be disrespectful just like it is with people. The apple trees I’ve helped raise are the children I’ll never have. I love them like family and I know they care about me. So I personally have never doubted that plants (like animals) are sentient beings. Yet, many Buddhists do. Coupled with beliefs that killing sentient beings in order to feed oneself creates bad karma, the belief that plants aren’t sentient turns vegetarianism and its stricter offshoots into ideal diets. But what if, as science now proves, plants are communicating with each other because they’re just as sentient as us? Then what’s a good-karma cultivating person to eat? And what does all this have to do with having plants in my family? Who wants to eat their relatives? 😛 

Suddenly, thinning seedlings seems eugenics-esque :-[

 Well honestly, I do. It’s precisely because I know that plants and animals are sentient that I want to eat them. Only sentience can nourish sentience. And believing this–acknowledging all beings as part of my extended sentient family–also nourishes my sense of respect and gratitude for the lives I ingest, as well as those that might or will ingest me (when I die). Basically, recognizing plants’ and other faceless beings’ sentience helps put the circle of life back into proper perspective (by re-including the “I’s”–ourselves), which Buddhist principles encourage us to do anyway.

What of my murderous karma then? Since I see my food as extended family and believe that intention is an integral part of action/karma, I consider my karma stemming from the quality of my interactions. Have I been respectful of this being’s life? Am I demonstrating my respect &/or gratitude? How best can I do that in this moment/circumstance? I believe considering these questions for all my relations–edible and huggable alike–better determines the quality of karma I create than my diet. I could be totally wrong though. 🙂

What do you think? Are you willing to eat fellow sentient beings? Grateful even? Think I’m crazy or gone too far? Let me know in comments below!