My Introduction To A Vegetarian Life

I am a vegetarian and have been one since November 1972, just over 40 years. I come from an English middle income family and meat had always been a major part of our diet. For years I never questioned it and in fact enjoyed eating meat and saw no reason to change. Then at the age of 20, in my quest for an independent life, I left home and emigrated to Canada.

My diet did not change much for several more years. I made new friends and started spreading my wings travelling to a number of countries throughout Europe and Asia. It was during my travels that I met an Australian couple who were vegetarian and it was them that got me thinking more about what it was that I was putting in my mouth at every meal.

The idea of it was slow to take hold, it was more like a seed that was planted in my subconscious. I would eat vegetarian food for days and then would be invited to eat with friends and slip back to eating meat again. This went on for months and I can remember many philosophical discussions about the pros and cons of a vegetarian diet and the right or wrong of refusing a meaty meal. I was constantly on the fence about it and it was only after I returned to Canada in 1972 that a chance meeting changed everything. 

I started buying my groceries at a health food shop in Vancouver and noticed a flyer on the door announcing the third world tour of his holiness Sant Kirpal Singh. I was drawn to the photograph and decided I wanted to hear the talk. I don’t remember what the talk was about specifically, I just went to every meeting I could get to for the few days that Sant Kirpal Singh was in Vancouver. At the end of it I was a confirmed vegetarian and have never waivered since. 

Vegetarians are categorized by varying degrees according to the inclusion or exclusion of certain products. From those who eliminate only red meat to those, like myself, who exclude all meat, fish, foul and eggs to the strictly vegan who eat no animal based products at all including dairy.

Life is surprising. I had never intended to become vegetarian. I grew up in a family and in a society of meat eaters and enjoyed partaking of it along with everyone else and yet suddenly, or so it seemed, I changed course. 

For me it was a light bulb moment of realizing it just wasn’t in my best interest health wise or from a fundamentally spiritual perspective. I can honestly say that apart from learning to choose from a much wider field of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and grains, and breaking the news to my parents, it was never difficult leaving my prior eating habits. 

I am one of four siblings. My brother who later moved to Canada, eventually became a vegetarian too, but my two sisters and their families, who remain in England, are dyed in the wool carnivores. I have never tried to change their minds beyond a general discussion of the why’s and where fore’s. You either get it or not and all the talking in the world will not change anything. I do believe that a vegetarian life is a healthier way to live and in the past 40 years I have noticed in my own family, that for the meat eaters their physical deterioration has been noticeably more severe. 

When I first became vegetarian, it was definitely unusual. It didn’t have the acceptance that it does today. Then you would have had a difficult time eating in a restaurant, or dining with friends who had no idea what to serve you. Grocery stores didn’t have the wide range of foods to cater to vegetarians either and so you had to do most of your own cooking or eat nothing but salad and cheese melts. For me it was my travelling buddies that first got me thinking about becoming a vegetarian. It was the influence of Sant Kirpal Singh that set my mind on it. I have never regretted my choice. Fortunately my wife is also vegetarian, which makes it a lot easier to decide on what to eat.

For those of you who are dabbling I would encourage you to take the plunge. At the beginning it may seem daunting but pretty soon you'll wonder what all the fuss was about. All those questions about where do you get your protein just fade into insignificance. Personally I never worried about it, I just made sure to get a wide range of all the right food choices.