Hindus worship in temples and quote the Bhagwad Gita which equates a brahman (man/woman), a cow, an elephant, an outcast, as spiritual beings. Yet they go back home and cause suffering to animals (by eating meat) and express views that are ignorant towards other minorities. Many people accept that suffering is an inherently evil thing, but they question whether non-human animals actually suffer. This is an argument favored by non vegetarians. This argument is difficult to accept. Clearly animals can be in pain, and we should work to prevent that pain as much as possible. Another argument is that they lack the kind of consciousness required to experience suffering as we humans do. If that’s true, we might claim that animals are just inanimate objects. Then their “suffering” is no different than the "suffering" of a phone when it's dropped. That argument is also difficult to accept because many animals protect their young and try to save themselves from a predator.
So how does one live a truly spiritual life? I too am guilty of killing spiders, lizards, and maybe even mice. Is the argument valid that there is a cycle of life within which each member survives by consuming or harming those beneath us? Or is there a truly spiritual life where humans can survive as much as is possible without extinguishing or harming other lives?
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