UP #40: Love, Beauty, Justice, and Truth are What Make the World Go Around with Ruby Roth

Summary: If you’ve been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you know that I speak regularly about the vegan lifestyle. Although I don’t promote this podcast as a vegan podcast, I truly believe that the only way that we can live as the authentically selfless, caring, kind, and loving species that we are at our core, is by living compassionately from the interconnection that we share with all life. Making choices that contribute to violence towards any living being hurts us as it hurts them. Consuming the suffered flesh of a living being that valued its life as much as we do only creates suffering within ourselves. The physical manifestations of our separation-based choices are painfully obvious in today’s world. Obesity, heart disease, cancers, wars, depression, stress, and rampant violence.<br> What I’m getting at is that in order to live as the best version of who we’re meant to be in this lifetime, we need to reconnect to the essence of who we are at our core. We all share the same essential soul nature of compassion, courage, empathy, kindness, selflessness, joy, and love. When we remember that these are the authentic qualities that comprise the heart of humanity, we remember that we are not separate from any living being. Whether it’s another human being, a cat, dog, chicken, pig, cow, flower, or a tree. We’re all in this together. We all share life. We all live within an intricate web of life where too much or too little of anything can bring about massive collapse.<br> We all have the potential to be such incredible beings of compassion, kindness and love. We also have the potential to be such incredible beings of cruelty, violence, hatred, and fear. The only thing that differentiates one from the other is choice. Do we choose to live consciously, guided by the truth that lives inside of us – a truth that is connected to all life and unplugged from the archaic belief systems of an outdated separation-based cultural paradigm or do we choose to live unconsciously, plugged into the cultural matrix of separation, brainwashed by habits and unexamined hand-me-down belief systems created to ensure our compliance so that we remain small, separate, fearful, and stressed-out.<br> I don’t know about you, but for me, the choices is a no-brainer. I choose truth. End of story. With truth comes liberation. As the saying goes, the truth shall set you free. The truth can also painful, but beyond the pain, truth is actually comforting to those who do not wish to ignore it. Then, not only is truth comforting, it’s also inspiring. It is truth that mobilizes the soul for action. We can’t ever reach the true potential as our best selves if we selectively negate animals and the natural world on our path to wholeness.<br> Vegan, in its purest form, connects us to our essential nature. It’s about compassion and interconnection with all life. Non-harming choices towards others equals non-harming choices for ourselves. It’s that simple. Spiritual interconnection 101. Instant status quo crusher status.<br> Why is it that we’ve strayed so far from the core of who we are? The experts say that from ages of 0 to 6, we’re being programmed by those who care for us. In these first years of innocence, the belief systems of our parents and caretakers become firmly installed – that is, unless someone who has unplugged from the matrix comes along to teach us otherwise. It’s only then that we have a chance as children to maintain a connection to our core essential nature of compassion for all life. Otherwise, we’re indoctrinated into the willful ignorance and cognitive dissonance of the paradigm of separation that our parents have passed on, and their parents before that – and then we’re screwed for many years until we’re able to shake off the trance and explore kinder options that feel more authentic to who we’ve always been meant to be.<br> This week’s Unplug podcast guest is a true paradigm buster who has complete...