I felt better on many levels when i stopped eating meat, and there were more specific reasons, more conceptually, of why it seemed to be a wise and more PUL attuned choice.

  With that said, if I was starving and had no other food to sustain this vehicle, i would try to hunt in the manner that was typical of many Native American tribes, with respect and gratitude.

Ralph, a lovely post - especially your point number 9!  I totally agree with you, & you are not alone in making the right choice for the right reasons.  Of course the vegetable kingdom is also sentient, but lacking a nervous system as we know it, they do not suffer in the same way as animals do. 
As far as I can tell, there is a resident deva in each species of plant (not individual plants) who expresses their being through the qualities of that plant species. I can not understand how anyone can equate the killing of an animal with the picking of an apple. But all life is sacred & even the mosquito has a right to live.

BTW & off topic : I have learned that speaking to the deva of mosquitoes, for example, stating that one does not kill,  & asking in return not to be bitten, that one gets off very lightly in comparision with others who swipe wildy trying to kill each pesky little insect.

Well said Volu. I love your analogy. Poetry to my mind.

kirolak,
"Yes, I agree - most poetic.  But how can you possibly equate picking an apple with the cutting of an animal's throat?  The tree is not harmed by the fruit falling or being plucked.  So in the final analysis, your argument holds no water. But I realize it is pointless to argue one's case - one just preaches to the converted & stirs up dust."

No blood and gore, no face to relate to, but still: physical life. Lesser physical life than animals they are not though they are located differently of the food-chain. Animals eat plants. Plants eat animals. Animals eat animals. A whole lot of eating.

Here's to straightforward poetry: Love Unconditional, the illusion shatters, pouring out disgust at those who slits the animal's throat. C1 examples: puts crackers into the mouth and blows it to kingdom come, leaving he or she to suffer and then eventually pass on. Hangs a dog, flips the finger and has a picture taken while smiling. Gangs up on another dog, scares it and then chases it, puts it on fire and films it while laughing. Condition: don't do those things, or there's no love. No love, valid? Duh. Saying you still do while actually you don't, THAT holds no crappity smacking water. Reserving the almighty non-discerning love to those who hold your hands, sits on your lap and entertains the naivete, exclusively, isn't, and never will be, unconditional.

Can you still love an animal and eat meat from an animal? Way, way beyond words that gets stuck in shiny lip-stick, enhanced by lip gloss and presented as lip service because it sounds so awefully good, though this and other examples as second hand experiences, direct in your face experiences, line up by door, and keep on knocking, as long as it takes.

"My final comment on this forum - I wonder how poetic carnivorous humans would feel if "aliens" began to harvest their succulent flesh for consupmtion?"

Final comment on this forum, yours or mine - talking about the the lovely (for real indeed) animals; water on a goose.

It's what some "beings" do, and some do eat their humanoid physical "foes" alive, with the fear in the humanoid vehicles adding to the meal. A being that's physically stronger puts "them" above humanoid physicals in the food-chain. They will have their cake, but they can't have the essence which isn't physical.

Thinking about starting up an online petition and/or a having a massive demonstration out in the wild corners of nature. It's about time the animals stop eating each other and start thinking.

'Don't be a callous cannibal, be an assisting animal!"

Teams interested in other challenges can step up in Africa as mating consultants for wanton male lions.

'Hey now, how would you like if I bit your neck' *bite*

Come to think of it, might need a few replacement consultants.

Happy we can be of any help. I have always said we should enjoy life, in any way it presents itself to us. I just happen to enjoy some of what life has to offer on a hamburger bun.