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The First Step...
Posted by:
John Rose
()
Date: October 16, 2015 12:34PM In the introduction to a Russian edition of The Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams, Tolstoy argues in an Essay called The First Step that to move towards a virtuous life man must follow a certain sequence of moral achievements and that this order is essential. The first of the virtues is self-control and liberation from desires. To achieve this control we must start by mastering our most basic lusts, which are gluttony, idleness and sexual love. Our efforts must begin with gluttony and this requires fasting. If then we fast, what foods must we abstain from first. We must begin, Tolstoy argues, with meat because this food excites the Passions to a point where we are Obsessed with Sex and blunts our Human Feelings to a point where we have War-like Tendencies and, of course, involves Pain and Death for the Animals.
Here are some of my highlights from Tolstoy's Essay - The First Step: In olden times, when there was no Christian teaching, all the teachers of life, beginning with Socrates, regarded as the first virtue of life, self-control and it was understood that every virtue must begin with and pass through this one. There never has been, and cannot be, a good life without self-control. Apart from self-control, no good life is imaginable. The attainment of goodness must begin with that. And yet, just as the first condition of a good life is self-control, so the first condition of a life of self-control is fasting. Fasting is an indispensable condition of a good life, whereas gluttony is, and always has been, the first sign of the opposite—a bad life; and, unfortunately, this vice is in the highest degree characteristic of the life of the majority of men of our time. The precise reason why abstinence from animal food will be the first act of fasting and of a moral life is admirably explained in the book, The Ethics of Diet; and not by one man only, but by all mankind in the persons of its best representatives during all the conscious life of humanity. This movement should cause especial joy to those whose life lies in the effort to bring about the kingdom of God on earth, not because vegetarianism is in itself an important step towards that kingdom (all true steps are both important and unimportant), but because it is a sign that the aspiration of mankind toward moral perfection is serious and sincere, for it has taken the one unalterable order of succession natural to it, beginning with the first step. One cannot fail to rejoice at this, as people could not fail to rejoice who, after striving to reach the upper story of a house by trying vainly and at random to climb the walls from different points, should at last assemble at the first step of the staircase and crowd towards it, convinced that there can be no way up except by mounting this first step of the stairs. And that’s where the 1st of a 3 Step Process that I perfected comes into play. Click here and go to a Seminar that I gave that explains the 1st Step and my 1st Step is taking what Tolstoy is talking about, Fasting, but we’re going to Modify It. Why? Mainly because of the Chemical Revolution. Too many of us have way too many Chemicals that make Water Fasting Unsafe. So the best thing to do is to Modify what used to be considered the best preparation for a Better Way of Life as Tolstoy is saying - that’s the 1st Step - to begin with a Fast because we have to take Control. Remember, the first condition is self-control and that begins with Fasting. Now here is a link to Tolstoy's Essay - The First Step, which will also link to The Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams: [www.ivu.org] Peace and Love.......John  Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
John Rose
()
Date: October 16, 2015 02:09PM Here are some more of my highlights from Tolstoy's Essay - The First Step that have to do with Gluttony:
The only real living interest of the majority both of men and women, especially after early youth, is eating—How to eat, what to eat, where and when to eat? Watch people travelling. In their case the thing is specially evident. ' Museums, libraries, Parliament - how very interesting! But where shall we dine? Where is one best fed?' Look at people when they come together for dinner, dressed up, perfumed, around a table decorated with flowers—how joyfully they rub their hands and smile! In the middle and lower classes it is perfectly evident that every festivity, every funeral or wedding, means gluttony. There the matter is so understood. To such an extent is gluttony the motive of the assembly that in Greek and in French the same word means both 'wedding' and 'feast.' But in the upper classes of the rich, especially among the refined, who have long possessed wealth, great skill is used to conceal this, and to make it appear that eating is a secondary matter, necessary only for appearance. And this pretense is easy, as in the majority of cases the guests are satiated in the true sense of the word—they are never hungry. They pretend that dinner, eating, is not necessary to them, is even a burden; but this a lie. Try giving them—instead of the refined dishes they expect, I do not say bread and water, but—porridge or gruel or something of that kind, and see what a storm it will call forth, and how evident will become the real truth, namely, that the chief interest of the assembly is, not the ostensible one, but—gluttony. We cannot pretend that we do not know this. We are not ostriches, and cannot believe that if we refuse to look at what we do not wish to see, it will not exist. This is especially the case when what we do not wish to see is what we wish to eat. By the way, this was a very long Essay relatively speaking since it was used as the forward to a book and the very last paragraph above is somewhat taken out of context as it was applying to the KILLING of Animals in a Slaughter House. Peace and Love.......John Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2015 02:17PM by John Rose. Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
John Rose
()
Date: October 16, 2015 02:40PM This is one of the main reasons why so many people fail at Raw Food...
The only real living interest of the majority both of men and women, especially after early youth, is eating—How to eat, what to eat, where and when to eat? In other words, it’s not easy to Break Away from the Herd and as long as the vast majority of us are going in the Wrong direction, most of us will just glide with the stream of the crowd. Peace and Love.......John Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
suvine
()
Date: October 18, 2015 12:17AM Leo Tolstoy, love him. I read one of his book of letters, I wonder if this is from the book? He used to chat out loud with imaginary friends, well, his maid noted. He would have conversations with his friends, who were not there, he would sit in a chair.
SOCRATES my favorite, after Ayn Rand, for Philosophers! True, attainment of good ness and self control. Fasting is self control! Gluttony is bad, like a bad life. TRUE Meat is so gross. I hate it. THREE STEP JOHN PROCESS... You didnt say what they were!! Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
fresh
()
Date: October 18, 2015 12:28AM >>>Gluttony is bad, like a bad life. TRUE
go to the 1 minute mark [www.youtube.com] [www.facebook.com] Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/2015 12:29AM by fresh. Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
John Rose
()
Date: October 20, 2015 12:20PM suvine wrote:
<<<THREE STEP JOHN PROCESS... You didnt say what they were!!>>> [youtu.be] 4:48 MM You see, Solving Problems is not that difficult - all we have to do is Satisfy 2 Groups of Needs. Unfortunately, most of us are NOT Willing and Able to do that, which is why I added 2 Preliminary Steps to the only thing we have to do, thereby, perfecting a 3 Step Process. The 1st Step addresses the Willingness Issue on a Temporary basis so we can see what we’re missing and then, be in a better position to take the 2nd Step where we want to Correct 5 Main Mistakes on a Permanent basis. And then, once we add these 5 Main Mistakes on to our List of Mistakes to Correct, we’ll finally be in a position to do the only thing we have to do and that is to Satisfy these 2 Groups of Needs and I call these 2 Groups of Needs the Science and the Art of Solving Problems that are 100% Within our Control. Re: The First Step...
Posted by:
John Rose
()
Date: May 18, 2016 11:32AM I just did a Video on this for those who are interested...
[www.rawfoodsupport.com] The First Step to Paradise... Posted by: John Rose Date: May 15, 2016 02:54PM In this Video, I explain how the 1st Step of my 3 Step Process relates to an Essay Tolstoy wrote called The First Step where Tolstoy used his Essay as a Preface to a book that he translated into Russian called The Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams. Both Tolstoy and myself understand that the very FIRST thing we must do to put an end to all of the needless suffering on this planet is for all of us to take Responsibility by becoming the best that we can be and that begins with The First Step - FASTING!!! [www.youtube.com] The First Step to Paradise 18:02 Minute Video [www.rawfoodsupport.com] Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
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