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Hey, I hope that this question isn't too weird, but it's been on my mind for a while.

Are plants conscious? There's an old thread in the archives of this subforum in which some people talk about having plants as familiars. The consensus in the thread was that you can have a plant as a familiar, although plants work differently than animals. Nonetheless, they have consciousness.

So, yeah. I read that and I was like: WHAT? Are they really conscious? Are they conscious because they have spirits? If plants are conscious, is it ethical to eat them and turn them into furniture? Do they feel pain? Is there some sort of karmic consequence to this? If plants are really conscious, what does that say about ethical veganism and eating meat?

OMG I just caramellized over a kilo of almonds!! They are part of plants too! OHNOOO, my karma!!! [eek]

xaarea wrote:OMG I just caramellized over a kilo of almonds!! They are part of plants too! OHNOOO, my karma!!! [eek]

[lol] [rofl] [lol]

But yea, eating/building things from/wearing/etc living stuff is clearly unethical, so to not wreck our karma we should putter around naked until we either starve or freeze to death, whatever comes first. Or maybe living on dairy stuff and blood is ok, and wearing things made from wool. So could live in a wool tent and eat yoghurt and øh, hope the weather turn cold. I'll look into this tomorrow when I might be a bit less drunk.

Or could just not believe in karma, that helps a lot.

It's not that weird Frumens. [thumbup]

Hands up those who have heard of the Gaia hypothesis?

If we can accept that the Planet itself is sentient,or that the Universe may be underpinned by divinity and so on....why should plants not be a part of the network too?

We usually kill animals before consumption,so perhaps plant consciousness leaves them once they are disconnected from the soil?

Just a coupla thoughts,from someone who's head asploded from thinking too much on this when I was younger.IMMV.

Various cultures have Shamanic practices that relate to 'Plant Allies' and the living spirits of plants can be used in magickal workings: plant based money grow spells and charms,being one common example.

Herbal magickal associations don't come out of nowhere either,something else to ponder on there too,I feel?

As someone who utilises Entheogenic gnosis forms,I can assure you that this sentience does exist,at least as far as I am concerned. [geek2]

I'll go look at that old topic now. [cool]

This karma thing is way too hard. . .

[grr]

I'm sorry I just realised I didn't answer the questions in a straightforward manner.Oops.

Are they conscious because they have spirits?

I believe they are and that they possess a form of sentient awareness,yes.

If plants are conscious, is it ethical to eat them and turn them into furniture?

I think that it is ok to harvest and utilise plants and other flora because that sentience is not finite within the individual unit of any particular plant type.

I believe it is a different kind of sentience to ours,in the way it manifests and interacts.

However being mindful of our impacts on other forms of awareness is always a good thing. [thumbup]

That is the best I can give you on that.It's not possible to exist on this planet without impacting it in some way.Whatever what kind of life exists here,it is part of a greater pattern of matter/events/consciousnesses and so on and to survive here,we must accept that death is a necessary part of life.

Do they feel pain? Is there some sort of karmic consequence to this? If plants are really conscious, what does that say about ethical veganism and eating meat?

I don't think so,on the pain. I don't do karma,personally,so not for me to answer on that one.
I haven't got a clue about ethical veganism in regard to eating meat either,sorry.My view is that as I am a predator [binocular vision/biting/shredding teeth and complex digestive system etc....] I evolved like this because this way works for our species.

We are omnivores,I know,so veggies are cool food too,but we deny our inner predator at our peril.

Individual Mileage May Vary.

In shamanic world view every is a live and have spirits. So also plants.
At least plants are living beings also in biological sense, and therefore you mostly kill plants, when you want to eat. That`s why some people become fructarians and eat only fruits, because their fall from the tree and are meant for eat, since their should lure animals to them, who then spread the seeds, who was in the fruit.

Hmm, plants can communicate through chemicals, but I don`t know if that means, there are conscious. Somehow I think there are conscious, but maybe a different way than we are.

Anyway, you can`t hardly life without eating others, not as human at least. (Ok there are some, who says their can life from light and love, so maybe some can do it.)

About the shamanic view of plants, I read somewhere that plant spirits are more like one spirit for one species. (though there also some views of animal spirit about that, like archetypes of the species)

Frumens, look into the Hindu off-shoot religion Jainism if you want a full paradigm in which plants are conscious and have souls. Its a very hard religion/paradigm to follow because you cant hurt any living thing - including bacteria and viruses. Jainism is basically the absolute pinnacle of vegetarianism. Funnily enough, quite a few serious Jain monks die from starvation.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance. This is something I'll meditate on for a while.