Acharya Prashant explains that one must first ask what their primary identity is. If your primary identity is that of the body, then you should do what the body commands. The body has an inbuilt, self-improving software of its own, which is called evolution. It has a certain intelligence, and following its primitive tendencies will indeed yield certain benefits. You must decide whether you have the courage to forgo those benefits. This is the real meaning of sacrifice: being prepared to sacrifice all the benefits that come from following the traits of the body. If you can let go of those benefits and truly sacrifice, then another realm with higher benefits opens up. This is not a temptation, but an explanation for why certain people decide not to listen to their instincts and tendencies, and instead rise up to challenge their fears and limitations. However, spirituality does not really bring any higher benefit in the conventional sense. Liberation cannot be called a benefit, because in liberation, the beneficiary himself gets liberated from himself. The choice to shun things like meat eating is not based on scientific or medical grounds, but on compassion. Meat may indeed help your body, but it hinders your liberation. The final argument is about what you want to take care of: your body or your bondages. Many things advocated in the spiritual domain can actually be proven to be not useful when it comes to physical or social progress. For example, gossiping is great for social and career progress, and those who cannot gossip often find their advancement hindered. Many things are useful, but they hurt you somewhere else. You have to figure out whether you want to take that hurt. It's a choice. A spiritual seeker is one who is prepared to bear the costs of forgoing worldly benefits for the sake of liberation, even without being certain of the benefits. This decision comes from a deep compassion for oneself, a refusal to suffer any more bondages. The tremendous energy needed for liberation can only come from this motivation of compassion.