Dukkha does exist in the world. It is unfortunate that in our wish to survive and support this body other beings die. This is the unsatisfactory nature of the cycle of birth and death.
This is why we need to overcome our resistance to the existence of Dukkha and acknowledge that Dukkha does indeed exist and it is beyond our power to change the inherent unsatisfactory nature of the cycle of birth and death. This is why we reflect at the beginning of eating. That even if we are vegetarian and there aren't beings' bodies on our plate, many beings die in the production of grain, vegetables and fruit. It is probably impossible to support this body without other beings dying to support our existence. So rather than thinking that if we are vegetarian, we can escape being responsible for the death of other living beings, we acknowledge our responsibility. In our wish to live and support this body other beings die. This is Right View and understanding the interrelationship of all things.
By understanding this we make a dedication in ourselves that we don't use our life and this body just for pursuit of pleasure arising from the senses. If other beings are going to die in order for us to live, Compassionate Understanding encourages us to use our life wisely, for the benefit not only of ourselves, but also for the benefit of others. So wisdom ignites a compassion that wants to reduce the amount of suffering that we create by our existence.
This deeper understanding is actually a very powerful cut at unnecessary or excessive sense desire because many people desire a lot of things in this world which cause the suffering of other living beings.
So it is quite important to acknowledge that in our wish to live other beings die, and that compassion can ignite the energy to do something useful in our life, to develop ourselves, rather than just exist for the benefit of our sense desires and our pleasure.
This covers not just our food but other things we need to survive. Even if we look at cotton, in the production of cotton, how many beings die? We could all not wear clothes, but it is kind of cold in Europe and in countries in the temperate zones. And we would probably be put away or locked up if we didn't wear them. We all ride in vehicles, in the production of vehicles, how many beings die?
So if we reflect in these ways it may then seem arrogant, in another sense, to think that because we are vegetarian, we are not involved in the process of other beings dying so we can survive. It is quite important to be truthful, develop some Right View about the unsatisfactoriness of the cycle of birth and death. This helps to accept our responsibility as human beings to live our lives for benefit, rather than just to enjoy the sense pleasures of the world that involves the destruction of other living beings. When you look at it closely, the teachings instruct us that the only way is to stop craving a body and a mind and thus stop spinning in the cycle of birth and death is to become enlightened. If we acknowledge our responsibility it can bring up the great Compassion to work towards enlightenment.