Senior Buddhists including His Holiness the Dalai Lama have called on world leaders to agree to a new climate change agreement at the COP21 conference in Paris.
Their statement from the leaders of over a billion Buddhists worldwide says that the causes of the environmental crisis are the use of fossil fuels, unsustainable consumption patterns, lack of awareness and lack of concern about the consequences of our actions.
"Everyday life can easily lead us to forget that we are inextricably linked to the natural world through every breath we take, the water we drink and the food we eat," said Lama Lobzang, secretary of the International Buddhist Confederation.
"Humanity must act on the root causes of this crisis, which is driven by greed, thoughtlessness and a lack of concern about the consequences of our actions."
Read more...
May all beings be well and happy.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Boost to Farm Sanctuary Movement!
Farm Sanctuary Gets Lift from Celebrity Couple Jon and Tracey Stewart
Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart and his wife, advocate and former veterinary technician Tracey, announced this weekend that their property in Middletown, New Jersey, will be the fourth outpost of the nation's largest and most effective farm rescue and protection organization.
And, Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder Gene Baur discusses his new book, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer and Feeling Better Every Day.
Read more....
May all beings be well and happy.
Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart and his wife, advocate and former veterinary technician Tracey, announced this weekend that their property in Middletown, New Jersey, will be the fourth outpost of the nation's largest and most effective farm rescue and protection organization.
And, Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder Gene Baur discusses his new book, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer and Feeling Better Every Day.
Read more....
May all beings be well and happy.
Albert Schweitzer's "Reverence for Life"
Albert Schweitzer's "Reverence for Life" is identical to the attitude expressed when the new word "biovinty" is understood.
"As far back as I can remember I was saddened by the amount of misery I saw in the world around me. Youth's unqualified joie de vivre I never really knew.... One thing especially saddened me was that the unfortunate animals had to suffer so much pain and misery.... It was quite incomprehensible to me - this was before I began going to school - why in my evening prayers I should pray for human beings only. So when my mother had prayed with me and had kissed me good-night, I used to add silently a prayer that I composed myself for all living creatures. It ran thus: "O heavenly Father, protect and bless all things that have breath, guard them from all evil, and let them sleep in peace...."
"...this sport [fishing] was soon made impossible for me by the treatment of the worms that were put on the hook...and the wrenching of the mouths of the fishes that were caught. I gave it up.... From experiences like these, which moved my heart...there slowly grew up in me an unshakable conviction that we have no right to inflict suffering and death on another living creature, and that we ought all of us to feel what a horrible thing it is to cause suffering and death..."
"Standing, as all living beings are, before this dilemma of the will to live, a person is constantly forced to preserve his own life and life in general only at the cost of other life. If he has been touched by the ethic of reverence for life, he injures and destroys life only under a necessity he cannot avoid, and never from thoughtlessness."
- Albert Schweitzer
"Reverence for Life says that the only thing we are really sure of is that we live and want to go on living. This is something that we share with everything else that lives, from elephants to blades of grass - and, of course, every human being. So we are brothers and sisters to all living things, and owe to all of them the same care and respect, that we wish for ourselves."
- James Brabazon (Author of the Biography of Albert Schweitzer)
"As far back as I can remember I was saddened by the amount of misery I saw in the world around me. Youth's unqualified joie de vivre I never really knew.... One thing especially saddened me was that the unfortunate animals had to suffer so much pain and misery.... It was quite incomprehensible to me - this was before I began going to school - why in my evening prayers I should pray for human beings only. So when my mother had prayed with me and had kissed me good-night, I used to add silently a prayer that I composed myself for all living creatures. It ran thus: "O heavenly Father, protect and bless all things that have breath, guard them from all evil, and let them sleep in peace...."
"...this sport [fishing] was soon made impossible for me by the treatment of the worms that were put on the hook...and the wrenching of the mouths of the fishes that were caught. I gave it up.... From experiences like these, which moved my heart...there slowly grew up in me an unshakable conviction that we have no right to inflict suffering and death on another living creature, and that we ought all of us to feel what a horrible thing it is to cause suffering and death..."
"Standing, as all living beings are, before this dilemma of the will to live, a person is constantly forced to preserve his own life and life in general only at the cost of other life. If he has been touched by the ethic of reverence for life, he injures and destroys life only under a necessity he cannot avoid, and never from thoughtlessness."
- Albert Schweitzer
"Reverence for Life says that the only thing we are really sure of is that we live and want to go on living. This is something that we share with everything else that lives, from elephants to blades of grass - and, of course, every human being. So we are brothers and sisters to all living things, and owe to all of them the same care and respect, that we wish for ourselves."
- James Brabazon (Author of the Biography of Albert Schweitzer)
Monday, October 26, 2015
More Cause to Go Veg
BBC Health Report 10.26.15
Processed meats - such as bacon, sausages and ham - do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.
Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence.
Read more...
And, in a 2013 report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators used data spanning the decade between 1998 and 2008 to report estimates for annual US food-borne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths attributable to each of 17 food categories. The following were among their findings:
Processed meats - such as bacon, sausages and ham - do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.
Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence.
Read more...
And, in a 2013 report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigators used data spanning the decade between 1998 and 2008 to report estimates for annual US food-borne illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths attributable to each of 17 food categories. The following were among their findings:
- Poultry was the most common cause of death from food poisoning (19%), with Listeria and Salmonella species being the main infectious organisms.
- Dairy items were the second most frequent causes of food-borne illnesses (14%) and deaths (10%), with the main factors being contamination by Norovirus from food handlers and improper pasteurization resulting in contamination with Campylobacter species.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
The Wish-Fulfilling Cow
In the tradition of sanaatana dharma, which most of us refer to as "Hinduism," we find among the pantheon of icons representing the One All-Pervading Reality, the image of kamadhenu ( कामधेनु ), "the Wish-fulfilling Cow."
It is natural to recognize in the history of so many cultures why the cow has come to be seen as a kind of mother: she provides essential sustenance as well as fertilization of our soils and fuel for cooking our food. (During my last visit to India, I noted that a single cow is at the center of a cup of chai: she provides the milk, the fertilizer to grow the tea leaves and her own grass food, and the dung that makes the fire that heats the tea!)
Kamadhenu is a manifest form of Divine Mother, and at the same time She represents actual cows, individually and collectively regarded within Her culture as Mother-in-the-flesh. More than that, She represents all animals, the entire Queendom of living beings.
Here we have a potent image that can and should serve both as comfort and as warning to us living in these times of dramatic changes on Earth, because this manifestation of Divine Mother is not eternal in the sense that the other divinities are.
We see the other goddesses and gods depicted within Her body, so we can see that the manner in which we regard this Sacred Cow may reveal our actual attitude toward the Divine. If we revere Her, we feel proper reverence for all that has been born from Her womb, all of Life.
At the same time, we also see in Her reflection how we treat the goddesses' manifestations - our actual, physical cows -, and this reveals a disconnect: though we may wish to think of Nature as "divine," how we treat the natural world so often does not reflect how we treat whatever else we regard as sacred, as holy. Sadly, much to the contrary. And, it seems that the more we have allowed ourselves to lose our felt connection with our own nature-bodies, the more latitude we have taken for violence against Nature and Her animals.
Similarly, when viewed in this way we can readily see that the mistreatment of women is not unlike the mistreatment of cows.
Our relationship with the Holy Cow is not guaranteed; our hopes for the granting of wishes sought from Kamadhenu depend reciprocally upon how we treat Her. As much a part of Nature as of the Divine, She is de facto not an inexhaustible resource. We cannot expect to receive what is best for us from what we treat so poorly. We can also see in the ever-arising, human-caused Earth changes that this is true of our relationship with all of Nature.
Those who understand Khamadenu, the Sacred Cow, understand that every living being is sacred and worthy of our reverence and care, and that our own happiness is directly dependent upon theirs.
May all beings be happy and well.
It is natural to recognize in the history of so many cultures why the cow has come to be seen as a kind of mother: she provides essential sustenance as well as fertilization of our soils and fuel for cooking our food. (During my last visit to India, I noted that a single cow is at the center of a cup of chai: she provides the milk, the fertilizer to grow the tea leaves and her own grass food, and the dung that makes the fire that heats the tea!)
Kamadhenu is a manifest form of Divine Mother, and at the same time She represents actual cows, individually and collectively regarded within Her culture as Mother-in-the-flesh. More than that, She represents all animals, the entire Queendom of living beings.
Here we have a potent image that can and should serve both as comfort and as warning to us living in these times of dramatic changes on Earth, because this manifestation of Divine Mother is not eternal in the sense that the other divinities are.
We see the other goddesses and gods depicted within Her body, so we can see that the manner in which we regard this Sacred Cow may reveal our actual attitude toward the Divine. If we revere Her, we feel proper reverence for all that has been born from Her womb, all of Life.
At the same time, we also see in Her reflection how we treat the goddesses' manifestations - our actual, physical cows -, and this reveals a disconnect: though we may wish to think of Nature as "divine," how we treat the natural world so often does not reflect how we treat whatever else we regard as sacred, as holy. Sadly, much to the contrary. And, it seems that the more we have allowed ourselves to lose our felt connection with our own nature-bodies, the more latitude we have taken for violence against Nature and Her animals.
Similarly, when viewed in this way we can readily see that the mistreatment of women is not unlike the mistreatment of cows.
Our relationship with the Holy Cow is not guaranteed; our hopes for the granting of wishes sought from Kamadhenu depend reciprocally upon how we treat Her. As much a part of Nature as of the Divine, She is de facto not an inexhaustible resource. We cannot expect to receive what is best for us from what we treat so poorly. We can also see in the ever-arising, human-caused Earth changes that this is true of our relationship with all of Nature.
Those who understand Khamadenu, the Sacred Cow, understand that every living being is sacred and worthy of our reverence and care, and that our own happiness is directly dependent upon theirs.
May all beings be happy and well.
Dancing with Nature
Continuing the exploration of Murshid Saadi's penetrating piece, "Dances of Innocence,"* I cannot help but read through the lenses I am now wearing, lenses that focus my attention upon my own and our collective relationship with Nature, with the natural world, and particularly with our animal siblings: the winged ones, the two- and four-leggeds, our scaly and more hairy brothers and sisters.
We know well Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan's revolutionary and also transparent assertion that "there is one holy book, the sacred manuscript of Nature..."
Murshid Saadi writes: "When a person has the courage to ask, 'use us for the purpose that Thy wisdom chooses,' this necessarily includes the willingness to face what might arise within oneself from the reflection of that part of humanity in the soul’s mirror."
The majority of our Dances, at least in my experience, deal with the world's spiritual and faith traditions and religions. Without question, our responses to our impressions of these traditions, both known to us and those we are learning, are subjects of our "soul's mirror." Yet, as Inayat Khan guides us toward Nature as the one and the supreme holy book, so then gazing into the mirror of Nature may even more powerfully evoke our responses, what we resonate with and what we resist. Whether or not this may have always been the case (and I suspect it has been), now the more fertile soil for those courageous enough to work the inner earth of the heart (the hearth wherein the fire of our life burns) is Nature Itself and our relationship with and responsibilities toward Her. For this, we might take up the difficult and critical work of gazing into the Eye of Nature, most literally into the eyes of our animal friends, into the eyes of the sacred and actual Cow.
"It is much easier to sing a pleasant English song that appeals to the emotions, for instance, than look Hathor in the eye. One can find oneself needing to literally 'heal' an archetype before it is redeemed and shared."
One archetype most in need of healing at this time is our own humanity, our very humane-ness. We see the destruction our way of life is having on the natural world, from which all archetypes arise. Those who attended the Parliament of the World's Religions heard the many voices of indigenous peoples - those most connected with Nature where they live - one after another pleading for changes in the way the "rest of us" live, because we are melting the ice the seals and polar bears call home, we are changing the migration routes of elk and caribou; we are threatening not only their lives, but the lives of those who depend upon them. These voices emphatically demand that we change our hearts so that we can change the way we are living, and now.
"Can we begin to contemplate something like ‘secular spirituality’ in any sense of real depth rather than intellectual lip service? Without being a caricature, what would a secular spiritual Dance look (sound or feel) like?"
I would also ask to what extent we might contemplate a more genuine Nature Spirituality, one that arises out of our bodies when those bodies feel themselves a part of Nature, rather than apart from nature? To whatever extent we remain disconnected from the natural world, to that same extent we remain disconnected from that which is natural within us. By whatever measures we oppress, however consciously or otherwise, the fellow living beings of our natural world - treating them as "less-thans" - in that same measure we rob ourselves of our own humanity.
This is where most of us would find ourselves were we to look deeply and long into the mirror of Nature and into the eyes of Her animals. We will be struck with the awareness that "what we do to the least of these," we do to ourselves. The healing we need here will call upon our greatest courage and will require great strength and great tenderness. Fortunately, this Path we share gives us all of the tools we need. With those, and with our own initiative and courage, we can more effectively till the soil of our hearts and awaken the life of our authentic humanity, regaining our most natural and proper position as stewards and caretakers of the earth, weeding out the dead matter that is the many destructive paradigms of dominance and power-over that continue to threaten not only the well-being of all the inhabitants of Earth, but the well-being of our very soul. When we step into our inner-garden, we may find vestiges of those paradigms, and some of those may yet be living.
"...the next generation of Dances began to touch very human, everyday life experiences. Not the ‘peak’ experiences but the the ‘trough’ ones: grieving, feeling confused and acknowledging parts of one’s subconscious that had been neglected."
How then will we confront those parts of ourselves? The arising global awareness of what Nature Herself is now asking of us will help us along. What better time to acknowledge the neglected places in our subconscious than when faced with global urgencies, those that Nature Herself is increasingly calling us to acknowledge in the world around us?
"What about looking ahead a bit? How does the future call to us now? What challenges face us as we seek to keep the Dances living rather than as a parody of their past? ... All these current trends challenge our usual way of ‘doing’ the Dances of Universal Peace. What opportunities does the world today present?"
Looking into the mirror of Nature, an answer is also given in Murshid Saadi's text:
"...humanity’s nascent desire to feel globally, to recognize suffering on the other side of the world and to realize that we live in one, interconnected ecosystem called the earth."
And so, the following questions also arise from that Mirror:
"Are we prepared to be channels for Dances that redeem the inner ecology...? ... More importantly, what do we do, or more accurately, what is ours to do?"
For this, our motivation - if we feel it - can be readily found in the closing prayer we so often repeat. May we continue to invoke it sincerely and with increasing awareness of its reach into our inner heart and its scope in the world around us (italics mine):
"May all beings be well. May all beings be happy. Peace, peace, peace."
"May all beings be well. May all beings be happy. Peace, peace, peace."
With love,
Friday, October 23, 2015
Awakening True Identity
Rather than looking broadly and perhaps too vaguely at our responsibilities toward "the earth," we might specifically look at our relationship with animals (not only our pets) and recognize their essential equality with us, awakening our true identity with them, in our bodies, minds and hearts, as fellow "children of God."
My own impulse in this direction has been strengthened and affirmed not only by sessions at the 2015 Parliament concerning faith traditions and our relations with animals, but even more so by the dream I had about one week before the Parliament, where the word "biovinity" appeared and meant: We must awaken to a condition of reverence for all life - for every individual living being - not only in word, but in our daily deeds, in what we buy and what we eat and do not eat (those being the most direct actions which most of us have the great fortune and affluence to be able to most easily change).
At the Parliament, one speaker pointed out that to "love" our pets, yet fail to extend that same affectionate love toward ALL animals, reduces our "love" to mere sentimentality.
"Are we willing to, as Joe Miller used to say, really feel without sentimentality?" - Murshid Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz, "Dances of Innocence, Dances of Experience," October 2015
For me, this is about "reclaiming the heart of our humanity," the theme of the 2015 Parliament. With loving perspective, we gain strength and courage to become more able to recognize that for too long we have erred in thinking we have some "right" to oppress others. Only then can we intentionally begin the walk away from actions that oppress others (here, in addition to other races, creeds, genders, castes, etc., our animal siblings).
I feel inspired, and also duty-bound, to take up this concentration. May we all recognize this ground-swell of intention and take up our own parts in it.
May all beings be well, may all beings be happy.
May all beings be well, may all beings be happy.
Moving Beyond Consumerism
We know that our dollars represent powerful "votes" in the direction we wish to see change happen. How conscious are we about each dollar we spend, especially those that move the world in directions that are not in alignment with our aspirations for a more loving and gentle world?
At the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions, one simple message delivered by many speakers and re-stated as a sort of bottom-line summary, is the request that we simply consume less.
Naturally, because each dollar spent is a "vote," we can also make more conscious choices about what we consume, with the interest of bringing greater benefit to all beings.
Here are some inspiring messages and calls to action that correspond to understanding Biovinity:
http://worldconsciouspact.org/wcp-manifesto/
http://www.pachamama.org/
May all beings be well. May all beings be free!
At the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions, one simple message delivered by many speakers and re-stated as a sort of bottom-line summary, is the request that we simply consume less.
Naturally, because each dollar spent is a "vote," we can also make more conscious choices about what we consume, with the interest of bringing greater benefit to all beings.
Here are some inspiring messages and calls to action that correspond to understanding Biovinity:
http://worldconsciouspact.org/wcp-manifesto/
http://www.pachamama.org/
May all beings be well. May all beings be free!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Cowspiracy
The official Cowspiracy book is here! The book and film (now available on Netflix) present the compelling case that factory farming is not only cruel, unethical and unnecessary, it is the prime factor contributing to climate change and the destruction of our biosphere.
Biovinity at the 2015 Parliament
At the 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions in Salt Lake City, I attended the "first animal-related session in the history of the Parliament," Revisioning the Human-Animal Relationship, facilitated by Episcopal priest, Anne Benvenuti, author and scholar Paul Waldau, author and scholar Veena Howard, and head representative of the Yoruba tradition Wande Abimbola and his wife. The session focused on spiritual traditions' views and responsibilities related to our animal brothers and sisters and revolved around Thomas Berry's "communion of subjects...". I made the final comments, describing the origin and meaning of the "new word," biovinity.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Sign Parliament of World's Religions' Declarations
The 2015 Parliament of the World's Religions is helping to foster commitments to actions to assist all beings. Please consider joining with those signing these Declarations.
May all beings be well and happy!
May all beings be well and happy!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
All Our Relations...
A practice of discovering biovinity, the sacredness of all living beings.
When the word "biovinity" appeared, I did not go back to sleep for fear that I might forget.
I went to the computer and Googled it, to see where it might have come from. I could find nothing.
All my life, I have loved animals. Up until 1993, when I felt the full impact of who and what those animals really are, I also used to eat them.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...
We "love animals," and yet so many of the animals we love are made to live lives wholly devoid of love.
Might we challenge ourselves to gaze into the Mirror of Nature - to look into the eyes of our animal sisters and brothers - to discover what we resonate with and also what we resist?
When the word "biovinity" appeared, I did not go back to sleep for fear that I might forget.
I went to the computer and Googled it, to see where it might have come from. I could find nothing.
All my life, I have loved animals. Up until 1993, when I felt the full impact of who and what those animals really are, I also used to eat them.
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound...
We "love animals," and yet so many of the animals we love are made to live lives wholly devoid of love.
Might we challenge ourselves to gaze into the Mirror of Nature - to look into the eyes of our animal sisters and brothers - to discover what we resonate with and also what we resist?
May all beings be well and happy!
Favored Quotes
"Everything that lives is holy; life delights in life! How can I see another's sorrow, and not be in sorrow too." William Blake
“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.” Albert Einstein
"Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Albert Einstein
“If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.” Albert Einstein
"Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty." Albert Einstein
"One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral." Leo Tolstoy
“The assumption that animals are without rights and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.” Schopenhauer
“You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.” Paul McCartney
Pope Francis’s encyclical
While it does not address the need to reduce factory farming as strongly as I had hoped it might, Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’ is exceptionally profound, important, and beautiful.
You can read online, download it, or buy in paperback, here:
https://laudatosi.com/watch
All Life is Sacred. May all beings be well!
You can read online, download it, or buy in paperback, here:
https://laudatosi.com/watch
All Life is Sacred. May all beings be well!
Thursday, October 8, 2015
MORE THOUGHT FOR FOOD
Diet and our "isms"; beliefs and what we eat
We seldom use the terms, "omnivorism," or "carnivorism," yet we freely use "vegetarianism," as though it were a mere subset of some universally established human diet. The implied presumption here seems to suggest that not eating animals is in some way the product of an ideology or set of values or beliefs, while the other diets represent the normal human fare.
As most people prefer not to think much about the animals they eat, I would suggest that the abstraction of the hamburger from the cow is more based on ideas than is my non-meat diet. In this way, "carnivorism" may be the more ideological of the diets. When pressed, many meat-eaters will freely, if uncomfortably, admit they'd "rather not think about it." This means that some set of ideas, which they'd rather not think about, is involved in their decision to eat meat.
Our "isms" are tied up with our dietary choices, no doubt. Of course, one can assert that all dietary inclinations are enculturated, such that all are the result of beliefs. Maybe. But, my point is to address the unfortunate and unfounded bias toward assigning "ism" to one diet, while not to another. This bias does considerable and unnecessary damage, so we need to look at it.
The term "vegetarianism" is a misnomer, at least in my case. It is not at all because of any "beliefs" that I don't eat animals. It is solely because no part of my being registers any part of an animal as food. It has been since 1993 that I have neither eaten meat nor had any desire to do so. To be devoid of desire and therefore to not indulge in something is no matter of belief.
If there is any "belief" at play for me, it may be tied up with the following: I have long noticed that I have a much greater opportunity to learn from, serve, and enjoy a living animal than I possibly could by killing and eating it. I would much rather befriend a cow or a pig than find her on my plate. Over a lifetime friendship with an animal, surely there would manifest much more growth and value than whatever I might derive from one or two meals from that animal's dead body. I suspect the animal would feel that way, too, given the chance. I think my dog sees it this way, for example.
Generally, when we consider any "ism," we are referring to actions deriving from or supporting some set of ideas, principles or practices, rather than to any sort of incontrovertible understanding. If I say I believe in God, yet have had no experience of God, I am saying something different than one whose affirmation of God is based on some kind of direct experience; such experience is incontrovertible and enduring, while beliefs may change from day to day. The enlightened Buddhist rejects "Buddhism," because the understanding is not based on any ideology, even if some principles or values had led to such enlightenment. The ideological vegetarian may return to eating meat upon receipt of some new advice, while my motivation is not subject to such influences. Originally, I stopped eating meat both because I believed it was morally wrong, and because I increasingly could not avoid feelings of disgust when I did. Now, no "ism" applies any longer; for me, animals are simply not food.
I have lost touch with why so many eat meat, given that it is evidently unnecessary (millions live in prime health without it). I know that blind habit is a lot of it. Sure, it might be necessary if I were starving in the wilderness, or if that were all I had available to eat. The same is true in surviving a stranded airplane wreck: I might eat my wife or kid if I had to. But that is clearly not why most folks go out for a rib dinner.
Hindus hold the cow to be sacred. She represents, or is a manifestation of, Divine Mother. The idea of eating one is completely appalling, much like the idea of eating our own dog or cat is to us. One man's steak is another's Mother, one could say.
We're in the domain of beliefs again at this point. Or are we? Do you refrain from eating your cat because of some "belief?" Ask yourself that. More likely, your cat simply isn't a food item. Then, why is your neighbor's cow? What if they wanted to eat your dog? Eating a cow is much like eating your pet, depending on your perspective.
"Cannibalism" is a word that continues to evoke visceral response. I see this term including any creatures with vertebrae and eyes. All are my relatives, in a direct kind of way. My aversion to cannibalism is more based on direct identification than on any ideology or belief. I tend not to eat what I most identify with. I don't refrain from eating my neighbor because I believe it is wrong, so much as because my neighbor resembles me more than she does food. The revulsion I feel about eating another human is nearly identical to what I feel about eating a hamburger. I have no desire to eat either.
God help me I never have to eat my friends.
We seldom use the terms, "omnivorism," or "carnivorism," yet we freely use "vegetarianism," as though it were a mere subset of some universally established human diet. The implied presumption here seems to suggest that not eating animals is in some way the product of an ideology or set of values or beliefs, while the other diets represent the normal human fare.
As most people prefer not to think much about the animals they eat, I would suggest that the abstraction of the hamburger from the cow is more based on ideas than is my non-meat diet. In this way, "carnivorism" may be the more ideological of the diets. When pressed, many meat-eaters will freely, if uncomfortably, admit they'd "rather not think about it." This means that some set of ideas, which they'd rather not think about, is involved in their decision to eat meat.
Our "isms" are tied up with our dietary choices, no doubt. Of course, one can assert that all dietary inclinations are enculturated, such that all are the result of beliefs. Maybe. But, my point is to address the unfortunate and unfounded bias toward assigning "ism" to one diet, while not to another. This bias does considerable and unnecessary damage, so we need to look at it.
The term "vegetarianism" is a misnomer, at least in my case. It is not at all because of any "beliefs" that I don't eat animals. It is solely because no part of my being registers any part of an animal as food. It has been since 1993 that I have neither eaten meat nor had any desire to do so. To be devoid of desire and therefore to not indulge in something is no matter of belief.
If there is any "belief" at play for me, it may be tied up with the following: I have long noticed that I have a much greater opportunity to learn from, serve, and enjoy a living animal than I possibly could by killing and eating it. I would much rather befriend a cow or a pig than find her on my plate. Over a lifetime friendship with an animal, surely there would manifest much more growth and value than whatever I might derive from one or two meals from that animal's dead body. I suspect the animal would feel that way, too, given the chance. I think my dog sees it this way, for example.
Generally, when we consider any "ism," we are referring to actions deriving from or supporting some set of ideas, principles or practices, rather than to any sort of incontrovertible understanding. If I say I believe in God, yet have had no experience of God, I am saying something different than one whose affirmation of God is based on some kind of direct experience; such experience is incontrovertible and enduring, while beliefs may change from day to day. The enlightened Buddhist rejects "Buddhism," because the understanding is not based on any ideology, even if some principles or values had led to such enlightenment. The ideological vegetarian may return to eating meat upon receipt of some new advice, while my motivation is not subject to such influences. Originally, I stopped eating meat both because I believed it was morally wrong, and because I increasingly could not avoid feelings of disgust when I did. Now, no "ism" applies any longer; for me, animals are simply not food.
I have lost touch with why so many eat meat, given that it is evidently unnecessary (millions live in prime health without it). I know that blind habit is a lot of it. Sure, it might be necessary if I were starving in the wilderness, or if that were all I had available to eat. The same is true in surviving a stranded airplane wreck: I might eat my wife or kid if I had to. But that is clearly not why most folks go out for a rib dinner.
Hindus hold the cow to be sacred. She represents, or is a manifestation of, Divine Mother. The idea of eating one is completely appalling, much like the idea of eating our own dog or cat is to us. One man's steak is another's Mother, one could say.
We're in the domain of beliefs again at this point. Or are we? Do you refrain from eating your cat because of some "belief?" Ask yourself that. More likely, your cat simply isn't a food item. Then, why is your neighbor's cow? What if they wanted to eat your dog? Eating a cow is much like eating your pet, depending on your perspective.
"Cannibalism" is a word that continues to evoke visceral response. I see this term including any creatures with vertebrae and eyes. All are my relatives, in a direct kind of way. My aversion to cannibalism is more based on direct identification than on any ideology or belief. I tend not to eat what I most identify with. I don't refrain from eating my neighbor because I believe it is wrong, so much as because my neighbor resembles me more than she does food. The revulsion I feel about eating another human is nearly identical to what I feel about eating a hamburger. I have no desire to eat either.
God help me I never have to eat my friends.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
New: The 17th Karmapa's Book
The Heart Is Noble - Changing the World from the Inside Out
http://www.shambhala.com/the-heart-is-noble.html
OM AH HUNG
http://www.shambhala.com/the-heart-is-noble.html
OM AH HUNG
Loving the Planet, Loving Ourselves
The problems associated with and contributing to climate can change feel too big, too vast for any one of us to address. Collective transformation is needed there. But starting now, in each moment, each one of us can do our best to save individual lives of our brother and sister beings.
We do all we can when we respond to the call of Love in the awareness of our collective Unity. To love ourselves is to love and care for others, to extend love and care toward all beings.
May all beings be well and happy!
We do all we can when we respond to the call of Love in the awareness of our collective Unity. To love ourselves is to love and care for others, to extend love and care toward all beings.
May all beings be well and happy!
Two Valuable Reads
Big Meat loves the TPP:
Why Factory Farms keep getting bigger:
Why Factory Farms keep getting bigger:
May all beings be well.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
What is BIOVINITY?
This word, "biovinity," appeared while sleeping this morning.
I take it to mean: Every living being is holy, divine.
As it represents my most motivating feelings about my relationship with Life, it has prompted me to create this blog.
May all beings be well and happy. May all beings be free!
Love to all,
Shivadam
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