Community: Forum: Wisdom & Spirituality
Page 1: Wisdom Forum - Community
Share your wisdom related to veg*n spirituality, yoga, meditation, life, etc... or ask a deep question you seek answers to.
READ: HappyCow on spirituality & wisdom.
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| ...the religion of Jesus has been lost.. I was researching original Christianity & "veganism in Wales" today for a website that I am working on - here are a couple of quotes which I had forgotten about for too long - I hope that some of you enjoy them. "Paul the apostate" really messed up seriously! If anyone has Wales related quotes / snippets please share them with me. Thank you. J. http://www.compassionatespirit.com/was_jesus_a_vegetarian.htm Jesus believed in simple living and nonviolence, and felt that this was part of the law of God. Jesus was undoubtedly vegetarian, since this was the original teaching of Jewish Christianity. Jesus did not bring a new theology, but rather a radical understanding of the law. For Jesus, the law commands nonviolence; we are not to shed blood, whether the blood of humans in warfare or the blood of animals in meat consumption or animal sacrifice. Jesus risked and gave his life to disrupt the wicked and bloody animal sacrifices in the temple. But the religion of Jesus has been lost from modern Christianity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_David St. David - a 5th / 6th C Welsh vegan The Monastic Rule of David prescribed that monks had to pull the plough themselves without draught animals; to drink only water; to eat only bread with salt and herbs; and to spend the evenings in prayer, reading and writing. No personal possessions were allowed: to say "my book" was an offence. He lived a simple life and practiced asceticism, teaching his followers to refrain from eating meat or drinking beer. His symbol, also the symbol of Wales, is the leek. Post Date: 02/19/09, Replies: 24 | ||
| "Belief" vs. Free Thinking "Belief" and "faith" in supernatural beings is not very compatible with free thinking. Religion teaches us not to think but to just have "faith". Just like politicians and hustlers. Religion makes us obedient puppets to those in power (corporations or churches). I'm anti-war, anti-racism, anti-sexism, and anti-speciesism. All this without a "god"! Donny Lutz Author Post Date: 02/11/17, Replies: 25 | ||
| A life well lived... All this talk of religion, but it's how you live your life that is the all-important thing. If you set out each day to do all the goodness and kindness that you can, and to do no harm to man or beast, then you are walking the highest path. And when your time is up, if you can leave the earth a better place than you found it, then yours will have been a life well lived. Post Date: 04/01/09, Replies: 8 | ||
| A Voice of Thunder In my studies, I have seen that the worlds vegetarian population is somewhere around 6 percent, bringing our little group to about 400,000,000 people worldwide. That is more than the population of most countries (including the United States of America). Yet like most of them we do not have a leader... we do not have a representative at the united nations, or embassador to convey our interests in world affairs... or any affairs for that matter. When 400,000,000 people cry out, their words become a spiraling hurricane hopes and dreams, roaring out of control like thunder. But when one person is chosen to take the stage, they become a leader; a voice for that ever-booming thunder. My question to you is this: Who would you choose to speak fo us? Who would you saddle atop that hurricane, and open the door for the future that we have been waiting for? Post Date: 04/04/10, Replies: 3 | ||
| Ahimsa Ahimsa originally is a Jain term that describes a life dedicated to causing no harm. The Jain wear small face coverings to ensure microorganisms are not killed by breathing, walk barefoot to ensure no bug is killed while walking and in some communities, the men wear no clothes to reduce consumerism and outward vanity. The Jain holy books, the Agamas, are written on paper derived from tree bark where the bark fell naturally and was not removed from any living tree to not cause harm to trees. Many Jain practitioners are changing their traditional diet to a vegan diet and this is visible at many Jain restaurants and temples where vegan food is offered. Ahimsa has become a mainstream thought in the Hindu community also. Many Vaishnava texts and temples refer to this term readily, and it is also addressed frequently by Vedanta, Shakti, and other Hindu communities. It is how Hinduism becomes vegetarian. Frequently Hindus point to Krishna’s request that he is offered water, a leaf, a flower, or fruit in his worship rather than animal sacrificing or lactarian offerings. This is a very important civilizing passage in the ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, introducing vegan tools of worship as superior to lactarian or carnivorous offerings of past historic epochs. They need to change their Abhishek practice of pouring milk on temple deities realizing what Krishna stated. Hinduism is only now addressing vegan lifestyles and some temples have vegan practitioners and many Hindu vegetarian restaurants offer vegan options. Ahimsa is also a term used by the Buddhist community. It becomes known in the Angulimala Sutta where the Buddha explains that his life has been dedicated to harmlessness. It is then codified in the first precept where the edict reads “No Killing” which is practiced as a vow to live a vegetarian life in many Mahayana communities. Many Buddhist enclaves misinterpret Buddha’s words to justify their wrong dietary practices. The Buddha was India’s greatest holy man and no one would ever consider putting meat nor dairy products in his begging bowl, such actions would be perverse and wrongful. Change is slow in these largely lactarian cultures that make a distinction for eating garlic and onions but do not yet fully honor the vegan way of being. It is strange since a vegan lifestyle is obviously purer by all Ahimsa standards. This is because Milk, like turmeric, has been considered the presence of god/goddess himself or herself and thus there are many cultural blocks to vegan reification. Therefore, each community must look more closely at their own scriptures to find that vegan lifestyles are truer to their own Dharma. The cultural practices, the religious practices, and the dietary practices of each of these noble communities must adapt and adopt vegan values now that dietary supplements for vitamins B and D3 exist. The first step to spiritual and religious realization is a vegan lifestyle. Veganism without any moral philosophy or devotional practice is cosmetic and riddled with egoistic problems. The only way vegans will progress into a genuine interconnection with all life in a meaningful way is to enter the symbolic language of devotion, meditation and scripture which reveals the true consciousness and unity with humanity, life, and the multiverse. The only way the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist communities will also participate in this same genuine interconnection is by going vegan. Of course, these religious communities and most vegans, have histories of carnivorous practices that are easily abandoned, so likewise the lactarian transitional lifestyle also must be abandoned. Post Date: 01/19/17, Replies: 0 | ||
| Are Souls Vegan? What is a soul? This question must be answered first, before we can know what a soul does or how it is dedicated and if therefore it is vegan in nature. The word soul has a very interesting history and an indefensible quandary it faces in the present time. The Online Etymological Dictionary claims that the origins of this word are unknown. The Old English word Sawol is listed and then the Proto-Germanic Saiwalo which then relates to the old Norse Sala, the Old Frisian Sele, the Middle Dutch Siele, the Dutch Ziel, Old High German Seula, German Seele, and finally the Gothic Saiwala. The highly dubious Wikipedia adds to the list Sele as a secondary form of the Old High German, the Old Saxon Seola, Old Low Franconian Sela and Sila and the Lithuanian Siela. These terms are very important for our discussion although it may seem a bit dry to those not interested in language history and linguistic evolution. The most important submission is the final Lithuanian Siela. This is because Lithuanian is one of the European languages that is truest to its Sanskrit roots; this is easily verified online. All the above languages are Sanskrit root languages. Did you know even English is a dialect of Sanskrit? So are French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German and Russian rooted in the great grandmother language of Sanskrit. The reason that the Lithuanian Siela is so important is that it reveals to us all the true source of the word soul. I have talked personally with many Theravada Monastics and Vaishnavas about this and the ones that have studied Pali and or Sanskrit know the answer. Pali is a Sanskrit dialect that was spoken in India during the reign and empire of King Ashoka. They explain that the word soul comes from the Pali root Sila or the Hindu root word Shila. In terms of phonemes, the sound of words, this makes sense. Often dictionaries define soul by cross referencing it to the Sanskrit word Atman which does not sound like soul at all. If you tell Wikipedia or the OED or Webster’s Dictionary’ scholars that Sila or Shila is the root for the word soul, they will not listen. They refuse to link Christian mysticism to India in an ethnocentric denialism that refuses to listen. The term Atman is the proper term for soul and yet it is understood to mean something far different from what Abrahamic traditions of Christianity and Islam teach. What is Sila or Shila? It is the honor derived from one’s conduct. Buddha used the term when he listed the Ten Paramitas (Sanskrit) or Paramis (Pali.) This makes sense because the Christian and Muslim religions are enmeshed with the ideas of soul being connected to conduct, honor, judgement and ultimately the final destiny of heaven or hell. The true meaning of Shila or Sila is not a spiritual concept but a civic concept, like a knight in shining armor’s honor. After the Avatar Parashurama exiled through battle many warrior clans from India, they migrated to the Middle East to Russia and eventually Europe carrying with them the warrior caste notion of Shila and their incorrect interpretations of early Vedic culture which got them exiled. This is the origin of Celtic, Tartar and ancient Babylonian cultures which evolved Shila into a notion of a spiritual ‘soul’ concept over thousands and thousands of years especially through the advent of Abrahamic traditions. Is our honor based on vegan conduct? Is our honor vegan in nature? Is there an eternal nature to our vegan conduct and vegan honor? I think the answer is obvious; yes, of course. How can one claim to have proper conduct and honor if they kill unarmed herbivores, if they eat the bloody dead carcasses of tortured and murdered animals or drink the mammary secretions of other species? Only a vegan lifestyle offers the foundation of honor and correct conduct which must then be coupled with strong morality and a true spiritual practice. Then, one may safely assume, that all Shila or rather all Souls are vegan in their truest natures and must cultivate vegan lifestyles for normalcy, good health and spiritual evolution. Post Date: 01/23/17, Replies: 0 | ||
| Atheism's Failure Atheism is the rejection of ‘Theo’s, or God. The title of ‘Atheist’ implies that one who subscribes to this philosophy is living in constant response, a negative reaction, to Theism. This is not to originate a viewpoint, rather it is to denigrate another viewpoint, rejecting rather than creating. Atheism does not stop with the rejection of God or Goddess for that matter, but religion, ceremony and their resulting cultures of music and art as well. This rejection and intolerance of Atheists usually stems from their inability to feel complex emotions such as faith and their inability to appreciate the depth of others feelings. To reject Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Last Super,’ Shubert’s ‘Ave Maria,’ Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,’ Tibetan temple, Thangka and wall paintings, The Taj Mahal, ancient Jewish embroidered tapestries, the kirtans of Annamacharya, the literary works of authors ranging from Aquinas to Trungpa Rinpoche, ancient Greek statues and mosaics, ancient Roman statues etc. all because one finds religion irrelevant, thus exposes a lack of intelligence, sophistication, imagination, and depth. I have heard that an Atheist Chinese Communist delegate went to Russia and was offered a free guided tour of St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum and declined because they said they have already seen a museum. Atheism reduces one to the role of worker and consumer only. Atheist communism refers to the human population as ‘proletariat,’ showing that there is no larger scope for the human spirit in the confines of Atheism. Gone are complex emotions like faith, belief, hope, grace, and transcendence. What these edifying depth experiences are replaced with in Atheist culture is work, consumerism, ethnicity, technology, and nationalism. What is missing is feeling, depth, insight, passion, and wisdom. In the vegan community, I have found many Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, followers of Confucianism, Christians, Jews, Taoists, and other coreligionists but also there are a fair number of Vegan Atheists. The Atheists are the most intolerant group I encounter, readily stomping on other people’s beliefs, ridiculing other people’s cultures, and behaving like intellectual SS Storm Troopers who annihilate anything they do not understand. Unfortunately, this is taught in our universities and colleges as the only rational method of thinking; an intolerant and irrational viewpoint. As a vegan, Jain, Hindu Buddhist, I view Atheism as but one more school of thought that can lead one to full and complete God realization. Some people need an empty cup before they can fill it. What I do not tolerate is the desecrating behavior of Atheists as they limit the scope of discourse to fit into their limited range of intellectual myopia. The worst are the Vegan Atheist Feminists who want the entire world handed over to them because they have agreed to this as a perfect model of power sharing. Anyone who becomes vegan eventually connects with compassion towards animals and the environment which vegan lifestyles support. To make this compassion connection is to see beyond one’s self and find concern about the world beyond one’s ego. Atheism counters such compassion unless it is understood as a psychological, biological function that is vestige and must be minimized for national, scientific, or economic benefit. Atheists, in general, do not feel the suffering of others, do not find spiritual solace and do not express compassion. Instead, they are a cog in the state machinery seeking economic advantage. This means that Atheists are the first to undermine their own vegan purity by choosing economic pathways that reveal their lack of connectivity and feeling. These are the Atheist vegans who sell leather or animal products because they only are vegan for dietary reasons. A vegan Atheist lifestyle that rejects its own historic religious roots can easily abandon vegan social, cultural, and ecological values as well. The reason for this abandonment of values is that Atheism offers no method for improving one’s consciousness other than psychology or psychiatry. Religion teaches morality, integrity, truth, love, and compassion. Atheists in general are swimming in a selfish soup of anger, greed, and ignorance with no way out, no life preserver, no ladder, no method of taming their own unleashed desires and no method of disciplining their actions. This is why under Atheism, purges and genocide increased such as with Stalin and Mao. As vegans, we need to not only convey a correct diet, but a correct way of thinking and being. We cannot convey this without practicing what diverse religions teach to find our goodness, our faith, our beliefs, and true love. Post Date: 02/13/17, Replies: 11 | ||
| Be Spiritual to realize God within you God is present everywhere and in the heart of every living being. Some attributes that belong to divine include purity, honesty, forgiveness, kindness and calmness. If god lies in everyone, every person should exhibit such characteristics but in reality there are very few people who are blessed with such divine qualities. These people are spiritually enlightened and as they are close to god. But unfortunately majority of the people are different to these spiritual beings as they have never experienced godliness within them. As a result they suffer from problems like lack of concentration, anxiety, stress, haste and sleeplessness. Even these suffering people can realize god within them through meditation and spirituality. Spirituality takes you closer to your soul which lies deep within you just like god. You are required to learn meditation to achieve power to reach deep inside you. Meditation requires you to concentrate on your breadth. A lot of people whose concentration is very poor find it somewhat difficult to concentrate on their breadth. For such people active meditation technique of Osho works really well. As active meditation technique involves people to remain active by indulging in activities like dancing, stretching exercise, singing in communion and so on. These techniques are easy to learn for everyone and make it possible for them to reach closer to god. Post Date: 03/19/09, Replies: 2 | ||
| Bhagavad Gita Is someone interested in Bhagavad Gita? Post Date: 07/26/14, Replies: 12 | ||
| Bringing forth life I so detest the idea of abortion entering our political and religious culture as a topic that divides our nation and two party system with the potential for life held in the balance. I am beyond exhausted from the diatribes, the demagogues, the hypocrites, and the power manipulators throwing this topic in our face repeatedly. However, the time has come for one particular community to evaluate this topic because they are clear minded due to dietary considerations; free from growth hormones, dead animal Karma, mad cow disease, and animal husbandry antibiotics. A community that revers life so much that it refuses to eat any animal products. A community of people that cultivate morality through ancient practices ushered in by the great world religions, studies in academia, and personal decisions concerning correct life style choice. Of course, I am talking about the vegan community. A government thinks it has the say over an embryo’s potential life because the street the taxi drives on to bring the expectant mother to the hospital, the hospital, the doctor or mid wife’s educational licensing and education etc. are in most cases provided by the government. The baby will then be protected by the government’s army and police, educated in government educational centers for better or worse and will grow to have a tax paying job. Religious institutions think they have a stake in the matter because they do not see the baby as being born only by human endeavor. Sperm and egg only give birth to flesh and not to animation or consciousness, or soul they argue. Religions sees the child as a gift of the divine or a function of Karma and is rooted in transcendental forces of nature far greater than the parents. Religion has also suffered greatly for thousands of years to ensure concepts of love, peace, friendship, and hope will surround the child throughout life. Without the cultural contribution of the world religions, we would all be slaves of feudal war lords in captivity, for human nature and society gleans much of its goodness from long term historic religious contributions to our cultural development. Women think they own the baby because they suffer greatly for approximately nine months carrying the child, giving birth to the child, breast feeding the child and growing the child into an adult. Atheist vegan feminists would incorrectly tell us that men are but a tool or at best a servant to these ends and for this among other reasons they should be opted out of the discussion. Certainly, a mother’s contribution to life is great, but carrying and birthing a child does not grant total control and ownership over the baby. A father also contributes with his seed, his work, his money, his presence, and his love when he is indeed present to offer such illustrious gifts. A father offers discipline, morality, and guidance and is a contributor to the life of the child from inception until the child’s old age and death. Just as we have a separation of Church and state in the USA, we also have a separation of bank and state if one looks closely at the Federal Reserve Board and the private banking structure. Who else carries the note on the house, forwards the money on a credit card to the obstetrician and offers an ATM machine to buy groceries throughout the child’s life? Then of course there is the argument concerning the right of commons. Just because a judge decides that a hill of trees can be staked and divided into parcels for sale, does the judge truly bear this right? One might argue that America took the land from the Native People and by right of force can arrest, torture or bomb anyone who questions the judge’s authority. Does this force to coercion truly grant the judge the right to do this? Does the baby have rights as the ultimate arbitrator of its own life or should it be seen as unable to decide until 18 years of age and is that age certain? Likewise, do parents, governments, Churches, and banks have the right to divide the child into divisible percentages and choose if abortion should be offered or not? Then there is the sadness of a woman having to decide on her own. With all these contending interests, why should she be so alienated in her decision making? It is even worse when abortion is illegal and back alley way botched coat hanger procedures are done in the dark of the night without an antiseptic environment, without love and support, and without social consent. This is a spiritual topic not simply a political nor religious topic. What is the vegan view? Post Date: 01/14/17, Replies: 2 | ||
| Buddhist Scriptures On Vegetarianism The Pali Canon is permeated with Suttas (Sutras) that espouse the virtues of not killing or causing to kill. “Monks, one possessed of three qualities is put into Purgatory according to his actions. What three? One is himself a taker of life, encourages another to do the same and approves thereof. Monks, one possessed of three qualities is put into heaven according to his actions. What three? He himself abstains from taking life, encourages another to so abstain, and approves of such abstention.” Anguttara Nikaya, 3.16 “All beings tremble before danger, all fear death. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill. All beings fear before danger, life is dear to all. When a man considers this, he does not kill or cause to kill.” Dhammapada, 129-130 “Whereas some ascetics and Brahmins, feeding on the food of the faithful, remain addicted to the enjoyment of stored-up goods such as food, drink, clothing, carriages, beds, perfumes and meat, the ascetic Gotama refrains from such enjoyment.” Brahmajala Sutra, Digha Nikaya In the following verse, the Buddha describes the only thing that should be killed: “What is the one thing, O Gotama, whose killing you approve? Having slain anger, one sleeps soundly; having slain anger, one does not sorrow; the killing of anger, with its poisoned root and honeyed tip: This is the killing the nobles ones praise, for having slain that, one does not sorrow.” Samyutta Nikaya, chapter 2 In the following verses, we find more direct causal connections to refrain from meat eating in the Theravada Pali Canon: ". . . he abstains from killing living beings, exhorts others to abstain from killing living beings, and speaks in praise of the abstention from killing living beings." Samyutta Nikaya 55.7 "He should not kill a living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should he incite another to kill. Do not injure any being, either strong or weak, in the world.” Dhammika Sutta, Sutta Nipata, Khuddaka Nikaya "Monks, possessing forty qualities one is cast into purgatory . . . he takes life himself, encourages another to do so, approves of taking life, and speaks in praise of thereof . . ." Anguttara Nikaya 10. 213 Four ways one can break the precept of killing living beings: 1. One kills living beings by one's own hand 2. One asks another to do it 3. One grants permission to another to do it or allows it or approves of it 4. One speaks in praise of killing (Note that receiving alms food according to the 3 fold rule appears to allow for meat for those who are in the monastic Orders, but not for lay people who must make a request or order at the grocer, butcher, or restaurant.) (from Majjhima Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya, book of tens V.305) The above quotes show that is not just okay to not do the killing yourself, it is also unacceptable to encourage another, approve of another's killing, or speak in praise of it, such as defending the eating of meat. In numerous places in the Pali Canon, the Buddha or one of his chief disciples reports about seeing ghostly type beings who are suffering as a “skeleton” or a “piece of flesh” or another woeful existence and being tormented by crows and other animals. The Buddha reports that these beings are suffering in these states because of a past life as a butcher of cattle or pigs or sheep (Samyutta Nikaya 19.1, Vinaya, Suttavibhanga 3.105). Although they were doing the actual killing, who would do the killing if everyone were Buddhist? Since there can be no slaughterhouses if everyone were Buddhist, at the very least, vegetarianism can be seen as an ideal to strive for. In one (Pali Canon) discourse (Majjhima Nikaya 22, snake similie sutta), the Buddha gives 10 analogies to describe how bad attachment to sense desires can be. He compares attachment to sense desires with ten really bad things. This includes things such as a skeleton, a burning torch that is about to burn our hands, and a poisonous snake. The final analogy the Buddha makes to describe something very bad, is that of a slaughterhouse. He used the description of a slaughterhouse as one of the analogies to describe something bad (Majjhima Nikaya 22). The first precept in both the Mahayana and the Theravada is not to kill or cause to kill any living being. The above quote from the Sutta Nipata clearly states not causing the killing of any being, nor inciting another to do so.. Post Date: 08/19/14, Replies: 18 | ||
| Can You Be A Vegan And Kill Animals? Thinking about what exact is veganism. Can you be a vegan and yet kill an animal on purpose, as opposed to accidentally? Post Date: 01/10/16, Replies: 18 | ||
| Christian Communism supports vegan diet! Checkout this Christian Communism blog, at william-christiancommunism.blogspot. It says: "Once perfect Christian character under God's law and Christ's teachings is achieved, man will be in the position to mercifully control the increasingly dangerous technologies, such as nanotechnology, artificial intelligence/robotics, and genetic engineering, as we advance towards the scientifically prophesied technological singularity, and be in the position to live out the greatly increased life spans these technologies will make possible as death and suffering finally become a thing of the past as prophesied in Revelation 21:3-4. Perfect Christian character will also provide the strength and motivation needed to practice calorie restricted diets, intermittent fasting, and veganism which will always play a necessary part of any technologically engineered lifespan." Post Date: 04/20/11, Replies: 1 | ||
| Correcting View There is a spiritual problem plaguing our vegan community. Vegan atheistic feminism seems so modern and avant-garde as though it were the last word in enlightenment and compassion. I have found instead such practitioners of these values as narcissistic, selfish, aggressive, and rude. They want to espouse their flawed philosophy in a loud, dominating manner that suppresses free speech. They want to rub everyone’s nose in any criticism of their beliefs as though countering them is wrong. There is no wisdom, compassion nor enlightenment in atheism; these are Buddhist concepts and Buddhism is not an atheistic philosophy. What atheistic vegan feminism offers is an irrational view of reality based on a misinterpretation of science, Marxism, and veganism. They seek to desecrate culture, religion, and the enormous accomplishments of men to couple this with the only moral stance in their platform which is veganism. This is an abuse of the vegan way of life, promoting sugar coated poison at the expense of true vegan values. Post Date: 01/14/17, Replies: 6 | ||
| Does Going Veg Make You Feel Better? Hello Everyone. Please feel free to respond to this question: Does going vegetarian (or vegan) make you feel better as a person, spritually-speaking?? Post Date: 05/07/12, Replies: 33 | ||
| Doggiesattva For all you dog-lovers, animal welfare advocates, and spiritual folks out there... Check out The Doggiesattva :) www.worldlywags.com/search/label/Doggiesattva Post Date: 10/28/13, Replies: 0 | ||
| Emergency On Planet Earth!!!!!! (Re the rape of Mother Earth) "How could I look my grandchildren in the eye and say I knew about this and did nothing?" - Sir David Attenborough "Earth provides enough for every man's need, but not every man's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi 'We do not inherit the earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children' - Native American proverb "Our house is on fire and we are blind to it. Nature mutilated and overexploited can no longer regenerate and we refuse to admit it. The earth and humankind are in danger and we are all responsible. It is time to open our eyes. Alarms are sounding across all the continents." - Jacques Chirac "Babylon is burning. Can you not see the black smoke billowing?" - H. Lancre Post Date: 04/21/11, Replies: 9 | ||
| Extra Terrestrials, UFOs, Time Travel, and Did Extra Terrestrials genetically alter life on this planet? Did Extra Terrestrials Terra form our planet? Did Extra Terrestrials create modern man, Homo Sapiens? Did Extra Terrestrials create our religions by posing or being viewed as Gods? Why do most people involved in Alien Abductions return with messages concerning world ecological ruination, the need for world peace and the need for a world transformation to a vegan diet? Are Extra Terrestrials Space travelers or Time travelers or both? Have you seen a UFO? Do Extra Terrestrials live among us? Post Date: 01/16/17, Replies: 1 | ||
| Family Who is not a member of your family? The Lakota say ‘Aho Mitakuye Oyasin’ which means I honor the circle of all my relations. This includes the sky and Earth, the birds, the four legged animals, the fish, the reptiles, and all the two legged animals as well. It is about finding connection with the living and realizing that this complex life system is a family of interrelations without which we could not survive. We need the bird to eat the seed and fly a hundred miles to release it. We need the rain and Earth to nurture the seed, we need the growing tree to breathe and to house the animals each of which serves a vital life function like the bird. We all need each other to live. Like the Lakota people of North America, Kung Fo Tzu is a famous Chinese philosopher saw all of life as a large family. He knew that women were the source of life, but in his view the family needed structure to successfully serve the needs of the life-giving mother. The son had to obey the father to ensure the family business was not undermined, the money from which the wife would create a home and more children. The man had to feel he was in charge to sustain his fertility, and so a role of patriarch was created to stabilize the male in participation within the familial relations that the woman created. This helped to provide protection for the family and income. Many of the things Kung Fo Tzu has written have been wrongly criticized by those who do not understand the true message and historic context of his philosophical treatises. He was alive from 551bc-479bc. He too saw all of life and all of humanity as a singular family through which one’s destiny, role and purpose was founded. Buddhism redefines family with the six realms. We are not just family members with life, connected to our fellow humans, the plants, and the animals, but with the departed as well. Our relations extend into the heavens and hells, the hungry ghosts, the gods and the goddesses, the Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas. We are part of a larger sphere of inter-dependency that co-creates life. Indeed this cosmic family does not just exist for one life, but reincarnates in a multitude of possibilities that consistently reflects our Karma perfectly life after life. We are so very interdependent that should even one person fall and goes to hell it is a failure we all suffer together. Likewise, every time a Buddha is initiated and comes to fruition, all share the blessings in this life and every life to come. What does veganism do to the cosmic family of the heart? Vegans protect the animals with their diet. Vegans know that animals are part of this sacred family that weaves life. Vegans grow with a more purified Karma because they eat what is appropriate for humans and do not steal flesh or reproductive fluids from other species to consume. Vegans can interact more successfully with all six realms of life; the Gods and goddesses, the humans, the animals, the hungry ghosts, those that inflict punishment in hell, and the victims in hell who are brought to this most lowly position due to their own choices and behavior. Vegans serve as a shining light to all. Yet for a vegan to be an effective family member, a spiritual practice needs to be in place and actively exercised in one’s vegan dedicated life to develop skills for correct participation in the family of creation. Vegans must purify in mind and heart, not just body, to be the shining example for the six realms and the entire family of creation. Going vegan is the most important contribution one can make to the evolution of this circle of life. By renouncing all but plants and minerals as a method of diet, medicine, housing, transportation and clothing, our entire family group Karma purifies and we can all then reach higher ground together. Post Date: 02/25/17, Replies: 1 | ||
| Feelings abour animal cruelty Hello everyone, I'm new. I've been a vegetarian since October last year (wish it hadn't taken me so long) and I'm currently trying products to see how soon I could move to being vegan. I'm sure someone will have asked this before, but since you became vegetarian/vegan, have you found animal cruelty and neglect harder to process? The stories I read these days (for example just read about horses dying due to being randomly stabbed/set on fire) those just make me despair and not want to live in this world anymore. And it's not just stuff like that but also about cruelty in factory farming/slaughter houses etc., the list is endless. It's not like things didn't bother me before I was a vegetarian but now they just completely mess me up. I also started volunteering for my local rspca branch around the same time as becoming veggie so maybe that has something to do with it as I'm a bit more aware and more exposed to the results of cruelty/neglect. How do you deal with your feelings? Would welcome any tips for staying strong/remaining positive. Thank you x Post Date: 11/02/15, Replies: 3 | ||
| Finding Our Way Home Hindu and Buddhist cultures, unlike Western cultures of Europe and the US, do not share the current problem of declining population rates among key enclaves like the Anglos. We can learn from these far Eastern Cultures lessons in social formation patterns, familial patterns, and spiritual philosophical metaphysics to return our fertility and return our re-population levels. Hinduism offers a positivist view of life. Bliss is the source of creation and therefore a given premise of life. There is no Devil in Hinduism, so there is no concentrated evil. There is no original sin, no emphasis on forgiveness and life is good. It is amazing how removing evil from the equation increases fertility. If Christians truly want to overcome evil and defeat the Devil, they should simply practice Hinduism. Hindu culture also has family relations and marriage understood. In the West, children are often thrown out of their parents’ home at age 18 because they are adults. In India, the sons never need to leave home and they inherit their family estate. The women leave home when they are married and live with their husband and their husband’s family. This is not a perfect system to be sure, and so many young Hindus leave for education abroad to avoid arranged marriages and living with the in laws. However, after education is over many return for their arranged marriages. This system removes enormous stress in the lives of young people and permits them to start families in their youth with live in grandparents to assist in baby sitting and counsel. When Western children leave home at 18, frequently they do not amass enough wealth to start a family until 35 years of age or older. Buddhist culture offers morality. For Buddhists, morality is the outward sign of successful spiritual cultivation. One’s religious practice and meditation is measured by how well one lives the Five Precepts. These precepts were given by the Buddha as a rule for how to mitigate one’s past Karma and to not acquire more bad Karma. The precepts are simple: No Killing, No Stealing, No Wrong Speech, No Sexual Immorality, and No Intoxication. Because morality is central to their culture, friends, parents, children, marriage partners etc. can relax and have a general basic trust with each other. Also, Buddhism does not have a concept of evil in its beliefs. When life is good, and people are good as a foundation view, fertility increases. Self-hate, scapegoating and fear of the unknown are Western psychosis to be sure. Then there is the profound topic of meditation which both Hindu and Buddhist cultures practice. Meditation is not required in either religion, but is enjoyed by both. The sitting Lotus Position is central to their chaste and celibate cultures. Meditation and specifically the Lotus Position, partial or full, helps control the concupiscible faculties. Physical training of the body and mind are required to accomplish the simple task of living a moral life and seeing all things as good unless otherwise shown to be otherwise. Also, a tenant of humility and simplicity and a greater value on the spiritual and the familial aspects of life rather than the material gain helps garnish a more healthy and fertile existence. Post Date: 01/14/17, Replies: 4 | ||
| Food For the Gods I recently read a book Called "Food For the Gods". It discussed the concept of vegetarianism in various religions. I learned that many religious founders and leaders were vegetarian and a lot of religious texts have been changed by priests who ate meat. For example, it is sometimes told that Buddha died from eating undercooked meat when in fact it was a poisonous mushroom because he did not eat meat. It is also said that Jesus ate meat and fish when he was actually a vegetarian. Post Date: 02/04/14, Replies: 3 | ||
| Freethinkers A very long list of folks including Mary Wollenstonecraft, Frances Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Voltairine de Cleyre, Barbara Ehrenreich, David Eller, Sigmund Freud, Ruth Hermence Green, Stephtn Jay Gould, Anne Nicole Gaylor, Tom Paine, John Adams, George Washington, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Robert Ingersol, Charles Darwin, Nicolas Copernicus, Carl Sagan, John Stuart Mill, Ashley Montagu, Bertrand Russell, George Bernard Shaw, Clarence Darrow. Katherine Hepburn, Thomas Jefferson, Charlie Chaplin, Jonathan Balcombe and J. M. Masson, though generally religious in their early years, all described themselves later in life as atheists, agnostics, deists or freethinkers. They had little problem working alongside those choosing religious beliefs, - they didn't hate religion, they disliked the misdeeds and legacy of religion in general. Their "non-belief" didn't stop the from fighting for rights, including those of women, minorities, the environment. Many worked for the benefit of non-humans as well, even to the point of being vegetarians or vegans. These people were disparaged in their day, many even suffering physical attacks and imprisonment. What they professed was that they did not personally need any gods or goddesses to belief in freedom of speech, assembly, etc. Without these freethinkers we would not have accomplished what we have in the past in the arenas of peace and justice. I put many years (starting around the end of WW II) into religious study and evolved into a "freethinker". I've worked with Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and others. All I've ever asked from the religious is that they respect my right to free speech and perhaps consider my speaking and writing with an open mind. My philosophy is basically one of cooperation and unity, rather than "us and them" divisiveness. Post Date: 01/27/17, Replies: 3 | ||
| Health and Inner well being I wish the world would come to understand the beauty that comes with being a vegetarian, it means you think about others besides yourself, its a beuatiful thing. I feel better, think better and just am better being kind to my body and my fellow creatures makes me feel closer to this earth Post Date: 08/14/09, Replies: 0 | ||
| Help! Boyfriend's family won't drop it Ok, some background: Was vegan for 2 years, met my guy 8 months ago and went vegetarian (reasoning: 50% financial, 50% because vegan freaked him out). So his family is hard core Italian, really fun and sweet and I love being around them except... dinner time is hell for me. I've had probably near 50 meals with his family and the veg thing is brought up every freakin' time. At first it was concern that I was or wasn't satisfied with the food, lighthearted joking, valid questions and minimal discussion. My usual response being to answer questions simply and sit quietly as they continued their discussion. Even though it wasn't intended negatively, after awhile I was getting frustrated and began to avoid eating with them. Until last night. My guy was already "annoyed" with me since I didn't want to eat lunch with him, his mom even jokingly threatened to hold me down and shove food in my mouth and I got angry and nearly grabbed my things and left. Wish I had. Dinner took a turn when I was jokingly offered the bar-b-que'd chicken and I politely refused as I always do. "Vegetarians want to save all the animals but they are eating all their food," "I'd rather see chickens in battery cages than pay $5 for a carton of eggs" and on and on it went. His mom even threw in a story about a fur coat she owns and how her minks grew up fat and happy on a farm. All this went on for a good 30 minutes while I kept my mouth shut, eating my potatoes and brussels sprouts, thinking how incredibly rude they were all being and how offended and hurt I was. I refrained from saying a word because when I get angry I get really mean. I'm lost, I don't know what to do other than refuse to eat with them ever again lol. I could talk to my boyfriend and/or his family but I don't think that it's my place to teach respect to people 2-3 times my age. In addition, I don't want to screw up this relationship just because my feelings are hurt, I also don't want to be the stereotypical veg and respond to them the way they are expecting me to. (Sorry this post was so long, but yeah... so upset) So now that I've painted the picture, what would you do? What would you definitely not do? Thanks guys Post Date: 01/15/16, Replies: 10 | ||
| Hindu Cow Power Animals in the dairy industry are treated horribly. From blind overweight chickens with sawed off beaks growing their claws into caging, unable to support their own weight due to growth hormones, to cows fed live ground rooster chicks, injected with antibiotics, growth hormones and steer sperm, with mammary glands dragging on the floor, milk machines attached almost permanently and with hoofs nailed to the floor at the feeding trough; they are treated worse than slaves or prisoners. And all of this is suffered on their way to inhuman torture and execution. In India the cow is worshiped as a great mother Goddess. In India, over 65% of the people are vegetarian. This is the highest national per capita rate of vegetarianism found anywhere on our planet. However, they do not boast a high vegan rate yet. Vegans can work with their culture and adapt the spiritual practices that draws such a large population to vegetarianism by adapting vegan interpretations to their culture. I did not accept a Hindu incarnation in this life and I practice a non-traditional form of Hindu Jain Buddhism. As a vegan, I must amend my practice to edify the vegan aspects of Dharma. If Krishna, Rama, Shiva, or any Deva were incarnate now, they would undoubtedly support a vegan lifestyle. These Devas were alive in other Yugas. A Yuga is a division of time in the Hindu cosmology much greater than a century, like an age. Consciousness evolves or devolves as each Yuga occurs in accordance with the proscriptions of that Yuga. When Krishna was alive, there were no dietary supplements for vitamins D3 and B complex. India also has a problem with vitamin A content in foods. Milk was consumed for D3 and eggs were consumed for B and medical herbs for A. Milk, eggs and herbs made a vegetarian lifestyle possible in Krishna's Yuga of Dvapara. In that Yuga, cows were the friends of Krishna, the herdsmen and the Gopis or cow girls. Now we are in Kali Yuga. We have vitamin supplements and I use vegan sources for vitamin B, D3 and A. Kali Yuga is considered the most desecrate and fallen of the Yugas where creation is the furthest from the source of creation and the teachings or the Dharma is neglected. In Kali Yuga, the sacred cows of India eat cardboard from trash bins and in the West, they are treated worse than one can imagine. In this Yuga, now, we must eat vegan if we are to honor the sacred cow, the sacred Earth, and the sacred principal of Devi. Many Hindu ceremonies celebrate other Yuga practices. We must change this. I was talking with a senior Vaishnava last week who agreed that we can use water, Mantra, or turmeric water for Abhishek instead of milk. He knew why. Abhishek is the ceremonial rite of pouring a liquid on Hindu statues. A Telugu friend reminds me that “In India, there is a vitamin deficiency in most villages where milk and egg are the only source of protein for many kids. Sure, upper class it's easy to adapt a vegan lifestyle. For the people who are not financially wealth, there is no other option for them. I hope things will change with time.” But the upper class frequently does not go vegan and yet, in the urban centers there are vegan resource centers, vegan restaurants and web sites that educate people on a vegan lifestyle. Sometimes people practice ancient ways that were wrong in ancient times and are still wrong now. We need to create a new form of vegan Hinduism to address the age we are living in of Kali Yuga. I do this, anyone can. I simply look past all references to consuming dairy products understanding that we live in a different age and have different practices now. It has brought me closer to Vegan Krishna, Vegan Rama, Vegan Vishnu, Vegan Shiva and Vegan Brahma and it can work for all Hindus. Post Date: 01/14/17, Replies: 0 | ||
| Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism? The core difference between Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism? If any person wants to convert from Hindu to Jain community what should he/she do? Post Date: 02/10/17, Replies: 6 |
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