Ahimsa

It seems that there are so many men and women who have a voracious thirst for taking life, from each other in the case of war and religious violence, to weekend hunters chasing down animals for sport. Not forgetting of course, the highly organized meat and dairy farming industry, big game hunting in exotic countries and pesticides and other poisons poured onto the earth. Death fills each moment of every day. Why is it so? Are we so insecure as humans that we have to continually show our superiority by destroying each other and the planet we are part of? When ancient mankind saw a large animal, they would kill it to eat its flesh and so take its power, but now there is no reason at all for anyone to kill any other being for food. The earth is rich in all the protein, vitamins and health giving and supportive nutrients we can ever need, and all we have to do is reflect a little bit and live a much more loving and caring life.

For the dairy industries with its smiling cow posters, we see day old calves dragged away from their mothers so humans can have the milk made specifically for these new born babies, who are naturally then sold, killed and eaten some short time later.

If you are a parent now, reflect on this. Our children are precious to us, why would is be different for other species?

The question of how to make the best bacon sandwich continues with the answer, first kill a pig! That is a high price to ask for a simple snack.

In every moment each one of us has the potential to be beautiful and serve the world by bringing something of value to the planet we are all part of, or continue in our blindness and ignorance to be a part of the continuation of suffering for ourselves and other beings.

Ahimsa (harmlessness) is highly praised as the greatest Dhamma attribute and development by every great Master and it's actually very easy - just stop killing things.

If you do not work in a slaughter house or are in some way connected to this brutal industry, stop paying others to do this dreadful work for you. And even if we say that the Buddha said it was acceptable to eat the flesh of murdered animals provided three conditions were met, that was in a place and time very, very different from our own now, so the question is always, not what do you think the Buddha said or meant but more, what do you think, because no matter how much you can point a finger and say, 'he said it's alright,' you are still the customer and the protagonist in this action. Without the customer there will be no slaughtered animal lying in pieces on the floor.

You are responsible for you both physically and mentally and you must meet the consequence of the mind states you empower.

Love and compassion will always bring a good result to the environment you are part of, whilst hatred or perhaps even worse, a lack of empathy for other beings brings an uncomfortable result sooner or later.

If you truly want to know what pain feels like for an animal, go to your home, take a hammer, put your thumb on the table and hit it. There, now you know and if there is love in your heart you would not wish even this small and localized pain onto another being. 

We are human beings, supposedly the highest life form on the planet, how then can we justify the cruel and unjust treatment of other living beings simply for our own convenience?

These are my thoughts today.

May all beings without exception be happy.