ANIMALS BEING KILLED - FOR YOU - YES YOU!!!!

I am posting this blog again because as I travel around the world I see such appalling treatment of animals and an apparent complete lack of any awareness of the suffering of animals. Cafés proudly proclaim (depending which part of the world you are in) "Halal" or "Kosher" or Lobsters and Crabs "live" for you now! Birds in markets held in tiny cages - it goes on and on - doesn't anyone understand the suffering and terror this all causes the animals involved? Obviously not -   because I have conversations with many people who say "animals are there to be eaten" or something similar! 

The past couple of weeks we have seen an explosion of outrage around the world at Dentist Walter Palmer who killed Cecil the Lion - but he is not alone - these magnificent creatures are constantly being hunted as trophies or in the case of Elephants and Rhinoceros for their tusks and horns - I believe that the more we humans arrogantly continue to massacre animals on a horrendous level the more we will kill one another - and that is happening!!!

There is a television advertisement currently being broadcast on many television channels for McDonalds that features a lovely child's drawing of a happy looking blue and multi colored cow. This advert goes on to explain in graphic detail that only parts of this cow are used every day in their burgers (the parts used are duly pointed out on the screen) - "Pure beef only (with a little salt and pepper)" and features happy, cheerful and hungry people enjoying their food  - I can't help thinking how awful it is that children are viewing this advertisement on their television screens as though its perfectly normal and right to kill a beautiful cow and eat it!

I wrote a blog early last year titled 150 Billion Slaughtered every year - someone wrote to me saying "it can't be that high - we surely don't kill that many?" - Well my friend the statistics show this, but even if this figure is not totally accurate - so what? Does 100 billion animals killed make it any better?

In my work I am fortunate to travel to many countries and whenever I arrive into any city centre I see restaurants of all nationalities, fast food chains (McDonalds, KFC, Burger King etc), diners, coffee Shops, cafeterias, and street food venders abound in their thousands. Multiply that by thousands of cities and large towns and you begin to get some idea of the levels of food consumption – and that is before you even begin to look at what is eaten in the homes of the 8 BILLION (yes eight billion) people who inhabit this wonderful planet of ours – and the birth rate is rising!

Supermarkets, shops of all shapes and sizes offer us an incredible variety of food that ranges from all kinds of meat: beef, lamb, pork/ham, chicken, turkey to exotic meals of ostrich, crocodile, buffalo, locusts, snake – you name it? And that is just meat – what about fish – the fish markets are teeming with fish and seafood of every conceivable species – I could go on and on but you get the picture.

The truth is that statistics show that we (humans) slaughter more than 150 billion animals each year and that probably doesn’t include the billions of fishwe vacuum up from the seas!

Pretty staggering statistics aren’t they?

Every time you go get a burger, hot dog, finger lickin' KFC, eat fish fingers or bite into that beef sandwich, you are eating a piece of an animal that has died for you and your taste buds. No one denies that this food can and does taste delicious BUT isn’t it about time we stopped and took stock of what is happening in our own backyards. 

The slaughterhouses work 24 hours around the clock to feed the global hunger machine so that we can gorge on the flesh of some poor creature that cannot speak or defend itself and that waits trembling in line to get an electric shock in its head or a bullet in its brain – or gasps for air as it thrashes around in nets as the fish are taken out of the sea.

Elephants get killed for their ivory tusks; Rhinoceros hunted nearly to extinction for their horns to satisfy far-eastern cravings for so called cures and aphrodisiac’s that don’t work anyhow – how many mink and sable get skinned alive to satisfy the fashion industry – its enough to make anyone with a heart cry in despair.

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

For goodness sake can’t we see the suffering we are causing?

This terrible suffering can only be described as GENOCIDE inflicted on the animal population across the world.

WE must stop this – the human race is the greatest killer the world has every known and that is before we consider how we kill one another in wars and incidents that horrify us every day as we look at CNN or the BBC News broadcasts. We are good at killing aren’t we?

Hunters who proudly show off the Moose, Elk, Stag, Fox, Rabbit, Hare, Pheasant, Partridge or whatever poor creature has been shot, trapped, skewered and killed. Any idiot can shoot an animal with a high-powered rifle or shotgun. You don’t have to be a genius to point a rifle - any fool can do it – but what about the consequences?

Until we humans realize that to kill any person, animal, fish or any sentient being is a terrible crime and one that will have a terrifying effect on your karma and life to come. Do you really believe that there is no comeback – “We reap what we sow” and until we all realize that stamping on ants or swatting flies no matter how irritating is wrong. We’ve all done it – swatted a mosquito or maybe you’ve hunted or fished and thought nothing of it. But the horrible truth is that we have to stop killing and we have to stop it NOW.

I’ve heard people say “animals are there to be killed and eaten” WRONG TOTALLY WRONG – all creatures make up the eco system, which makes this world the amazing and wonderful place we all live on. Humans don’t need all this animal food – its been proven time and again that the waves of cancers and many illnesses are caused by what we eat – of course there are other factors – stress, life style, pollution, genetic illnesses but there is no question that what we eat is largely what we are and what we become.

Many of you will not believe in reincarnation – possibly you will have been brought up to believe in the superiority of the human race over animals – maybe you believe that you are more important than other humans because they have different beliefs, different religions or come from a different tribe or nationality – WRONG AGAIN – we are all interconnected – think about it – if you don’t have the trees and forests we won’t be able to breathe – that’s pretty basic enough isn’t it? Bees & Birds pollinate – the cycle of birth, life and death is all around us - facing us every day. Without the sun and moon and rain we wouldn’t have the trees, crops and plantation that provide us with incredible food and everything from fuel to paper – you (or any of us) simply couldn't exist on your own?

Everything you can think of is interconnected – how long would you last if you couldn’t breathe? How would you build your homes without wood and all the bricks, stone, sand, cement, glass and other materials you need? How do you get the wheat, noodles, rice, vegetables and herbs you eat? – How do you receive the heat and light you need – the point I am making is that we all contribute to one another – we all need one another and the eco system that exists on this planet. If we continue to murder hundreds of millions of animals and fish as well as killing one another every year – plus systematically destroying the environment – there won’t be a human race much longer!

The idiocy of the human race that thinks it is so clever is slowly but surely destroying its own eco survival system – of course there are many wonders and fantastic things that the human race has positively contributed to our world such as medical advances – the stamping out diseases such as smallpox, the bubonic plague, polio and so forth but they are still all lurking there ready to strike – and with super viruses multiplying and threatening all of us we must take a long hard look at who we are and what we must do.

I have written many times in my Blogs about how everyone suffers and that happiness can be achieved. This is a mantra that I will come back to time and again – simply because WE CAN ACHIEVE HAPPINESS and WE CAN STOP SUFFERING.

Regular readers of my Blogs will forgive me for stating again the basic human mantra

LOVE, KINDNESS, CARING, COMPASSION, HEALING are the only things that matter and bring HAPPINESS

IGNORANCE, DESIRE, EGO, JEALOUSY, HATRED, KILLING, INDOCTRINATION ('my beliefs are right, everyone else is wrong'), GREED, OVERT PRIDE all cause SUFFERING - they are all intertwined and show that people have lost the ability to THINK CLEARLY and OBJECTIVELY but above all else to be in control of their MIND

Think about it - MIND IS EVERYTHING it dictates who you are - what you do - what you say and how you act.

Most people let their mind control them - instead of you controlling your mind. The first thing we can do is to STOP KILLING and realize that we cannot achieve happiness for ourselves and families if some of this so called happiness is based upon the killing of millions of animals.

You may not want to become a vegetarian – OK that’s your choice  - but please think long and hard next time you want to order that rare Filet Mignon Steak or Chicken Vindaloo – remember a cow or chicken has died to get you that steak or curry – a living, loving creature has been killed so that you can wallow in some momentary pleasurable pursuit. 

When you enjoy Lobster Thermidor remember that a Lobster has been thrown into a pan of boiling water to die a horrible death by any standards so that you can mindlessly enjoy your dinner - would you like to be boiled alive? Remember the Sea Bass or Sole you so enjoy, was gasping for air and dying horribly in the fisherman’s net when caught – you don’t care? Well you should because if reincarnation is real – you may come back as a cow or fish – We are all part of the cyclical cycle of life and ultimate suffering that we all experience – Why? Because we are born, we grow old, get sick and we die.

When we die many of you may believe that we go to sleep and that is it – but what IF there is a life after death? Doesn’t it make sense to try and live a good life? Christians believe that they will meet their God and maker and be judged by the way they have lived – Muslims believe they will face Allah on their judgment day – what will God/Allah say if you have killed people or hunted animals? What will God say to a suicide bomber – “Oh well done, you’ve just killed 40 school children and mothers” – do they really believe they will go to heaven? IT’S IMPOSSIBLE.

We all create our own hell in this life by our own actions - We can only begin to find true happiness in our lives if we begin to cultivate kindness – caring – compassion and love for not only ourselves, our immediate families but for all humans and creatures – only when we stop to think carefully what we are doing and saying will we begin to appreciate that compassion, kind and loving thoughts bring compassionate, kind and loving actions and reactions – it is this that brings you happiness and everyone you come into contact with.

Your mind is what you are  – we are what we think - and when we begin to seriously realize this everything slowly but surely changes for the good.

When we stop to think about the pain, suffering and misery we are causing to hundreds of millions of animals every year just to satisfy our lust for tasty food we are beginning the process of improving and making positive changes to our life and the happiness it can bring.

THEREFORE, TO BEGIN WITH - WE MUST STOP THIS HORRIFIC KILLING AND GENOCIDE OF ANIMALS

To conclude:

We have to begin the process of educating our children and grand children about the horrors of the slaughterhouses and what we are all doing to support the terrifying deaths of these animals and sea creatures that are murdered (yes murdered) each and every day of the year.

We truly don’t need to eat such quantities of meat and fish – the human body is better off without most of this – Happiness can never be brought about at the expense of the suffering of an animal or human life – surely killing is a terrible sin and if we accept the principle of “cause and effect” - killing any creature large or small will have a devastating effect on your life – either now or in the future.

We have to see that by changing the way we think and act we can bring great happiness to ourselves and everyone we meet – this can have a wonderful knock on effect, because you will influence others to carefully think about their lives and what they are doing and eating. 

A caring smile or kind thought can have an incredibly positive effect on someone and if we start to think about those billions of poor animals that are slaughtered every year we will have begun a process that will have a profound effect on your life and those around you – as well as saving the lives and suffering of countless animals that have no say about their lives - they have families too - have you ever thought about that?

LOVE & COMPASSION BRING HAPPINESS

KILLING, HATRED & IGNORANCE BRINGS SUFFERING AND MISERY

Please join me and pray each evening before you go to sleep – that all creatures large and small may be safe and not killed  - and to pray for all those people and animals that have died and suffered this day.

Thank you for reading

Peter

DEALING WITH ANGER

DEALING WITH ANGER

I wrote this piece last year and it received a lot of comments - I noticed a short quote online by the great Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dilgo Khyenste Rinpoche who said:

When you feel hatred toward someone, your hatred and anger are not in any way something inherent either to that person as a whole or to any aspect of him or her. Your anger only exists in your own mind. As soon as you glimpse him or her, your thoughts dwell on all the times he or she brought harm to you in the past, how they might harm you in the future, or what they are doing to harm you now; even hearing his or her name upsets you. 

As you become fixated on these thoughts, full - blown hatred develops, and at that point you feel an irresistible urge to pick up a stone to throw at them, or grab something with which to strike them

Anger can seem extremely strong, but where does it get the power to overwhelm you so easily? Is it some external force, something with arms and legs, weapons and armor? If not, then is it somewhere inside you? If so, where is it? Can you find it in your brain, in your heart, in your bones, or in any other part of you? Impossible though it is to locate, anger does seem to be present in a very concrete way, as a strong clinging that freezes your mind into a state of solidity and brings a great deal of suffering both to yourself and to others. 

Just as clouds, which are insubstantial and cannot support weight or be worn as clothing, can nevertheless darken the whole sky and cover the sun, in the same way thoughts can obscure the pristine radiance of awareness. By recognizing the void, transparent nature of mind, let it return to its natural state of freedom. If you recognize the nature of anger as void, it loses all its power to harm.

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - On The Path to Enlightenment by Matthieu Ricard - Shambhala Publications

Last year I wrote as follows:

A very good friend of mine brought up the subject of how to keep feeling compassion and following the path of kindness and so forth, when feeling pissed off or very ANGRY at someone. 

Well the answer is the same for all of us - on a day to day basis we all at times, get fed up with people or situations - its inevitable, but its how we react to these situations that is the key. Its not easy to stay calm and centered when someone is saying something completely idiotic or hurtful - you want to slap them let alone feeling compassion! But, how do you control your anger when someone has hurt you very badly? This is never easy to answer, but the longer you hold onto your anger the longer it will hurt YOU. Even if the pain is so bad you feel totally helpless and out of control with your hurt and anger at the person who has hurt you - you have to (no matter how difficult) learn to calm your mind and bring your heart and soul to a level of peace - Meditation undoubtedly helps enormously. Ultimately, the anger will leave you as you bring your mind to a level of peace, but if you hold onto it - it will hurt you much more than the person you are anger at. 

I think the important thing is to look at life at two levels if you can and eventually the compassion will come through. It takes practice and time but it does work. By this I mean that every morning if you wake up and say to yourself "I am going to do everything I can to feel compassion about everything I do and what I say" - think of this vow to yourself throughout the day, when you are dressing, walking, washing up, cooking or going to meetings everything you do - it isn't easy, but the more you do this the more it becomes a natural thing to do.

Therefore, when you come across someone who is a real jerk or a situation that drives you to anger you - you deal with it maybe in a different way than yelling back or getting frantic and pissed off. I have found that I have changed over the years - it does work - that doesn't mean that you don't still get annoyed but you don't immediately lash out and hit back.

One of my main teachers wrote as follows:

Two things to be done, at the start and at the finish of each day:

"In the morning, on awakening, we should make the following pledge:

'Throughout the whole of today, I will remember my Compassion.

When eating, dressing, walking, cooking, meeting people, meditating, wherever I go, I will practice it constantly.

Should it slip my mind, I will remind myself. Mindful of it, I will not allow myself to wander into states of anger, desire or ignorance.'

We should make a concerted effort to keep this vow and at night before going to sleep, we should examine ourselves as to how much we have been able to generate Compassion, how much we have been able to help others and whether all our actions have been in accordance with the teachings."

I personally think it helps to have a mantra to say to yourself wherever you are - I use the wonderful Buddhist mantra: OM MANI PADME HUM , which I think of as sending compassion, love and healing to all living people and creatures.

However, you can use a mantra (if you are Christian or Muslim you can pray to God to help all people in the world to be free from their suffering) or in whatever language you are comfortable in like "I pray that all people be free from suffering" or “I pray that I will be compassionate with all people today”. It may seem odd to you, but it really works - I have been doing this for years and it begins to seep into your consciousness and makes you feel really good after a while.

Meditation helps enormously – I have written a number of blogs on mindfull meditation, but why do we meditate? 

There are many reasons but from a strictly practical perspective here are some of the reasons:

(1) To help stop your mind from thinking thousands of thoughts every minute of the day

(2) To bring peace and calmness to our mind - give it a rest

(3) To begin the most important process of getting rid of the 6 things that cause us suffering in our day to day lives: HATRED, JEALOUSY, GREED, DESIRE (I want more and more), IGNORANCE, PRIDE and these can create ANGER - All of these will cause you and everyone unhappiness that leads to suffering.

(4) Meditating brings HAPPINESS – why? Because you begin the process of developing your COMPASSION and LOVE into your day to day life – by this I don't mean just the natural love of your children and family, but the deep compassion that you build for all people and living creatures.

Think about it – we are all the same – we all hurt, we all bleed, we all feel pain, we all suffer the loss of loved ones, we will all at the end of our lives die – it doesn't matter whether you are white, black, blue, yellow, green or whatever – we are all the same – we all need the earth to live on and rely entirely on it to feed ourselves and breathe.

There isn’t one of you that would exist without the millions of elements that make up our lives and the way we live. Take the trees and forests away and we very quickly stop breathing!!!

Therefore, next time you get really angry – stop and think before you react – think of why the person is acting badly or saying words that are so annoying or hurtful – is it their ignorance (possibly indoctrination)? Is it because he or she is suffering pain or loss? Is it because the are jealous or greedy – whatever the reason, you certainly don't have to accept bad behavior, but try to begin to feel compassion even though you are angry and develop the practice of thinking like this before reacting.

Develop your COMPASSION – it will bring you great HAPPINESS in your life as well as those around you

Thank you for reading (some wonderful quotes below)