Developing compassion

I dont remember how or where I first got this prayer. It is attributed to Albert Schweitzer (although it doesnt appear in his notes, http://home.pcisys.net/~jnf/prayer.html ) and is very powerful. I use it to lift me out of self absorption.

A Prayer for Animals
Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

Now that the live animal trade with Indonesia has been resumed the misery will be resumed. The implicit assumption that the killing is the only point of misery for the cattle involved covers the host of other violations that we as humans dont accept in treatment of each other. The perpetrators of such crimes are now dealt with at The Court of International Justice in the Hague. But every hamburger, chocolate or chicken nugget perpetuates these very crimes on the animal kingdom.

Once again from Albert Schweitzer

"I must interpret the life around me as I interpret the life that is my own. My life is full of meaning to me. The life around me must be full of significance to itself. If I am to expect others to respect my life, then I must respect the other life I see, however strange it may be to mine."

Now that we live in an economy rather than a society these sentiments may seem somewhat outdated even "out of touch" but we must always remember that greed is also a sentiment and a very morally suspect one. Most importantly we cause massive suffering to our fellow travelers on this planet. Its time to stop this behaviour.

Shock and awe in Indonesia

A great week for beef cattle destined for Indonesia. Four Corners ran a report documenting the abuses and cruelty in several Indonesian abattoirs (here http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2011/s3228880.htm ) and the uproar was both proper and predictable. There has been reported a decline in meat sales and the live export trade to Indonesia has been suspended for "up to six months".

The export ban is going to hit those in the industry hard, particularly in the Northern Territory. A fierce debate is raging over the role of Meat and Livestock Corporations' lack of management of another jurisdiction. I get the sense that the dirty secret is now out and its time to blame someone so we can get some cash, cover it over and return to business as usual ASAP.

But the fun has only really begun. Several years ago the industry was faced with footage from Egypt showing cruelty perpetrated by amateurs. Once again a ban was implemented and then quietly dropped once the issue was out of the headlines. For those interested in the welfare of ALL beings there are a number of interesting dilemmas right now.

I dont think we will be able to have much influence on those who live in a totally different moral universe. Regions that require sacrifice for religious reasons wont be amenable to arguments of inherent suffering. Similarly where supply chains are much less developed than in the West it is sensible to slaughter and eat on the same day. "I would dearly like to know comparative food poisoning rates for chilled and fresh meat but that's a diversion" For those in the matrix it is hard to see beyond "animals as food".

What interests me more is the local response. I have heard numerous comments on various radio stations to the effect of "I will never eat meat again". A noble and appropriate sentiment. This will produce an industry backlash if the movement gathers real steam. Similarly to when Oprah declared she was turned off beef and GW Bush II introduced legislation banning criticism of the American beef industry there is a backlash coming against vegetarian/vegan sentiment. I expect the response will be similar to the current climate debate and the tactics will be similar. So if veganism becomes a popular lifestyle choice I expect retaliation. A couple of predictions for you all:

• Expect a media blitz. Images of hearty "beefy" blokes and thinly clad girls espousing the benefits of "good old red meat". It will be "un-Australian" to prefer plant foods over animal foods.
  
• Expect a concerted attack on the data supporting vegetarian and vegan choices. The collected science and wisdom of a cruelty free lifestyle will be ridiculed. Expect systematic denial and indirect attacks on those institutions providing health base non meat lifestyle advice.
  
• Expect a direct and personal attacks on Vegan and animal rights activists and animal rights organisations. Animals Australia can expect to have their laundry dragged through the press as can the RSPCA. If you thought Cate Blanchett coped it over climate change.....

The sensible way forward in my opinion is education. Real life education. Why not send seven, eight or nine year olds to an abattoir as a school excursion. City kids havent seen this appalling process so why not educate them so they can make an informed choice? While the excursion is on let them see animals fearful of the race, see the random abuse of the abattoir workers, smell the fresh methane from a cows arse and listen to the grieving of a mother as her children are stolen from her and she is reconfined to her milk producing role. Expose the cruelty for what it is. Some will harden up and desensitise. Hopefully the bulk wont. Because if you think the cruelty problems are isolated to those from a different moral universe you will be in for a big shock.

Awareness and numbness, where have all the flowers gone?

I’ve had a few hours of alone, quite enjoyable, its novel not to be busy. A chance to just be aware. A chance to spend some time “wasting time”. Its amazing how blessed life is.

One of our chooks went missing again last night, she hides when it comes to dusk as she can no longer climb the race into the hutch. I’m told she is more than eight years old, that’s old in chook terms. Chickens are very social. They have a well established pecking order but that belies the extent to which they are a community. (ever wondered why Pastor’s refer to their flock?). When I went to lock the girls up they were cowering in the corner of the hutch. Normally “Blackie” (“Fatso”) is there with them but last night she was missing. The others let me know just by their body language. I searched but did not find. She was lucky and survived the night. I was struck when she reemerged this morning and the others immediately relaxed and became ordinary chickens again, that is they started pinching grain I had thrown to her. The parable of the prodigal son came to mind.

There is a numbness that accompanies incessant activity. A numbness to our immediate environment. A numbness to our own presence. A numbness to the consequences of our actions so often performed with haste. A numbness that pervades the business of living and it becomes a blur. To relax from this numbness requires conscious attention and awareness. Sometimes a shock is needed, “Blackie” was missing.

So sometimes awareness brings with it discomfort. It is discomforting to know that 469.9 million chickens will have been slaughtered for food in Australia this year (1). That’s close enough to 20 each per man, woman, child and refugee. That’s 20 each of these delightful, gregarious, community minded birds for each of us. There needs to be a degree of numbness to gloss over such a fact. Imagine if we said 20 Jack Russell Terriers per person per year. It's about the same amount of meat. But a lot of chickens will be consumed over the holiday season because it is easy to grab a BBQ chook and a bunch of bread rolls from the bakery in the haste of the season. Just remember that its about the same amount of meat as a Terrier if you decide to be numb.

(1) http://www.chicken.org.au/page.php?id=4

Madness and lies.

I visited my father in the nursing home today. As some will know he has been deteriorating for about 13 years. Prior to that he was a healthy, vital, septuagenarian. A Satyananda trained Yoga Teacher, a vegetarian of many years and more recently a vegan. He had an automobile accident and spent three weeks in intensive care at Nepean Hospital. During this time his heart stopped and he was revived. The nursing and medical staff remarked at how healthy this man was, low blood pressure, low pulse, blood sugars etc. I was there to pick him up when his time was up and the determination with which he walked out is something I will never forget.

His life went downhill from there. He eventually went in to have a stent inserted. This made a difference to his energy levels but he started developing increasingly aberrant behaviour. He was eventually hospitalized after a particularly violent outburst where he fainted. Despite early attempts to escape his imprisonment (his term) he has been institutionalised ever since. When I saw him today he was immobile except for a weak rasping cough, his face was flabby, his eyes hollow. He didn’t recognize me.

His behaviour has been a topic of some conversation and much speculation amongst his children and my mother. Before he went vegan (after reading Peter Singer by the way) he had been fond of cheese, yoghurt and sundry high fat foods. Even when he changed his diet he munched on nuts and used avocadoes as his main source of protein. A vegan diet can only help with cardiac disease if it is a low fat diet.

I believe the specific cause of his dementia was the operations, both in intensive care and more specifically the procedure to insert the stent. I came across an article by Dr McDougall where he comments on Bill Clinton’s tragic decline. http://www.drmcdougall.com/bill_clintons_madness.htm Needless to say I was infuriated. 31% is a huge number of people to have a major side effect from any procedure. This fact doesn’t seem to get much airplay. Cardiac surgeons are deemed heroes or better but there is a dirty secret under the radar. When blockages in the heart vessels are forcefully cleared the offending material speeds through the arteries. Unfortunately the next port of call is the smaller vessels in the brain. This is where the plaque does the real damage. Sections of the brain are blood starved and atrophy. A Stroke causes instant death or disability or Dementia sets in. Unfortunately a lot of people survive a cardiac incident and pay the price nonetheless.

The fundamental problem is the societal addiction to fats and oils. Of course we choose what we put in our mouths but if a crime can be downgraded due to mitigating circumstances so can dietary preferences for delicious greasy foods. Our biology is loaded against us. The facts are well known. The science has been meticulously documented.

Still our televisions resound to advertisement of high fat foods. The cricket season will no doubt be a continuous tribute to the wonders of fried chicken and its link to sporting excellence, the farmer will remove his hat, mop his brow and chow down on twice the recommended daily intake in a single cheese sandwich. Surgeons will perform to rapt audiences in their theatres. Drug company representatives will extoll the latest cholesterol lowering miracle cure and the death rates will remain the same. The economy and its biggest money churner, health, will continue to grow and the facts will remain hidden behind the gleaming altar of increasing GDP and increasing quarterly profit results. Politicians will smile and gloat. Their patrons, the Multinational companies, will increase market penetration and we are the ones being fucked.

FAT IS VERY, VERY BAD FOR YOU! The lies about good fats and bad fats are marketing, no more, no less. Now you have been told.

I visited my father in the nursing home today. I got really angry.


If you want to get off fat see:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html
http://www.heartattackproof.com/
http://www.tcolincampbell.org/

The Grumpy Society

Shit on the liver, we all know it. You are grumpy and the world is going to pay for it. The consequences resonate throughout our society. Our politicians must fight even though we pay them to run the place. Sportsmen treat women as objects. The media mercilessly pillories anyone for just about anything, Corporations rape and pillage. Im sure you know about road rage, institutionalised torture and an endless host of other injustices.

One of the effects of a plant based (ie no animal food) diet is more stable blood sugar levels and consequently more stable moods. The Buddha in the Lankavatara Sutra states “The meat eater is ill-smelling, contemptuous and born deprived of intelligence. He belongs to the lowest class of men. Since the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sravakas have all condemned meat eating, one who still eats meat without shame will always be devoid of sense.” Strong words. Lets pick some of them apart.

“Ill Smelling” give up meat and animal products for a month and notice the difference in your body odour and secretions.

“Contemptuous” the attitude I mentioned above. It is the complete disregard for the feelings and opinions of others. While giving up meat will aid in stabilizing blood sugar levels and moods contempt is something much stronger and leads me to think there is a deeper identity issue at work. Perhaps this is what the Buddha meant by “born deprived of intelligence” as intelligence can be defined as the ability to meaningfully adopt another's attitude. Of course the primary attitude we are have is self cherishing.

A video for you to consider, http://veg-tv.info/Earthlings

There is a web of identity that holds the charade of contempt together. It is closely tied in to what we eat and the lack of awareness we bring to situations. The next great moral leap for humanity will be the understanding that we are all passengers on the same spaceship. That the smallest bug and most annoying politician are our fellow travellers. That we depend on each other in ways we cannot yet comprehend.

from John Dunne;

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

"The bad news is you’re falling through the air"

Elsewhere I have boldly asserted that this was a profound meditation instruction so I thought I'd better explain what I meant by that.

“The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.” --CTR

The comment is a quote of a Tibetan meditation master and teacher named Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (CTR). There is a lot on Rinpoche on the net so I wont do the biographical thing suffice to say that he was probably the first fully qualified master from Tibet to live in the West and understand its values, norms and mores. As with all teachings it was given at a specific time for a specific audience and we now interpret it according to our current time and understanding.

This quote is what is known as a "pith instruction". It speaks directly to an aspect of our experience and in so doing seeks to impart some understanding of our basic condition as humans. What Rinpoche is specifically referring to is known in the Budhhist teachings as the Second Noble Truth, the truth of the origin of suffering. The origin of suffering is our continual grasping at experience and the efforts to manipulate this experience to make it more the way we want it to be. Some typical examples would be changing the radio to listen to music or talk we prefer, moving around in out chairs to deal with the numb spots in our bums, changing partners or jobs or cars or other possessions to something more up to date or desireable etc, etc. Of course we may achieve some passing satisfaction but then our external or internal environment changes and we need to get the situation back in order so off we go again. This goes on all our lives, a never ending ceaseless restless attempt to reduce discomfort or be happy. Like a sky diver without a parachute we are continually reaching out to try to stop the momentum of our lives and be safe and secure in a perfect world. As soon as we have it all together shit happens and we need to sort it all out again.

This becomes patently clear in meditation. There is a never ending stream of mental activity and sooner or later we get caught up in it and end up day dreaming. There may be good dreams (happy peaceful experiences) or there may be bad dreams (unwanted memories, bad moods etc) or boredom or whatever. But between the daydreams is where we can begin to see the sky-like open awareness that is our real nature. This intrinsic awareness has no hard landing spots. It is always there, it has always been there and as far as I can tell will be there until I die (I cant imagine that so I cant extrapolate any further). So as we learn to rest in and trust our intrinsic "sky-ness" we learn that actually there never was anything to grasp at as it was just flickering on the screen of our awareness, a bit like a good musical comedy! But grasping is a strong habit and it operates at lightening speed and so we are usually grasping at something or other. It is a moment to moment process.

Hence the usefulness of Rinpoche's statement. It is a reminder that our nature is like the sky, open, clear, luminous and always there. There actually is nothing to worry about or grasp at. There is no earth rushing up to obliterate us. Its a testament to his genius and the depth of his realisation that he was so evocative with so few words.

BTW Im actually not qualified to comment on this stuff. Seek out a real meditation master if you can see value in my amateur explanation. For those who have more experience or learning in these areas than me forgive my arrogance and honour all of us by correcting my mistakes. May all being benefit! May the peak of all wisdom, the Dzogchen teachings thrive forever, may the true masters flourish in their endeavours on our behalves! May we all spontaneously rest in our true nature!

So a few things have been changing....

For the last weeks couple of months I have been working with a truly superb Dietician named Sean Kirsten. Sean's website and story are here http://www.lookgoodfitness.com.au/ He is on FB as well facebook.com/sean.kirsten I came to him through my BNI chapter, http://www.bniprophets.bnisite.com/ a great organisation which I wont go into here. Sean is certainly passionate about what he does and it was his enthusiasm and a "failed" blood test which started me working with him.

What has emerged from this happy coincidence is a complete overhaul of my attitudes to what goes in my mouth and consequently the condition of my whole body. It is true that you are what you eat. It cant be any other way really. As many know I am really very enthralled by the path of Buddhadharma and the evolution of my practice is leading me in some rather radical directions.

My desire to eat animal flesh took a major nosedive after HH Sakya Trizin gave a Green Tara empowerment in Sydney back in the early noughties. The problem was I didnt have the technology to pursue the lifestyle required by my attitudinal shift. A diet including gems such as Bacon and Egg rolls and BBQ chickens, Pizza and the occasional Hamburger with Chips ensured that my weight and key blood indicator levels kept going up. Beers were the panacea and the hit needed on the weekends to keep the keel relatively even, or so I thought. Middle age had struck big time. When I broke my leg and was laid up for six weeks the blood sugars starting getting out of control. When the Shingles struck it got worse. I was out of the habit of exercise but still eating way too much and poorly. It all came to a head a couple of years later when my insurance renewal came up and the size of the risk was quantified in dollars.

Cutting to the chase, its six weeks since I started working with Sean. He has helped validate my intuitions about animal proteins but more importantly provided the technology to make it work. I now eat maybe a quarter of what I used to. I now eat mainly raw plant foods. This is totally environmentally sustainable and far less cruel.

No being wants to die. All beings are essentially the same as me in that they are aware, try to avoid avoid pain and move towards pleasure. There is now so much evidence of inherent animal intelligence in animal studies from Apes that have been taught sign language to the studies on Chicken social systems that any other conclusions are suspect. Animal rights is the next great ethical frontier for humanity. I am no great tantric master that can help beings towards Buddahood by consuming them. I cant lie to them by doing Ganapuja. Im far better off withdrawing my support for the inherent cruelty of the meat industry. As Buddhists we must understand the first noble truth applies to all beings.

There is also plenty of basic medical research that proves that humans are better off with none or at best tiny amount of meat diet. Start here if you have got this far through this note and can bear a bit more. http://www.tcolincampbell.org/ If you want to get in touch with Sean let me know and I will arrange an introduction.

Humans dont need to, nor should they, eat meat.

I prostrate to the great, innate, blazing, immediate awareness - the Vajraguru, to the teachings that liberate all beings, and to the emissaries of the Guru, their companions and students. Bless me that I may in fact eventually become useful, free me from grasping, delusion and hatred. Bless all beings so that they may dwell in the great freedom of inherent suchness. May virtue and auspiciousness prevail!