How We Have Lulled Ourselves Into A False Sense Of Goodness
Dear all,
I came across this post (http://thesravaka.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-we-have-lulled-ourselves-into-false.html) and I have extracted it to share with everyone. I thank Martin, the blog owner for his good work and I would like to send traffic to his blog thesravaka.blogspot.com.
Tsem Rinpoche
MONDAY, 14 MARCH 2011
Of late, I have come to realize that one of the greatest delusions in my life is in thinking that I am a “good” man. After all, I don’t go looking for trouble, I don’t commit any serious offences, whenever I come across one of those blind people selling tissues I would always buy a couple (provided I have small change in my pocket), and I certainly do not kill nor do I aid, abet or condone killing. And oh, I love animals too.
There is a quote that I cannot quite remember verbatim but it speaks of a lesser man being controlled by Law and the greater man being controlled by his Conscience and Moral values. The thing is, like many people I suspect, it has been quite a while since I audited my moral values. And now that I am only beginning to, a very different picture of myself is shaping in the mirror.
Someone once said, that we do not just wake up one morning and “become” bad…we do so by the tens and thousands of tiny events when we surrender our selflessness to our self-interest. Somewhere along the journey of growing up, we stop questioning ourselves and became busy just following. Just keeping up.
I was not even a Buddhist when I came across the Buddha’s advice to question everything, rather than just follow cultures and traditions and things handed down to us. We are to check that what we do is conducive to the good and benefit of all and if it is, then we are to live by it. Makes a lot of sense regardless of what religion anyone belongs to.
There was a time when we were all young when we had to question everything. We asked “why” a lot. It had to make sense to us then. And it had to feel right. We were…innocent. Let us return to that innocence for a while and ask some simple questions of ourselves.
Are we really good? Are we still good?
For me, I asked myself “Do other people and other lives suffer as a result of the way I live”? It is then that I realized how I have willingly allowed myself to be deceived all these years. I had to look no further then the meals I ate each day.
I loved chicken, especially fried chicken.
What I thought: It was simply a dish that I enjoyed eating.
Reality:
Chicken is one of the most abused animals in the world. To begin with, most male chicks are killed as they have no value. Those allowed to live are squashed into cages without any real standing room, often suffocated by other chickens in the same cage.
Those that are alive are subjected to the stench and their own faeces and rotting flesh of those of their companion.
It doesn’t have to be this way, but for my lust for chicken, that fuelled and justified the inhumane approach the industry adopted in a hurry to meet my appetite.
I loved my steak too. Prime cut, medium rare.
What I thought:
Never once did I ask where this piece of meat came from. I just assumed, the supermarket, nicely cut up and packed in clear and clean plastic.
Reality:
The way the cow is slaughtered (see video below) is one of the most gruesome sights I have ever witnessed as a man. It begins when the calf is born and already prepared to be the veal selection on the menu. The calf is taken away from the mother within days of being born and chained to a small crate to restrict its movement so that its meat will be soft and tender from the sheer lack of mobility. These calves know only suffering from the day they are born and if you have ever seen a calf, it is one of the most gentle and harmless life you will ever encounter
This certainly looks very different without the meat and potatoes. It certainly looks very different to the way they present it in supermarkets.
What I thought:
Pork chops and Bacon. Yummy!
The Reality:
The unassuming pig is one of the smartest animals in the world, ranked 4th after Chimps, Dolphins and Elephants in overall intelligence. It has the same intelligence of a 3 year old human baby. Being intelligent, it recognises fear and pain. It senses when it is about to be slaughtered for our pleasure.
Again, see the videos below for a real look at how these intelligent beings are treated before an orange is stuffed into their mouth and served to us at glorious banquets.
What I thought:
Sharks Fin soup is “delicious” and good for us.
Reality:
The shark’s fin has NO proven health benefits and in fact the way it is prepared may even be quite harmful:
http://www.closertofree.org/Shark_Fin_Soup.asp
So, what is my point?
Simply this- I have been very much a part of the killing chain, very much an accomplice to the abuse and torture of animals, that is so unnecessary and wicked. I cannot say that I had no idea that animals were so abused, tortured and slaughtered without any regard to their pain and suffering. I ate meat not because there were nothing else to eat. I ate meat because I never questioned how the food got onto my dinner table. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to know.
Now, back to what was said earlier: We are to check that what we do is conducive to the good and benefit of all and if it is, then we are to live by it.
What if the way we have been sustaining ourselves is plain and downright wrong?
The truth is we do not need meat in our diet to live a healthy life.
http://hubpages.com/hub/not-created-to-eat-meat
The truth is meat itself is NOT tasty. In fact, meat on its own tastes disgusting and there is not a lot of difference in the carcass of a dead human being and that of an animal. The “taste”of meat, which we often claim to be fond of, is really how the dish is cooked. If we were to allow ourselves the opportunity, we will very quickly see that a delicious meal that is nutritious as well, can be had WITHOUT having to kill or be part of the torture and slaughter of fellow beings that share our earth. The fact that we can kill and eat animals, does not mean we should.
(My very sincere apologies for posting the pictures above but it is to make everyone think of what it is that we are eating, and when we are dead, whether there is really that much that separates us from the animals that we eat. We should be brave enough to look hard at all these pictures of meat if we are brave enough to want to eat them)
In preparing to pen my personal thoughts in this post, I surfed the net and came across so many images that is evidence of how inhumanely we have been treating animals. How thoughtless we have been. How cruel. How much suffering we have created which will find its way back to us.
We humans have a lot to answer for. We do not have to be Buddhist to know right from wrong. We do not need to belong to any religion to practice compassion and denounce cruelty and torture.
What truly makes us special is that we can all exercise our freedom of choice. We can decide not to be a part of this cruelty. We can choose not to put into our mouth such toxic food and tell the world it is alright to keep abusing these innocent animals. We can do our part to see that food resources go to where they are needed most. The grain that go towards feeding the animals to produce a SINGLE piece of steak could have fed 50 of these fellow human beings:
As Buddhists, we can choose not to create the karma for us to experience the same, if not worse, suffering and pain as we have inflicted on these animals.
As students and disciples of our Guru, Tsem Rinpoche, we can choose to listen and cease surrendering our Self-respect over to our Self-interest.
We can choose not to kill. We can choose to be vegetarian.
Please have a look at the following Menu and make your choice. It matters.
If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/IfSlaughterhouseHadGlassWalls.mp4
15 Reasons To Quit Eating Meat And Be A Vegetarian
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/15reasonstoquiteatingmeatandbeavegetarian.mp4
Cats And Dog Massacre In China
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Cats_and_Dogs_Massacre_in_China.mp4
Force Fed To Death
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Force_Fed_to_Death.mp4
Cruelty At New York’s Largest Dairy Farm
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Cruelty_at_New_York_s_Largest_Dairy_Farm.mp4
19 Videos On Animal Cruelty
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/2010/06/19-videos-on-animal-cruelty.html
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Thank you Rinpoche for this post which tells us more than that. Feeling the pain of those been slaughtered for human consumption. We should gave up eating meat , have compassion for them who cannot speak for themselves. Looking at those pictures feeling uneasy, the way those chickens , pigs and so forth were killed. We have a lot to answer for those sufferings and killing . We have a choice not to kill and to be vegetarian. Choosing to be a vegetarian is the best as there are many benefits. Vegetarians appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Vegetarians also tend to have lower overall cancer rates and lower risk of chronic disease. Hence for health reasons we should go on vegetarian.
Indeed. Many people indulged in their own altered reality based on “what I don’t see therefore does not exist.” Which is really no difference from ostrich putting the head in the sand, especially when it comes to compassionate living. While everyone proud themselves as law abiding citizen, our daily affair actually involves the murdering and torturing of other living beings. If you are not a vegan, your everyday life involve causing harm through your purchasing power on animals for their meat, fur, leather, as a tester for your cosmetic, skin care, medicine and many more. Is it too much for you to stop eating meat just so that less animals are being harmed and murdered every year? Something to think about and act on.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this article. This article is very spot on in telling us what are we eating when we chose to take meat. When we take meat, we only think of how it is in the plastic box, nice and clean. We tend to forget where does the meat come from and what has to be done to obtain the meat.
There was once this saying that says people should eat what they hunt. If they wish to take meat, they will have to prepare to kill. This is a clever idea to give awareness to those who take meat.
Humbly,
Chris chong
The reality is painful, but everyone has to face it. Everyone has to know what is really happening to animals all around the world. And everyone should help stop this from happening.
This is the brutal truth we need to confront and wake up !
How many animals killed daily to satisfy our selfish quest for the taste of fresh meat ? This truth is packaged up hygienically in the super markets so that we don’t see the blood and gore.
I lost the appetite to eat a piece of bloody steak or freshly steamed fish after reading this post. I don’t want to keep feeding myself with carcasses.
Thank you Rinpoche for the brutal truth.
How animals are treated just to feed out stomachs is not justified at all. The torment and suffering animals go through is very disturbing. Human beings create the most sufferings on to other living beings. We are the largest predator on planet Earth.
If we don’t not want sufferings for ourselves, I believe we should stop creating sufferings for others. When we eat meat, we are indirectly killing. What’s the point of saving the world out of compassion and still eat meat? The 2 do not jive.
Thank you Rinpoche! for pointing out this blog. Very heartbreaking and heartwarming. Thoughts I had never ponder as detail nor I can express it myself to others better, more like gut feelings.
Thank you so much..Its time for me to stay in witness of this and stop turning my head. We owe the animals that much. This also opened my eyes to the day my 12 year old daughter came to the dinner table and said
no more… to eating meat.(she is now 28 and has stood her ground)
She declared this and we said ok any reason… she said a couple of things and never brought it up again. She was then ridiculed at family dinners by the auntie’s thinking she was doing this for attention.
I learned a lot over the years by watching this brave one know exactly what was right for her and those who could not speak for themselves.
Thank you Danielle and Rinpoche….I was blind and now i see
I appreciate your efforts to convince a reluctant populace of the many virtues of vegatarianism.
I, even now in my mid 60s, am endeavoring to make life adjustments to give up this practice, not so much for any health reasons (although this is a significant factor of great benefit to me in my current health profile) but just the compassion and justice involved in avoiding this unnecessary gruesome means to prevail in this physical worldliness.
But I don’t think I have avoided dipping into the karmic flaw of existence in this life and reality by merely avoiding the demand and consumption of meat. I realize that I could not continue to exist in this physical world without demanding that some life form surrenders its vitality prematurly so that I might continue to go on. Meat is not the only form of living existence which is unjustly terminated for the ravenous appetites of the physical world. They just seem to demonstrate their objection to being so treated in ways many humans can relate to.
I realize that there is little option for continuing in this fortunate incarnation with all its advantages of time and opportunity to explore drawing better maps of reality; to see things as they are. There seems no escape from this trap.
I am not using this analysis to avoid taking a stand on ceasing my demand for meat. I will continue to strive for this goal yet I think I see the unavoidable problem and I am sadden by it. Sometimes, it must be admitted, aspects of Life are unavoidable sorrowful propositions.
Doesn’t this make attaining enlightenment and (hopefully) escaping this burden a more pressing goal?
Thank you for your great efforts, Rinpoche.