“Eating meat… with mindfulness, we will realize that we are eating the flesh of our own children.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
In a recent letter by Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh (who often goes by Thây) speaks to many pressing social justice issues: human rights and democracy in Burma, global warming, the war in Iraq, and the benefits of a vegetarian diet.
He recounts a poignant story told by the Buddha in the Son’s Flesh Sutra and applies it to our relationship with food. Here it is as told by Thây:
This couple, with their little child, on their way seeking asylum had to cross the desert. Due to a lack of geographical knowledge, they ran out of food, while they were only half way through the desert. They realized that all three of them would die in the desert, and they had no hope to get to the country on the other end of the desert to seek asylum. Finally, they made the decision to kill their little son. Each day they ate a small morsel of his flesh, in order to have enough energy to move on, and they carried the rest of their son’s flesh on their shoulders, so that it could continue to dry in the sun. Each time when they finished eating a morsel of their son’s flesh, the couple looked at each other and asked: “Where is our beloved child now?”
Having told this tragic story, the Buddha looked at the monks and asked: “Do you think that this couple was happy to eat their son’s flesh?”
“No, World Honored One. The couple suffered when they had to eat their son’s flesh,” the monks answered.
The Buddha taught: “Dear friends, we have to practice eating in such a way that we can retain compassion in our hearts. We have to eat in mindfulness. If not, we may be eating the flesh of our own children.”
UNESCO reported that each day about 40,000 children die because of hunger or lack of nutrition. Meanwhile, corn and wheat are largely grown to feed livestock (cows, pigs, chickens, etc.) or to produce alcohol. Over 80 percent of corn and over 95 percent of oats produced in the United States are for feeding livestock. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equivalent to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people, more than the entire human population on earth.
Eating meat and drinking alcohol with mindfulness, we will realize that we are eating the flesh of our own children.
He then goes on to outline the full extent of the environmental problems of consuming animals, advocating that all people become vegan or eat vegan 15 days out of the month. Read Thich Nhat Hanh’s full letter.
We are the living graves of murdered beasts
Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites
We never pause to wonder at our feasts
If kine, like men, can possibly have rights
We pray on Sundays that we might have light
To guide our footsteps on the path we tread
We’re sick of war - we do not want to fight -
The thought of it now fills our heart with dread.
And yet - we gorge ourselves upon the dead!
Like carrion crows we live and feed on meat,
Regardless of the suffering and pain
We cause by doing so. If thus we treat
Defenseless animals for sport or gain,
How can we hope in this world to attain
The peace we say we are so anxious for?
Wow! That’s quite the poem. If you haven’t yet, maybe now it is time to Edge Towards Veg. Peace!
At a 1838 conference of the Society for the Establishment of Peace among Men people of faith discussed what would be necessary to create universal peace. One of my biggest heroes is the abolitionist and social justice advocate William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879); I even named my mountain bike (Spencer Garrison Douglass) after him. Garrison (the man, not the bike) was present at the conference and summarized their conclusions in the below declaration which they then all signed.
I think it is important to revisit the work of those giants who came before us, to gain new insights and fresh ideas. So check out this document and share your reactions to it in the comment section. The rest of this post consists of the words of Garrison. Read the rest of this entry »
All beings suffer during wars. A dog at the March 17, 2007 peace rally in DC.
Thousands of people, myself included, marched to the Pentagon yesterday to voice our opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why oppose the war?
According to a factsheet accompanying an open letter to Congress by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President, William Sinkford:
The toll of the war on Iraqi civilians has been devastating. Estimates of the number of Iraqi dead range up to half a million.
More than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in Iraq in 2006 alone. That is equivalent to 93 civilians killed every day….
More than 3,100 American service members have been killed since the invasion, and more than 23,500 soldiers have been wounded. As many as 300,000 veterans have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, two-thirds of whom are not being treated….
As many as 3.8 million Iraqis have already fled their homes, and an additional 10,500 civilians become refugees on average every week….
We must always remember that these people are who are being killed, injured, and harmed are people like you and me. Read the rest of this entry »
During the past three years over 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur, Sudan. Each one of these victims was a precious soul, like you and your family members. In addition, 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes to escape from death and violence. Now these refugees face starvation, disease, and being hunted down, raped, tortured, and murdered.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?”
