Saturday, September 12, 2009
Harmony
To live in harmony is vicious and self-serving. Buddhism teaches us the truth of interdependence but to live interdependently is to live at the expense of other forms of life. Living in harmony with nature means I am in the picture so I, also, live at the expense of other forms of life. This is kind of an Original Sin idea in Buddhism. Whereas in Christianity Original Sin is a sin against God, just to be is to cause pain in the world. This is why humility is so strongly emphasized in Buddhism; especially Shin Buddhism. Some vegetarians, especially vegans, see their actions as making them more blameless. However, how many lives, how many ecosystems have been destroyed to grow their corn. The entire heartland of America was the home of bison and many other forms of life wiped out by cultivation.
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Very powerful insight, I bow in your virtual direction. Rarely does one find such a vivid "first person" presence. I've got a Zen knock-knock joke you might like.
ReplyDeleteKNOCK-KNOCK
(who's there?)
BUDDHA!
(buddha who?)
KNOW! BUDDHA U!
Dave, Oak Harbor
Wiped out by cultivation - cultivation mainly used for the grains to feed the cattle and other livestock meat eaters consume. The eradication of the South American rain forests - the lungs of our planet - are for cattle. Vegetarians aren't perfect but by not buying meat products at least we aren't contributing to the tremendous damage lifestock production or to the continued torture of animals. Have a nice day.
ReplyDeletehow about folks who don't drive cars? do they get extra carbon credits? are non drivers allowed to pass more gas? (lol)
ReplyDeletenobody can be perfect, everybody has a carbon footprint. just the act of having a water container to fill up at fountains is a big step when you consider how many of those plastic bottles are in the landfill. correct me if i'm wrong but weren't the bison annihilated by white settlers?