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Loving All the Animals and even Humans too
If you do not love animals, you will never go anywhere in
spirituality. If you are getting anywhere, you will not eat them. It
just works this way. It is a sign of refining consciousness. I
understand that Maharaj may have been a meat eater, but he is an
exception in many, many ways from the rule.
We are sentience. Sentience uncontaminated loves itself
and all its forms. All the apparent myriad of forms are forms of
sentience, consciousness, knowing.
The first of the four Buddhist vows is, “Sentient beings
are numberless; I vow to save them all.” Not just this being or that
being, but all of them. (I was quite shocked to learn when I was a
Buddhist monk, that even monks from many countries ate meat. Go figure.)
You need, as part of your spiritual growth, to know that you are
sentience only and that all sentience is wonderful, to be protected and
nurtured no matter what form it takes. I am my brother's keeper, my
parents' keeper, the keeper and shepherd of all the birds, insects,
animals, vegetation--all living things. They are mine to protect.
During the past decade there has been a remarkable
turning around in the mass consciousness in the West regarding our
relationship with animals. It manifests as rescue and humane groups
regarding companion animals, the vegetarian movement associated with
farm animals, the anti fur and anti circus animal groups, etc.
In the US, this work is progressing on several fronts:
Rescue and humane groups, the No-Kill advocate groups, the activist
groups and political action groups, and finally, the underground
activists unfairly characterized as terrorists.
Regarding the rescue and humane groups for which I have
the highest regard are
Alley Cat Allies,
the Feral Cat Alliance
and
Rescue Me
(The organization, not the TV show. I cannot find a link
to Rescue Me.). The latter two are local California groups.
The No-Kill shelter movement is spearheaded by the
brilliant Nathan Winograd. When I was active in trying to find a new
General Manager for Los Angeles’s Animal Services, no matter who and
where I called all over the country, one name was on everyone’s lips:
Nathan Winograd.
Nathan now has launched a revolution towards changing the
way pound systems all over the country are operated. Partially due to
his work, San Francisco has come to the point where in 2003, only 1,741
animals were euthanized compared to almost 20,000 in Los Angeles City
and 45,000 in Los Angeles County. Even taking into account the relative
size of the two cities, San Francisco's kill rate is 80% less than Los
Angeles.
So, how was this accomplished? Take a look at
Nathan's site,
and tell him I sent you. If what he says strikes deep and true, help him
out. Attached below is his No-Kill Declaration.
The third prong of the growing sentient being network are
the political activist groups, whose activities range from the usual
leaf letting and picketing, to political pressure, to civil
disobedience.
Nationally, there is
PETA,
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Their vast
website will show you many of their past and current campaigns and
achievements.
I spent 27 investigating myself before I found out I did
not exist. Since that time, I have been increasingly involved in saving
and protecting all life. It may not appear to make sense from a
theoretic, Advaitin perspective, but it makes total, universal sense
from the perspective of heart.
I hope that some day, all of mankind will view with
horror and guilt how we have treated animals for the past thousands of
years.
I am sure some of you will ask what this has to do with
spirituality. Aren’t spiritual people supposed to be passive and like
all good Advaitins, recognize that this is all illusion only and that
the movements within consciousness are pre-ordained anyway?
Yes, this world is an illusion, but only in the sense
that apparent separate consciousnesses are filled with contaminating
thoughts, concepts, imagining, etc. which tends to cover over or distort
the basic love we have for ourselves and all of sentience.
Robert was totally compassionate about animals. He was
vegan. He wore no leather. He loved his dog Dimitri. He said if it were
not for Dimitri, he would not have much to do with the world. He hated
how people treated animals. Ramana Maharshi's last words supposedly
were, "Has the peacock been fed?"
We should look towards the examples of great Advaitins
rather than mess with reasons why we should not be involved in
compassionate actions in the world. As Robert would say, “Do not be a
cold fish,” which was his precautionary warning about what happens to a
lot of California Advaitins.
Just a few days ago I received an email from Nathan that
included his Declaration of a No-Kill Nation. Please visit his
site.
It has a vast richness concerning all things related to saving animals'
lives.
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