A lifetime commitment to a vegan or lactovegetarian diet is a prerequisite for initiation into the
Quan Yin Method. Foods from plant sources and dairy products are permitted on this diet, but all
other foods from animal sources including eggs should not be eaten. There are many reasons for this,
but the most important comes from the First Precept, which tells us to refrain from taking the life of
sentient beings, or Thou shalt not kill. Not killing or otherwise harming other living creatures is of
obvious benefit for them. Less obvious is the fact that refraining from harming others is equally
advantageous for ourselves. Why? Because of the Law of Karma: As ye sow, so shall ye reap. When
you kill, or cause others to kill for you, in order to satisfy your desire for meat, you incur a karmic debt,
and this debt must eventually be repaid.
So in a very real sense, the keeping of a vegetarian diet is a gift which we give to ourselves. We feel
better, the quality of our lives improves as the heaviness of our karmic indebtedness diminishes, and
we are offered entrance into new subtle and heavenly realms of inner experience. It is well worth the
small price you have to pay!
The spiritual arguments against eating meat are convincing for some people, but there are other
compelling reasons for being a vegetarian. All of them are rooted in common sense. They have to do
with issues of personal health and nutrition, ecology and the environment, ethics and animal suffering,
and world hunger.
Health and Nutrition
Studies of human evolution have shown that our ancestors were vegetarian by nature. The structure of
the human body is not suited for eating meat. This was demonstrated in an essay in comparative
anatomy by Dr. G.S. Huntingen of Columbia University. He pointed out that carnivores have short,
small and large intestines. Their large intestine is characteristically very straight and smooth. In
contrast, vegetarian animals have both a long small intestine and a long large intestine. Because of the
low fiber content and high protein density of meat, the intestines do not require a long time to absorb
nutrients; thus, the intestines of carnivores are shorter in length than those of vegetarian animals.
Humans, like other naturally vegetarian animals, have both a long small and large intestine. Together,
our intestines are approximately twenty-eight feet (eight and a half meters) in length. The small
intestine is folded back on itself many times, and its walls are convoluted, not smooth. Because they
are longer than those found in carnivores, the meat we eat stays in our intestines for a longer period of
time. Consequently, the meat can putrefy and create toxins. These toxins have been implicated, as a
cause of colon cancer, and they also increase the burden on the liver, which has the function of getting
rid of toxins. This can cause cirrhosis and even cancer of the liver.
Meat contains a lot of urokinase protein and urea, which add to the burden on the kidneys, and can
destroy kidney function. There are fourteen grams of urokinase protein in every pound of steak. If
living cells are put into liquid urokinase protein, their metabolic function will degenerate. Furthermore,
meat lacks cellulose or fiber, and lack of fiber can easily create constipation. It is known that
constipation can cause rectal cancer or piles.
The cholesterol and saturated fats in flesh also create cardiovascular disorders. Cardiovascular disorders
are the number one leading cause of death in the United States, and now in Formosa.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death. Experiments indicate that the burning and roasting of flesh
creates a chemical element (Methylcholanthrene), which is a powerful carcinogen. Mice given this
chemical develop cancers, such as bone tumors, cancer of the blood, cancer of the stomach et cetera.
Research has shown that infant mice fed by a female mouse having breast cancer will also develop
cancer. When human cancer cells were injected into animals, the animals also developed cancer. If the
meat which we eat daily comes from animals that originally have such disorders, and we take them
into our body, there is a good chance we will also get the diseases.
Most people assume that meat is clean and safe, that there are inspections done at all butcheries. There
are far too many cattle, pigs, poultry, et cetera, killed for sale every day for each one to actually be
examined. It's very difficult to check whether a piece of meat has cancer in it, let alone check every
single animal. Currently, the meat industry just cuts off the head when it has a problem, or cuts off the
leg which is diseased. Only the bad parts are removed and the rest is sold.
The famous vegetarian, Dr. J.H. Kellogg said, "When we eat vegetarian food, we don't have to worry
about what kind of disease the food died of. This makes a joyful meal!" There is yet another concern.
Antibiotics as well as other drugs including steroids and growth hormones are either added to animal
feed or injected directly into the animals. It has been reported that people eating these animals will
absorb these drugs into their bodies. There is a possibility that antibiotics in meat are diminishing the
effectiveness of antibiotics for human use.
There are some people who consider the vegetarian diet not sufficiently nourishing. An American
surgical expert, Dr. Miller, practiced medicine for forty years in Formosa. He established a hospital
there, where all the meals were vegetarian, for staff members as well as the patients. He said, "The
mouse is one kind of animal which can support its life with both a vegetarian and non-vegetarian diet.
If two mice are segregated, with one eating flesh and the other vegetarian food, we find that their
growth and development are the same, but that the vegetarian mouse lives longer and has greater
resistance to disease. Furthermore, when the two mice got sick, the vegetarian mouse recovered
quicker." He then added, "The medicine given to us by modern science has improved greatly, but it
can only treat illnesses. Food however, can sustain our health." He pointed out that, "Food from plants
is a more direct source of nutrition than meat. People eat animals, but the sources of nutrition for the
animals we eat is plants. The lives of most animals are short, and animals have nearly all the diseases
that mankind has. It is very likely that the diseases of mankind come from eating the flesh of diseased
animals. So, why don't people get their nutrition directly from plants?" Dr. Miller suggested that we
only need cereals, beans and vegetables to get all the nourishment we need to maintain good health.
Many people have the idea that animal protein is superior to plant protein because the former is
considered a complete protein, and the latter is incomplete. The truth is that some plant protein are
complete, and that food combining can create complete proteins out of several incomplete protein
foods. In March 1988 the American Dietetic Association announced that: "It is the position of the
ADA that vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate when appropriately planned."
It is often falsely believed that meat-eaters are stronger than vegetarians, but an experiment conducted
by Professor Irving Fisher of Yale University on 32 vegetarians and 15 meat-eaters showed that
vegetarians had more endurance than meat-eaters. He had people hold out their arms for as long as
possible. The outcome from the test was very clear. Among the 15 meat-eaters, only two persons could
hold out their arms for fifteen to thirty minutes. However, among the 32 vegetarians: 22 persons held
out their arms for fifteen to thirty minutes, 15 persons for over thirty minutes, 9 persons for over one
hour, 4 persons for over two hours, and one vegetarian held his arms out for over three hours.
Many long distance track athletes keep a vegetarian diet for the time preceding competitions. Dr.
Barbara More, an expert in vegetarian therapy, completed a one hundred and ten mile race in twenty-
seven hours and thirty minutes. A woman of fifty-six years of age, she broke all the records held by
young men: "I want to be an example to show that people who take a whole vegetarian diet will enjoy
a strong body, a clear mind and a purified life."
Does the vegetarian get enough protein in his diet? The World Health Organization recommends that
4.5% of daily calories be derived from protein. Wheat has 17% of its calories as protein, broccoli has
45% and rice has 8%. It is very easy to have a protein rich diet without eating meat. With the additional
benefit of avoiding the many diseases caused by high fat diets such as heart disease and many cancers,
vegetarianism is clearly the superior choice.
The relationship between over consumption of meat and other animal source foods containing high
levels of saturated fats, and heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer and strokes has been proven.
Other diseases which are often prevented and sometimes cured by a low-fat vegetarian diet include:
kidney stones, prostate cancer, diabetes, peptic ulcers, gallstones, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis,
gum disease, acne, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, hypoglycemia, constipation, diverticulosis,
hypertension, osteoporosis, ovarian cancer, hemorrhoids, obesity and asthma.
There is no greater personal health risk than eating meat, aside from smoking.
Ecology and the Environment
Raising animals for meat has its consequences. It leads to rain forest destruction, global heat rising,
water pollution, water scarcity, desertification, misuse of energy resources and world hunger. The use
of land, water, energy and human effort to produce meat is not an efficient way to use the Earth's
resources.
Since 1960, some 25% of Central America's rain forests have been burned and cleared to create pasture
for beef cattle. It has been estimated that every four ounce hamburger made from rain forest beef
destroys 55 square feet of tropical rain forest. In addition, raising cattle contributes significantly to the
production of three gases which cause global warming; is a leading cause of water pollution and
requires a staggering 2464 gallons of water for the production of each pound of beef. It only takes 29
gallons of water to produce a pound of tomatoes and 139 gallons to produce a one pound loaf of whole
wheat bread. Nearly half of the water consumed in the United States goes to the growing of feed for
cattle and other livestock.
Many more people could be fed if the resources used to raise cattle were used to produce grain to feed
the world's population. An acre of land growing oats produces 8 times the protein and 25 times the
calories, if the oats are fed to humans rather than to cattle. An acre of land used for broccoli produces
10 times the protein, calories and niacin as an acre of land producing beef. Statistics like these are
numerous. The world's resources would be more efficiently utilized if the land used for livestock
production was converted to raising crops to feed people.Eating a vegetarian diet allows you to "tread
more lightly on the planet". In addition to taking only what you need and reducing excess, you will feel
better when you know that a living being doesn't have to die each time you eat a meal.
World Hunger
Nearly one billion people suffer from hunger and malnutrition on this planet. Over 40 million die each
year of starvation, and most of them are children. Despite this, more than one third of the world's grain
harvest is diverted from feeding people to feeding livestock. In the United States, livestock consume
70% of all the grain produced. If we feed people instead of livestock, no one would go hungry.
Animal Suffering
Are you aware of the fact that more than 100,000 cows are slaughtered every day in the United Sates?
Most animals in Western countries are raised on "factory farms". These facilities are designed to
produce the maximum number of animals for slaughter at the minimum expense. Animals are
crowded together, disfigured and treated like machines for the conversion of feed into flesh. This is a
reality that most of us will never see with our own eyes. It has been said that, "One visit to a
slaughterhouse will make you a vegetarian for life."
Leo Tolstoy said, "As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be battlefields. A vegetarian diet is
the acid test of humanitarianism". Although most of us do not actively condone killing, we have
developed the habit, supported by society, of eating meat regularly, without any real awareness of
what is being done to the animals we eat.
The Company of Saints and Others
From the beginning of recorded history we can see that vegetables have been the natural food of human
beings. Early Greek and Hebrew myths all spoke of people originally eating fruit. Ancient Egyptian
priests never ate meat. Many great Greek philosophers such as Plato, Diogenes and Socrates all
advocated vegetarianism.
In India, Shakyamuni Buddha emphasized the importance of Ahimsa, the principle of not harming any
living things. He warned His disciples not to eat meat, or else other living beings would become
frightened of them. Buddha made the following observations: Meat eating is just an acquired habit.
In the beginning we were not born with a desire for it. Flesh eating people cut off their inner seed
of Great Mercy. Flesh eating people kill each other and eat each other... this life I eat you, and
next life you eat me... and it always continues in this way. How can they ever get out of the
Three Realms (of illusion)?
Many early Taoists, early Christians and Jews were vegetarians. It is recorded in the Holy Bible: And
God said, I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat; but for the wild
animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food. (Genesis 1:29) Other
examples forbidding the eating of meat in the Bible: You must not eat meat with blood in it, because
the life is in the blood. (Genesis 9:4) God said, Who told you to kill the bullock and the she goat to
make an offering to me? Wash yourselves from this innocent blood, so I may hear your prayer;
otherwise I will turn my head away because your hands are full of blood. Repent yourselves so I
may forgive you. (Isaiah 1:11-16) St. Paul, one of Jesus' disciples, said in his letter to the Romans, It
is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine. (Romans 14:21)
Recently, historians have discovered many ancient books that have shed new light on the life of Jesus
and His teachings. Jesus said: People who have animals' flesh become their own tombs. I tell you
honestly, the man who kills will be killed. The man who kills living things and eats their meat is
eating the meat of the dead men.
Indian religions also avoid the eating of flesh. It is said that, People can't get flesh without killing
things. A person who hurts sentient beings will never be blessed by God. So, avoid taking flesh!
(Hindu Precept)
The holy Scripture of Islam, the Koran, forbids the eating of dead animals, blood and flesh.
A great Chinese Zen Master, Han Shan Tzu wrote a poem which was strongly against flesh eating:
Go quickly to the market to buy meat and fish and feed them to your wife and children. But why
must their lives be taken to sustain yours? It's unreasonable. It will not bring you affinity with
Heaven, but make you become dregs of Hell!
Many famous writers, artists, scientists, philosophers and eminent men were vegetarians. The
following people have all embraced vegetarianism with enthusiasm: Shakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ,
Virgil, Horace, Plato, Ovid, Petrarch, Pythagoras, Socrates, William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Sir Isaac
Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry
David Thoreau, Emile Zola, Bertrand Russell, Richard Wagner, Percy Bysshe Shelley, H. G. Wells,
Albert Einstein, Rabindranath Tagore, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert
Schweitzer; and more recently, Paul Newman, Madonna, Princess Diana, Lindsay Wagner,
Paul McCartney and Candice Bergen, to name a few.
Albert Einstein said, "I think the changes and purifying effects that a vegetarian diet have on a
human being's disposition are quite beneficial to mankind. Therefore, it is both auspicious and
peaceful for people to choose vegetarianism." This has been the common advice of many important
figures and sages throughout history!
Q: Eating animals is killing living beings, but isn't eating vegetables a kind of killing, too?
M: Eating plants is also killing living things and will create some karmic hindrance, but the effect is
very minimal. If one practices the Quan Yin Method for two and a half hours every day, one can get
rid of this karmic effect. As we have to eat in order to survive, we choose food which has the least
consciousness and suffers the least. Plants consist of 90% water, thus their level of consciousness is
so low that it hardly feels any suffering. Furthermore, when we eat many vegetables we don't cut their
roots, but rather we help their asexual reproduction by cutting branches and leaves. The end result can
actually be beneficial to the plant. Therefore, horticulturists say that pruning vegetation helps them
grow large and beautiful.
This is even more evident with fruit. When fruit ripens, it will attract people to eat it by its fragrant
smell, beautiful color and delicious taste. It is in this way that fruit trees can achieve their purpose of
propagating their seed over a wide area. If we do not pick and eat them, the fruit will become overripe
and will fall to the ground to rot. Its seed will be shaded from sunlight by the tree above them and will
die. So, eating vegetables and fruit is a natural tendency, which brings to them no suffering at all.
Q: Most people have the idea that vegetarians are shorter and thinner, and flesh eaters are taller
and bigger. Is this true?
M: Vegetarians are not necessarily thinner and shorter. If their diet is balanced, they can also grow tall
and strong. As you can see, all big animals like elephants, cattle, giraffes, hippopotamuses, horses et
cetera, eat only vegetables and fruit. They are stronger than carnivores, very gentle and beneficial to
mankind. But flesh eating animals are both very violent and of no use. If human beings eat many
animals, they will also become affected with animal instincts and qualities. Flesh eating people are
not necessarily tall and strong, but their life span is very short on the average. Eskimos are almost
totally flesh eating, but are they very tall and strong? Do they have a long life? This I think you can
understand very clearly.
Q: Can vegetarians eat eggs?
M: No. When we eat eggs we are also killing beings. Some say that commercially available eggs are
unfertilized, so eating them is not killing living things. This is only seemingly correct. An egg remains
unfertilized only because the appropriate circumstances for its fertilization have been withheld, so the
egg cannot complete its natural purpose of developing into a chicken. Even though this development
has not occurred, it still contains the innate life force needed for this. We know that eggs have innate
life force; otherwise, why is it that ova are the only type of cells which can be fertilized? Some point
out that eggs contain the essential nutrients, protein and phosphorus, essential for human bodies. But
protein is available from bean curd, and phosphorus from many kinds of vegetables such as potatoes.
We know that from ancient times till now, there have been many great monks who did not eat meat
or eggs, and still had a long life span. For instance the Ying Guang Master ate only a bowl of
vegetables and some rice each meal, and yet he lived up to the age of eighty. Furthermore, egg yolks
contain a lot of cholesterol, which is a major cause of cardiovascular disorders, the number one killer
in Formosa and America. No wonder we see that most patients are egg eaters!
Q: Man raises animals and poultry, such as pigs, cattle, chickens, ducks, et cetera. Why can't we
eat them?
M: So? Parents raise their children. Do parents have the right to eat their children? All living things
have the right to live, and no one should deprive them of this. If we have a look at the laws in Hong
Kong, even killing oneself is against the law. So, how much more unlawful would killing other living
beings be?
Q: Animals are born for people to eat. If we don't eat them, they will fill the world. Right?
M: This is an absurd idea. Before you kill an animal, do you ask it if it wants to be killed and eaten by
you or not? All living beings desire to live and are afraid to die. We don't want to be eaten by a tiger,
so why should animals be eaten by humans? Human beings have only existed in the world for several
tens of thousands of years, but before mankind appeared, many species of animals had already existed.
Did they overcrowd the Earth? Living things maintain a natural ecological balance. When there is too
little food and space is limited, this will cause a drastic reduction in population. This maintains the
population at an appropriate level.
Q: Why should I be vegetarian?
M: I am vegetarian because the God inside me wants it. Understand? Eating meat is against the
universal principle of not wanting to be killed. We ourselves don't want to be killed, and we ourselves
don't want to be stolen from. Now, if we do that to other people, then we are acting against ourselves,
and that makes us suffer. Everything that you do against others makes you suffer. You cannot bite
yourself and you shouldn't stab yourself. In the same way you should not kill, because that is against
the principle of life. Understand? It would make us suffer, so we don't do it. It doesn't mean we limit
ourselves in any way. It means we expand our life to all kinds of life. Our life will not be limited within
this body, but extended to the life of animals and all kinds of beings. That makes us grander, greater,
happier and limitless. Okay?
Q: Would You speak on vegetarian eating and how this can contribute to world peace?
M: Yes. You see, most of the wars that happen in this world are due to economic reasons. Let's face it.
The economic difficulties of a country become more urgent when there is hunger, lack of food, or a
lack of equal distribution of food among different countries. If you took the time to read magazines and
research the facts about the vegetarian diet, then you would know this very well. Raising cattle and
animals for meat has caused our economy to go bankrupt in all aspects. It has created hunger
throughout the world - at least in the Third World countries.
It's not I who is saying this, it is an American citizen who did this type of research and wrote a book
about it. You can go to any bookshop and read about vegetarian research and food processing research.
You can read, "Diet For a New America" by John Robbins. He is a very famous ice-cream millionaire.
He gave it all up in order to be a vegetarian, and to write a vegetarian book against his family tradition
and business. He lost a lot of money, prestige and business, but he did it for the sake of Truth. That
book is very good. There are many other books and magazines which can give you a lot of information
and facts about the vegetarian diet and how it can contribute to world peace.
You see, we bankrupted our food supply by feeding cattle. You know how much protein, medicine,
water supply, manpower, cars, trucks, road construction and how many hundreds of thousands of acres
of land have been wasted before a cow is good enough for one meal. Understand? All these things
could be distributed equally to underdeveloped countries, then we could solve the hunger problem. So
now, if a country is in need of food it probably invades the other country just to save its own people.
In the long run, this has created a bad cause and retribution. Understand?
As you sow, so shall you reap. If we kill someone for food, we will be killed for food later, in some
other form the next time, the next generation. It's a pity. We are so intelligent, so civilized and yet
most of us do not know the cause of why our neighboring countries are suffering. It is because of our
palates, our tastes, and our stomachs.
In order to feed and nourish one body we kill so many beings, and starve so many fellow human beings.
We aren't even talking about the animals yet. Understand? Then this guilt, consciously or unconsciously,
will weigh down upon our conscience. It makes us suffer from cancer, tuberculosis and other kinds of
incurable diseases, including AIDS. Ask yourself, why does your country, America, suffer the most? It
has the highest rate of cancer in the world, because the Americans eat a lot of beef. They eat more meat
than any of the other countries. Ask yourself why the Chinese or communist countries don't have that
high a rate of cancer. They don't have as much meat. Understand? That is what the research says, not I.
Okay? Don't blame me.
Q: What are some spiritual benefits that we get from being vegetarians?
M: I'm glad you asked the question in this manner, because it means you only concentrate on, or care
about, spiritual benefits. Most people would care about health, diet and figure when they ask about the
vegetarian diet. The spiritual aspects of a vegetarian diet are that it is very clean and nonviolent.
Thou shalt not kill. When God said this to us, He did not say do not kill human beings, He said do
not kill any beings. Didn't He say that He made all animals to befriend us, to help us? Did He not
put the animals in our care? He said, take care of them, rule over them. When you rule over your
subjects, do you kill your subjects and eat them? Then you would become a king with no one else
around? So now you understand when God said that. We must do it. There is no need to question Him.
He has spoke very clearly, but who understands God except God?
So now you have to become God in order to understand God. I invite you to be God-like again, to be
yourself, to be no one else. To meditate on God doesn't mean you worship God, it means that you
become God. You realize that you and God are one. I and my Father are one, didn't Jesus say so? If
He said He and His father are one, we and His father can also be one, because we are also children of
God. And Jesus also said that what He does we can even do better. So we may be even better than
God, who knows!
Why worship God when we don't know anything about God? Why use blind faith? We must first know
what we are worshipping, just like we must know who the girl is we're going to marry before we marry
her. Nowadays, it's customary that we don't marry before we date. So why should we worship God
with blind faith? We have the right to demand that God appears to us, and to make Hirmself known to
us. We have the right to choose which God we would like to follow.
So now you see that it is very clear in the Bible that we should be vegetarians. For all health reasons,
we should be vegetarians. For all scientific reasons, we should be vegetarians. For all economic
reasons, we should be vegetarians. For all compassionate reasons, we should be vegetarians. As well,
to save the world, we should be vegetarians.
It is stated in some research that if people in the West, in America, eat vegetarian only once a week,
we would be able to save sixteen million starving people every year. So be a hero, be vegetarian. For
all of these reasons, even if you don't follow me, or don't practice the same method, please be a
vegetarian for your own sake, for the sake of the world.
Q: If everyone eats plants, will it create a food shortage?
M: No. Using a given piece of land to grow crops provides fourteen times as much food as using the
same piece of land to grow fodder to feed animals. Plants from each acre of land provide 800,000
calories of energy; however, if these plants are used to raise animals which are then eaten as food, the
animals' meat can only provide 200,000 calories of energy. That means that during the process
600,000 calories of energy are lost. So the vegetarian diet is evidently more efficient and economical
than the meat diet.
Q: Is fish all right to eat for a vegetarian?
M: It's all right if you want to eat fish. But if you want to eat vegetarian, fish is not a vegetable.
Q: Some people say that it is important to be a good-hearted man, but it is not necessary to be a
vegetarian. Does this make sense?
M: If one is truly a good-hearted person, then why does he still eat another being's flesh? Seeing them
suffer so, he should not be able to bear to eat them! Flesh eating is unmerciful, so how can this be done
by a good-hearted man?
Master Lien Ch'ih once said, "Kill its body, and eat its meat. In this world there is no one more
cruel, malevolent, atrocious and evil than this man. How can he ever claim that he himself has a
good heart?"
Mencius also said, "If you see it alive, you can't bear to see it die, and if you hear it groaning you
cannot bear to eat its meat; so the real gentlemen keep far from the kitchen."
Human intelligence is higher than that of animals, and we can use weapons to make them unable to
resist us, so they die with hatred. The kind of man who does this, bullying small and weak creatures,
has no right to be called a gentleman. When animals are killed, they are terribly stricken with agony,
fear and resentment. This causes the production of toxins that stay in their meat to harm those who eat
it. Since the frequency of the vibration of animals is lower than that of mankind, they will influence our
vibration, and affect the development of wisdom.
Q: Is it all right just to be a so-called "convenient vegetarian"? (Convenient vegetarians do not
strictly avoid meat. They would eat vegetables out of a mixed vegetable and meat dish.)
M: No.
For example, if food is put into a poisonous liquid and then removed, do you think it will become
poisonous or not? In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Mahakasyapa asked Buddha, "When we beg and are
given vegetables mixed with meat, can we eat this food? How can we clean the food?" Buddha
replied, "One should clean it with water and separate the vegetables from the meat, then one can
eat it."
From the above dialogue we can understand that one cannot even eat vegetables which are mixed with
meat unless one first cleans them with water, not to mention eating meat alone! Therefore, it is very
easy to see that Buddha and His disciples all kept a vegetarian diet. However, some people slandered
Buddha by saying that He was a "convenient vegetarian", and that if alms-givers gave meat, He ate
meat. This is truly nonsense. Those who say so have read too little of the Scriptures, or don't
understand the Scriptures they have read.
In India, over ninety percent of the people are vegetarians. When people see mendicants in yellow
robes they all know they should offer them vegetarian food, not to mention that most of the people
have no meat to give anyway!
Q: A long time ago, I heard another Master say, "Buddha ate a pig's foot and then got diarrhea
and died." Is this true?
M: Absolutely not. It was because of eating a kind of mushroom that Buddha died. If we translate
directly from the language of the Brahmans, this kind of mushroom is called the "pig's foot", but it is
not a real pig's foot. It's just like when we call a kind of fruit "longan" (in Chinese this literally means
the "dragon's eye"). There are many things that by name are not vegetables but actually are vegetarian
foods, such things as the "dragon's eye". This mushroom in Brahmanic language is called "pig's foot"
or "pig's joy". Both have a connection with pigs. This kind of mushroom was not easy to find in ancient
India and was a rare delicacy, so people offered it to Buddha in worship. This mushroom cannot be
found above the ground. It grows under the ground. If people want to find it they must search with the
help of an old pig which likes very much to eat this kind of mushroom. Pigs detect it by their smell,
and when they discover one, they use their feet to dig in the mud to find and eat it. That was why this
kind of mushroom is called the "pig's joy" or "pig's foot". Actually these two names refer to the same
mushroom. Because it was translated carelessly and because people did not truly understand the
derivation, the following generations have been caused to misunderstand and mistake Buddha for a
flesh devouring man. This is really a regrettable thing.
Q: Some meat-lovers say that they buy meat from the butcher, so it's not killed by themselves,
therefore, it is all right to eat it. Do You think this is right?
M: This is a disastrous mistake. You must know that butchers kill living beings because people want to
eat. In the Lankavatara Sutra, Buddha said, If there was no one eating meat, then no killing would
happen. So eating meat and killing living beings are of the same sin. Because of the killing of too
many living beings, we have natural disasters and man-made calamities. Wars are also caused by too
much killing.
Q: Some people say that while plants can't produce poisonous things like urea or urokinase, fruit
and vegetable growers use lots of pesticides on the plants, which are bad for our health. Is that so?
M: If farmers use pesticides and other highly toxic chemicals like DDT on crops, it can lead to cancer,
infertility and diseases of the liver. Toxins like DDT can diffuse into fat, and are usually stored in
animal fat. When you eat meat, it means that you take in all these highly concentrated pesticides and
other poisons stored in animals' fat, which have accumulated during the growth of the animal. These
accumulations can be as much as thirteen times that in fruit, vegetables or grains. We can clean the
pesticide sprayed on fruit surfaces, but we cannot remove the pesticides deposited in animal fat. The
accumulating process occurs because these pesticides are cumulative. So consumers at the top of the
food chain are the most harmed.
Experiments at the University of Iowa showed that of the pesticides found in human bodies almost all
came from eating flesh. They discovered that the pesticide level in the bodies of vegetarian people is
less than half of that in meat-eaters. Actually, there are other toxins in flesh besides pesticides. In the
process of raising animals, much of their food consists of chemicals to make them develop faster or to
change their meat color, taste or texture, and to preserve the flesh, et cetera.
For example, preservatives produced from nitrates are highly toxic. On July 18, 1971, the New York
Times reported, "The great hidden dangers to health for meat-eaters are the invisible pollutants in meat
such as bacteria in salmon, remnants of pesticides, preservatives, hormones, antibiotics and other
chemical additives." Besides the above, animals are injected with vaccines, which may remain in their
flesh. In this respect, the protein in fruit, nuts, beans, corn and milk are all more pure than the protein
of meat, which has 56% water insoluble impurities. Research shows that those man-made additives
can lead to cancers, other diseases or deformed fetuses. So it is even proper for pregnant women to eat
a pure vegetarian diet to ensure the physical and spiritual health of the fetuses. From beans you can get
protein; and from fruit and vegetables you get vitamins and minerals. |
 Aphorisms
____________________________________________________________________
ABOUT SUPREME MASTER CHING HAI
http://www.godsdirectcontact.org/eng/article/chinghai.html
WHY PEOPLE MUST BE VEGETARIAN - by SUPREME MASTER CHING HAI:
Scroll Down to "Why People Must be Vegetarian"
http://www.suprememastertv.com/sample-booklet
____________________________________________________________________
From the Book "SAVOR - MINDFUL EATING, MINDFUL LIFE" by THICH NHAT HANH &
DR. LILIAN CHEUNG
Page 49) In fact, much of the world's suffering comes from not eating mindfully, from not looking
deeply into what and how we eat. This mindless eating can lead to weight gain and the diseases
caused by poor nutrition, and it takes its toll on the health of the planet also. We have to learn
ways to eat that preserve the health and well - being of our body, our spirit, and our planet.
Looking deeply at the way we eat from a global perspective, we can see that meat production is
a huge drain on the planet. The United Nations report Livestock's Long Shadow, an in - depth
assessment of the damaging impact of livestock on our environment, concluded that livestock's
negative effect on our environment is massive and that we need to address it with urgency. The
report estimates that raising livestock uses 8 percent of our planet's water and contributes
strongly to water depletion and pollution. Some scientists have estimated that it takes one
hundred times as much water to produce a kilogram of beef as it does to produce a kilogram
of protein from grain. Part of the reason that so much water is needed to produce livestock is
that cattle are fattened on vast amounts of grain, which requires water to grow. In the United
States, cattle consume 7 times as much grain as the U.S. population as a whole.
An Environmental Protection Agency report on U.S. agricultural crop production in 2000
states that, according to the National Corn Growers Association, about 80 percent of all
corn grown in the United States is consumed by domestic and overseas livestock, poultry,
and fish production. Yet, ironically, more than 9 thousand children die each day from causes
related to hunger and undernutrition. It is a painful realization that the grain and resources
we use to raise livestock could be used more directly instead to feed the starving and
malnourished children in the world.
Furthermore, a 2008 report by the Pew Charitable Trust and the John Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health found that factory farming in the United States is taking a heavy toll
on human health and the health of the environment - and that keeping livestock in these
"concentrated animal feeding operations" constitutes inhumane treatment.
Page 51) Animal waste pollutes the water and air around the farms, causing illness among
farmworkers and farm neighbors, as well as land degradation. Heavy use of antibiotics in
factory farming leads to new strains of viruses and bacteria resistant to antibiotics, creating
"superbugs" that may pose a public health threat to us all. In the report, the experts
recommended phasing out and banning the use of antibiotics in farm animals except for the
treatment of disease, instituting tighter regulation of factory farm waste, and phasing out
intensive confinement systems.
The devastating environmental and societal impact of raising livestock goes beyond the
use of water and land to grow food. Our society's hunger for meat contributes mightily to
the production of climate - changing greenhouse gases. The livestock industry is responsible
for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, a higher share than the entire
transportation sector. Seventy percent of forests in the Amazon have been cut to
provide grazing land for cattle, and when such forests are destroyed, enormous amounts
of carbon dioxide stored in trees are released into the atmosphere. The meat, dairy, and egg
industries are also responsible for two - thirds of human - induced emissions of ammonia,
which in turn plays a role in acid rain and the acidification of our ecosystem.
The data suggests that one of the best ways to alleviate the stress on our environment is
to consume less meat and eat more plant - based food, which results in reduction in
greenhouse gas emissions. We do not need cattle to process the food for us. It is much
better and more efficient for us to eat more plant - based food and process it ourselves. It
may seem like a huge change for many people, but reducing the amount of meat and dairy
in your diet is a great way to keep your weight in check, improve your overall health, and
take steps toward improving the health of our planet. When we learn to eat more vegetables,
grains, and beans mindfully, we will enjoy their taste, and we can be happy knowing that we
are supporting a new kind of society in which there is enough food for everyone and no one
will have to suffer from hunger.
Page 52) We must take urgent action at the individual and collective levels. For individuals,
going toward vegetarianism can have great weight and health benefits. Vegans and
vegetarians tend to weigh less than people who consume animal products; they also tend
to have lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
Many Buddhist traditions encourage vegetarianism. Although this practice is primarily based
on the wish to nourish compassion toward animals, it also offers many health benefits.
Now we also know that when we eat vegetarian, we protect the earth and help reduce the
greenhouse effect hat is causing her serious and irreversible damage. Even if you cannot
be 100 percent vegetarian, being a part time vegetarian and consuming a more
plant - based diet is already better for your own health as well as the health of our
shared planet.
You may want to start by eating vegetarian for a few days a month, or you can eat vegetarian
only for breakfast and lunch every day. This way, you are already more than half vegetarian.
If you feel that you cannot eliminate animal products from your diet for even one meal, simply
reducing the portion of meat and eliminating processed meats like bacon, sausages, and
ham can lower your risk of colon cancer and your risk of dying an early death from heart
disease, cancer, or other causes. This is a good first step to adopting a more plant - based,
healthful, environmentally friendly diet.
Using mindfulness to look deeply at what you eat can make it much easier to make such
changes, because you realize the benefits they can bring to the planet and yourself - lower
weight, lower risk of colon cancer and heart disease, and more energy for doing the things
you enjoy. We are "interbeings": we and our environment are interdependent. And even
small changes on our part can have a large impact when combined with others. Our market
economy is driven primarily by consumer demand. As a population, if a large number of
people make even small moves to eat less meat and more plant - based foods, the livestock
industry will shrink. Over time, farmers will find other crops to support their livelihoods.
Through such collective awakening we can make a difference in the world.
Page 107) Go with plants
A mindful diet for weight loss should first and foremost be a healthy diet - both for you and
for the planet. And the first and most essential principle for healthy eating is to shift to a
plant - based diet. Asians in particular have practiced vegetarianism for thousands of years.
The ethical and environmental arguments of a plant - based diet are stronger than ever.
The health benefits for eating a plant - based diet are equally strong.
Decades of research on hundreds of thousands of men and women has shown that eating
a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats and low in refined grains and
unhealthy fats can lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Vegans and vegetarians tend to weigh less and have lower blood pressure, lower blood
cholesterol, and, in turn, a lowered risk of heart disease than people whose diets include
some or all types of animal products, and they may also have lower risk of some cancers.
Of course, for optimal health, vegans must take care to get adequate vitamin B12,
vitamin D, and other nutrients they may be missing by avoiding animal foods.
There's also strong evidence of the health hazards associated with eating animal foods.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates that the saturated fat and cholesterol
in red meat, poultry, dairy products, and eggs cause 63,000 heart - disease - related deaths
a year in the United States and another 1,100 deaths a year from food poisoning. People
who eat meat and processed meat have a higher risk of diabetes than individuals who
follow a vegetarian diet.
High levels of red - meat consumption, and any level of processed - meat consumption,
raises the risk of colon cancer, and eating meat, especially meat that is cooked to a high
temperature, may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. The Nurses' Health Study II,
meanwhile, followed nearly 40,000 women for seven years to determine the relationship
between red - meat consumption and the risk of getting early breast cancer. It found that
for every additional 3.5 ounces of red meat consumed per day - a portion of meat about
the size of a medium fast - food hamburger - the risk of premenopausal breast cancer
rose by 20 percent.
You do not need to become a 100 percent vegetarian to achieve the health benefits of a
plant - based diet. Several studies have shown that following a "prudent" diet pattern - one
that is rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats but does include some fish
and poultry - rather than a meat - heavy diet may lower the risk of several deadly and
disabling diseases, among them diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and obstructive lung
disease, as well as lower the risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, or any other cause.
A similar line of research has found evidence that following a Mediterranean - style - diet
pattern, which is also plant based but includes dairy and fish, can lower the risk of heart
disease, stroke, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, as well as the risk of
dying from heart disease, cancer, or any other cause. So you can benefit from becoming
even a part - time vegetarian.
Page 108) When it comes to vegetables and fruits, the basic message comes down to 2
words: eat more. People who eat diets rich in vegetables and whole fruits may lower their
blood pressure as well as their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and possibly some
cancers. Diets rich in vegetables and fruits may lower your risk of cataracts and macular
degeneration, and thus help protect your vision as you age.
The benefits of eating whole fruits and vegetables likely accrue from the nutrients that they
provide, as well as from the absence of less - healthy or higher - calorie foods, which they
replace on your plate. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins, such as vitamin C,
which gives a boost to the immune system and also acts as a powerful antioxidant,
preventing cellular damage from free radicals; vitamin K for strong bones; and
beta - carotene, a precursor to vitamin A and also an antioxidant. They are rich in minerals,
including potassium, which may help lower blood pressure, and magnesium, which may help
control blood glucose. They are also a great source of healthy carbohydrates, including fiber.
Special plant chemicals, also known as phytochemicals, that give vegetables and fruits their
bright colors may also play beneficial roles in protecting against disease. Lycopene, for
example, a pigment that helps make tomatoes and watermelon such a vibrant red, may
protect against prostate cancer. Lutein and zeaxanthin, other members of the carotenoid
family, may help prevent age - related macular degeneration.
Page 109)To get the benefits of all these protective nutrients, make an effort to choose
vegetables and fruits in a rainbow of colors every day. Include dark green varieties, such
as broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and collard greens; yellow - orange, such as sweet
potatoes and apricots, carrots and cantaloupe; red, such as tomatoes, watermelon,
strawberries, and red bell peppers; white, such as onions, garlic, and cauliflower;
purple - blue, such as red cabbage, beets, and blueberries. Make it your goal to consume
at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits a day, since several studies find that the
heart - healthy benefits of vegetables and fruits begin to accrue at this level. More is
certainly better. A serving is about 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables or chopped fruit, or
1 cup of salad greens. To make it easier to gauge the portion, devote 1/2 your plate
to vegetables or fruits at each meal.
THE PRACTICE of MINDFUL EATING
Page 118) Mindful eating means simply eating or drinking while being aware of each bite or
sip. You can practice it at any meal, whether you are alone in your kitchen or with others in
a crowded restaurant. You can even practice mindful drinking when you pause to take a sip
of water at your desk. Mindful eating allows us to fully appreciate the sensory delight of eating
and to be more conscious of the amount and nature of all that we eat and drink. When practiced
to its fullest, mindful eating turns a simple meal into a spiritual experience, giving us a deep
appreciation of all that went into the meal's creation as well a deep understanding of the
relationship between the food on our table, our own health, and the planet's health.
Engaging in mindful eating, even if for only a few minutes, can help you recognize how the
practice of mindfulness encompasses all spheres and activities, including ordinary tasks.
Take drinking a glass of water: if we are fully aware that we are drinking the water, and we
are not thinking of anything else, we are drinking with our whole body and mind. While eating,
we can also be aware of how we feel and of how we consume, whether we are truly hungry,
and whether we are making the best choices for our health and the health of the planet.
THE 7 PRACTICES of a MINDFUL EATER
Page 124)
1.) Honor the Food. Start the meal with the 5 contemplations, or with whatever traditional
grace or prayer you prefer to use to express your gratitude. If you are eating with others,
steer mealtime conversations toward the food: acknowledge the local farmer who grew your
lettuce and tomatoes, thank the person who prepared the salad; or talk about other topics
that help nourish your gratitude and connection to your food and to each other.
2.) Engage all 6 Senses. As you serve and eat your meal, notice the sounds, colors, smells,
and textures as well as your mind's response to them, not just the taste. When you put the first
bite of food in your mouth, pause briefly before chewing and notice its taste as though it was
the first time you ever tasted it. With more practice in engaging all of your senses, you may
notice that your tastes change, increasing your enjoyment of what you may once have
perceived as "boring" health foods.
3.) Serve in Modest Portions. Moderation is an essential component of mindful eating.
Not only does making a conscious effort to choose smaller portions help you avoid
overeating and weight gain; it's also less wasteful of your household food budget and our
planet's resources.
4.) Savor Small Bites, and Chew Thoroughly. Consciously choosing smaller bites and
chewing them well can help you slow down your meal as well as allow you to fully experience
the taste of your food. It can also help improve your digestion, since the process of breaking
down our foods begins with enzymes in the mouth.
5.) Eat Slowly to Avoid Overeating. Eating slowly may help you notice when you are feeling
pleasantly satisfied so that you can stop before you have eaten too much. There is a
difference between feeling that you have had just about enough to eat and feeling as though
you have eaten all that you possibly can eat. Mindful eaters practice the former so that they
are not overtaxing their bodies - or overtaxing the planet's resources - by consuming more
food than they need. In Chinese medicine, it is recommended to eat only until you are 80
percent full and never to "top off your tummy," because this weakens the digestive power of
your stomach and intestines, putting too much stress on them over the long haul. Of course,
avoiding overeating is half the secret to weight control. Getting enough activity is the other
half.
6.) Don't Skip Meals. Skipping meals can make it harder to make mindful choices. When
hunger strikes us, the strong forces of habit energy may lead us to grab whatever foods are
close at hand - be they from a vending machine or a fast - food restaurant - and these foods
may not further our healthy - eating or weight - loss goals. It is also good to eat your meals
at the same time each day, to help your body settle into a consistent rhythm.
7.) Eat a Plant - Based Diet for Your Health and for the Planet. When mindful eaters look
deeply at the meal they are about to eat, they see far beyond the rim of the plate. They see
the dangerous toll that eating some types of animal foods can take on our bodies - the higher
risks of colon cancer from red meat and processed meats, for example, or the higher risk of
heart disease from the saturated fat found in meat and dairy products.
Researchers at the University of Chicago estimate that, when it's all added up, the average
American could do more to reduce global warming emissions by going vegetarian than by
switching from a Camry to a Prius. Even just switching from meat and dairy to poultry or
eggs for one day a week could have a measurable impact on global warming - and a bigger
environmental impact than choosing locally sourced foods.
_________________________________________________________________
ABOUT ZEN BUDDHIST MASTER THICH NHAT HANH
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered
throughout the world for his powerful teachings and bestselling writings on mindfulness
and peace. He has taken ancient Buddhist teachings and made them accessible and easy to
understand for Western people.
His key teaching is that, through mindfulness, we can learn to live happily in the present
moment—the only way to truly develop peace, both in one’s self and in the world. Thich Nhat
Hanh has published over 100 titles on meditation, mindfulness and Engaged Buddhism, as
well as poems, children’s stories, and commentaries on ancient Buddhist texts. He has sold
over three million books in America alone, some of the best-known include Being Peace,
Peace Is Every Step, The Miracle of Mindfulness, The Art of Power, True Love and Anger.
Thich Nhat Hanh has been a pioneer in bringing Buddhism to the West, founding six
monasteries and dozens of practice centers in America and Europe, as well as over
1,000 local mindfulness practice communities, known as ‘sanghas’.
He has built a thriving community of over 600 monks and nuns worldwide, who, together
with his tens of thousands of lay students, apply his teachings on mindfulness,
peace-making and community-building in schools, workplaces, businesses – and even
prisons – throughout the world.
Thich Nhat Hanh, now in his 88th year, is a gentle, humble monk – the man Martin
Luther King called “An Apostle of peace and nonviolence.” The media has called
him “The Father of Mindfulness,” “The Other Dalai Lama” and “The Zen Master
Who Fills Stadiums.”
____________________________________________________________________
1.) VEGAN DIETS: FIGHTING ARTHRITIS & CANCER
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/05/vegan-diet-alleviates-arthritis.html
2.) PETA PRIME: Can a Plant-Based Diet Cure Cancer?
http://prime.peta.org/2009/12/can-a-plant-based-diet-cure-cancer
3.) VEGAN DIETS FIGHT CANCER! - from the Huffington Post with Kathy Freston
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegan-diet-cancer_b_2250052.html
4.) VEGAN DIETS REVERSE DISEASE - from Scott's Buddhism & Vegetarian Blog
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/vegan-diets-reverse-diseases.html
5.) ANTI - CANCER DIET - by Dr. Richard Beliveau
http://www.richardbeliveau.org/en/cancer-prevention.html?showall=1
6.) FOODS & ARTHRITIS - PHYSICIANS COMMITTEE for RESPONSIBLE MEDICINE
http://www.pcrm.org/health/health-topics/foods-and-arthritis
7.) HEALTHY at 100 & THE CHINA STUDY
http://www.scottsbuddhistiveg.blogspot.com/2015/06/live-to-100-by-john-robbins.html
8.) WALL STREET JOURNAL: IMPOSSIBLE BURGER is READY for its (MEATLESS)
CLOSE - UP
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2016/07/wall-street-journal-impossible-burger.html
9.) EARTH DAY: WELCOME to FACTORY FARM HELL
http://scottsbuddhisttveg.blogspot.com/2015/03/welcome-to-factory-farm-hell.html
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