Buddhism-Buddhism

Giving up meat

Comment November 26, 2015

~17th Karmapa

Vegetarianism involves many ethical issues, but it is also an issue of environmental protection. Our reliance on meat is a major cause of climate change, deforestation, and pollution. There is no shortage of facts to demonstrate this to us. Roughly 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by animals raised for human consumption. The methane gases emitted by livestock contribute more to climate change than does carbon dioxide. This tells us that if we human beings made a significant shift toward becoming vegetarian, by that shift alone we could dramatically reduce global warming.

As vegetarians, we would also make far more efficient use of what our planet offers us. Vast quantities of feed, water, land, fuel, and other resources are required to sustain livestock – far more than what is needed to produce a vegetarian diet. Studies indicate that the land needed to produce food for one meat-eater could support twenty vegetarians. This demonstrates how much smaller our ecological footprint could be just by giving up meat.
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There is also abundant information about the conditions under which animals raised for our food are living, how they are slaughtered, and what you are eating as a result of that. Even though we know there is intense suffering involved as well as devastating environmental consequences, many people still remain unswayed. Some people have taken note and responded accordingly, but most continue as before, as if nothing harmful were going on. Why?

(From: “The Heart Is Noble. Changing the World from the Inside Out”, pp.97-98)
Thoughts in your mind

Comment November 25, 2015

Do not regard the thoughts in your mind as things to be rejected.
Do not deliberately create non-conceptuality.
Post the watchman of mindfulness, and rest.

— Gyalwa Yang Gönpa
Be ever mindful

Comment November 25, 2015

Be ever mindful of the shortcomings of desire’s rewards, and know that all the phenomena of the cycle of existence are never still, like the ripples on a pond, and that these manifestations of delusion, which are no things in themselves, are like magic and dreams. When you have the determination to be free of samsara and are content with your material situation, you will be able to sit quietly with your mind happy and at ease. — Dorje Chang Kalu Rinpoche
Detaching from our emotional responses

Comment November 25, 2015

Detaching from our emotional responses encourages an objective perspective about our challenges. Our oversensitivity to difficulties is usually caused by our emotional investment in a particular outcome. By choosing instead to step back from our emotions, we give ourselves the ability to remain impartial to the unsettling events in our lives. While we may still feel concerned, interested, and connected to our life circumstances, we are no longer controlled by them. This new, objective perspective gives us the freedom and courage to embrace a peace-oriented state of mind that cannot help but have a positive effect in every aspect of our lives. Stepping back from your emotional attachments can give you the objectivity to make wiser choices. — Lama Karma Chötso

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt
When we look to the future

Comment November 25, 2015

When we look to the future, we should learn to be positive. Always seeing the negative side of things will only help to increase our inner difficulties. — Bokar Rinpoche
We all are so deeply interconnected

Comment November 23, 2015

We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for any one and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe. ~Amit Ray
When the sun is freed from clouds

Comment November 22, 2015

When the sun is freed from clouds, the sun becomes clear and bright. Similarly, when obstructions to omniscience are abandoned, wisdom becomes clear light. — Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Benefit to living beings…

Comment November 21, 2015

One should do nothing other than what is directly or indirectly of benefit to living beings… — Shantideva
When you meditate with concentration

Comment November 21, 2015

When you meditate with concentration, there are three particular experiences that arise: bliss, clarity, and non-thought. Sometimes you feel great joy, sometimes your mind is very clear, and sometimes there is complete equanimity. To experience these you do not need to meditate for a long time, although for a beginner these experiences will not last long because of the limited ability of a beginner’s meditation.

The experience of meditative bliss is greater than ordinary worldly happiness. Sometimes when you are meditating, a feeling of blissfulness suddenly arises from the subtle state of your mind and pervades your entire body. This bliss is healthy and brings out your inner qualities. Some people use drugs to induce blissfulness and visions, but drugs are external supports that cannot bring lasting happiness. The bliss experienced in meditation can last for many days, according to your ability to meditate. When you experience this kind of bliss, on the outside you might look very poor, but inside you remain very joyful.

The second main experience in meditation is clarity. Sometimes while meditating you can suddenly feel that your mind is very clear and bright. Even if you are meditating in the dark, you do not feel heavy or tired. Sometimes your body feels very light and your mind is very clear, and many kinds of reflections appear. Clarity brings great wisdom and the ability to read other people’s minds, as well as to see your own past and future lives.

The third main experience is non-thought, or a state of equanimity without distractions. Beginners can also experience this. Non-thought is more settled than the experiences of bliss and clarity. If you have thoughts, they suddenly dissolve and you can remain continuously in meditation. As your ability to meditate develops, your mind becomes more and more settled, so that you can meditate for one hour or one week or one month without being distracted by thoughts. You simply remain in the natural state for as long as you want.

— Khenchen Palden Sherab and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal
You can appreciate your life

Comment November 20, 2015

You can appreciate your life, even if it is an imperfect situation. Perhaps your apartment is run down and your furniture is old and inexpensive. You do not have to live in a palace. You can relax and let go wherever you are. Wherever you are, it is a palace. — Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Buddhist nuns at the Glory Buddhist temple in Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

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