“Confronted with the problems that characterize our herding culture, we are perhaps like the metaphorical man wounded by an arrow that the Buddha discussed with his students. He said that the man would be foolish if he tried to discover who shot the arrow, why he shot it, where he was when he shot it, and so forth, before having the arrow removed and the wound treated, lest he bleed to death attempting to get his questions answered. We, likewise, can all remove the arrow and treat the wound of eating animal foods right now. We don't need to know the whole history. We can easily see it is cruel and that it is unnecessary; whatever people have done in the past, we are not obligated to imitate them if it is based on delusion. Perhaps in the past people thought they needed to enslave animals and people to survive, and that the cruelty involved in it was somehow allowed them. It's obviously not necessary for us today, as we can plainly see by walking into any grocery store, and the sooner we can awaken from the thrall of the obsolete mythos that we are predatory by nature, the sooner we'll be able to evolve spiritually and discover and fulfill our purpose on this earth.” HistoryFoodEatingMeatAnimalsEating AnimalsCarnism Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“We owe the animals our profoundest apologies. Defenseless and unable to retaliate, they have suffered immense agonies under our domination that most of us have never witnessed or acknowledged. Now knowing better, we can act better, and acting better, we can live better, and give the animals, our children, and ourselves a true reason for hope and celebration.” GivingChildrenReasonAnimalActingKnowingOur ChildrenCelebrationApologyImmenseAgonyDominationDefenselessKnowing Better Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“There is no way to overstate the magnitude of the collective spiritual transformation that will occur when we shift from food of violent oppression to food of gentleness and compassion.” WaySpiritualCompassionTransformationViolentOppressionCollectivesGentlenessMagnitudeSpiritual Transformation Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“The suffering that food animals undergo, the suffering of those who eat them and profit by them, the suffering of starving people who could be fed with the grain that feeds these animals, and the suffering we thoughtlessly impose on the ecosystem, other creatures, and future generations are all interconnected. It is this interconnectedness of suffering, and its reverse, of love, caring, and awareness, that calls out for our understanding.” PeopleSufferingUnderstandingAnimalGenerationsAwarenessCreaturesProfitCaringFedsGrainReverseStarvingFuture GenerationEcosystemsInterconnectedInterconnectedness Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“Our knowledge and understanding of nonhuman animals is polluted far more than we acknowledge by our belief in our own superiority, our unrecognized cultural programming, and our separation from nature.” BeliefUnderstandingAnimalHumilitySeparationAcknowledgeProgrammingSuperiorityKnowledge And Understanding Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“Once a vegan, we are always so, because our motivation is not personal and self-oriented, but is based on concern for others and on our undeniable interconnectedness with other living beings.” SelfMotivationConcernVeganInterconnectednessConcern For Others Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“There is something about veganism that is not easy, but the difficulty is not inherent in veganism, but in our culture.” CultureEasyDifficultyVegetarianVeganInherentVeganism Book:World Peace Diet (Tenth Anniversary Edition): Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: World Peace Diet (Tenth Anniversary Edition): Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“How could it ever be to our purpose to rob another living being of his or her purpose?” Purpose Book:World Peace Diet (Tenth Anniversary Edition): Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: World Peace Diet (Tenth Anniversary Edition): Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“Compassion is ethical intelligence: it is the capacity to make connections and the consequent urge to act to relieve the suffering of others.” SufferingCompassionCapacityConnectionsUrgesEthicalSuffering Of Others Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“To meditate for world peace, to pray for a better world, and to work for social justice and environmental protection while continuing to purchase the flesh, milk, and eggs of horribly abused animals exposes a disconnect that is so fundamental that it renders our efforts absurd, hypocritical, and doomed to certain failure.” WorldCertainSocialJusticePrayerAnimalEffortMeditationSocietyHuman NatureFailurePrayingSocial JusticeFundamentalsEnvironmentalProtectionFleshAbsurdEggsMilkComposerContinuingDoomedAbsurdityHypocriteEnvironmental ProtectionRenderingHypocriticalAbused AnimalsPray For PeaceDisconnecting Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
“Now, knowing better, we can act better, we can live better, and give the animals, our children and ourselves a true reason for hope and celebration.” GivingChildrenReasonAnimalKnowingOur ChildrenCelebrationKnowing Better Book:The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony Source: The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony