The Golden Rule - How should we act towards Others

The Golden Rule is known to most of us in either its negative or positive form: Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you, or vice versa, do not do unto others as you would not like them to do unto you. One interesting fact of this “rule” is that it appears in the Holy Scriptures of many religions. It sounds simple enough and yet, I doubt that any of us understand it in its deepest meaning. Those who meditate on it finds it a constant lesson in what it means to have empathy, be compassionate, and love all. Even harder to put into practice. A while ago I watched a program on Showmax about a guy who investigated the environmental impact of cattle ranches and the meat industry. At one stage he visited a so called “Green Ranch” where they claim that they raise and slaughter in an environmentally friendly way. Here he had a conversation with the little girl of the owners, and she said something to the effect that she shouldn’t name the animals as ‘you know, they’re going to become meat.’ Then he had a conversation with her mother who said: ‘We really love the animals, that is why we do it.’ It wasn’t said aloud but the implications of these two conversations immediately hit home: love them? Therefore, we slaughter them? I was wondering what the reaction of this mother would be if a close friend of their family said – ‘I am going to slaughter your daughter in front of you because I love you.’ Now, I am far from trying to convince anyone of right or wrong. You decide for yourself. What I am trying to say here is that living the Golden Rule is much harder that it sounds on first hearing. I was thinking, rethinking, and debating its meaning over the years and I’d like to present a few of these ideas to you. One of my earliest thoughts on this was regarding how we can help beggars who stand at traffic lights. Should we give them money, and how much, or not? The argument is that they will just buy alcohol and drugs instead of food. My first reaction is that doing that is between them and God as we did our duty, but then we are not really helping. So okay, perhaps not. We give them food then, right? (Many stories are told of angry beggars who just threw away the food but let’s go with it for a moment.) So, what food do we give them then? I’ve heard many people proudly saying that they bought them bread and milk. It is exactly here, however, where the Golden Rule problem comes in, because the next, inevitable question is my mind is: Is that what you would like to eat? Dry bread and a litre of milk? Back when I first had this thought, KFC was my favourite fast food or, if my mom was cooking the Sunday lunch (Boerekos né) – a large plate full of rice, potatoes, pumpkin, cream spinach with mushrooms, and chicken. Imagine your favourite food. Getting back to the Golden Rule with that in mind – why then give a beggar bread and milk? My next Golden Rule thought was about helping others. From the outset, don’t get me wrong – if someone falls into a swimming pool and is in danger of drowning, by all means jump in and save that person. But, when it comes to ideas and choices with which we disagree and in which we imagine there to be danger, it becomes a little more complicated. There is a saying that goes ‘you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t force it to drink.’ Still, we think it is okay to take the proverbial old lady by the arm and help her over the road without first asking her if she wants help in the first place. I hope you’re able to keep up with me here: as far as belief systems and ideas go, what we all want, I believe, is to be heard and understood. I always laugh at preachers who chase away Jehovah’s Witnesses when they knock on the door. Can it be annoying to have your resting time interrupted? Of course. But then the preachers should remember that they themselves wants to be heard the moment they get onto the pulpit. Here the Golden Rule connects with that other well-known verse: ‘You have two ears and one mouth, listen more, and speak less.’ One last thought. The Golden Rule is clear in saying that we should do to others what we want them to do to us. We know, however, that we all want different things in life and that things like love (think for instance about the book – The Five Languages of Love) and respect means different things to different people. Now, if I do something to someone else which I would like them to do to me, but they do not like that thing I am doing to them… then I’ve shot myself straight in the foot with this very same Golden Rule. Now what? Then I heard these interesting words said in a conversation between two rabbis: ‘It is true that the verse says that we should love others as we love ourselves, but for a deeper understanding of love we should love others as they would like to be loved themselves’. Perhaps the beggar previously mentioned loves bread and milk after all, perhaps the beggar absolutely hates the food I think is the best. And perhaps the best way to live the Golden Rule is to ask the other person what they would like, instead of assuming that we know best because of what we like. May the One God, with many Names and many Manifestations, bless you all.

The Difficulty of a True Spiritual Life

If you think you’re so enlightened, go live with your family for two weeks. - Ram Dass

There seems to be an unconscious misconception that the spiritual life is limited to certain days of the week, perhaps some festivals, or certain specific practices such as meditation, Scripture reading or prayer. I do think that this might be more under the older generations and that the younger generations are increasingly changing their views, with many identifying as Spiritual but not Religious (SBNR). Then again it might just be a bias on my side as the change in views increased rapidly at least since the 1960’s (Ram Dass, who I quote above and who died in late 2019, grew up Jewish but became a Hindu around 1967). Of course, changing one’s views does not necessarily means that one suddenly lives a more spiritual life. What does it mean to live a spiritual life and why do I say this is difficult? The quote by Ram Dass is one of my favourites and one I always try to keep in mind. That is because the spiritual life might start with going to church on a Sunday or mosque on a Friday or personal meditation and prayer rituals in the morning, but after that the question becomes this – If those moments do not become clear in your public life, while you driving, spending time with family or doing your job, then what was it for? The spiritual life becomes difficult the moment you move out of your sacred space and into contact with other human beings (or any other beings for that matter). It is easier to stand with your eyes closed and hands in the air on a Sunday morning than it is to keep calm with traffic on the way home. We don’t even have to take it that far – most of us start gossiping or judging the moment we set foot out of Church (perhaps even while worshipping). It is easy to sit in front of your Scriptures and light a candle or incense stick and feel all tranquil, of course that is if you could leave the warmth of your bed in time, then one gets to work, and you must remember to smile at the annoying co-worker. A true spiritual life will be an important part of every decision you make, of every action taken, of every word said. It might not be possible to absolutely control your thoughts but what your reaction with your thoughts is should tell you something – do you stop it, or do you entertain it? “If your religion does not change you then you should change your religion,” said Elbert Hubbard. Rabbi Hillel is reported to have said that the Golden Rule (Do not do unto others that which you would not like them to do unto you) is the whole spiritual practice and that the rest of what we read and believe is only commentary on this rule. In other words, if you pray or do any kind of spiritual practice and you believe that what you believe is the only truth, but you give in to every desire and let your ego reign supreme with no compassion for most other people, then you have not even begun to live a spiritual life. All this can sound very discouraging, but honestly, I am trying to encourage you to pull up your socks and get serious, whatever your chosen path might be. That does not mean there can be no fun in life, but it does mean that we pay attention to how we are having fun. It is going to be difficult; you are going to fail on an almost daily basis. At the same time the alternative is to live an unexamined life and that, said Socrates, is not a life worth living. Fulfilment comes when we are constantly working on ourselves. “I want happiness” said someone to a Buddhist monk, “Take away ‘I’ as that is the ego, take away ‘want’ as that is desire and what is left is ‘happiness’”, answered the monk. Now that we are parents, my wife regularly says, “You know what, we should just forgive our parents”. There was a time that I was angry with my dad on an almost daily basis, and it did not help that he was a pastor. Then I became a dad, never mind the fact that I became a husband, and I realised that I must always watch myself. The moment I cannot answer in a soft manner, I cause hurt. The moment I react in an irritable manner, I cause hurt. Sitting down to meditate or pray after that makes me feel ashamed, so much so that I sometimes feel that perhaps it is better to just give up. I know, however, that the moment I stop working on myself I will do even worse. I hope and pray that, if I stay on living a true spiritual life, as difficult as it may be, one day my children will be able to forgive me. Rabbi Hillel ends his declaration on the Golden Rule with these words: “Now go study”. Whatever religion, spiritual part, or philosophy you follow – study hard and then act in compassion. I encourage you. May the One God, with many Names and many Manifestations, bless you.

The Meaning of Love

There are so many ways in which we use the word “love” these days that many of us cannot explain what exactly the meaning of love is. We “love” just about anything – our wives or husbands, our children, the cat or dog, the car and the house, KFC, or McDonalds… and we also say we love God. In all this confusion we also do not know if love is an emotion or something else, but we think we can switch it on and off depending on our current mood.

Growing up there were two things I was taught – ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (for those who are reading carefully – the question here is: what does that even mean?) and ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’. These two Biblical quotations were separate in my mind – on the one hand I must love my neighbour somehow and on the other hand God always loves me no matter what. This separation, I believe, is due to the illusion that we are separate from each other and from God – because that is what our eyes tells us. This is not true, because there is also the following thing that is taught – we must become more like Jesus and Jesus lives in our hearts.

As a child I could not bring these points together and plainly accepted it, but as an adult it bothered me. In Hinduism it is believed that God is not separate from us and neither are we separate from each other – the interconnectedness of all. God is a part of us, or we are a part of God, and by default we are a part of each other. In Judaism this is called ‘the Divine Spark in all of us’. If Jesus lives in our hearts, if God is a part of all beings, then we cannot live as if we are separated from each other – we need to love each other as if God Himself is standing in front of us.

Loving your neighbour (and to make this clear – neighbour does not only mean the person next to you but all beings you meet including enemies, animals, insects and so on) thus means loving your neighbour as God loves you. And, from a purely Christian point of view, God loves you with sacrifice. Now we can debate about how cruel it would be if we sacrificed our children for others and that we do not like this idea of a God killing His own Son. But to think like that is to miss the point entirely (no really, you should not sacrifice your children). From where I stand it does not matter whether the crucifixion happened or not (I am not saying it did not), what matters is that if you have never loved someone (including your spouse) until it hurts (not by actually hurting yourself or others but by giving things up that means a lot to you) then you have not really loved yet.

So now we can return to the question asked earlier – what does it even mean to love someone as you love yourself? In the simplest terms, it means that if you love to eat a big healthy meal (or even unhealthy for that matter) you would not give the homeless man in the street just dry bread and milk. Because, if you were that homeless person, even if you would be glad to receive the dry bread and milk, you would wish that someone would give you a big healthy meal. (Again, it is beside the point whether the homeless person should work or not – I will write about this in a later blog).

If you think that most of this is obvious then the question is – why do more of us, especially those of us who see ourselves as spiritual or religious, not do this? The answer is that it hurts, we do not like to make such sacrifices and we do not believe that we are a part of God. Before any fingers points at me – yes, I have tried it many times; I sort of got it right once or twice, I failed multiple times. Continuous effort is the key. This is one of many reasons why I write about it – to spread awareness and to encourage not only others but also myself.

Love does not stop when you said you will pray for the other person or when you gave the bare minimum, but I am also not saying that you must give so much that you do not have anything left. That is also not loving yourself, never mind the other. This is another point that needs to be addressed. While reading a book on the essence of Buddhism the author made an interesting point saying that it is all good and well that we should love our neighbour as ourselves, but what if the person does not love himself? What if the person is depressed? It will then mean that the depressed person, loving the other as he “loves” himself, will wish depression on that person. He then suggests compassion and loving-kindness as better terms. I both agree and disagree with the author to a certain extent.

A depressed person, or one that hates him- or herself, cannot love anyone, never mind talking about having compassion. At the same time, that is exactly what such persons wish on others. If we understand what it means to really love each other, including other beings, then it might not matter which term we prefer. However, the word “love” does bring up the idea of a deep emotional attachment. In this sense the word “compassion” is better as we can then have sympathy and empathy as well as sacrificing without getting attached to the person or being, which might lead to more suffering than anything else. Yet, that will still be a misunderstanding of what it means to really love, and this is where there needs to be a mind change.

Contrary to popular belief, love is not an emotion. Love is rather something we do; in other words, it is a verb. True love is to give or to do something without the expectation of return. Love is as simple as giving a glass of water to whoever asks for it without getting irritated, to give R2 to the person begging at the stop street. Or it is to exceed that person’s expectations and give him a big meal and R200. Love is an effort to reduce the suffering we cause animals and nature by our selfish ways by living more consciously. It is both within our means and outside our comfort zones.

May the One God with many Names and many Manifestations, bless you.

Transformation Process from Omnivore to Vegan: The Personal Touch

I thought that Part Two in this series would be the last part, but my sisters reminded me that I have left out a particularly important component: the personal touch. How far am I in this journey from being an Omnivore to becoming a Vegan? One of my friends described themselves as “flexitarian” saying that they prefer going vegan or vegetarian but at the moment it is still difficult. I think this accurately describe my feet-in-two-worlds situation – I tip my hat at anyone who wakes up one day and decide their done with meat and animal products (or any other addiction for that matter).

So, my personal experience is that it is not easy, but looking back I can see that there was progress. Back when I were still staying in my hometown, I became convinced that vegetarian would be the way to go and I regularly discussed it with some friends. I was made fun of, which is fine by me, but unfortunately that meant no support at all. I knew no vegetarians or vegans personally so I could not ask for advice (I acknowledge that I did not think of Google).

As I read more about famous vegetarians – the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy – I realized that I had to work in that direction, but I found myself failing time and again. I did, however, succeeded in becoming more of an environmentalist by refusing to kill insects unless it was necessary. I remember writing a small piece about how easy it is to love cats and dogs, but to feel nothing when it came to spiders and crickets (or feeling fear for these little creatures in some cases). My mom once joked, saying to one of her friends, “this one is so green…”.

Surprisingly, getting married helped a lot. I am enormously proud to brag that I have a supportive and understanding wife even though she finds some of my ideas a little over the top. When I told her that it has been a goal of mine to become at least vegetarian, if not full vegan, she immediately started to encourage me; and sometimes even admonished me if my actions contradicts my words. Two things she greatly helped me with was introducing the meatless Mondays and encouraging me to push the October Vegetarian month as far as possible (by the way – January is called Veganuary by vegans). Although my reasons are mostly spiritual in nature, my wife focus’ more on the health reasons and thus we try to combine my meatless times with more healthy eating in general. All this even though my wife is not a vegetarian and are not planning on becoming one.

In the meantime, I have made a list of different meats that I want to give up totally as time go by. This came about when I realized that my efforts to give up meat and other animal products all at once did not pay off and that perhaps a more gradual approach would work better. My list focus on meat specifically and are by no means scientific. In fact, I am still a long way from understanding the codes on the back of packages which are supposed to tell you if animal products were used (did you know, for instance, that animal products are used in soap and many cosmetics or in those delicious Jelly Babies?). To give myself time to get used to not eating a particular meat that I crossed of the list, I give up another form of meat every six months (perhaps I should shorten this time frame, but for now this is it). Thus, so far, I have given up eating fat, lamb, biltong (including droëwors, salami and so on) and patties (which means I gave up burgers).

Another surprising source of encouragement is my colleagues. Like any other group of South Africans, we are always on the lookout for a reason to have a small party where we all bring something to eat together before we begin with the day’s work. I must mention here that I am allergic for dairy products (for those who do not know – this is also an animal product) and you should think that this fact makes it easier for me to give it up, but alas I crave cheese a lot (and did I mention pizza?). Now, my colleagues know of my struggles to give up meat and diary products and one of them is a wonderful cook (he really should have been a chef and we are always full of praise for the dish he surprises us with). Before any event we planned he and my other colleagues always come to me to make sure which meat it is I do not eat and when they cook or bake something requiring dairy products, they make sure to use goat cheese for which I am not allergic (but which I will also eventually have to give up as I go full vegan). After this they always make sure not to bring those items – it is a joy to work with such colleagues.

By now I have also read more on what exactly goes into the production of meat and I am horrified. I am now appalled when I hear seemingly normal people (most of us in other words) talking with some enthusiasm about how animals are slaughtered for their meat, when the same person would not talk so casually if the same thing were done to a human. One person acknowledges that if she sees a chicken walk over the lawn and the host inform her that this will be the food for dinner, she become vegetarian for that night. Somehow, unfortunately, this does not translate to the packages we buy in the supermarket and I acknowledge I am as guilty. My choices are thus still very much influenced by this fallacy in my mind; when I must choose between an apple and a Vienna sausage then I will most probably find myself with a pack of viennas on the couch in front of the television.

Nowadays there is a lot of alternative products on the market. For instance, if you do not want to eat meat there is the option to buy tofu or soya. There are also processed foods which are made to look and taste like the real counterpart. Thus, you get vegan cheese, vegan patties, vegan sausages and even vegan biltong. These products can help a prospective vegan to ease the journey a bit as they look and taste more or less like the real deal (for those who grew up vegan or vegetarian – I would suggest you stay away from it). With this last warning in mind there are two unfortunate facts about these products. Firstly, they are quite expensive and thus where giving up meat may help your finances, going over to meat-like products does not. Secondly, it is highly processed foods which means it is also highly unhealthy (a real vegan or vegetarian diet is generally good healthy food).

This is then my difficulties and honest struggles as well as my proud little progress in the journey to become a more conscious consumer of food. It really is all about being aware of what we do to animals, the planet, other humans and ourselves. At the same time, it is an acknowledgement that human nature is frail, and that small steps and little seed may accumulate to bigger things with time. Thus, I hope that what I wrote here will serve as a planted seed that will bear fruit with time or serve as encouragement to not give up. Even if this was just an interesting read (or you vehemently disagree with everything I said or the way I go about my journey), I still hope that it will serve as food for thought.

May the One God with many Names and many Manifestations bless you

Transformation Process from Omnivore to Vegan: Part 2

In the previous part I explained environmental, health and humane reasons for going vegan. I am on this journey to give up my addiction to meat and all other animal products because I truly believe that we do not need meat in our diet and that what we are doing to the animals we would not even wish on our worst enemies. What I did not explain in the previous part was the spiritual reasons for going vegan although I did mention that looking after the environment and having compassion on all living beings are already very spiritual things to do. Whatever the case may be, here follows more specific spiritual reasons.

Two of the comments I received on the previous part is relevant for this part. The first comment was that the person hears what I am saying but to give up meat would be too difficult. The other comment was a reference to the Bible which say that those who eat only vegetables are weak. So, the first comment reminded me that every person are on their own journey and that no matter how much we point out cruelty towards others or unhealthy practices towards ourselves, writing here is only the hopeful seed of positive influence. The second comment is a reminder that people read the Bible (and many other Holy Scriptures) out of the context within which it was written and will grab at single verses which they think support their arguments without taking the whole of the chapter in consideration. Let us then start with this chapter which is Romans 14.

There are two things to remember when reading Romans 14 and that is, first of all, that Christians in the ancient world were still a minority and that the meat in those times were offered to idols before it was being sold (today Christianity are the largest religion with more that 2billion people professing to be Christian) and, secondly, Romans 14 is not primarily about food but about faith. In other words, when Paul writes in verse two that the person who is weak only eat vegetables he means to say that there is only One God and thus if you are worried about the meat because of the false gods then you do not need to worry because there is no other gods, false or otherwise, besides God only; however, if your faith is weak (thus, if you still feel that there is false gods to be worried about) then eat only vegetables. He then says it does not matter because those who eat meat should not look down on those who does not and those who eats only vegetables should not judge those who eat meat (one of the things that I made clear in the previous part was that I understand all of us are on our own journeys, I do not judge, but that I want to put this out there as positive influence).

Paul then continues to explain the same principle about faith with regards to the days of the week: some say Sunday (or the Sabbath) is holy but God made all days and we should live holy on all days. That is the context of this chapter and in the end, it had nothing to do with veganism and meat eating to begin with. People who only eat vegetables, vegetarians or vegans, are not weak. In fact, I challenge any meat eater to go without meat for a month (I suggest October as that is World Vegetarian Month) and see if it is easy, I assure you that you will have new respect for the strength those who do not eat meat.

It is true that Jesus ate meat, but that cannot be used as an excuse anymore than the fact that the Dalai Lama eats meat. As the Dalai Lama has his specific reasons while still advocating that a vegetarian diet is better so Jesus was living in times when veganism was not the social issue it is today. The reasons for this are simple, right in the beginning God gave the plants to humans as food and they only started eating meat after Noah and the great flood, thus after sin entered the world according to the Christian worldview. Why then did Moses allow it in the law? This is the same kind of question the Pharisees asked Jesus and his answer were: “Due to the hardness of your hearts”. This hardness of our hearts is a problem even today, we do understand the reasons why it is wrong to kill animals when there is more than enough food to end famine, we understand that we are cruel, we try to justify it by playing with words; and all this because we insist on our desires, entertainment, power and financial gain.

I have realized this cruelty within myself and decided to face up to it. We are not only cruel to each other, but also to millions of other species (more than 680 species are extinct as a direct result of human activities and more than 1 million are under threat) and to the planet itself. This lead me to realize that we need a lot more compassion as it is explained by the Buddhists and love as it is written in the Christian Scriptures (I will write more about what exactly it means to love in a later post). Compassion is to understand that when we look pass everything that divide us, including race, age, religion, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, politics, species and anything else, there is the Spark of God within all of life. Our interconnectedness, the African philosophy of Ubuntu expanded to include far more than only humanity but to be universal, lead us to realize that if we act hurtful to anything – no matter how small it seems to us – we act hurtful to everything and that have repercussions for the future. It is only compassion which will make us care about a future where we ourselves might not be and yet live on.

Unless ye must, bruise not the serpent in the dust, how much less wound a man. And if ye can, no ant should ye alarm, much less a brother harm.

Abdu’l-Baha

Compassion, in the end, is to always be loving because we know we are not the only ones with problems. It is to always be loving towards everyone and everything, from the most innocent to those who we are sure do not deserve it. There are few things more innocent than an animal that does not understand why it is being hunted to be killed or herded to be slaughtered and yet experience that fear of what is happening. It is easy to look down on animals as creatures we can do with as we please, but ask yourself these two questions – If it is okay for us to kill for food (and buying your meat in packages in the local supermarket is indirectly condoning the killing), why do we experience it as cruel when a tiger or lion kills a human? If cannibalism is wrong because it is murder and, also, that there is enough other food; why then is it okay for us to eat the flesh of other beings?

I sincerely hope, indeed pray, that we will gradually start to live in greater awareness of our actions, that we will ask ourselves if what we are busy with every second of the day is compassionate. Further, that it will not stay with awareness but that we will take action and make better decisions within our own environments and within our own spheres of influence.

May the One God with many Names and many Manifestations, bless you

Transformation Process from Omnivore to Vegan: Part 1

I am on a journey to become vegan (or, at the very least, vegetarian). It is a journey that started a long time ago when I became convinced, for various reasons of which I will explain some here, that eating meat is against what I came to believe spiritually. Unfortunately I am still very much a meat eater but, slowly but surely, I am cutting it out of my diet like an addict who gives up the addiction one slow step at a time. This is exactly what meat-eating is – an addiction. I grew up in a family who believe that if there is no meat on the plate then the meal is incomplete. I grew up in a culture for which to braai is a national activity. So, I have been eating meat for the more than thirty years, most of the time unquestioning and, I admit even now, with delight.

Apart from the lack of support (and I do now have more support than before), it is this last part which make it most difficult to give up meat. It is easy to give up something which you do not like much to begin with. Giving up something you enjoy is more complicated even though you believe that there is something inherently and morally wrong with it. Thus, I do not judge anyone for any addiction they may have. As an Omnist I believe that your journey and the decisions you make on your chosen path is your own. And yet, I feel that this is an important enough part of my own journey that I want to share it and, hopefully, change some mindsets or, at least, trigger some thought.

Personally, I have environmental, health, humane and spiritual reasons why I am exercising my mind and my body to give up meat and the use of any other animal products. On the first two I am no expert, and I will only briefly refer to it. On the third no one need to be an expert – all you need is compassion. I have given a lot more thought on the spiritual reasons and will comment more elaborately on these.

Environmentally I do believe that we should be able to end famine if only we are willing to give up our desire to consume meat. If we do not care for the animals, at least we can, indeed must, care for the members of our own species. The argument is simple: there are enough grain to feed the whole of the world population. Unfortunately, a large portion of grain are used in order to feed the livestock which will become meat. The amount of grain used for this purpose are much more than the amount of meat that is produced at the end of the process. It is sad that we are depriving millions of people of food so that only some of us can enjoy our meat. Keeping meat prices is mind it is a fact that some of us might be forced to become vegetarian soon. This is also a deciding factor in my own family – having a meatless day or two in the week not only lessen our carbon-footprint but also go lighter on our pockets.

With health the first thing people always love to say is that we need protein. This is false because we are actually addicted to protein. Our bodies only need a small amount of protein all of which is present in vegetables and seeds. The amount of protein we take in by consuming meat is much more than we need. Further, although our bodies are able to consume meat and other animal products and we pride ourselves in being omnivore, there are studies that show that actually our teeth are not made to tear meat and our organs are struggling to break down the meat and animal milk enzymes.

As I said, I am not an expert in these areas and it is up to you, my dear reader, to do your own research. However, there is something that we all, who have a conscience, feel and that is humaneness. As I have read more and more into the reasons why I should become a vegan, one of the overpowering factors is our own cruelty. First, we have the ability to lie to ourselves thinking that meat is just that as if it grows on trees. We talk about beef instead of cow and of pork instead of pig but we rationally know what it is and do not hesitate to call lamb and fish for what it is, and yet somehow we can ignore these facts while we cut, burn and eat it.

Second, there is the fact that these animals first need to be killed, slaughtered (murdered?), before its meat (flesh) can be packaged and transported to where we can buy it. An interesting point of view on this is “humane slaughtering” which means that animals can now be killed without any, or at least with the minimum, pain. Even if the animal feels no pain it does not take away the fact that it is being killed. Apart from that, how low did we fall in order to come up with a nonsense term such as “humane slaughtering”? Think about it, the ‘war to end all wars’ lead to no peace at all other than many more wars.

Lastly, and this is the biggest lie we tell ourselves, how is it possible that it is okay to kill some animals and cruel to kill others? Especially in our Western so-called civilization certain animals such as dogs and cats and select few from the bird and fish species and rabbits, are not being killed for food. Here we suddenly know how cruel it is to kill these specific animals while at the same time we feel the absolute irrational need to kill other species. It will be much more honest, however not less cruel, to admit that some we love, some we eat and some we just plain hate. So, we came up with a word such as ‘pet’ (a beautiful word for slave, I suggest the word ‘companion’ for animal lovers), so that when a sheep are especially loved by a little girl and her family that particular sheep is called ‘pet’ and is not eaten together with the other sheep. As for those we hate, we prefer to kill spiders, rats, mice and snakes and give various reasons for doing so without thinking twice that there are groups of people who are more than willing to go to your house, catch these animals and take them to a place where they can safely continue life.

When a man kills a tiger, it is called hunting. When a tiger kills a man, it is called cruel.

It is not only the larger animals that suffers, but also insects. Before I elaborate on this, I need to say this, there is a few times when it is allowed to kill. Firstly, when being threatened, a matter of life and death. When a robber, murderer or rapist threatens you, you have the right to protect yourself; and that is also true of a dangerous animal or insect. Secondly, for survival – if you find yourself in a situation where there is absolutely nothing else to eat then it is again a matter of life and death (I am willing to bet that most of us, in the 21^st century, will never find ourselves in such a situation). Lastly, when you have no other choice. For instance, if there is an insect or other animal in your house which can easily be caught and released outside then it should be done that way, but others (such as flies and ants) are more difficult and then, while feeling sorry for the little creatures, it may be killed in the interest of cleanliness and hygiene.

Now to return to the fact that insects also suffer, we need to remember that no matter how small the creature, it is a living being. The focus so far has mostly been on meat, but what about an animal product such as honey? Here is what I recently learned about honeybees and their owners: We all know that bees collect pollen from flowers which they then take to the hives. What we perhaps do not know is that it is not the pollen itself that gets unloaded at the hive. The pollen is consumed by the bees and in their stomachs it is transformed into honey which is then vomited (yes you have read correctly) out. What is this vomit (otherwise known as honey) used for by the bees? It is the building blocks for the hive and the food that the bees feed to their larvae. In other words, we humans are thieves stealing so to speak out of the mouths of the babes (the same thing we do with cows’ milk by the way). But there are worse to come, in order to move the hives to where the beekeeper want it or when the honey is being collected, smoke is used to disorientate the bees. The reason this is bad (other than the fact that smoke is being blown into the faces of sentient beings – you try not to complain the next time you inhale smoke) is that, when bees are in their natural environment and there is a fire, the smoke is a signal that they should flee. So, what happen is that the bees eat as much honey as is possible in order to build a new hive somewhere safer. The question then is, why don’t the bees just leave the beekeeper the moment smoke is blown into the hive? The reason, and this is the cherry on the cruel cake, is the queen bee. The bees will only leave if the queen herself leave – problem is that the lovely beekeepers removed the wings of the queen.

These then are the some of the reasons why I am busy moving away from eating meat and using animal products. In part two of the Transformation Process from Omnivore to Vegan I will focus exclusively on spiritual and religious reasons. This does not mean that this post was not spiritual at all. As human beings I believe that we are not bodies containing spirits, but spirits living in bodies and thus we are spiritual beings. As spiritual beings I believe we have an immense obligation and responsibility towards the environment and the health of ourselves and all other sentient beings. Apart from that, if the focus is on spirit and not on body then it should also be on compassion and not on dominion. The cruelty we have towards nature, animals and each other show that our focus has far too long been on our bodies and our perceived right to dominate and do as we please. We have made our stomachs our gods.

May the One God with many Names and many Manifestations bless you

We are the Virus: Fear and Ignorance

From March until August 2020 I, along with many other South Africans, have been forced to stay at home due to the lockdown against the COVID19 pandemic. While some of us had by now returned to work many still stay at or work from home. When watching the news, it is clear though that not all people adhere to the lockdown rules, in fact there are some who still do not believe there is a pandemic at all.

I have returned to work on the 31^st of August, as it is not exactly possible to, as a library assistant, work from home. However, the time I was forced to stay at home were pleasant – most of all I had the opportunity to witness the first six months of my newborn baby’s life (a privilege many fathers do not have). I also had a lot of time, and truly little excuse, to focus on intense study, meditation and fasting. I know that the experience, for many heartbreaking reasons, was or are not as pleasant for many others.

As I contemplated these times we live in, I realize that there is another part of the pandemic many of us do not see or prefer to ignore. The virus itself, whether we are responsible for its genesis or not, is plainly what it is – it infects people and while some survive many dies. As human beings we do not have the same excuse, to say we do what we do because we are what we are implies that we do not have the capacity to think or the conscience to realize the consequences of our actions. The ‘I am only human’ excuse simply does not work.

And yet this is exactly how many of us conduct our lives – living (existing?) from day to day without questioning deeply our own motives and actions. My mother, a very wise woman, told me sadly that, “there are many things with which we live past each other, things we do not even think to find out… we just live… everyone in his or her own bubble”. She said this with regard to knowledge of certain subjects, but I think she will agree with me that it is equally true of thousands of small daily things over which we never stop to think why it is that we do it.

This is what makes us, the human species, the actual virus – a virus which can think but either prefer not to or prefer using the capability to consciously act in ways which will cause trouble to all of us on a later stage. Never mind the big things though, the fact that we are the cause of erosion, global warming, famine and other cruelties to mention only a few. Individually we make millions of choices daily which we unconsciously teach our children, and which adds up to become major problems in the long run.

A few years ago, I was using the train to go and visit my parents. While waiting for the arrival of the train I walked around on station observing people, an interesting pastime. So, at one stage I saw a mother and her small child, I would guess the boy were about three or four years of age, leaning against a half-empty dustbin eating some snacks. After eating they walked about three meters to the railroad track and threw the plastic containers on the track, then walked back to the half-empty dustbin and continue leaning on it. I was dumbfounded.

We humans seems, in essence, to be extremely selfish and self-absorbed. Someone once said that crowds are stupid, but personally I do not think that we fare much better individually – it is just easier to see the stupidity of the crowds. Some argue that they cannot do something to, for instance, stop pollution. However, looking at the actions of these very same people, they pollute with the same argument in mind – how can my own personal polluting cause massive pollution, I am only one person. In other words, we do not stand up to do something about the problems facing the world because we feel inferior while at the same time, in our personal lives, we act so superior that we are the very cause of those problems.

We refuse to see it because we are comfortable. There is a South African joke on politicians in government – a decision are made by some politician which is then contested in court, the court orders the politician to rectify the problem within, say, five years’ time… the politician then calculate that by that time he will not be in the position to correct it anymore and thus he agree to what the court says without any intention of actually obeying making it, in effect, someone else’s problem. It is not only politicians that act this way. Many of us do know what the effects will be if we continue wasting water and electricity – we complain about load shedding but make no effort to switch of the light when we exit the room – or continue polluting, but we also know that by the time those problems hit home we may not be around anymore (you do realize that load shedding is one example of such a problem? – for all the mistakes Eskom made and continue to make, we each have our own part in this). Even closer to our bodies, we know what the consequences will be for our bad eating habits and lack of exercise but we reckon that by the time it becomes a problem we would have lived our lives satisfactorily. Then we still act surprised when we are diagnosed with various types of sicknesses.

On the other hand, many of us fool ourselves into thinking that it is enough to give some money to some far off charity organization while we continue to do some of the very things those organizations are trying to stop. Giving the money is not the problem, fooling ourselves into thinking that that is the only thing we need to do is. Then there are also some of us who do give some money to some organization, even if it is through a backdoor way via playing lottery or buying at our favorite supermarket, only because we get something in return – points, the chance to win a competition, or discount on our shopping. It is as if we must be begged to do the right thing. And thank God we do not have to get our hands dirty. Then, on another front, there are those who raise awareness for some or other noble cause. Raising the awareness is not a problem, it is an exceptionally good thing as it would hopefully force some people to think. The problem come in when those who join the campaigns do so only to wear certain clothing, buying a pin or putting cloth around a tree. Again, people must be begged only to become nominally involved.

What is needed is some real action. Why not start a campaign yourself, for a chance, within your own area? Sure, that might be aiming a bit high for a start, but still there are many things many of us can do, on our own or with someone else, which will be small steps in the right direction. For starters, and as far as is financially possible, find out where better choices can be made within your own life and home. Safe water by showering for a maximum of two minutes, not only because this will also safe you some money but because it will do wonders to the environment which you may never even realize. Don’t know where to start? As a library assistant I can assure you there are many books in the library and websites on the internet which will give you easy tips. Besides this, there are also many events, such as Earth Hour where all electrical appliances are switched of for an hour, which are designed to help you getting into the habit of a more sustainable lifestyle.

My point with all this is that we made ourselves the biggest virus the world has ever seen simply through our fear and ignorance. My own journey into realization of my place and purpose on earth and in this life started when I began to seriously contemplate what it is to love, to have compassion, to live in harmony. Reading the Holy Scriptures of various religious traditions and the books written about it, helped me conclude that concepts such as love, compassion and harmony does not stop at ourselves, our family and our friends. It continues towards those we do not like, those we hate, complete strangers… and then further to all other beings no matter how small or big or irritating. It reaches into every single action we perform, every single choice we make or word we say. Contemplate this long enough and you will know that it was never going to be easy. But the alternative of living in a vacuum is so much worse.

May the One God with many Names and many Manifestations, bless you.