（Photo source: Envato）
The beginning of Man’s kindness is to be a vegetarian and protect lives. Kindness begins with nurturing a kind heart by not harming lives.
On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti, causing more than a thousand deaths and over five thousand people injured. Soon after, a tropical storm hit the country. It was heart-wrenching to see the displaced Haitians having to brave the harsh storms. As a large proportion of Haitians live in poverty, a couple of Tzu Chi volunteers have stayed there for a prolonged period to render support alongside the care and company of the Tzu Chi team from America. However, as safety and security remain a concern, rendering aid is often a difficult mission.
Despite technological advancement, earthquake alerts are only released minutes before the disaster strike, leaving people with little to no time to seek shelter. Before one could react, the ground began shaking vigorously. There are many natural disasters happening globally, and life is so impermanent that we cannot predict what will happen next. Thus, we should be grateful for the peace we experience daily, down to the seconds. We should be grateful for everything and everyone at all times. If we could do so, our troubles would be lessened, leaving us with a warm, happy and carefree heart.
The whole world is still embroiled in the COVID-19 crisis, and the situation is especially severe in some countries abroad, leaving people tense and worried. Are people awakened by the crisis? Are people aware of how this pandemic came about? It had arisen from Man’s desire to eat meat. Statistics have shown that making 500 meat-containing Bentos requires the killing of 38 chickens or one pig. Extrapolating this to the 8 billion global population, how many innocent animals have to be slaughtered if everyone consumes meat?
All living creatures on Earth, be it those that fly, swim or crawl, have struggled immensely and bled profusely when they lost their lives to become Man’s food. As humans, we do not necessarily have to end so many lives for our sustenance.
We should be grateful for everything, even the grains that nourish our lives. In this world, fruits and vegetables are sufficient to fulfil human dietary needs. So why should we be cruel and resort to killing animals?
Meat is not necessarily healthy. Animals carry germs and viruses with them, so we prevent ourselves from falling ill easily by abstaining from meat. This pandemic has driven many medical experts to research deeper into vegetarian meals and prove that a balanced vegetarian diet can promote health and improve one’s body constitution. Since a vegetarian diet is beneficial, we should take this chance to keep promoting it.
Fifty-odd years ago, the driving force behind the formation of the Tzu Chi Foundation was to save lives, not only that of humans. As for us, we should spur each other on to relieve others of their sufferings; we should also encourage others to protect and treasure all forms of life.
By abstaining from consuming meat, we reduce the killing of animals and thus save them from pain and suffering. In order to be kinder, we should start by reducing the hurt inflicted on others, be it people, animals, or the environment in general.
Both Buddhism teachings and scientific facts have taught us to have a compassionate heart and not harm other beings. It is thus apparent that we should live like this, but people still succumb to cravings. To fulfil the demand for meat, we have formed such a large industry, with at least 80 billion livestock. Raising these animals requires a large amount of feed and water, and the carbon emissions have caused disruptions to the ecosystem.
With the advent of technology, we can now access more information. Thus, we should mobilise strength in numbers and spread compassion and wisdom to everyone. Wisdom can benefit people, but being sly is to pursue one’s desires unscrupulously. With slyness, one’s actions can harm the environment and inflict hurt on other lives even further.
One should rectify their life direction, reduce unnecessary desires, and get rid of the incorrect notions that one may have. We should advocate vegetarianism wherever possible so that we can be kinder to all beings and kinder to ourselves. As humanity is one of the most intelligent beings on Earth, with the ability to persevere through all adversities and protect all animals, we should adopt vegetarianism and actively promote it as well, so that we can have cleaner environments, healthier bodies, and kinder souls.
Translated by Teo Jia Xin
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