I feel like discovering you is discovering one of those connections or resonances from a past life. Incredible work and presence. Just discovered you, lama Robert, yesterday - your words and being are an incredible touchstone and guide. E ma Ho! Thank you thank you thank you
I went to a small local Zen Buddhism group here in the UK. After the practice, we had time for some tea and a chat.
I explained how so much pain and suffering is caused by the unnecessary consumption of animal products for human pleasure, comfort or entertainment. In the west at least we no longer need animal products to survive. So why choose to breed, subjugate and prematurely kill billions of sentient beings every year?
They seemed touched by my message and agreed with my sentiment and then said that they say a prayer before each meal!!
They did not say that they avoid causing animal suffering by eating vegan or vegetarian. No, they say a prayer!! What good is a prayer for the animals who suffer unnecessarily and then are killed?
What is wrong with people? Where does this belief that some words will replace compassionate action??
It was so painful to realise that these people are just following rituals like any other religion without considering the consequences of their daily choices.
I thought Buddhism was a compassionate religion, I'm so disillusioned.
PS. Buddhists seem to be so concerned about reducing their own Karma, while failing to see one of the easiest ways to reduce it several times a day.
Could you please expand on this subject, here or on a future video perhaps?
There's a lot of talk about the importance of compassion, often in the human context, as a path to awakening. But I don't hear many talking about what it means in practical terms, and including all sentient beings.
It seems to me that not causing suffering, pain and death to animals for the pleasure of a flavour, is the low hanging fruit (excuse the pun) of a compassionate spiritual practice.
This seems to be the easy part to me and we can make such a huge impact with our simple daily choices. Choose the lentils instead of the cadaver option. Choose cotton instead of leather. Learn about and avoid the cruelty of the dairy and egg industries, where baby male chicks are killed at birth for being the wrong sex and cows live a life of bondage, forcibly impregnated and separated from their young over and over again so that humans may steal their milk.
Why is this not taught and spoken of more often in spiritual circles?
It is important with the Spiritual Path to not rely upon psychedelics. Anything that is considered to be mind altering or an intoxicant will easily become an obstacle. When we meditate, that is enough. Psychedelics are not necessary and can easily create a certain level of destabilization.
Existence is not really an experiment. It is delusion. We are perfect from the beginning, even though we have remained in a distracted state for all eternity. Our life is and has been a series of distractions. When we purify through Spiritual Practice, we learn to not be distracted, obstacles begin to dissolve. We are distracted from who we really are in this and other lifetimes. Our natural condition, which is beyond all obstacles, clear, bright, beyond belief, starts to become more apparent. The light starts to shine through this hard shell we've built around our fabricated self.
My advice to you is to give up the psychedelics and simply begin looking at mind. If you look within, genuinely, with the intention of awakening, you will quickly learn that there is no artificial way for you to become an enlightened being. Realizations unfold by doing the hard work of Spiritual Practice. When we are not distracted by our own attachments and cravings, we can get down to business. Spiritual Practice requires us to find a certain level of stability that is not possible through artificial means.
Detaching is part of it. What we really need to do is to remove obstacles that are preventing us from knowing reality. This means awakening. We begin by observing mind, so that we can have some idea about what is going on there. Usually, disturbing emotions are the first observation. Most people have a sort of agitation going on all the time. Even though we are observing mind, it does not mean that you will find such a thing. When we look at mind, what we are really doing is finding ways to discover who we really are. This takes considerable Spiritual Practice. At some point, this indescribable light beyond all belief begins to shine through, especially as obstacles diminish. My next newsletter will be about this.
I feel like discovering you is discovering one of those connections or resonances from a past life. Incredible work and presence. Just discovered you, lama Robert, yesterday - your words and being are an incredible touchstone and guide. E ma Ho! Thank you thank you thank you
Robert, why are there so few vegan Buddhists?
I went to a small local Zen Buddhism group here in the UK. After the practice, we had time for some tea and a chat.
I explained how so much pain and suffering is caused by the unnecessary consumption of animal products for human pleasure, comfort or entertainment. In the west at least we no longer need animal products to survive. So why choose to breed, subjugate and prematurely kill billions of sentient beings every year?
They seemed touched by my message and agreed with my sentiment and then said that they say a prayer before each meal!!
They did not say that they avoid causing animal suffering by eating vegan or vegetarian. No, they say a prayer!! What good is a prayer for the animals who suffer unnecessarily and then are killed?
What is wrong with people? Where does this belief that some words will replace compassionate action??
It was so painful to realise that these people are just following rituals like any other religion without considering the consequences of their daily choices.
I thought Buddhism was a compassionate religion, I'm so disillusioned.
PS. Buddhists seem to be so concerned about reducing their own Karma, while failing to see one of the easiest ways to reduce it several times a day.
Vegetarianism is very common among Buddhists.
Could you please expand on this subject, here or on a future video perhaps?
There's a lot of talk about the importance of compassion, often in the human context, as a path to awakening. But I don't hear many talking about what it means in practical terms, and including all sentient beings.
It seems to me that not causing suffering, pain and death to animals for the pleasure of a flavour, is the low hanging fruit (excuse the pun) of a compassionate spiritual practice.
This seems to be the easy part to me and we can make such a huge impact with our simple daily choices. Choose the lentils instead of the cadaver option. Choose cotton instead of leather. Learn about and avoid the cruelty of the dairy and egg industries, where baby male chicks are killed at birth for being the wrong sex and cows live a life of bondage, forcibly impregnated and separated from their young over and over again so that humans may steal their milk.
Why is this not taught and spoken of more often in spiritual circles?
It is important with the Spiritual Path to not rely upon psychedelics. Anything that is considered to be mind altering or an intoxicant will easily become an obstacle. When we meditate, that is enough. Psychedelics are not necessary and can easily create a certain level of destabilization.
Existence is not really an experiment. It is delusion. We are perfect from the beginning, even though we have remained in a distracted state for all eternity. Our life is and has been a series of distractions. When we purify through Spiritual Practice, we learn to not be distracted, obstacles begin to dissolve. We are distracted from who we really are in this and other lifetimes. Our natural condition, which is beyond all obstacles, clear, bright, beyond belief, starts to become more apparent. The light starts to shine through this hard shell we've built around our fabricated self.
My advice to you is to give up the psychedelics and simply begin looking at mind. If you look within, genuinely, with the intention of awakening, you will quickly learn that there is no artificial way for you to become an enlightened being. Realizations unfold by doing the hard work of Spiritual Practice. When we are not distracted by our own attachments and cravings, we can get down to business. Spiritual Practice requires us to find a certain level of stability that is not possible through artificial means.
Detaching is part of it. What we really need to do is to remove obstacles that are preventing us from knowing reality. This means awakening. We begin by observing mind, so that we can have some idea about what is going on there. Usually, disturbing emotions are the first observation. Most people have a sort of agitation going on all the time. Even though we are observing mind, it does not mean that you will find such a thing. When we look at mind, what we are really doing is finding ways to discover who we really are. This takes considerable Spiritual Practice. At some point, this indescribable light beyond all belief begins to shine through, especially as obstacles diminish. My next newsletter will be about this.