{"id":4712,"date":"2010-01-11T13:57:01","date_gmt":"2010-01-11T05:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/?p=4712"},"modified":"2010-01-12T03:02:54","modified_gmt":"2010-01-11T19:02:54","slug":"veganism-is-not-an-extreme-way-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/2010\/01\/veganism-is-not-an-extreme-way-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Veganism is Not an Extreme Way of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

How can you save all beings from suffering,
\nif you keep eating some of these beings?<\/p>\n

– Stonepeace<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every once in a while,
\nI’m accused of being an extremist
\njust because I’m a vegan (i.e. a vegetarian who also does not use any animal-derived products),
\nwho speak up for animals.
\nBut if vegans do not speak for them,
\nhow can the animals’ suffering be heard,
\nwhen their screams of pain and terror
\nare muted away from their consumers?<\/p>\n

What about those who insist
\nit is perfectly alright to endlessly devour murdered animals,
\nand demand stuff derived from exploiting them?
\nWho are the true extremists?
\nAs the truth is often hard to swallow,
\nI don’t\u00a0force vegan views (or food) down any human throat,
\nwhile\u00a0animals’ throats are forcibly cut,
\nwhile they and their produce are swallowed and (ab)used with glee.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Male calves get swiftly killed due to being unproductive.
\nMilk<\/span> cows are murdered later for beef and leather.
\nMale chicks get swiftly killed due to being unproductive.
\nEgg<\/span> hens are murdered later for meat and feathers.
\nSilk<\/span>worms are killed for your scarves.
\nBees are killed for your honey<\/span> (during harvesting).
\nSheep are killed for your wools<\/span> (when they are considered useless).
\nFoxes are killed for your furs<\/span>.<\/p>\n

‘… who do not wear silk, leather boots, furs…,
\nor consume milk, cream, or butter can truly transcend the world [i.e. be liberated].’<\/span>
\nSo taught the Buddha later in the Surangama Sutra,
\nwho did not immediately advocate veganism…
\nprobably because he knew too well
\nthat we are so attached to animal produce,
\nthat to speak of veganism at the beginning,
\nfew would accept it – even as a simple practice of universal compassion.<\/p>\n

Though the compassionate Buddha never insisted
\nthat all his followers must be (full) vegetarians or vegans (immediately),
\nit is a Bodhisattva precept that Buddhas-to-be must be vegetarians,
\nsince all Buddhas are perfect in compassion.
\nMore than mere diet, veganism is surely no extreme way of life,
\nfor it is part of the ultimate Middle Path of Bodhisattvas in training,
\nto minimise harm to beings and\u00a0to maximise their protection from fear and danger.
\nIt is a noble guide to how we should relate to sentient beings.<\/p>\n

How can you wish all beings to be well and happy,
\nif you keep eating some of these beings?<\/p>\n

– Stonepeace<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related Articles:
\n<\/strong>
\nIs Vegetarianism Extreme?
\nhttp:\/\/groups.yahoo.com\/group\/thedailyenlightenment-realisation\/message\/211
\n<\/a>Veganism in Mahayana Buddhism
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=2449
\n<\/a>Veganism in Surangama Sutra
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=384<\/a>
\nShocking Truths about Animal Exploitation
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=1573<\/a>
\nVegetarianism is Only Half of Total Compassion to Animals
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=1167<\/a>
\nTop 10 Reasons Not to Drink Milk
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=2561
\n<\/a>Is Your Egg-free Cake Milk-free too?
\nhttp:\/\/moonpointer.com\/index.php?itemid=2054
\n<\/a>An Easy Way to Make the World a Better Place
\nhttp:\/\/groups.yahoo.com\/group\/thedailyenlightenment-realisation\/message\/188<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can you save all beings from suffering, if you keep eating some of these beings? – Stonepeace Every once…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[45,156],"class_list":["post-4712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-veganism","tag-stonepeace","tag-veganism-vegetarianism","wpcat-74-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4712\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}