Theos-Talk Archives (June 2002 Message tt00065)

June 10 2002

Dear Bart:

I do not like hypocrisy. How many Indians who on one hand vaunt of
their ancient and wise civilization, would support the notion of
killing animals wholesale for profit before a MAN like Gandhi ? But
that is 50 years in the past. So soon forgotten. a great pity. Makes
everyone stop and ask what are the REAL things in living? Why do we
all live at all ?

Ahimsa is NON-VIOLENCE. No WAR, no Torture, No compulsion of any
kind. Above all it is pity and compassion for creatures less
intelligent, weaker or poorer than we are.

The animals are in effect, on the scale of evolution our "younger
brothers." They embody an intelligence which we would designate
instinct. They have not attained the level of development where the
instinct alters into MIND, and a consciousness of ones' self as
individual.

The doctrine of ahimsa was emphasized by the Buddha as you will find
in THE LIGHT OF ASIA -- "Kill not for pity's sake unless ye slay the
meanest think upon its upward way."
(Book 8th, p. 153-4, in my book)

See also in Book Fifth how the Buddha stayed the sacrifice of goats by
Brahmins who had perverted the Vedas and the ancient teachings,
practicing black magic.

"Then craving leave, he spake
Of life, which all can take but none can give,
Life which all creatures love and strive to keep,
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all
Where pity is, for pity makes the world
Soft to the weak and noble for the strong...."

(Book 5, p. 85 in my book)

But quoting scripture is no comfort unless one is enabled t see the
reason WHY pity, compassion, mercy are superior to greed, pride and
selfishness -- which all bring horrors to bear on others.

All the great ethical scriptures inspire one to protect and succor the
weak. But the mind now requires of us a reason for that. And as far
as I can see we can only invoke the act that

1.	flesh eating is not done for health or necessity, but because its
taste is good.

2.	Vegetables, fruits, roots, grains, etc... are of a lesser
intelligence level than animals.

3.	Animals have their rights, and if we do not support and preserve
them, then the "karma" of violence, terrorism, and torture are ours.
My guess is that far less people would eat meat if the had to go out
and slaughter their own. There is a revulsion one feels any time one
baits a hook or traps a rabbit, of shoots a deer. How many can draw a
large knife across the throat of a hog? How many can take a pointed
hammer and drive it into the brain of an immobilized steer ?

4.	No human has the right to violate another's integrity for any
reason. Nor to torture, or to cause pain and suffering. "The
slayer's knife did but slay himself," in the fullness of karma.

If India become "violent" by law and adopts the kill for profit mode
then she will as a country lose a lot.

After witnessing Hiroshima and Nagasaki who wants to use an atomic or
a hydrogen bomb? I pity the US in having to bear at some time in the
future the Karma of those strikes. I don't car how much rationalizing
is involved. The many lands of "If" prove nothing except a fervid and
self-justifying imagination.


It is all part of the: "Me first," and "Better you than me," thinking
that now weighs us all down.

Are our governments and military men all gone crazy ?

Best wishes,

Dallas

-----Original Message-----
From: Bart Lidofsky [mailto:bartl@sprynet.com]
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 10:01 AM
To: Theosophy Study List
Cc: Valerie Cates
Subject: When is Ahimsa not Ahimsa?

This is being sent to the Theosophical mailing lists to which
I
subscribe, and being bcc'd to a number of Theosophists whose opinions
are important to me. Obviously, nobody's perfect, and I have therefore
ignored the tendency among many members to preach holism in matters of
medicine and religion, but when it comes to politics, forget entirely
about karma, and look only to symptoms. But, when I see this as being
done in the name of the Theosophical Society or a related
organization,
I feel I must comment.

>From a letter being circulated by Radha Burnier in the name of the
Theosophical Order of Service:

> The Government of India is currently formulating its tenth five-year
plan
> and the meat sub-committee has recommended the development of the
large
> scale slaughter of animals. It wishes to encourage the export and
> import of meat and to promote the eating of flesh by Indians all
> in the name of foreign exchange, economic development and
modernization.
> As you can imagine, this is contrary to the country beautiful
spiritual
> tradition ahimsa and represents a further step down the path Western
> nations have taken of the industrial exploitation of animals without
> regard for the environment and human health.

Now, let's examine that statement. India is a country with
extreme
poverty and a lot of starvation. Now, while vegetarianism is an
admirable show of ahimsa, and you are free to die for your ideals, it
is
a major violation of ahimsa to expect somebody ELSE to die for your
ideals. And remember, the "beautiful spiritual tradition" of India
also
included an oppressive caste system which the Theosophical Society
worked hard to eliminate. You cannot force evolution on people.

> Radha asks us to write to the Prime Minister of India to express our
> concern while there is still time to do so. A limited period has
> been set by the Government for public consultation before the new
> five-year plan is adopted. Radha believes that letters from members
> of the TS and TOS around the world, written either as individuals
> or as members of a TOS group or branch, will bring real pressure to
> bear on the Government.

What a wonderful idea. Let's stop poverty and starvation by
WRITING
LETTERS. If I had known it was that easy, I would have been hundreds
and
hundreds of letters. But I know that it is not that easy. Simply
writing
letters cannot stop poverty and starvation.

If you don't like what the Indian government is doing, come up
with a
viable alternative. But writing from the comfort of your homes, from a
perspective of never having known involuntary hunger, is both arrogant
and hypocritical.

Bart Lidofsky

---
You are currently subscribed to theos-l as: dalval14@earthlink.net
List URL - http://list.vnet.net/?enter=theos-l
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-theos-l-14759P@list.vnet.net