tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37975279274161878472024-03-18T00:32:32.993-07:00VEGAN SANCTUARYa bloguide to compassionate livingPhilip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-68956883739898429572011-03-31T20:26:00.000-07:002011-03-31T23:12:38.119-07:00Linking a Revolution<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Besides going vegan, volunteering one's time at Animal Acres is one of the best ways to help farmed animals. </i></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>And when someone volunteers at a farmed sanctuary like Animal Acres they are directly helping animals that have been rescued from the fate of being another countless victim of the meat, dairy and egg industry. However, there's also another way of volunteering one's time that can help save countless farmed animals lives too and it's nearly as easy as just turning on your computer.</i></span></p></span></span><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">From Your Computer Comes A Vegan World </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig0F2p02xsQ/TZVsW4phoyI/AAAAAAAAAjw/Igh6e0xTPbA/s1600/pig_computer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 210px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ig0F2p02xsQ/TZVsW4phoyI/AAAAAAAAAjw/Igh6e0xTPbA/s400/pig_computer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590493652869817122" /></a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Social activism creates change in the world when people communicate with one another and the ideas behind that activism spread within a community, then beyond. When one human empowers another to make the connection from, what they sense is true about the world in their heart, to doing the right thing in their lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When people volunteer to make a difference in the world not only do they help those in need but they also empower others to communicate and spread the word. This is what assists getting people involved in the specific cause as well. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is what effective activism is all about. Not telling people what to do...but encouraging them by example and engaging them to see for themselves what is really happening in society. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Great activists change the world by laying down the foundation for other people to make the connections to other people and so forth and so on. This is so much different and extremely more successful than demanding or commanding that people change. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Empowering others to see for themselves is how revolutions start and today it's actually easier than ever.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We see this type of foundation for change happening right now before our eyes with the uprisings in the Middle East. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Facebook</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Youtube</span>, Twitter, cell phones etc are playing the main role in keeping the momentum continuing for the usually voiceless masses by making communication simple and by exposing the oppression to the world.... in real time. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Animal activists have this same power right now. The power to connect to other potential future vegans by using the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Internet</span> to be a very effective uncensored news agency and a revealer of oppression, cruelty and truth. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We have the opportunity now to spread the word so to speak, by showing the images of oppression and violence. When we share the videos that reveal the reality of how animals are violently turned from living, feeling beings into <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">unnecessary</span> food items we make that unjust universe known. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We live in a time that no matter how hard the animal killing industries try they can no longer censor the images and reality of where our animal food comes from. The lies, myths and walls that have been erected to specifically prevent people from seeing for <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">themselves</span> the misery, death and pain they actually cause when they themselves buy animal products... are now disappearing.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Even though </span></span><a href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/03/in-the-past-decade-modern/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">bills are being passed </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">as this post is written to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/big-ag-animal-abuse-filming-video-illegal_n_835504.html">outlaw filming undercover video</a> in businesses that kill animals for food products the censorship is slowly however, coming to an end because we all now possess the power of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">internet</span> at our finger tips. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It's now up to each and every vegan activist to volunteer our time in sharing the images of truth with the rest of our social network. The videos available online now are some of the most important tools we have in changing the world for the animals. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Yet, it is impossible to change the world without taking action. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The non human animals need your volunteer efforts now.. to paste that video link in an email, tweet it to a twitter, or link it on that "friends" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Facebook</span> page.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is why people volunteer in the first place. They want to make a difference. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">If we do nothing at all the world remains a cruel and more hopeless place where apathy becomes the actual <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">camouflage</span> that maintains the cover for those who continue to abuse and exploit. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We can easily see in politics here in the US as well as throughout the world that those who are overwhelmed by greed, selfishness and hate need to maintain their power with lies, fear and violence. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We live in a society where extreme violence toward non human animals is completely accepted because those who might actually care, or who might demand change or who might fight the powers that be are kept ignorant of how their meat and dairy is created. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We now have the opportunity to challenge a violent system of oppression with a simple few clicks from our computers. It is we animal rights advocates who now have the power to awaken the world to a possible future without so much ignorance and so much killing. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">By simply volunteering a few minutes of your life to posting<a href="http://www.meatvideo.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> this video here</span></a> on the pages of your social network contacts, your twitter followers or email contacts we can slowly destroy a world </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">built on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">speciesism</span> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">controlled through ignorance. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">I can tell you now for a fact that these videos are having an effect and are waking people up and changing their lives.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Living vegan not only entails a life that refrains from causing harm to others but also includes recognizing that we can change the world by educating other humans of what the consequences are when they eat or wear animal products. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">There is no such thing as humane meat.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be a sanctuary for others, go vegan and share a video.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-xLc0C8u9Y">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-xLc0C8u9Y</a></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUkHkyy4uqw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUkHkyy4uqw</a></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVu1Pnc-iQ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVu1Pnc-iQ</span></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><div><br /></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-5148748593558334052010-11-23T23:32:00.000-08:002010-11-27T02:00:52.751-08:00Thankful, Grateful....Mindful<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TO1oXfnbLHI/AAAAAAAAAgY/D3ImzroDffQ/s1600/IMG_0758.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TO1oXfnbLHI/AAAAAAAAAgY/D3ImzroDffQ/s400/IMG_0758.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543201469196086386" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:180%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>7 Suggestions On How To Integrate Being Mindful With </b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Living Vegan</b></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's always the perfect time to be thankful, grateful and mindful about the lives we live. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> This is the time of year however when we Americans supposedly take time out to reflect on what it is specifically we have to be thankful about.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Rather than write about the usual hypocritical aspects of what Americans now unashamedly call Turkey day I think it's rather important to notice the relationship between being thankful, grateful and mindful with living vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Living vegan is easy. It's very simple. It's not born from some magnificent sacrifice and there is really nothing that remarkable about it. The only thing remarkable or special in regard to being vegan is when we realize that 99% of our neighbors are not vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Living vegan is not a diet. It's not a fashion or lifestyle choice either. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being vegan is about opening our hearts and minds and about expanding our moral concerns to everyone. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yes, everyone. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So with the above idea in mind (no pun intended, yet definitely noticed) during this time of year we can look at what it means to integrate and incorporate being mindful into our daily lives as vegans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Since being thankful and grateful fall under the umbrella of being mindful we'll focus (no pun intended again but noticed once more) on bringing mindfulness to living vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful or mindfulness comes directly from the teaching of Buddha himself and has become a main part of the Buddhist tradition.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful simply is about being purposefully aware. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful is about noticing what we are experiencing and what our responses might be to that experience. Being mindful is about contemplation and focusing ones attention. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While there are certain activities involved with being mindful it is not a technique but rather a way of being. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's not about doing something but rather about connecting and being aware.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mindfulness is a subtle activity and you are in some ways...doing it right now while reading this. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There is something real and extremely beneficial to be said about deliberately transforming our moment to moment experience of the world and becoming absorbed in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/science/16tier.html?_r=3&ref=science">present moment.</a> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Mindfulness can feel like the ah ha moment we can sometimes experience.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In that brief flash of insight we notice our own attention being focused and we're automatically absorbed in the ...what's happening now moment.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we have insight like this it really feels as if time is slowing down. This is because when we're truly focused on something time disappears. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We all know the saying that a watched pot never boils. This is because when we're focused on the water in the pot our perception of time changes because we're being mindful to the situation. That is the beauty in being focused and in deliberately paying close attention to what is important.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is where the practice of mindfulness can benefit our living vegan. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful is about paying attention and attempting to understand our own minds. This can help lead to self knowledge of who we are, why we are drawn to living vegan and why the rights of non human animals matters to us.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful helps us see the big picture of our being vegan. To discover what's important and what's not. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mindfulness is one-third attention training, one-third being focused on a very important aspect of who we are and one-third of everything else. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">OK, I made that very last bit up about mindfulness but it sounded very Zen and actually made sense. This is really because being mindful is a very open and simple concept.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Anyway...</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Here are 7 suggestions on how to bring mindfulness into being and living vegan. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">These are not rules or techniques and certainly not a to do list but rather some simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into your own </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">veganism</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">1. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;"><b>Self Inquiry. </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">Self reflection with some type of inner growth work.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Learning about who we are through introspection. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Asking ourselves important questions and attempting to find the answers.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Personally connecting to what it is that drives or draws us to living vegan. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Being vegan is something which takes place and happens within us. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Becoming vegan is not something that is an external something or that takes place outside of us. It happens inside and that is where we begin to investigate as well.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2. <b>Study</b>. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Read, listen, research. There are so many important books, websites, podcasts and other resources from which we can learn everything we need to know about animal rights and living vegan. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Studying is about understanding the theories behind what we feel so that we might know which action to take. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Studying is important so we can have a more reflective attitude toward being vegan. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We all should know the difference between an abolitionist vegan and an animal </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">liberationist</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> vegan. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And those are just the A's. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Not everything is found in books however, so this can also include studying nature or our own relationships with others in regard to our </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">veganism</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is about connecting the dots, growing in wisdom and understanding the principles about being vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> 3. <b>Personal, mindful practice</b>. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Finding something that takes you beyond yourself yet where you can also become mindful about being vegan and contemplate it. This can be anything from practicing meditation, practicing yoga, hiking, running or even gardening. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Something where you can connect your thoughts about being vegan to an activity and then connect with it on a regular basis. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is where you can notice the connection to moving, breathing and being alive. This is where you make the connection that we animals are all the same. We move, we breath, we feel.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">4. <b>Finding a teacher. </b></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Looking for guidance and direction from someone. Someone who can give us advice, who we can learn from and who we have a connection with. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The truth is we can learn from everyone and in a very real sense we can make everyone we meet into our teacher. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The world and our own perception of the world becomes a very different place when we treat everyone as if they were our teacher. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can learn a lot about being vegan from people who are not vegan. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can learn incredible truths about compassion and kindness from people who seem cruel and who mention that they're not concerned about the lives or well being of other animals. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We can discover new aspects about ourselves when we see how others shut down at the mention of our </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">veganism</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. We can also learn from others how and where we close up or shut down too.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is easily noticed for example when we walk directly past a homeless human and we fail to stop and offer help.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">5. <b>Community. </b></span></span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Humans are social animals and we need to be with others. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's very important to feel we're part of a community. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That we belong somewhere. That we fit in and connect with others in important ways. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That we share ideals and values with certain other people. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Every major social and political movement throughout history thrived and succeeded by building a community of support and collaboration. A supportive group of other people helps us stay focused on the journey ahead. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being with other vegans who get us, who think like us can help round off the rough edges that we've built up from living in an animal eating/wearing/exploiting society.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The consequences of not having a community or belonging to a group is alienation. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Feeling cut off from the world can make us believe that we can't fulfill our role or purpose in society.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">6. <b>Volunteering/Giving back.</b></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> This is compassion in action and the essence of living vegan. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being a mindful vegan is all about volunteering to help relieve the suffering in the world and to making the world a more peaceful and loving place. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On the outer level it's all about making a difference for others, being generous to others and being connected to our altruistic nature. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's not about writing a check (although money is always needed when animals are being rescued and need to be cared for). </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, on a more mindful and contemplative level it's about giving without expecting or wanting anything in return. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's about focusing our attention on dropping the need to be recognized for giving back to others and or for receiving attention from our giving back to help.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So being mindful about giving back might be doing something compassionate or kind without anyone else ever even knowing about it. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">7.<b> Being thankful/grateful.</b></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the context of being mindful it's important to focus on being thankful and grateful. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The world is not a worse place than it was in the past. We have so much to be thankful and grateful for </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">about being alive today and that we are living vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We have so much cruelty free food to choose from and so much positive vegan culture to become involved with. We need to learn to appreciate our circumstances so that we can become better activists and better advocates for the non human animals. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Living vegan makes a real difference. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being thankful helps us stay focused on the actual positive aspects that we're doing something that is saving lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Every vegan saves approximately 95 farmed animals lives each year. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being grateful when we are motivated by compassion, kindness and empathy. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being thankful however does not mean we don't realize and recognize that it's far worse today for the 55 billion farmed animals being killed for food every year on this planet than it ever has been.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's not a better time for the animlas raised and slaughtered for food than it was in the past. The same modern technology that makes our lives easier, more efficient is also the cause of so much greater harm and makes life a million times more horrific for the animals, whom we eat, wear or exploit.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet as vegans living today the burden is on us to help other humans discover a much more compassionate way of living on this planet we share with our fellow earthlings. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Becoming vegan is the only solution to ending the death and suffering being inflicted on the other animals of the world. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Being mindful on a personal level of what it means to live vegan is such an incredibly important aspect to developing veganism for the rest of humanity.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The implications of not being mindful about our own veganism is that we run the risk of losing focus and losing the power each of us has in helping develop the next phase of human evolution.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That evolution is human veganism. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And it will come about by our all being more mindful together.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be a mindful living sanctuary to someone else's existence.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Go vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-schoeberlein/teachers-take-a-breath-in_b_768044.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-schoeberlein/teachers-take-a-breath-in_b_768044.html</a></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&hp">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?_r=1&hp</a></p><p></p></span><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-14333095248506542032010-11-03T23:18:00.000-07:002010-11-05T03:01:08.019-07:00Inner Acres<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The Personal Lessons Learned About Living Vegan</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">From A Farmed Animal Sanctuary.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>I long to accomplish a great and noble task.</b></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>But it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.</b></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Helen Keller</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(1880-1968)</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TNJQyQ6zYFI/AAAAAAAAAgA/bG9kuPYlGao/s1600/IMG_3430.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TNJQyQ6zYFI/AAAAAAAAAgA/bG9kuPYlGao/s320/IMG_3430.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535575716457046098" /></a><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Cowboy and friend</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Now whenever I spend a day at Animal Acres something within me opens up.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It used to be much more common for me that I would experience myself shutting down after being there. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Especially on that 50 minute drive back to Los Angeles where I would seem to focus on the fact that this beautiful safe haven for animals was a bit of a delusion and not the reality for which the vast majority of farmed animals live their lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The reality is that there are nearly 12 billion farmed animals killed every year for food in the United States. The reality is that the modern farmed chicken industry today will confine up to a quarter million birds in one building alone. The reality is that an industrial hog producer in America will kill nearly 80,000 animals in one single day. The reality is there are about 400 rescued farmed animals living peacefully at the sanctuary here at Animal Acres. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This massive imbalance of killing and cruelty versus kindness and protection is heart wrenching to say the least. One can't help but feel the weight of this reality bearing down and literally crushing any positive feeling, either about the sanctuary itself or what we as individuals might be able to contribute in helping bring an end to this violent and oppressive injustice our society calls, food production.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Yet now, after the end of each day and after having spent more time with the chosen few non humans at Animal Acres, I leave the sanctuary with more awareness about these thoughts. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I now leave with a much deeper acceptance of this reality and of the positive aspects of living vegan. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It's not just about the obvious connection to the animals and seeing them living happily and in peace. It's not just about recognizing their wisdom, humor, insights and how brilliantly they appear to live in the endless present that makes being around them so perfect and so rewarding. No, that's only a part of it all. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For me now, it's also the understanding that providing sanctuary for even one life matters immensely. Especially to that one life who has been given refuge. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I know this sounds quite obvious but sometimes it's the easily recognized and obvious things that are the big lessons and the ones which hit us the hardest when we seriously acknowledge them for the first time.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we pause and think about the actions we take everyday for instance to protect our own lives or to increase our own well being we may also recognize that our life too is only just one life and yet worthy of sanctuary. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We do what needs to be done everyday for our own lives and it never seems meaningless or unimportant. So why would it be any less important to save or vastly improve another life?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When someone adopts one dog or one cat from a kill shelter it makes a huge difference to that one animal. It's never an unimportant or insignificant event for the life saved , especially on a personal level for that being.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">And in this exact context the lessons I've learned and have found to be so moving about my time at Animal Acres is the awakening to what living vegan means when wrapped up in this specific sentiment.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Living vegan makes a huge difference in this context and understanding it as having meaning and importance has served as new inspiration for making it the foundation of a different reality than the one I used to stand on. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Although I've been living vegan for many years I never fully grasped that my being vegan was something that happened from my inner life and not something that came about from outside myself. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we are able to discover it and sense it directly from within, it deepens.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> When we find those places, those inner acres of meaningful terrain they can be the strongest ground we have to stand on. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This new foundation for me is one constructed on appreciation, contemplation and compassion. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">And from this also comes the insight that living vegan is simple and not in any way at all very remarkable. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Being vegan is also not at all even the slightest bit challenging . </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This to me, gives <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">veganism</span> a truth that cannot be denied.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In a world that's so brutal and seems so dismal it's not always what we do or who we are that means anything but rather how we connect those experiences to our inner life that can make a difference. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we stop worrying about how nothing we ever do will actually make a difference and live with the knowledge that <i>everything</i> we do matters, we not only gain strength from our choices but we are able to notice that what we do... we can do quite well.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> If in that moment whatever we are doing is actually our main focus and inspiration then everything else <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">disappears</span> and this becomes who we are and gains much more meaning.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Cleaning out one barn stall, carrying one bag of pig feed, feeding an apple to a goat resident all makes a difference. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The importance and meaning of whatever we do comes about when that activity is cared for and respected. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Nearly everything we do are just tiny activities but they can all add up. The same is true for every life that is given sanctuary. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The same is true about living vegan and in remembering the lessons we've learned when we're inspired by what is important to us. It's in those lessons that something important arises and something meaningful can be given back. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;font-size:medium;">Living vegan is the most important step we can take when we open up to the idea of living compassionately.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When something is important and has meaning it's because we found that something in ourselves and then opened up to it. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia"></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be a Sanctuary for someone,</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Go vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Click MP3 below to Listen</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><embed src="http://www.box.net//static/flash/box_explorer.swf?widget_hash=4hrs2pbjlo&v=0&cl=0&s=0" width="460" height="345" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Georgia; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><div><br /></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-47918651156974819242010-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:002010-10-07T14:53:01.427-07:00Someone<div><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We must begin seeing other animals as equal. Existence makes us all equal.</span></i></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><b></b><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Alice Walker</span></b></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TK4skJxodTI/AAAAAAAAAf4/oD2u4evp2-8/s1600/Erin+bruno.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TK4skJxodTI/AAAAAAAAAf4/oD2u4evp2-8/s400/Erin+bruno.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525402792441181490" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Erin and Bruno at Animal Acres</i></span></span></div><p></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, are now in front of a computer reading this sentence. You, who clicked on an internet link which brought you to this blog is the same you who feels that you are one thing and the computer is another thing. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, acknowledge the computer is only a physical object in front of you however, you also know that you are more than just merely a physical object. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, have moods, feelings, thoughts, memories and expectations. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, have wants, desires, awareness and personal characteristics that make you, who you are. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, have a mental life, yet you are also more than just that specific dimension as well. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, are that one, that place, where the world ignites around you or seems as if it illuminates from inside you and perhaps it feels as if you are noticing all of this from somewhere behind your own eyes. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">These impressions, these feelings are merely the firsthand results of your own perceptions of what it is to feel like a self. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Even though none of these feelings, perceptions or experiences are you, (anymore than are your eyes, hands or mouth), the feeling of being a self exists. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And the boundless contents of who you are, are not just sensations, thoughts or experiences but are also made up of your assumptions of who you might be for example in a social context or of your ability to be kind, or of your level of confidence or lack there of. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">All of these phenomenon add up to the complex notion that you are more than just a body or brain or even a mind. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You, are someone. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Although there are many mysteries in the universe that are unanswered and you may not actually know why you are a someone... you, do in fact know what it feels like to be someone. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It feels exactly what you are feeling right now. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Alive, aware and conscious in this exact present moment. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In simple terms, this is it. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In a more generous explanation it is the feeling that you are the emissary or the agent of that distinct and unique, internal dimension you might interpret as yourself. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But being someone is even more than just this.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The simple fact that your ideas, emotions and sensations all have a subjective quality is exactly what it means to be someone. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And without a doubt you can experience all of the above without ever even being aware of lets say, your liver, your lungs, your aging process or even your own thoughts. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Very often humans will make the claim that non human animals are unaware of their own lives or not conscious of who they are. But the very fact that we humans are not always self aware or conscious of what our body or brain are doing at any particular moment does not mean we're not a someone with feelings, needs or a life to be cherished and honored. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia; min-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And all of this, makes you, being a someone, the most important substance in the world. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">All of this ability to experience happiness or suffering, in this specific context, makes you the only legitimate sphere of concern as well. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Even when you care or have concern about others it all originates from you being a someone who has those interests with or for others.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Now with all this said we can pause here, reflect and realize we're </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">(you and I) not the only ones who must be someones. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There are others out there who also have similar qualities of subjectivity and similar components that make being a someone a very relative concept.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We notice that others are someones too on the basis that they declare they are alive and conscious beings through the outward signs they display. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For instance how do we even know that our human friends and family are someones like we are? </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We can only infer that they are by relying on their reporting to us that they are. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Sometimes with our family and friends it can even be a bit too much reporting.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">However, it's not just in words or language that matter in regard to this but rather a reportability based on external signals that are relayed to us which will make the case, that there is someone there. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This is true for not only humans but non human animals as well. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If you are possibly doubting this premise than you can sincerely take notice that there exists no sanctuaries or shelters for chairs or stones. None of us (in our right minds) have compassion for cars , ipods or sticks. And with this said it should be noticed here and focused on....that when it comes to ethical or moral concerns, being a someone is all that's important. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Being a someone is the only context in which happiness and suffering actually matters. Nothing else in the world has any value other than how it affects the actual or the potential experience of some-body who is a someone. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You are a someone and so is every other being that possesses the qualities of having a subjective component to themselves, even if they are not aware of that actual component.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> This element might be what many call sentience or if we are generous to one another, consciousness. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Whatever differences we might have from another someone it is our fundamental similarities </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">of being someone that make us all equal. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When we humans live vegan we become a sanctuary for other someones and our actions reflect exactly what it is that makes the world a better place. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When we choose to be kind and love all others and not just some, we make the world a happier, healthier and more preferable place for every-one.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When we become vegan we save the life of someone else and become a personal sanctuary for the many others who want to live and be loved just like, you.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Be a sanctuary for someone....</b></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Go vegan.</b></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva; min-height: 16px;"><br /></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Many of you might remember this song and video which was performed live a the 2010 Animal Acres Gala.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This song was written and recorded by Josh Auer.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'times new roman';font-size:medium;" >The video was created by the fabulous Casey Suchan and Denis Hennelly of </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'times new roman';font-size:medium;" >Open Road Films. My sincere gratitude to everyone who made this work come to life.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltlQLHGjYDc">here to watch the video</a></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div> Josh Auer's music...</div><div><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dear-you-ep/id301749161?i=301749261">http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dear-you-ep/id301749161?i=301749261</a></div><div> </div><div><br /></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-71148242978720238552010-08-03T01:43:00.000-07:002010-08-03T12:14:01.094-07:00Being Kind To Others For Ourselves<span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:arial;font-size:small;"><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfkyb2hJMI/AAAAAAAAAdE/1Otw9i3c1vs/s1600/IMG_2035.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 338px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfkyb2hJMI/AAAAAAAAAdE/1Otw9i3c1vs/s400/IMG_2035.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501117024977364162" border="0" /></a></p></span></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"></span></span></span><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Besides the undeniable way in which Facebook helps organize our personal communities, it's also a great place to read comments from people who have volunteered their time and energy helping others. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whether they've been volunteering at a sanctuary like Animal Acres or have been rescuing homeless animals, their enthusiastic posts sound like they're coming from people flying high on ecstasy at a rave or a love festival. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This analogy isn't so far-fetched when you consider that the similarities in responses are not just a coincidence.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Over the past few years a number of researchers in the fields of <a href="http://compassion.stanford.edu/programs/researchProjects.html">cognitive science </a>and psychology have shown that the love, compassion and kindness we express to others are much more conducive to our own mental well-being than we ever actually imagined. (Note: At the end of this post, I will provide links to these studies.)</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The connection between being kind to others and the flourishing of happiness, whether that happiness is personal or on a global level, appears to be quite obvious. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">(Since happiness is a rather vague word I will use it here in this post to mean the state of well-being)</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There is a chain reaction when we are kind to others; the recipients of our kindness in turn feel better and thus act kinder to others, and so forth and so on. Kindness does appear to make life worth living.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One known fact in this chain that links us all is that each of us who is alive and conscious wants to be happy. Non humans as well as humans. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Every sentient being moves toward happiness and away from the absence of it. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The basic principle that everyone longs for happiness and freedom from suffering is what causes us -- humans and non humans alike -- to feel compassion for one another. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">W</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hether we're conscious of this principle or not, it's what helps make empathy possible.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfmHXtIu2I/AAAAAAAAAdU/AqOjPBK791w/s1600/animal-rescue-organizations-1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfmHXtIu2I/AAAAAAAAAdU/AqOjPBK791w/s320/animal-rescue-organizations-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501118484153154402" border="0" /></a></p></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Put another way, the individual and collective goodwill generated by humans and other animals who are treated with kindness and compassion, and who pass this feeling along, becomes the greatest source of happiness that exists. </span></span></span><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Simplified still more: To treat others kindly is to act out of concern for their happiness yet it also proves to be a path to our own personal happiness as well. </span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Although this is a bare-bones explanation of altruism and its consequences, it tells us that there is a clear connection between being kind to others and feeling better about ourselves.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We simply need to honor the fact that</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> including other beings in our wish for happiness is actually what makes us feel better and is what brings about concrete benefits to everyone.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">There is a beautiful, truthful, unified irony here in our being compassionate activists. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For what we soon discover is that we can all benefit not only from our own kindness to others but also from observing another's kind deeds done for others. You could say that we can all band together to "selfishly" help those who cannot defend themselves or speak out. By "selfishly," we can say that as activists we all benefit from giving, nearly as much as our intended beneficiaries do.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;color:#FFFFFF;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhkNqWu9nI/AAAAAAAAAeU/JfRie_OLnWM/s1600/Cameron-May.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhkNqWu9nI/AAAAAAAAAeU/JfRie_OLnWM/s320/Cameron-May.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501257130703779442" /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">photo:Cameron O'steen</span></span></i></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is not about so called positive thinking. This is about putting the Golden Rule into action and about actually </span></span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">doing </span></span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">something. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Positive thinking never found a home for a shelter animal or rescued a dog from a busy highway.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The benefits of committing acts of kindness are backed up by scientific evidence. Computer s</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">tudies have analyzed data showing the reactions of good deed doers. There has even been exciting new research done that involves studying the brains of Buddhist contemplatives with<a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-fmri.htm"> fMRI machines.</a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The mo</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">nks have spent decades meditating on compassion or sympathetic joy. Over the years, these people have actually enlarged the areas of their brains that are responsible for feeling love. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfoSe-mcoI/AAAAAAAAAdc/M22r5aj-HKI/s1600/meditation.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfoSe-mcoI/AAAAAAAAAdc/M22r5aj-HKI/s320/meditation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501120874107269762" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Results of diverse studies have also proven that people who volunteer, people who perform acts of kindness, and people who focus on love and compassion (that is, meditate) have all shown marked improvement in their physical well-being.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In addition, the studies have shown that engaging in acts of kindness brings about feelings of euphoria and joy, followed by periods of calmness. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">According to Allan Luks, the former executive director of the Institute For The Advancement of Health who conducted research in this area, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">"These feelings involve physical sensations that strongly indicate a sharp reduction in stress and the release of the bodies natural pain killers, the endorphins." </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This initial rush, he said, is then followed by a longer-lasting period of emotional well-being.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhiJMpFFiI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Mymm3-ezHTY/s1600/Julia-chicks.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhiJMpFFiI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Mymm3-ezHTY/s320/Julia-chicks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501254854984930850" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">photo:Cameron O'steen</span></span></i></span></div></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So from this information we can hypothesize that whatever a person's current level of happiness is, it will generally improve when they are kind or help others in need.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Volunteering to help care for animals at a sanctuary or shelter, for instance, not only contributes to the happiness of the animals but also causes feelings of fulfillment and accomplishment and a stronger sense of love and compassion toward one's self.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfqb1E3-zI/AAAAAAAAAdk/m_Ud9FzA8Jo/s1600/IMG_1447.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 319px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfqb1E3-zI/AAAAAAAAAdk/m_Ud9FzA8Jo/s320/IMG_1447.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501123233681242930" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">These states of mind not only feel good and affect us, but they also spread to those around us. Love and compassion are seriously contagious</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Although it is true that cruelty, hate, jealousy, spite and shame are also contagious, they merely promote and spread the same negativity which created them. And, importantly, </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">they are never sources of happiness.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Like the Buddhists who focus their attention with laser-like intensity on love for all beings, we, too, can also practice becoming specifically aware of our compassion for animals.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;color:#FFFFFF;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhjPpdG3mI/AAAAAAAAAeM/IVbSR-P2YFs/s1600/Ciddy-turkey.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhjPpdG3mI/AAAAAAAAAeM/IVbSR-P2YFs/s320/Ciddy-turkey.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501256065310187106" /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Geneva; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">photo:Cameron O'steen</span></span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Geneva; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">There is something about being purposefully aware of what it feels like to be compassionate that brings us closer to recognizing our own kindness. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Any skill requires that we practice and refine our technique if we are to become accomplished. The same can be said about practicing kindness; we need to payclose attention to our mind when it fills up with the desire to be kind. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The more we perceive and recognize this desire in ourselves, the more effortless it might be to live compassionately more frequently. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Now, as readers of this blog know, the definition of b</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">eing kind to nonhumans includes not eating them and not being complicit with their exploitation and their deaths, even indirectly.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Living vegan expands our thinking to embrace others' wants and others' happiness. When we begin to move toward this attitude and away from always thinking about what seems best for ourselves (the "me first" mentality), we actually walk right into our own happiness, sometimes not even consciously aware.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfu0JKsgtI/AAAAAAAAAd0/iXojwhwIX14/s1600/IMG_1448.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfu0JKsgtI/AAAAAAAAAd0/iXojwhwIX14/s320/IMG_1448.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501128049437737682" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">As an ethical decision that is based on compassion and kindness for others, veganism, when done mindfully, becomes a rational way to strengthen and reinforce our own happiness. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The entire notion of living vegan and becoming a sanctuary for others is simply about understanding that what would benefit ourselves, we simply do for others as well.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Live vegan, be a sanctuary for others.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It's easy and it's a beautiful feeling.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfyUiKN05I/AAAAAAAAAd8/iVB2C1eSICQ/s1600/IMG_2509.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFfyUiKN05I/AAAAAAAAAd8/iVB2C1eSICQ/s320/IMG_2509.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501131904437310354" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 19px; font: 14px Geneva;"><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);">“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”-J<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ean Jacques Rouss</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);">e</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);">au</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;color:#800000;"><embed src="http://www.box.net/embed/d4vb0meack2y2os.swf" width="466" height="400" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;color:#800000;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;color:#800000;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhndMv5XOI/AAAAAAAAAec/WsNah6-gAL8/s1600/IMG_1476.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhndMv5XOI/AAAAAAAAAec/WsNah6-gAL8/s200/IMG_1476.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501260696169045218" border="0" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;color:#800000;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhoMTQ3KlI/AAAAAAAAAek/S2SObn7LxtE/s1600/Love+monkeys.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 211px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TFhoMTQ3KlI/AAAAAAAAAek/S2SObn7LxtE/s320/Love+monkeys.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501261505371777618" /></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;color:#800000;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=meditate-on-this-you-can-learn-to-be-more-compassionate</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">http://www.mindandlife.org/collaboration.html</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">http://www.upaya.org/newsletter/view/2009/11/30#story6</span></span></span></p><p></p><p></p></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(128, 0, 0);"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">http://www.crystalinks.com/medbrain.html</span></span></span></p></span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">HELP US PLACE 114 GOATS WHO ARE NOW RESIDING AT OUR EVACUATION CENTER.</span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The animals rescued from a cruelty case in April are now healthy enough for adoption. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">PLEASE POST ON YOUR FACEBOOK, BLOGS, AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING VENUES THAT HOMES ARE URGENTLY NEEDED FOR OVER 100 RESCUED GOATS. WE NEED TO PLACE THESE ANIMALS TO ENSURE THERE IS SUFFICIENT ROOM AT OUR EVACUATION CENTER FOR THE SANCTUARY ANIMALS (IF WE NEED TO EVACUATE. </span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Please </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.animalacres.org/rescues/urgent_100730.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; cursor: pointer;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">click here</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> or visit our website for an URGENT ADOPTION ALERT to post and distribute.</span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><a href="http://www.animalacres.org/volunteer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">http://www.animalacres.org/volunteer.html</span></span></a></p></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Geneva;"><a href="http://www.animalacres.org/donate.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">http://www.animalacres.org/donate.html</span></span></a></p></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font: 14px Geneva;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></div></span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-55107616370184025892010-07-22T10:15:00.000-07:002010-08-03T13:29:34.772-07:00A Sanctuary for Words<p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> <a href="http://www.creaturequotes.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i>Creature Quotes </i></span></a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Our ethical concerns are not merely just the products of what culture we were raised in. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Each one of us possess ethical and moral intuitions that have been hard wired into us.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Our concerns with right versus wrong are rooted in our biology. What is important to each of us in ethical and moral terms become massively empowered by our ability to speak, write and use language. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Whether we are the writer or the reader, the speaker or the listener, the vehicle of language, when operated intelligently, can drive us to expand our moral boundaries beyond our own family and friends and beyond our own species to embrace all other sentient creatures.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9RFfF6aI/AAAAAAAAAcs/zDhU57jRP6I/s1600/cowboy.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9RFfF6aI/AAAAAAAAAcs/zDhU57jRP6I/s320/cowboy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496992183922059682" /></a></p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Cowboy at Animal Acres</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet it is also language that empowers our hatred, prejudices, and ignorance. Sadly, when abusive thoughts produce abusive language, those who accept the words can be incited to demonize, to destroy -- even to murder innocent victims.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In other words, language can either be used to begin violence or to end it. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Most of the cruelty and killing we commit against the other animals is due to the speciesist vocabulary that we unwittingly employ every day.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mere words can make nonhumans unimportant or invisible. Think of how often humans refer to nonhumans, whose gender we probably know, as an "it" instead of "him" or "her." </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is a simple way to reduce someone to an object rather than a person and to diminish who they are as living individuals. (All living animals are someones as well as persons.)</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What does it mean when we call another human a pig or a chicken or a cow? </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The mere fact that these names are considered deep insults when we use them in reference to human animals reveals a tragic insight into the way in which non humans are routinely perceived and treated through words alone. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But while language exposes severe prejudices, it also has the power to change peoples lives for the better.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Compassion and empathy can be deeply communicated through words which might enable people to feel love for others where they had shut down before. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Language written or spoken can be that external something that might provide insight in our minds and hearts. Words which are felt are like thoughts that find our emotions and can provide the opportunity to transform us forever. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9lDH3iwI/AAAAAAAAAc0/UlrBjB3tK-c/s1600/Lr_new_best_bonobo_pics20.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9lDH3iwI/AAAAAAAAAc0/UlrBjB3tK-c/s320/Lr_new_best_bonobo_pics20.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496992526885161730" /></a></p></span></span><p></p> <p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; min-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Photo: Vanessa Woods. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lomela and Mwanda at Lolaya Bonobo sanctuary</span></i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Countless "Aha" moments that have changed our planet for the better have come about simply from words, spoken or written. From language properly used. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If you are an animal activist, there is no better way to share your wisdom and emotions with others than the words that fill this comprehensive new website....</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.creaturequotes.com/">Creature Quotes: </a></span></span><a href="http://www.creaturequotes.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Advancing Toward Freedom For All Species.</i></span></span></a></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This compilation of moving and thoughtful quotes from deeply compassionate and deeply reasonable thinkers throughout the ages was edited and compiled by SBH Clay. It is a wonderful read and a powerful tool to reinvigorate yourself with brilliant words in the defense of freedom and equality for all species.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In that case, the plethora of photos of beautiful animals in this online book is the equivalent of 500,000 words. The vocabulary spoken by the animal's eyes peering out from these virtual pages is certainly capable of warming many frozen hearts.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I urge everyone who takes animal liberation and animal advocacy seriously to bookmark this page immediately.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Having a resource such as this at one's fingertips will no doubt aid you in reaching out and touching everyone around you...for the animals.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9zRc5jyI/AAAAAAAAAc8/WXQmSD0e73w/s1600/blkroo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 229px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TEk9zRc5jyI/AAAAAAAAAc8/WXQmSD0e73w/s320/blkroo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496992771249639202" /></a></p></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Blackie at Animal Acres</span></i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Be a sanctuary with your words.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Be vegan</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"> </p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Click on link below to open the file and scroll to page 19 where you can read quotes from Vegan Sanctuary. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.creaturequotes.com/PDFs/CHAPTER%2020%20COW-FOG.pdf">http://www.creaturequotes.com/PDFs/CHAPTER%2020%20COW-FOG.pdf</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></b></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><br /></p></span></span></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-45202026322485064112010-06-02T11:41:00.000-07:002010-06-02T16:19:50.430-07:00Who Are We To Judge?<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAaiyozgpvI/AAAAAAAAAa8/ePwehhIp7bo/s1600/catbeinghanged.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAaiyozgpvI/AAAAAAAAAa8/ePwehhIp7bo/s400/catbeinghanged.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478244987573413618" /></a></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 19px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Medieval drawing of a cat being hanged after his trial.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The oppression, injustices and physical cruelties which humans inflict upon non humans throughout the world are without a doubt horrifying and deplorable. Yet, one of the most unjust and callous actions we take against the other animals is in how we judge them. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We commit the gravest form of discrimination and prejudice when we pretend we know what.... they don't think or what it is.... they don't feel. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And when we humans come to the short sighted conclusions about the other animals, we've usually arrived there without any sufficient evidence or real empathetic understanding.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAajPm9miaI/AAAAAAAAAbE/cNCSlnG5dBk/s1600/IMG_1867.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 280px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAajPm9miaI/AAAAAAAAAbE/cNCSlnG5dBk/s320/IMG_1867.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478245485295077794" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We've raised the bar so high for the other animals to be considered persons with feelings and interests that even we ourselves cannot make it over such a high mark. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">History proves that humans cannot live without illusion. We create false worlds to justify our behavior and fears. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Irrational faith and absurd belief systems seem to be our only way of coping with the reality that we are mortal beings, no different from the other animals of the world. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Like all the other animals we are born, seek mates (companionship) forage for food and then we die. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Just like the other animals we cannot control our own fate, yet we believe....</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">we can.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We judge the other animals as unaware and declare that they do not understand life and death. But the truth is we have no understanding of what happens to us after we die either. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We are like every other animal who has lived and died on this planet and like all other creatures, have no answer for why we're here. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAakcI6HmtI/AAAAAAAAAbM/uzTk8ynR70w/s1600/IMG_2021.JPG"><br /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAakyvlAMoI/AAAAAAAAAbU/OvXEHRzMfJs/s1600/IMG_0746.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAakyvlAMoI/AAAAAAAAAbU/OvXEHRzMfJs/s320/IMG_0746.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478247188414870146" /></a></p></div><p></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet, we homo <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sapiens</span> constantly pretend we know things we do not know and then judge the other animals as being ignorant of the world they inhabit. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In the big blueprint of life, we are no different than all the other animals. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet we humans still believe that we are different and somehow more .....important.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We imagine that a squirrel gathering nuts or a dove building a nest is doing trivial work. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We then go on to believe our shopping sprees, our sitting in traffic or meeting job deadlines are so much more important and substantial. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">They are not. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In the big scope of being and existence it's all the same. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We've formed the notion that our consciousness and a concept of self is what places us above non humans. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We judge the consciousness of others so harshly while we fail to admit that we know very little about our own consciousness .</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAakcI6HmtI/AAAAAAAAAbM/uzTk8ynR70w/s1600/IMG_2021.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAakcI6HmtI/AAAAAAAAAbM/uzTk8ynR70w/s320/IMG_2021.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478246800077331154" /></a></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There are basic questions that no humans even have the answers to yet.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yes, we know the brain is the source of mental life but we have no understanding of how it all happens. We merely recognize that the mind is what the brain does but we have no idea how it creates consciousness itself. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet, after all this we are still determined to claim that non human animals somehow lack this feature called consciousness. Which is something that we know so little about. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And all the while it appears obvious that the other animals brains create minds as well. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Where is our humility? </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">While we know many things about who we are as a species it's still a mystery of how our own thoughts and our moods can exist and become illuminated in a big clump of grey mass we call our brains. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The other problem, however, is we demand <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">reportability</span> about some one's subjective experience through words in order to declare such consciousness as real rather than allow for the simple observation that there is someone....there. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalYqzVF4I/AAAAAAAAAbk/Au6DX7vbtoQ/s1600/IMG_1852.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalYqzVF4I/AAAAAAAAAbk/Au6DX7vbtoQ/s320/IMG_1852.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478247839967811458" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">And while we do allow consciousness to be accepted on its outward signs for humans who cannot speak </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">(such as human infants) </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">most people will not grant the same for non humans. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Human beings also arrive at the judgement that the other animals lives are worth much less because their perception and thought go on without any consciousness. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Most humans believe non human animals don't think or understand what they're doing and therefore this somehow allows humans to feel justified in taking animals lives away from them. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But conscious perception is a very small part of what we ourselves experience. Here again we are to quick to judge the others when we ourselves live in a world that is nearly dream like and much more shadowy than we tend to admit.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Consciousness is variable for humans, it is not a constant state. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For instance the most accomplished musicians or athletes are usually not even aware of their own movements, they are usually not thinking about what they're doing....they are just doing and being.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet when we accuse animals of existing in this state.... it is somehow inferior.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalsD-Z7YI/AAAAAAAAAbs/CVyvONlbXJU/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 366px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalsD-Z7YI/AAAAAAAAAbs/CVyvONlbXJU/s400/IMG_0771.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478248173142666626" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Who are we to judge non humans so harshly and with such irrational arrogance?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The fact remains quite clear that we have been wrong about nearly everything in the past we thought we knew to be the truth. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In recent history for example, most people believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the earth was stationary and the center of the universe. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Before Darwin's theory of natural selection was published humans believed they were created from dirt, with a divine breath in the image of a Father who lived in the sky.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Humans maintain that the other animals act merely by automated instinct.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Anyone who has spent time with a nonhuman knows this to be false as they can make decisions and choices where instinct could not be the main participant. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Lucida Grande"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalH1hJq5I/AAAAAAAAAbc/Vb0QywV-WLc/s1600/circus39_sm.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 90px; height: 118px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAalH1hJq5I/AAAAAAAAAbc/Vb0QywV-WLc/s400/circus39_sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478247550786579346" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">However, we ourselves realize that instinct when combined with raw emotions are the most intense and meaningful experiences we can have.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Our judgement that we are superior to animals because we operate with reason and rational thought has recently been proved to be false. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The brilliant neuroscientist </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Damasio"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Antonio Damasio </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> has been studying humans who have brain damage either from strokes or other accidents...these humans cannot process their emotions or feel anything. These people cannot make decisions. He has shown that humans cannot think rationally without feeling a gut instinct or raw emotion first.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We've been wrong about ourselves, about our own minds and of course about our own place and importance in the universe. Through eons of our irrational judgments about animals we have misunderstood them completely.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Tragically, it seems true, that our judgment about the other animals has been and still is terribly wrong as well.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The consequences of making false judgments regarding non human animals is that it enables humans to murder them indiscriminately by the billions upon billions every year and thus bringing so much unnecessary violence and misery into their lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For thousands of years animals have been butchered, hunted and worked to death all because we have judged them unfairly and incorrectly.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAaq5PVkEvI/AAAAAAAAAb0/okPbG_xbXYA/s1600/sandba.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAaq5PVkEvI/AAAAAAAAAb0/okPbG_xbXYA/s400/sandba.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478253897089028850" /></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It takes nothing away from us to end the false judgements we render against them. We lose nothing when we become more emotionally and intellectually honest when regarding who they are.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We do not become less alive or less human when we stop judging the other animals unfairly. In fact we know that by becoming more loving and compassionate toward the other animals it will inspire more kindness everywhere and bring about a much healthier, happier world. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This is a <a href="http://www.mindandlife.org/mission.org_section.html">scientific fact.</a></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We've taken away so much dignity from countless, magnificent, beautiful beings by judging them inaccurately. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If we can see ourselves in them, we can realize how much we all actually share. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If we can allow the other animals to simply live their lives without such negative judgement there would possibly never be a need for us to build sanctuaries for them. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">They, like us, want to live a life that is free from suffering and filled with happiness.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAarQ5K3ORI/AAAAAAAAAb8/chJGGBdDtw8/s1600/IMG_1914.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/TAarQ5K3ORI/AAAAAAAAAb8/chJGGBdDtw8/s400/IMG_1914.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478254303455426834" /></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia; min-height: 21.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Become a sanctuary for others.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Stop judging,</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Live vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i>Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood</i></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 19.0px Georgia"><br /></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WXkDIOlOxfk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WXkDIOlOxfk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></span></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-11130455552245629882010-05-27T22:44:00.000-07:002010-05-27T23:37:25.795-07:00NINETY FIVE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S_9cq6C12tI/AAAAAAAAAak/2fmr9MnRens/s1600/ninaty2-nf.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 227px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S_9cq6C12tI/AAAAAAAAAak/2fmr9MnRens/s400/ninaty2-nf.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476197564111248082" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ninety-five is the average number of animals spared each year by one person’s vegan diet.</span></i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Many people who have not yet ended eating and consuming animal foods often will after a visit to Animal Acres or another farmed animal sanctuary. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When a person can witness farmed animals-out of context- as always just property or as merely food animals but rather in context as real living persons who have a right to live their own lives, something shifts and a transformation occurs. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Over at the brilliant blog </span><a href="http://challengeoppression.com/2010/05/18/ninety-five/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">ChallengeOppression.com</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">(Animal Rights and AntiOppression) </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Deb, one of the sites very talented bloggers has written a beautiful post about the new book titled </span><a href="http://www.novoiceunheard.org/nf_ex.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ninety Five</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Meeting America’s Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs.</span></i></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It is an anthology of photos and stories by </span><a href="http://www.novoiceunheard.org/nf.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">No Voice Unheard</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> which published one of the more powerful anthologies regarding non humans a few years ago,</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i><a href="http://www.novoiceunheard.org/oaat_overview.htm">One At A Time</a>- A Week in an American Animal Shelter .</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Sadly farmed animals are mostly forgotten about. They are always overlooked as individuals having any value or importance.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Their lives and deaths are never given any genuine or serious attention. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet, no caring, compassionate or moral person would ever agree that what is inflicted upon them should be allowed. But, this is exactly what happens because we never know them. We never see them for who they are. We never accurately look at their faces, hear their stories or ever know their names. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Besides visiting a farmed animal sanctuary </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ninety Five</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> may be one of the best places where people can discover the beauty, depth and personalities of the animals most people merely see as property to be turned into food.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Become a sanctuary for Ninety Five farmed animals a year.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Go vegan.</span></span></p>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-4537683678485593072010-05-05T01:06:00.000-07:002010-05-05T02:42:06.198-07:00Ending Our Veganger<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-Ea7ucpUUI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/yyRY70GJPoc/s1600/IMG_1501.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-Ea7ucpUUI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/yyRY70GJPoc/s320/IMG_1501.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467681035987276098" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We need only take a quick glance back through human history, watch any cable news network, tune into a reality TV show or read a few blogs and what becomes obvious are the ideas which divide people from one another will eventually unite them all...... in anger.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">More than ever people today seem so angry, so ready to fight with one another, even when they're on the same team. Even when they share the same ideals and goals.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">What is behind all of this anger? Why is there so much rage flying around everywhere?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Even in the vegan, animal rights community as well…people are so quick to attack, denounce and defame each other that it’s really quite troubling.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">However, rather than focus on the obvious defects that make the species homo <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sapien</span> so impossible to live with we can choose to investigate what may be at the roots of our anger in a deeper context.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We live in a very apprehensive time. On some days you can almost hear the ticking from the bombs of peoples hostility. You can read it in their eyes and detect it from the lines on their faces. Our world is simply burning up with bad tempers and free range...rage.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Anger is what people do with their fear.</b></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It's much easier to react with anger than to admit we're afraid.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It appears that even in the insightful, mindful, compassionate, and empathy driven community of animal rights advocates it's so easy for us to translate our fears immediately into anger at one another.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Our situation is this: most of the people in the world are afraid of what they can not control.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">What frightens most of us is when we lose the ability to control what happens with the most important issues and aspects of our lives. We are a species who become nearly phobic when we lose control or even the illusion of control.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It may even partially explain one of the core reasons many people want nothing to do with living vegan or gaining knowledge about animal rights issues. It might not be that they don't care, but rather they're afraid. Afraid of becoming burdened with the knowledge of so much suffering and death caused by the hands (and mouths) of other humans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Afraid they are taking on something they cannot control.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This might also be the source of so much of the anger present among many like minded, caring, ethical vegans directed at other vegans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The intensity of feeling and knowing there is so much at stake and no way to control or put an end to it.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Fear comes to us and is born from perceiving a danger which seen or unseen waits right around the corner. For the masses of non human life on this planet the world is without a doubt a horribly dangerous place and the small minority of humans who have a deep empathy for animals can be overwhelmed by it all. Our awareness of what happens to animals on fur farms, in research facilities or in slaughterhouses can generate an incredible sense of fear as well as a devastating anger in each of us.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There is already so much unconscious fear for most of us wrapped up in the knowledge of our own inevitable/personal deaths that it would not be the theory of some delusional mad man to suggest that for animal rights advocates there is an extra anxiety and fear caused by our awareness from so much animal misery and death. We often feel helpless because it all feels so beyond our control to do anything.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EbKpLyp7I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/mLr16xGY2gU/s1600/AAveggie+pride1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 335px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EbKpLyp7I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/mLr16xGY2gU/s400/AAveggie+pride1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467681292272445362" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet we owe it to the animals of the world, the people in our lives and of course ourselves to drop the aggressiveness toward one another and attempt to be kind and remain calm. We need to be able to find those openings where understanding, empathy and cooperation can squeeze through so that we can move forward together.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It is neither in defeating each other nor in beating each other up; but through cooperation and experiencing unity where we will be able to reach our goals and achieve real victories for non humans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Part of the solution might be in letting go of our anger at one another and looking for ways we can find solidarity.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZTCJxnnI/AAAAAAAAAZM/T31XsgpkztM/s1600/sealhunt1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZTCJxnnI/AAAAAAAAAZM/T31XsgpkztM/s400/sealhunt1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467679237390573170" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">One of the pleas we ethical vegans often make to other humans, who wrongly believe it does not matter what pain or death may be inflicted on other sentient beings, is that we humans are much more similar to non humans than we are different. Why do we forget that bright pearl of wisdom when it comes to other humans who are actually vegan for ethical reasons like we are? We have so much more in common than we have in disparity. Yet, most of the time we fail to notice our hypocritical reactions and irrational behavior regarding this point.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> We're so few in numbers and so far between that it remains quite critical for us to unite rather than fight.... each other.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EY-1qFJQI/AAAAAAAAAZE/Ul38sVRoTGI/s1600/aa+veggie+pride.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EY-1qFJQI/AAAAAAAAAZE/Ul38sVRoTGI/s400/aa+veggie+pride.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467678890439025922" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">None of the ideas above reflect the notion that we cannot have minor or major disagreements with what might seem the best approach for achieving non human animal's rights. Nor does letting go of anger at one another mean that we should also refrain from critiquing tactics which many of us may view as producing more harm to the cause than good.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">However, dropping the anger means ending the personal attacks, threats and non stop drama which seems to have become more important than saving animals lives or in educating other people about becoming vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We all need to put an end to our having to be right all the time in our arguments about animal rights or in proving other vegans wrong in their ways. It's about time that we also recognize how foolish we sound when we claim we are better, bigger and bolder vegans than someone else.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We are the only voice the animals have and we are wasting it on overly dramatic, dysfunctional and useless infighting.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">When we self destruct everyone loses.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If we can possibly acknowledge and wake up to the understanding that the majority of anger which is directed towards one another is merely based on our fear of what horrendous and unnecessary atrocities are being committed against animals by other humans. We all share this stress and hardship. Maybe we can attempt to be kinder and more accepting of one another. Maybe we can all learn to live together more successfully as we all live with the same thorn in our sides.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As cliche and overused as any quote might sound....</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Animal rights advocates need to be the change we want to see in the world.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It's time we recognize that what allows humans to cooperate with one another is the ability to get past the tiny differences and to find those greater, more extensive similarities and to build and work from there.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZyZCB6dI/AAAAAAAAAZc/5nsCpwj1czU/s1600/Love+is+lib.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZyZCB6dI/AAAAAAAAAZc/5nsCpwj1czU/s400/Love+is+lib.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467679776108046802" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There is of course no guarantee that even the most reasonable and like minded people are going to agree about everything. However, allowing fear and anger to control our interactions with one another and let it hold influence on the long struggle ahead for animal rights is certainly unreasonable.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We ethical vegans are an open minded creative group and we can surely devise better solutions for resolving conflicts than we have been of late.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The reality is that if we wish to transform our culture into one that views animals as persons whose lives deserve equal respect we need to learn to make the best use of our time spent interacting with one another.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We need to learn to be calm, cool and collective, so to speak, if we wish to have any influence on the speciesist attitudes of our fellow human beings.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Veganism is a compassionate and rational enterprise. Speciesism is not.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Living vegan is so much about empathy and the ability to feel what another being feels, and in it's more cultivated form the capacity to deeply understand another's point of view.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Dropping our anger at one another may seem low on the to do list of vegan activities, yet as proved time and again with our consideration regarding the importance of non human lives, the power of kindness is eventually what makes all the difference in the world.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZnF4zRgI/AAAAAAAAAZU/bF0nkk4c1eQ/s1600/IMG_2055.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S-EZnF4zRgI/AAAAAAAAAZU/bF0nkk4c1eQ/s320/IMG_2055.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467679581990503938" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Don't be vegangry...</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Be a sanctuary for others.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Be vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">listen here</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.box.net/shared/hsl0uai42a">Why Can't We Live Together?</a></span></i></span></span></p>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-88059847377352570902010-04-20T00:27:00.000-07:002010-04-20T09:57:10.542-07:00A RESCUE FOR FARMED ANIMALS<span style="font-size:130%;">All across the world from small rural towns to enormous, urban, metropolitan areas.<br />From high rise apartments to dirt huts... billions of humans awoke on Thursday morning the 15th of April 2010 just like every morning on planet earth and began their day by eating someone's flesh or drinking another species milk.<br />Imagine however about 60 men and women on this very same morning waking up from a night of sleep, leaving their comfortable homes and driving hundreds of miles-----to rescue and save the lives of former food animals.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81ZVEF_EQI/AAAAAAAAAXI/--fE7Hmvoyo/s1600/pell1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81ZVEF_EQI/AAAAAAAAAXI/--fE7Hmvoyo/s400/pell1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462120141481251074" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This is exactly what the many caring volunteers and committed staff from Animal Acres did as they rescued 150 neglected nearly starving farmed animals from a dilapidated property near San Diego.<br /><br />The volunteers had to make a “human fence” to herd the animals uphill to the trailers.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81a40KyjaI/AAAAAAAAAXg/NpMNFmqaTI8/s1600/Patty+rescue.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81a40KyjaI/AAAAAAAAAXg/NpMNFmqaTI8/s400/Patty+rescue.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462121855193353634" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />The rescue – under the direction of the Shelter Manager, Frank Allen took four days in total.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81ZxbceBFI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/nwKvBDVE-aw/s1600/A+Acres+Rescue+team.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81ZxbceBFI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/nwKvBDVE-aw/s400/A+Acres+Rescue+team.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462120628785906770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Over 50 dedicated volunteers showed up for this effort and the rescue would not have been possible without their hard work and commitment.<br /><br />But with all that said and done it does not seem out of place to also briefly examine what is at work here and to notice the compassion and commitment of people who care and act so much differently than most other humans do.<br /><br />Most humans ignore altogether the plight of farmed animals in order to have an obstacle or a veil so to speak, remain.<br />Without an ignorance the complicity in killing would have to be faced head on which would be a far greater challenge than most people are willing to deal with.<br /><br />Yet there are those people who care enough to find the strength... to do what needs to be done because they have also found a place in their heart to love. To care.<br />And in their capacity to act on this love and compassion what is given back to the world is multiplied ten fold. For what comes back to the farmed animals here for instance is not merely love and a chance for a new life but also their dignity as living individuals, which, when they were seen only as property, ceased to exist.<br /><br />For everyone who volunteered, donated money and have gone vegan, you are a sanctuary.<br /><br />Thank you.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81aAw6suAI/AAAAAAAAAXY/zHtkSFIkbT8/s1600/pell4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81aAw6suAI/AAAAAAAAAXY/zHtkSFIkbT8/s400/pell4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462120892247881730" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81hh4YIgdI/AAAAAAAAAXo/C6_nojUz95s/s1600/mike+Raphaeli.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 217px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81hh4YIgdI/AAAAAAAAAXo/C6_nojUz95s/s400/mike+Raphaeli.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462129157767463378" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81h2Rg9_nI/AAAAAAAAAXw/3TvHBbgSjIY/s1600/Patty,Frank.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81h2Rg9_nI/AAAAAAAAAXw/3TvHBbgSjIY/s400/Patty,Frank.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462129508112793202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81iSJSfQbI/AAAAAAAAAX4/PC0qpiSpP_8/s1600/IMG_0520.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81iSJSfQbI/AAAAAAAAAX4/PC0qpiSpP_8/s400/IMG_0520.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462129986940912050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81isZRU8KI/AAAAAAAAAYA/rL7Qx0XYaa8/s1600/IMG_0371.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81isZRU8KI/AAAAAAAAAYA/rL7Qx0XYaa8/s400/IMG_0371.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462130437907607714" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81i3t9GJ2I/AAAAAAAAAYI/vGCev0JgkOU/s1600/Donkey+kiss.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S81i3t9GJ2I/AAAAAAAAAYI/vGCev0JgkOU/s400/Donkey+kiss.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462130632438458210" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-40878637814378822252010-04-12T10:48:00.000-07:002010-04-12T13:37:45.776-07:00EMERGENCY RESCUE ALERT<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">150 Farmed Animals Need Sanctuary</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">!</span></span></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8Ned4BGlmI/AAAAAAAAAWo/TaBP1WpH5fs/s1600/button_rescue_pcs.jpg"></a></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8Ned4BGlmI/AAAAAAAAAWo/TaBP1WpH5fs/s1600/button_rescue_pcs.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 170px; height: 236px; " src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8Ned4BGlmI/AAAAAAAAAWo/TaBP1WpH5fs/s400/button_rescue_pcs.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459311040649401954" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> click here to watch </span><a href="http://www.animalacres.org/video.php?vid=CjkkDGeh9ys"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">VIDEO</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Over 150 animals are needing to be given sanctuary this week - and we need you to make their rescue possible with your donation today. Currently, all available Animal Acres membership funding is used to provide quality care for the existing sanctuary residents. We are not a large, well funded group, we do not have funds "in reserve", and we simply cannot act unless you act, now. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Animal Acres will begin this Thursday April 15th rescuing goats.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8NiPzm3FmI/AAAAAAAAAXA/NrnUHw1QO-o/s1600/IMG_2061.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8NiPzm3FmI/AAAAAAAAAXA/NrnUHw1QO-o/s320/IMG_2061.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459315196993934946" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>(Here above)</i> the Animal Acres goat resident in charge of new goat greeting committee.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Animal Acres will work through Sunday the 18th to bring all the animals from San Diego to our new evacuation site on our pre</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">mise</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">s.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8Nh6mx2RSI/AAAAAAAAAW4/KnhFaauT27E/s1600/IMG_1517.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 313px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S8Nh6mx2RSI/AAAAAAAAAW4/KnhFaauT27E/s320/IMG_1517.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459314832773104930" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">An Animal Acres security rooster <i>(above)</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">watching over the new evacuation site</span></span>.</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Please click link </span><a href="http://app.etapestry.com/hosted/AnimalAcres/OnlineGiving.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Here </span></a></p><p style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Geneva; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To <a href="http://app.etapestry.com/hosted/AnimalAcres/OnlineGiving.html">donate to our rescue fund.</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Thank You!</span></span></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Geneva"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Lucida Grande"><a href="http://animalacres.org/rescues/rescue_pcs.html">http://www.animalacres.org/rescues/rescue_pcs.html</a></p><p></p></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-17372670886183852462010-04-01T18:23:00.000-07:002010-04-04T00:03:49.479-07:00MOIRA NORDHOLT-Food Activist<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U5ni-T9-I/AAAAAAAAAVY/IcTNff2f1G4/s1600/Fruit_vegetables_big.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 168px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U5ni-T9-I/AAAAAAAAAVY/IcTNff2f1G4/s400/Fruit_vegetables_big.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455329875195066338" /></a></span></div><div> </div> If we slow down enough to take a moment and contemplate about what the majority of people are actually doing when they sit down to eat a meal (usually 3 times a day) it can be quite a sobering wake up call. For what appears to be an ordinary activity that most of us hardly acknowledge is actually a continuous source for cruelty, violence and death. </span></span><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span></span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Many of us realize that providing the much needed education and information to others about what happens to farmed animals who are turned into food is sometimes an insufficient guarantee for changing peoples habits of eating animals. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span></span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">We've also seen over the years that promoting the notion that animals are being treated more <a href="http://humanemyth.org/">"humane" </a>and killed more kindly on smaller farms does not result in people going vegan at all. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">But a more profound truth is that nothing will promote veganism better than veganism itself. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">There is an empowering effect when people assist the self promotion of veganism by showing how delicious, clean, exciting, healthy, compassionate, non violent and easy vegan food can be. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">This is food activism! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">This is activism with the winning argument in it's favor </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">and</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">flavor.</span></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">When someone cares about another and puts that consideration into action it has the ability to change the world for the better and for everyone. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Cooking, preparing and creating food that is born from a place of compassion and kindness is an expression of the golden rule in action. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">The world is designed by the decisions each of us make and we as individuals are defined by the choices we make. Showing the world that we can eat, drink and be merry without the misery and death lying on our dinner tables is an essential form of activism that is often overlooked yet extremely important.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U2XQWftsI/AAAAAAAAAVA/UxpgDrbQoL0/s1600/get-attachment.aspx.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 178px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U2XQWftsI/AAAAAAAAAVA/UxpgDrbQoL0/s400/get-attachment.aspx.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455326296783435458" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Moira Nordholt is someone we would call a food activist. She is a self-taught vegan chef who stumbled into food activism as proprietor of Banff, Alberta’s first vegetarian restaurant, long before the word "vegan" was uttered in beef country. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Her time is now split between Toronto, Venice Beach and the open road, where she cooks delicious plant-powered food, consults and develops recipes for some of North America’s top spas and wellness centres, and contemplates life while riding her motorcycle solo to remote internal and external territories. (<a href="http://firehorserider.com/">firehorserider.com</a>)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Moira is the founder of <a href="http://feelgoodguru.com/">feelgoodguru.com</a>, an online playground celebrating people, ideas and things that make the world a better place.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">As well as contributing original recipes to books on detoxing and plant-based diets, Moira has written and self-published an eBook series called “Feel Good Fast” and runs an online companion quarterly cleanse helping people learn for themselves the ease and pleasure of cooking with seasonal whole foods to lose weight and feel great. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span></span><i>Moira is the host and organizer of the very popular annual Animal Lovers Brunch.</i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><i> </i><span style="font-style: italic;">Her food is featured in the upcoming documentary about plant-based diets, "Forks over Knives". </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Vegan Sanctuary had the honor of chatting with Moira about her work, her life and her yummy activism!</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i> </i></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U5RgtmedI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/SUwMUTOn8Xg/s1600/FGGlogo.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 135px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7U5RgtmedI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/SUwMUTOn8Xg/s400/FGGlogo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455329496630983122" /></a></span></i><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip:</span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Moira, thank you so much for taking time out to talk with Vegan Sanctuary. When did you first make the transition to living vegan and what inspired you to become vegan? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Moira:</span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Thanks so much for bringing me in to your conversation, Philip! I became vegetarian at 17 while living in Paris after several months of eating horse meat. I was a "jeune fille au pair" and that's what the family I worked for fed me. One day I looked in the mirror and made the connection to the old adage "you are what you eat." No kidding, I'd begun to look like a horse. From there, it was a slow evolution. I flailed for awhile as an uneducated and unhealthy vegetarian, surviving on junk food that I wasn't allowed to have as a kid, but I took an interest in nutrition and gradually gained balance the more I learned to cook healthy foods for myself. When I opened Banff, Canada's first vegetarian restaurant, I was eating the best organic foods, and I began to feel the undeniable effects of a high quality plant-based diet. I was putting in insanely long days in the kitchen with no sunshine and no breaks, then going for a workout at night, feeling stronger and more energized than ever. The diet simply proved itself in my body. For me, long before it was an ethical choice, it was simply a healthy choice. Of course, the more I learned about factory farming, the less I wanted animal products on my plate. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"> <b>Philip:</b> Yes. And it's basically now a fact that a plant based diet is much healthier for our human bodies than a diet based or centered on animal products. So, we also can't deny the fact that happiness is related to kindness and vice versa. So, understanding this facet, it would seem quite obvious if our condition or well being will generally improve when we live more compassionately, wouldn't it make sense that a vegan diet adds this aspect to the whole health argument as well? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Moira:</b> Some of the happiest, healthiest, most fully expressed human beings I know are vegans. Yes. I believe that happiness, health, kindness and compassion are inextricably linked. To me, being compassionate means first being compassionate with myself. We've become so disconnected that most people don't even know anymore what it means to be compassionate with themselves. When I listen to my body it tells me what the healthiest choices are; when I listen to my conscience, it tells me what the least harmful choices are. To me it's about honoring that innate wisdom we all have, to find and maintain balance in body, mind and spirit - whole health. I believe that all real and lasting change starts right here. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Philip:</b> Taking time out and cooking a vegan gourmet meal can almost be a bit like a meditation or a healing yoga class or even therapy. I mention this and make those analogies here because it can be very difficult living as an ethical vegan in a world where most people chew animals up at every meal and they do this at least 3 times a day. The death of so many farmed animals can become a painful fact for many ethical vegans and increasingly a great source of suffering for the people who care about farmed animals. Maybe talk a bit from experience about how cooking and preparing creative vegan food oneself can actually help heal and create a more optimistic outlook for this dilemma that many animal rights people face. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Moira:</b> We tend to want to find someone to blame for the madness - anyone. But let's not forget while we're practicing compassion for animals that our fellow humans, the ones who are overweight, undernourished, unconscious or ignorant, sick with diabetes and heart disease and cancers due to poor diet, they need our compassion too. We all hate to see any living being suffer, whether it's a cat with fleas, cows being trucked to slaughterhouses, or a whole country of human beings in warfare. It can be overwhelming when we allow ourselves to become aware of all the suffering that goes on in the world. Some people choose to remain blissfully unaware. We each have our way of dealing with our grief and anger over it. For some, it can spur great action; for others, it can be paralyzing. There are medical doctors out there now prescribing plant-based diets to alleviate human suffering. There's a new doc - Forks Over Knives - coming out in September all about this. I believe we're on an evolutionary path towards a more sustainable, healthier way of eating that will make all of us look back at eating animals as very unsophisticated or barbaric. Yes, for me, cooking is meditation in action. I believe that anything done with intention becomes a prayer and prayers have mysterious ways of manifesting. Taking the time to prepare a delicious and beautiful meal for yourself with the intention to nourish your own body is a powerful act that should not be underestimated. It's such a simple thing we can all do every day that potentially reduces suffering on so many levels, starting in our own digestive system! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Philip:</b> Why do you think so many people fail to notice the fact that they've been indoctrinated into consuming animals almost like a religious belief? How is it that most people see eating animals as a choice they are making rather than what they've been told to do over and over and over? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Moira:</b> I think we're all walking around at different levels of awareness. In many ways we're still cavemen. So much of our eating is done out of unconscious habit. It's very complex because food is so tied to our emotions and memories and perhaps even the memories of our ancestors. We're hypnotized daily by the food industry. There are very effective forces at work in the business of burgers and fries persuading the masses to hoover it up. It's a very difficult nightmare to wake up from... Yet there are clear indications that there is a food evolution taking place and it's picking up speed... </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Philip:</b> Yes it is and many people who have evolved and become vegan want to find effective ways to educate others on living vegan. Many of us attempt to reach peoples hearts and minds but often forget about peoples stomachs. I think your polenta pizza, your veggie sushi and your spinach empanadas for instance are sure fire paths to a vegan revolution. Why is it that so many vegans forget that great tasting, adventurous vegan food is just as effective in getting people to stop eating animals as lets say handing someone a pamphlet on the horrors of the modern slaughterhouse? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:large;"><b>Moira:</b> People can tune out to the pamphlets and demonstrations. I know I don't want to be solicited as I'm coming out of Whole Foods, no matter what the cause. But if someone invites me for a meal, I'm in. Every meal shared is an opportunity to create the world you want to live in. Great food can be a delicious and convincing introduction. If you can dazzle someone's tastebuds and make them feel incredible after eating your food, you've won a battle that didn't even exist. Food is the one place where, no matter what our beliefs or level of awareness or consciousness, we come together to share and celebrate. If you make the food special, you can see the lights going on. People start to ask questions and request recipes. The comment I get most often is "If I could cook like this I'd be vegan." So I show them how easy it is and encourage them to try it for themselves. When people have the right tools and the support of a community, they feel empowered to change. It's happening. There are so many resources available now for someone who wants to evolve to a vegan diet.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7VC6zzTBjI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Nc1uzCprhKQ/s1600/brunch-display-150x150.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7VC6zzTBjI/AAAAAAAAAVg/Nc1uzCprhKQ/s400/brunch-display-150x150.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455340101734434354" /></a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Philip:</b> That's so true. It just needs to be demonstrated and people will see how amazing vegan food is. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">OK, I'm going to get all woo woo on you here if you don't mind....</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> So, there are episodes with our own experiences and there are forms of well being.... that override all others and transcend the normal daily aspects of our regular experiences. What I'm getting at is I'm thinking of veganism here as an easy gateway to spiritual experience, to living what someone might call a spiritual life and to those types of feelings....of compassion, of love and kindness in general. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Do you think there is this specific perspective and awareness that seems to take place within us when we eat and fill our bodies with foods made from kindness and non violence? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Moira:</b> You know I love the woo woo;) I can't claim with certainty that everything I eat is made in a non-violent way. I hope that the rice I eat was planted by happy California farmers and that my quinoa was grown on South American land that has been peacefully tended by generations of proud growers, and that no snakes, grasshoppers, butterflies or rodents were run over or ingested by harvest machines...But it would be naive of me to think that everything on my plate was obtained fairly, happily and non-violently. What I can claim with certainty is that everything is energy. We know that animals fear death and that animals in our food chain suffer intensely. This is the energy I choose not to put in my body because I can't imagine that energy to be nourishing in any way. On that level, we truly are what we eat. Imagine having the energy of the fear of a thousand cows inside your belly? That's what a hamburger is to me. But let's not assume that everything that's vegan is healthy and full of good vibes. There's the junk in boxes that comes off assembly lines around the world. I don't even consider that "food". It's filler. Crunchy, salty, sweet and fatty mouth amusement. Eating this industrial sawdust void of real nutrition and filled with chemical additives, even when free of animal products, is not conducive to a spiritual life. These are empty calories we consume out of boredom or lack of imagination. Eating this stuff fuels a toxic food industry, turns us into zombies and keeps us in the nightmare. I also consider not just the food I'm eating but who's preparing it. Nothing comes close to food you prepare yourself for healing energy. It's extremely rare in a stressful restaurant environment for the chef to be mindful, peaceful and joyful. Consider that the energy of the chef is always in your food. Let's hope he or she is feeling non-violent when you order your garden burger... But yes! At the risk of sounding completely woowoo, there really is a deep spiritual element that accompanies eating low on the food chain and high on energetics. I've seen people almost levitate after eating a plant-based meal made from real, fresh, whole foods prepared with intention:)</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Philip:</b> What is some simple advice for someone who wants to be a food activist and start utilizing food as a way to spread the vegan message? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Moira:</b> Healthy is sexy. Everyone wants it. People are becoming more and more aware of what's in their food and making the connection to their health or lack of. They're looking for answers. Live by example. Get healthy yourself and when people ask how you keep your skin glowing gorgeous, why you never get sick, or how you still fit into your grade 10 jeans, give them your plant-powered secrets. Learn to make one or two show-stopping vegan dishes and share them widely. Take them to dinner parties or invite people over to dine. People will ask you for the recipe and be astonished there's no cheese or ground beef or heavy cream in it. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Philip:</b> I like it. I think that's all so important. What was your motivation for creating Feel Good Guru? </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Moira:</b> I love to help people make simple changes in their lives that can have profound effects on their world. I wanted a brand that would reflect my passions for creativity, wellness and optimism. I miss the community of incredible healers, teachers, seekers, foodies, artists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, animal lovers, activists, adventurers and world changers that sprung up around my restaurant and I wanted to get that back on a global playground to celebrate people, ideas and things that make the world a better place. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Philip:</b> Moira, thank you so much for taking the time to talk, your support of Animal Acres and of course all the wonderful ways you help spread the vegan message and help humans and animals feel good. Everyone needs to check out your website too. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Moira:</b> If any of your readers would like help getting cleaner, greener & leaner with their lifestyle, I'm launching my spring cleanse on April 11th - Feel Good Fast. Join in. It's free! </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://feelgoodguru.ning.com/">http://feelgoodguru.ning.com/</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> </span></span> </div><div><br /></div></div></span></span></span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-74787070777864471592010-04-01T12:17:00.001-07:002010-04-01T23:31:52.208-07:00Feel Good Guru's Polenta Pizza<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7TxqpOaHMI/AAAAAAAAAU4/rREt2nKyD-g/s1600/Polenta+pizza.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7TxqpOaHMI/AAAAAAAAAU4/rREt2nKyD-g/s400/Polenta+pizza.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455250763575598274" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Feel Good Guru's Polenta Pizza</span></div><div><br /><br />It’s really hard to find a good prepared vegan polenta crust for pizza, yet it’s soooo easy to make. Don't be intimidated thinking you'll have to stand over the stove stirring constantly for an hour. With this easy-shmeasy polenta crust, you whip it up, cover it and walk away. The polenta takes the shape and size of the pan you cook it in and browns up in the oven on a cookie sheet. Simply top with your favorite sauce and toppings, or follow the recipe below for a perfect vegan polenta pizza!<br /><br />Polenta Crust:<br /><br />2 cups organic polenta or cornmeal<br />4 cups water or vegetable broth<br />1 tsp sea salt<br />tiny drizzle of olive oil<br /><br />Bring water or broth to a boil in a 10 or 12-inch diameter pot with sea salt and olive oil. Whisk in polenta slowly until it’s all incorporated. Give it a stir for about a minute, then turn the heat to low, cover the pot and leave it for 40 minutes.<br /><br />Turn off the heat and allow to sit for another 10 minutes. Turn the pot upside down, carefully dropping the polenta onto a cutting board, and slice it through into two equal round pizza crusts.<br /><br />Bake on a cookie sheet for about half an hour at 350 or until crispy around the edges.<br /><br />Heirloom Tomato Sauce:<br /><br />This can be made in advance. Quarter a pound of heirloom tomatoes and place face up on a lightly oiled roasting pan. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Add 6-8 whole cloves of garlic and roast about half an hour or until lightly caramelized.<br /><br />Pulse with an immersion blender or mash with a fork. Add your favorite seasonal fresh herbs.<br /><br />Toppings:<br /><br />Slice and chop any and all of your favorite seasonal market veggies and herbs and/or the following:<br />Maple Shiitakes - in a frying pan on medium, toss sliced shiitakes with a little splash each of tamari and maple syrup.<br /><br />finely sliced red onions, zucchini rounds, Tofurky Italian sausages<br /><br />Herbed Cashew “Cheese”:<br /><br />1 cup organic cashews (you can used almonds as well, just soak them overnight in spring water)<br />1/2 lemon, juiced<br />1 tsp Himalayan sea salt<br />1 tsp fresh basil or your favorite seasonal herb<br />1/4 cup spring water<br /><br />Blend all ingredients in a food processor and add water slowly until a thick, cream-cheese-like consistency is formed. You want to be able to form little “cheeseballs”, so careful not to add too much water.<br /><br />Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. (I enjoy a clove or two of garlic and sometimes more lemon juice, depending how juicy the lemon is;) Use a teaspoon to form little balls to arrange on your pizza.<br /><br />Bake pizza for another 10 minutes just to heat toppings. Garnish pizza with whole fresh basil leaves.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>moira nordholt</b><br /><a href="http://feelgoodguru.com/">www.feelgoodguru.com</a></div><div><a href="http://twitter.com/feelgoodguru">@feelgoodguru on twitter</a><br /><br /></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-8021390015711893872010-03-31T02:08:00.000-07:002010-04-01T19:04:39.225-07:00LIVE VEGAN FOR THEM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7MUlhiqKYI/AAAAAAAAAUg/4ly02unjKKg/s1600/brother.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 374px; height: 169px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S7MUlhiqKYI/AAAAAAAAAUg/4ly02unjKKg/s400/brother.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454726208567257474" /></a><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.peacefulprairie.org/outreach/someone2.html">Go Vegan For Them</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-47001941307423211162010-03-03T23:57:00.000-08:002010-03-06T10:32:50.477-08:00JUMPER- Mud Lover, Movie Star, Outlier<p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">A Story Of Success</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i></i></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49uCj_-VaI/AAAAAAAAARg/HNeF1Y0QwTM/s1600-h/Bold+Jumper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 262px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49uCj_-VaI/AAAAAAAAARg/HNeF1Y0QwTM/s400/Bold+Jumper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444691464816580002" border="0" /></a></p></i></span></span><p></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>"No one—not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses—ever makes it alone," </i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Malcolm <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gladwell</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 14px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 14px;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In Malcolm <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gladwell's</span></span> best selling book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922">Outliers</a>" he tells thought-provoking stories about people whose achievements in life fall outside normal experience. People like the Beatles and Bill Gates for instance whose extraordinary success and accomplishments are so far out of the ordinary that they represent something analogous to one single day that falls below freezing in the middle of a hot summer. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">That is an outlier. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Something or someone that appears to deviate markedly from other members of the sample in which it occurs.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the book he demonstrates that our understanding of success has much less to do with ones talent and ambition and much more to do with ones surroundings, their family, people whom they knew and most importantly being in the right place at the right time. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In other words those who have been able to excel in the world and really "make it big" so to speak, have done so with opportunities that were provided externally and with a whole lot of luck mixed in as well.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But imagine how different the notion of "making it big" in the world might be if we were a someone born into the body of a farmed animal. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Someone who is raised simply to be killed. The idea of success would be even more preposterous than the notion of one freezing day in the middle of an August heat wave.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So here it is then..... following this sentence.... an exercise in creativity, imagination and deep empathy. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Suppose we were a pig living our life trapped inside a few feet of steel bars on an industrial farm. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Suppose that success is, as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Gladwell</span></span> infers in his book, terrifyingly contingent. That in order to escape from what is the normal life of everyone else, our situations need to break just right for us and we need a huge amount of help from those around us.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49ybjOgmlI/AAAAAAAAARw/7JhgbhXUnr8/s1600-h/pig12.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49ybjOgmlI/AAAAAAAAARw/7JhgbhXUnr8/s400/pig12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444696292152351314" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But now imagine that those around us who control our fate have been told over and over via a misinformed culture that they must eat our flesh to be healthy. To use our skin as clothing and other products is a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">necessity</span> as well.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Imagine that those who control our lives are convinced that our lives don't matter.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Then realize our body and the life contained within are actually their property, their path to prosperity and profit and..... we have no voice. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The notion of achievement or success within these circumstances and these predicaments looks nearly non existent or quite different than what we would imagine success to look like. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we live as a being whose life has little joy, is filled with misery and pain the concept of success changes completely.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Success might result in that we feel the warmth of the sun on our back for the first time as we are loaded onto a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Success might be that our impeccable sense of smell will hopefully fail us on the day we reach the killing house so that the language of death is not comprehended in it's full extent, moments before we brutally leave this earth.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Success might mean that the human who is electrifying us before we are stabbed and bled performs their job properly because he has not yet been jaded from the vicious, repetitive work in a slaughterhouse which has the highest turnover rate of any profession. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Success in the world for people and animals owes something to parentage and patronage. No one rises up from nothing on their own. We all need someone whether it's family, friends or those others who believe in us.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet ironically none of the billions of animals killed this year for food will have ever been betrayed by friends..... for they had none to begin with in the first place.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If abandonment and loneliness means anything.... it is certainly defined by the way the animals raised for food will live and die in their short lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet this is not a story about loneliness and death. It's attempting to be a story about success. This is a story about someone with luck statistically far greater than blessed upon Mozart or provided any silicon valley billionaire. It's the story of Jumper a true <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlier">outlier</a> if ever there was one.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49rEl-abgI/AAAAAAAAARI/8mYOQlRS578/s1600-h/Jumper.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49rEl-abgI/AAAAAAAAARI/8mYOQlRS578/s320/Jumper.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444688201171758594" border="0" /></a> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jumper was the runt from a litter of piglets born on a gestation crate facility in the central valley of California. Her opportunity for success came about when a worker noticed and took pity on her as she was so tiny and so helpless. They contacted someone who kindly put them in touch with Animal Acres. Jumper was smuggled out and away to freedom. The downside was she would be taken from her mother who unfortunately at no fault of her own will suffer her entire life in a metal crate. Jumper's brothers were taken soon after to a slaughterhouse and her sisters to be used as breeding sows themselves.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>The tallest tree in the forest is the tallest not just because it grew from the hardiest acorn; it is the tallest also because no other trees blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was deep and rich, no rabbit chewed through it's bark as a sapling, and no lumberjack cut it down.</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Malcolm <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Gladwell</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S4-B6T2un6I/AAAAAAAAAR4/7U0ul4jfJ7w/s1600-h/Sunset-Forest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 261px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S4-B6T2un6I/AAAAAAAAAR4/7U0ul4jfJ7w/s320/Sunset-Forest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444713313276436386" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We know that success arises out of a steady accumulation of advantages, relationships and extraordinary opportunities. Animal Acres represents that combination of necessary resources in the climb to the top for this little piglet. It was here at the sanctuary that the kindness of strangers gave Jumper the greatest of opportunities which would propel her to fame and fortune.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Denis </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hennelly</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Casey </span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Suchan</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>two independent filmmakers took notice of little Jumper and decided she would star in their poignant new film <a href="http://boldnative.com/">Bold Native</a>. This lucky break opened the door to the nurturing, affection and trust that Jumper desperately needed in order to adapt to humans and achieve a successful life at Animal Acres.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So weeks before the film began producer Casey <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Suchan</span> set about getting the tiny Jumper accustomed to being held.</span></span><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Casey spent many days with Jumper, feeding her bananas and becoming her friend. Yet it didn't take long before Jumper learned to settle into a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">humans</span> arms. When it came time to film she was more than prepared as she graced the big screen with a presence that recalls Kate Winslet on her best day. Jumper also became a favorite on the set and easily stole both cast and crew's hearts.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To this day Jumper still remembers it all and every time Casey goes to visit Animal Acres the little former runt talks up a storm and runs as fast as she is able...</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> to visit with her dear friend and mentor.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jumper now lives her life like the most successful person in the world might live. She has round the clock care, nearly non stop belly rubs from her staff (volunteers and visitors), and she is free to run, to roll in the mud and of course most importantly to jump. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What more could a person ask for?</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';font-size:14px;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49sFwjxn1I/AAAAAAAAARY/eDm8-0C835g/s1600-h/IMG_0706.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49sFwjxn1I/AAAAAAAAARY/eDm8-0C835g/s320/IMG_0706.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444689320704319314" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Our human minds are not sufficiently capable enough to understand statistically what someone like Jumper's success really represents. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Appreciate for a moment that there are approximately 300 million humans living in the US. The stories of human success are actually quite numerous and in the hundreds of thousands to say the least. Yet now fathom that more than 10 billion farmed animals are slaughtered for food every year in the US and the stories of those animals being rescued or making it to sanctuaries are perhaps in the hundreds. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">With these lopsided numbers one can easily discern that the few animals living their life at places like Animal Acres are what we may describe without exaggeration as truly lucky beyond measure. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It may not seem to us at first glance that most all successful humans are the beneficiaries of some kind of unusual opportunity and luck. They are however much more the products of good fortune and additional help from others than we care to acknowledge. When this argument is investigated, studied, it is revealed to be the truth and the rule, not the exception. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Statistically however the farmed animals at rescue facilities and sanctuaries are even more the outliers in the true scientific definition of the word then are the few human billionaires, movie stars and big time athletes.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Plus the non humans liberated from farmed exploitation give us a concept of success we usually overlook. There is a real lesson to be grasped from all of the animals saved from slaughter houses and we rarely apply those lessons to our own lives. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In our human world of money, power, greed and consumption success means something very different from what in reality it might actually be comprised of. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The link we find between altruism and happiness shows us a path to success we unfortunately ignore. Living with compassion towards others and the connection it has to our own well being may lead us closer to understanding success than studying someone playing in a world famous band or running a fortune 500. </span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">There is a form of well being that transcends our daily notions of what real success might resemble.</span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We see it all the time and have many examples of those persons, humans and non humans who are not just happy about their lives but in their lives. </span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We all feel it and have intuitions which run deep within who we are and signal to us what success actually seems to be. </span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">While our concept of success often seems bound up with the belief in acquiring things.... it really arrives when we are transformed through kindness from ourselves to others and by kindness from others back to us. Transformed by experiences that bring us closer to love than to hate. Transformed by the experience of living in the presence of our similarities rather than our differences.<br /></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet.... the challenge for all of us is to begin recognizing these possibilities and living them.... through direct action.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Living vegan is an incredible step toward that transformation and a very successful way to bring real life benefits to those who may not have a voice the world can hear... yet have a life they cherish in the same way anyone who strives to make it big in the world treasures their own life.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In the same way Animal Acres provides sanctuary for Jumper and how Casey and Denis provided the necessary trust she needed to blossom into the big happy round love boat she has become we can all contribute to the future success stories of animals we will never even know by living vegan.<br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Be a success. Become vegan.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Rescue/adopt an animal!</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><a href="http://www.openroadfilms.net/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></a></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.openroadfilms.net/">Casey Suchan and Denis Hennelly</a> can't stop talking about Jumper.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"We are very lucky to know this beautiful, funny, precocious soul. Making a film about animals' rights isn't the same as getting to know them as individuals and earning their friendship... Jumper brought spirit and meaning to an idea, and for this we are eternally grateful. She has blessed our life and our film and is a potent reminder of the millions of individual spirits like hers that are imprisoned each year in our country's factory farms. The film is for all of those who have not been saved."</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">_______________________________</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >About the song.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">________________________________<br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;">The Pig Who Sang to The Moon</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">is a beautiful and powerful book by Jeffrey Masson about the emotional world of farm animals. In the book he describes how pigs living on animal sanctuaries will make a moaning, almost sad yet musical sound when they mourn for the loss of one of their friends. He explains how pigs seem to enjoy the moonlight. He interviews people who share their lives with these highly emotional intelligent animals and they all tell stories of how pigs will make mournful sounds at night much like singing. All this while gazing up at the moonlight.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This song below is dedicated to Jumper's family.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Her brothers, sisters, father and mother.....who never made it out of that prison and were never given the chance to be a success.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> This song is also dedicated to all pigs living as property on farms and who have not yet been saved.....Maybe even as a metaphor.... the ones who've already died are the Angels On The Moon.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Geneva; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p face="Geneva" size="14px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Click Here to listen to <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/tzhcm4jxid"><span style="font-size:130%;">ANGELS ON THE MOON</span></a></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Geneva; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p face="Geneva" size="14px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;font-family:'Lucida Grande';" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49xW1aUCkI/AAAAAAAAARo/RNKUxKmRbBo/s1600-h/piglets2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 350px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S49xW1aUCkI/AAAAAAAAARo/RNKUxKmRbBo/s400/piglets2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444695111622724162" border="0" /></a></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 19px; text-align: center;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"<span style="font-style: italic;">Do you dream that the world will know your name? So tell me your name.....</span>"</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 19px; text-align: center;font-family:Geneva;font-size:14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Angels on the Moon</span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-76298541643056331102010-02-02T16:40:00.000-08:002010-02-08T22:05:05.488-08:00SHARON GANNON<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S2viRXAMPuI/AAAAAAAAAQw/V0CH1PGMPao/s1600-h/l2-jivalogo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 143px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S2viRXAMPuI/AAAAAAAAAQw/V0CH1PGMPao/s200/l2-jivalogo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434686163213106914" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/asana_fm.html">Yoga </a></b>is an ancient <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sanskrit</span> term that means to join, to connect and to unite.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Although yoga's origins are from India it predates Hinduism and is not tied to a religion. Yoga is open to any faith or none at all.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> Yoga is not about beliefs, ideas, stretching or even practicing anything. It's really about a way of experiencing ourselves and about feeling/discovering who we are. Yoga is more about breaking the identification we have with our thoughts and then recognizing the conditions which have created those thoughts.</div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the best comparisons we may have to yoga might actually be therapy. Yoga is very much like therapy in that the goal is to change our state of mind or our state of consciousness. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> When we investigate the nature of who we are and what we feel through a prolonged practice of introspection like yoga, it's merely another way of explaining what might also be called a spiritual practice. </div><div style="text-align: center;">In this aspect yoga is very much <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">aligned</span> with ethical <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">veganism</span> in that there is a transformation of the mind that occurs in the way we experience ourselves and who we are after we have felt something. They are also both about a way to liberation. </div><div style="text-align: center;">A liberation from the ordinary way we see ourselves, see our relationship to others and to the world around us.</div><div style="text-align: center;">When we utilize yoga as a tool to deepen the connection of our compassion for animals and others there is also a profound feeling of oneness and unity with others and with the entire world (universe) that begins to open up to us. Without a means to go inward and uncover those intimate, central properties of who we are, this task remains difficult to achieve in our everyday life. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Yoga does make the possibilities of this experience, this connection, this transformation which we can call spiritual, available to us and much easier to achieve.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b>Sharon Gannon </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Part 1</span></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S2jGkOVltdI/AAAAAAAAAQY/wSX6cuq4pJM/s1600-h/S_Head_shot_cropped_Guzman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S2jGkOVltdI/AAAAAAAAAQY/wSX6cuq4pJM/s320/S_Head_shot_cropped_Guzman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433811276048741842" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Sharon Gannon </i></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>is a 21<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">rst century</span> Renaissance woman who excels in many artistic, spiritual and social mediums. Sharon is best known for creating, along with David Life, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Jivamukti</span> Yoga Method--a path to enlightenment through compassion for all beings.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Jivamukti</span> Yoga method emphasizes <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">vinyasa</span>, music, meditation and chanting as well as a major focus on animal rights, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">veganism</span> and political activism.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(79, 22, 17);font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i><a href="http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/index.html">The </a><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><a href="http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/index.html">Jivamukti</a></span><a href="http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/index.html"> Yoga Method </a>is taught worldwide at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Jivamukti</span> Yoga Schools, and affiliated centers, which are in NYC, Charleston, Washington, DC, Toronto, London, Munich and Berlin.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Sharon is a pioneer in teaching yoga as spiritual activism and is changing the way that people view animals, spirituality, life, themselves and each other.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>I attended her lecture <a href="http://www.yjevents.com/sf10/teacher.php?teacher=gannon">The Diet Of Enlightenment </a>at the <a href="http://www.yjevents.com/sf10/presenters.php">San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference </a>January 31. With an inspiring positive attitude Sharon explored the five <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">yamas</span> of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Patanjali</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Patanjali</span> is the author of the ancient yoga <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">sutras</span> which is the collection of essays on the philosophy and practice of yoga. With wisdom and courage she related each <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">yama</span> to animal rights and living vegan. She was graceful yet explicit in a moving and humble way that any animal activist would be impressed by. Let it be known however, she was in no way preaching to the choir in this lecture. Although the audience was filled with wonderful compassionate yoga practitioners they were very much like the majority of humans and were completely <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">un</span>-informed to the realities of how non human animals are exploited and turned into food.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>YOGA JOURNAL Magazine has called her an innovator and VANITY FAIR gives her credit for making yoga cool and hip. JANE Magazine nominated her as Gutsiest Woman of the Year and FARM SANCTUARY awarded her the 2008 compassionate living award. She is a long-time vanguard member of PETA and has helped with many of their campaigns.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>She resides in a wild forest sanctuary in upstate NY, USA.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 255);">THE INTERVIEW</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Philip:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The first question I want to ask you Sharon is simply.... what brought you to becoming an ethical vegan and an animal rights advocate?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">SHARON:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In 1982 I saw a film, entitled “</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Animals Film</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.” At that time I was an artist living in Seattle Washington where I was a musician in a band. I went to see the film with some of my band mates only because I had seen on the poster at the theater that Robert Wyatt had done the musical soundtrack. I was a H.U.G.E. fan of Robert Wyatt. He was the drummer and singer for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Soft Machine</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, which was and still is one of my favorite bands.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Animal’s Film was a British documentary film made by Victor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Schonfeld</span> and Myriam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Alaux</span>, narrated by the actress Julie Christie (who actually put her acting career on the line by being associated with this film. I have tremendous respect for her.) The film depicted our (human) exploitation of animals. The film covered many aspects in very graphic detail from the all too common and casual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">euthanisation</span> of unwanted pets, to animals used for entertainment, to animals used for food and clothing, and as victims of military and “scientific” research. The last scene was of the Animal Liberation Front rescuing animals from a laboratory. The ALF appeared to me like modern day Super Heroes…I wanted to join up immediately.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But I faced (or thought at the time, I faced) a big obstacle---I lived in Seattle Washington, USA and I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">didn</span>’t know of any members of the ALF in my town nor did I know any vegans. I was a poor artist living in a dark dank basement apartment. I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">didn</span>’t have a car, phone or bank account. Non-the less,I decided after seeing the film that I would devote my life to doing whatever I could to stop the insanity I saw depicted in that film. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do at that point, but I knew that whatever it was it had to help the animals and it had to shatter the ignorance inside of us human beings who would think that it is okay to treat animals as if they had no feelings and existed to be enslaved and exploited by us.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Very soon after that film I became a vegan. Very soon after that I became a yoga teacher as a way to be more outspoken about animal rights. For me teaching yoga provided a better platform than music, dance, painting or any of the other artistic genres I had been working in.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Animal’s Film was the first feature length animal rights documentary. Many other films since that time have borrowed not only footage, but formatting from that seminal and very important film. It was seeing this film that changed my life and moved me to become a yoga teacher/ animal rights activist.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Because it was a film that transformed me I feel obliged to share films with others. I make it part of my teaching to show films like this to students all over the world. Talking about the issue is one thing….when people actually have a chance to see the reality (albeit on the screen)….it can be very very effective.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Usually when I am on the road (on a teaching tour) I teach 2-4 workshop classes and during the last class I show </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Chew on This</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> (a 3 minute film produced by my friends at PETA with the appropriate subtitles in Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Russian or whatever is the language spoken in the country where I am). I also often show 10 minutes from the Chapter on Food from the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Earthlings</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Film. After these films the discussion about the link between Yoga and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Veganism</span> takes on a depth, sincerity and zeal that would not be possible without seeing the films first. After viewing the film(s) there is little or none of the defensiveness that often comes up when there is just a talk followed by a Q&A about the vegan/animal rights issue.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Philip:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Each and every one of the beautiful non human residents living here at Animal Acres were destined for the slaughterhouse. It may sound a bit crazy but when I meet the animals here at the sanctuary or when I meet any rescued animal who's been given a new life they in some way represent to me the ultimate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Jivamukti</span> persons. Do you know what I mean?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Can you talk about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Jivamukti</span> Yoga, its meaning and practice?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">SHARON</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">:</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The word <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Jivamukti</span> is taken from a Sanskrit word:</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Jivanmukti</span>,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> which is a combination of two words—</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">jiva</span> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">which means individual soul, like one’s personality or ego and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">mukti</span> which means liberation, freedom, enlightenment. So a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Jivanmukta</span> is someone who is living liberated …who is in the state of enlightenment, which is what <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Jivamukti</span> means.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The term <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Jivanmukta</span> is equivalent to the Buddhist concept of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Boddhisttava</span>—which describes one who has attained some level of enlightenment but has devoted themselves to helping others attain that enlightenment…before retiring themselves into Nirvana (total enjoyment).</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What is realized in the yogic state of enlightenment is the Oneness of Being—all disconnection disappears. You do not feel or think of yourself as just a separate individual—a skin encapsulated ego. One realizes their inner and inter-connectedness with all beings and things—with all of life. A </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Jivanmukta</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> knows themselves as whole as a whole/holy being…. a part of the whole web of existence—they have healed themselves from the disease of disconnection which is a pandemic in our Culture.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I appreciate your perception of the rescued animals at Animal Acres as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Jivamuktas</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> –maybe they are--but I do not know if that is a true perception or not. I don’t know if they are enlightened beings or not. To be able to see an enlightened being you yourself must be an enlightened being, because it takes one to know one. I don’t think of myself as there yet! Although I’m trying my best to work on it!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I do know that everyone of us finds ourselves in whatever situation we are in because of our past </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">karmas</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. No one is an innocent victim. Now don’t get freaked out by that word </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">karma</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. It is a Sanskrit term that simply means action. It does not mean ‘good’ action or ‘bad’ action--- it is neutral—it simply means action. Everyone’s actions are important--they determine how reality unfolds. How we treat others determines how others treat us. How others treat us determines how we see ourselves. How we see ourselves determines who we are.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Whew! So it all starts with how we treat others. If we treat others with kindness and consideration for their happiness this will come back to us eventually, but inevitably. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Dr. Albert Einstein reminded us of this fact or law of nature when he “discovered” that space is curved—what ever you throw out there will come back to its place of origin.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So the message is: be careful with what you throw out there. In other words be careful with what you think, say or do because you will be revisited by it. Only sow the seeds you want to see blossom. As singer/activist Michael Franti says in his song, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yes I Will</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">:</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“I believe that what you sing to the clouds will rain upon you when the sun has gone away and I believe that what you bring to the moon will manifest before you rest another day</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">….” So treat others as you would want to be treated, I think Jesus said that! It is an old saying but one that is so easily put aside in our world today in the quest for “success.” Patanjali has a sutra in his yoga sutra: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Maitri Adishu Balani </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">PYS.24, which means: Through friendliness (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">maitri</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) and other such related feelings, like kindness, (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">adishu</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) your strength and success will surely come. Wow !--that is radical stuff for those of us who have been conditioned by a Culture, which has beaten it into us that the “Earth Belongs to Us”, and that it is our right to exploit the Earth and all other beings if we have the means and the might to do so. Yoga tells us that Might Is Not Right! Yoga tells us that through kindness and friendliness we will be successful.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I love the system and practices of Yoga because it provides us with the tools to dismantle our present culture—a culture based on slavery and exploitation of the animals and the Earth. Our present Culture has been at war with Mother Nature for at least the last 10,000 years. It was roughly 10,00 years ago that human beings started to enslave animals (the polite term is domestication). The enslavement of animals is the foundation of our culture and still is. The terms, “stock market” and “capital” all derive from our original culture, which was a herding culture where the central economy stemmed from exploiting animals.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I joyfully and unapologetically reject this Culture and embrace Yoga as a means to not only dismantle this Culture but to provide the tools to build a new way of life a way to live harmoniously with the earth and all other beings. This is why I practice Yoga—this is why I teach Yoga. Yoga means to come together to unite with….I want to heal the disease so rampant in our culture of slavery—the disease of disconnection. I am trying to start with myself—to heal myself—to try to see more clearly—to try to rid myself of the misperception that I am separate from everyone else. Yoga means connection. I like that! I want to commit my life to that.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I must admit that I still like living inside a house that has electricity and hot and cold running water, with a refrigerator and stove and I still find comfort in wearing clothes and bundling up against the cold, rain and wind. But I will say that I do question all these habits and addictions and often try to imagine myself living naked in the forest like the deer and foxes who we share our home with in Woodstock NY.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">Philip:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">You and David have brought so much awareness and activism into the yoga world about animal rights. You've been such an outspoken yogi for the animals over the years and have never wavered away from the issue of animal liberation at all either. What motivates you about the issue of animal advocacy and in making it such an important part of your yoga teaching?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">SHARON:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yoga means to yoke--to unite-- to come together. My teacher Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati often said, “Yoga is that state where you are missing nothing—you know yourself as whole and complete.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yoga and enlightenment are synonymous. Enlightenment is the ultimate coming together…where there is no disconnection. The yogi in the enlightened state feels/realizes the Oneness of being…all disconnection disappears.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So what is the biggest obstacle to this realization? Others! Perceiving yourself as separate from others. Deluded—thinking that others are separate and that what you think, say and do does not make a difference to them or to you. Most people spend a lot of time blaming others for their own unhappiness: If only my parents would wake up and understand why I don’t want to eat Turkey with them on Thanksgiving. If only my girlfriend was vegan then we could have better sex and then I would be happy. If the president of the United States passed a law, which disallowed factory farming then all our problems, would be solved.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The first step towards the realization of yoga is to realize that there is no out there out there—others do not exist as separate entities from you. Everyone and every situation that you find yourself in has come from you. You created the world you live in. How? From your own thoughts, words and actions—in other words from your past karmas. We live in the world of our own making. The Sanskrit term shunyata</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">describes this. Shunyata means emptiness. Emptiness does not mean a void of nothingness; rather it describes a reality of infinite possibilities. With this concept of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">shunyata,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the yogic teachings put the responsibility on what reality becomes on the observer. Whatever you see is a projection of your own mind. Your own mind is made up of your past experiences. Your past experiences are made from your interactions with others. Your perception of others comes from how you have treated them.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We all say we want a peaceful and happy world—we value ideals like freedom and respect. But if we cannot provide for others the very things we want for ourselves, and value most in life—then we will never have those things.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To put it bluntly: If we deprive other animals—and I say other animals because we are animals too--that is a biological fact. If we deprive others of what we ourselves value most…then we will never achieve our goals—we will never be at peace if we cause havoc in the the lives of others we will never be happy if we cause so many animals to be unhappy—(and enslaving them and taking away their rights and mobility does cause them unhappiness) then how can we expect to be happy? If we ourselves want to be free then it will not suit our purpose to enslave others.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We (human beings) keep animals as slaves. We have been conditioned by our culture to do this. We, for the most part think of it as normal to pen or cage an animal, to saddle a horse, to use, abuse and exploit animals for our own gain…not giving a thought to the animal’s happiness aspirations or freedom. This type of perception does not lead one to happiness and freedom, which are the goals of yoga.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">So if you want enlightenment then it is quite logical ---treat others as you would want to be treated. Treat them as holy beings—not as slaves. Treat them as enlightened whole beings—as you would want to see yourself.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I realize that yoga may not be for everyone. Perhaps not all human beings really want to be free---to break free from the cycle of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">samsara</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">-the eternal wheel of suffering. Suffering does have its upside---it can help to clear perception. Perhaps most beings love suffering more than any other pleasure. It certainly keeps things going around and around!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Sanskrit word, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">samsara </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">is made up of two words: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">sam </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">which means same plus sara</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">which means agitation. So </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">samsara </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">means the same agitation. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Samsara</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> is a way to describe life on Planet Earth for most of us.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Life gives us many opportunities many possibilities for enlightenment: to break free of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">samsaric </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">existence. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But remember many, perhaps most people don’t want to or aren’t ready to be free yet. But for those of us who are then a vegan diet is an absolute necessity! It is the first Big step.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> Philip:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Something I've noticed over the years is that it seems so many people in the yoga world want to emphasize Ahimsa as a restraint regarding how we treat ourselves and being kind to ourselves rather than looking at the altruistic meaning it holds. I've always felt that ahimsa was about the importance of being kind to and about not harming others which includes not eating others. Can you explain ahimsa, it's non violent roots and your experience with this issue in the yoga world?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">SHARON:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Patanjali lists </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ahimsa</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in the category of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">yamas. Yama</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> means restriction. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yamas </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">refer to actions that you take in regard to others. Patanjali, let us remember, is speaking to aspiring yogis, those who are still seeing others--those who are not yet enlightened. To an enlightened being there are no others. An enlightened being sees only the divine (or their own-self) in all. So he says in the sutras, as long as you are seeing others, don’t hurt them (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">ahimsa</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) don’t lie to them (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">satya</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">), don’t steal from them (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">asteya</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">), don’t abuse them sexually (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">brahmacharya</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) and don’t be so greedy as to cause them to become impoverished (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">aparigraha</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">).</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">If Patanjali had meant ahimsa as a directive to be applied to oneself I think he would have put it in the next category, which is called niyama</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">niyamas</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> are actions that you take in regard to yourself, and he certainly has a lot to say about that!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);"> Philip:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we choose to live vegan for ethical reasons we also want other humans who care about the world and what happens to animals to be educated with information about living vegan.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What is the best way to forward or share this message with others?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">SHARON</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0);">:</span></span></span></b></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">An affective activist has to have more of a greater purpose than just venting anger or to prove how much more they know about the issue than the person or people they are speaking to do. Allow your interactions with others to be guided by humility and respect not arrogance and anger. When you speak to others, who you would like to influence, speak to their highest potential. See them as good people. Speak to them as holy beings—as beings who are kind and compassionate. See them as people who are giving you an opportunity to be kind-- an opportunity to communicate non-violently. If you have contempt for them they will feel this and all chance of positive communication will be disallowed.</span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Remember everyone you meet is coming from you. If you don’t like the way someone else is acting. Say to yourself, “I have to stop treating people this way.” Search inside yourself and change what you don’t like about that person by ridding it from yourself from the inside first.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">THE END OF PART ONE OF THIS INTERVIEW</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 23px;font-family:Times;font-size:18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sharon travels extensively teaching and presenting at American, European, Canadian, Asian, South and Central American and Conferences. She has produced numerous yoga-related DVDs and music CDs including the 2010 release of Sharanam, her solo duet album on the White Swan Label. She is a prolific writer and has authored several books: Jivamukti Yoga, (also translated into German, Russian & Italian) The Art of Yoga, The Jivamukti Chant Book, Yoga and Vegetarianism and Cats and Dogs are People too! Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Toward 2012, Music &Spirituality, Semiotext(e) and Yoga Journal. She writes a monthly essay called the Focus of the Month, which can be read at </span></span></i><a href="http://www.jivamuktiyoga.com/fms/index.html"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">www.jivamuktyoga.com</span></span></i></a></p> <p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="18px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here is a selection from Sharon's new album Sharanam which translates from sanskrit to english as "refuge" or "sanctuary". Sharon's music is created from ancient mantras and meditation chants and are designed to lead us to the sanctuary we each have inside ourselves.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Listen here to <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/8kt1c99se3">OM SHANTI</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">Part 2 of our talk with Sharon Gannon coming soon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Georgia; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 21px;"><br /></p>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-53734874981736774082010-01-06T16:36:00.000-08:002010-01-14T12:48:38.278-08:00Interview With Gary L. Francione<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Disclaimer</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The opinions expressed in this interview are those of the author and guest and do not necessarily reflect the position or views</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of Animal Acres</span>.</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Vegan Sanctuary </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">is honored to have Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">deB</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Katzenbach</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Scholar of Law & Philosophy at Rutgers University,<br /></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Gary L. </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Francione</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> as our guest.</span></span></span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S0Ulm5t4soI/AAAAAAAAAQI/kcFwAljgSBo/s1600-h/GARYF.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 250px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/S0Ulm5t4soI/AAAAAAAAAQI/kcFwAljgSBo/s320/GARYF.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423782676496167554" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;">Professor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Francione</span></span> received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Rochester, where he was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa O’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Hearn</span></span> Scholarship that allowed him to pursue graduate study in philosophy in Great Britain. He received his M.A. in philosophy and his J.D. from the University of Virginia.<br />Professor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Francione</span></span> has been teaching animal rights and the law for more than 20 years, and he was the first academic to teach animal rights theory in an American law school. He is well known throughout the animal protection movement for his criticism of animal welfare law and the property status of nonhuman animals, and for his abolitionist theory of animal rights.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Gary, thank you so much for taking time to answer a few questions. I wanted to start on a positive note and make the observation that there appears to me to be a huge spurt in the growth of the non-violent abolitionist approach to animal rights. This increase appears to have happened in just the last few years. It feels like a real movement taking shape here again. Am I living in a bubble or being too optimistic?</span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">No, I think you’re right. In 2006, we set up <a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Abolitionist Approach</span>.com </a>with the volunteer help of Randy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sandberg</span> and it took off beyond our wildest expectations. I started developing this theory in the early 1990s but after I wrote Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement in 1996, most of the large organizations did what they could to keep my work away from animal advocates. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">internet</span> has now eviscerated the ability of the animal welfare corporations to control communication and it has also reduced the cost and other impediments to people from all over the world communicating with others. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">internet</span> is capable of creating grassroots movements and that is what is occurring here.</span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />Can you briefly explain the concept of the abolitionist approach to animal rights and what it actually means?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />The abolitionist approach: (1) maintains that we cannot justify animal use, however “humane” it may be; (2) rejects welfare campaigns that seek more “humane” exploitation or single-issue campaigns that seek to portray one form of animal exploitation as morally worse than other forms of animal exploitation (e.g., a campaign that seeks to distinguish fur from wool or leather); (3) regards <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">veganism</span>, or the complete rejection of the consumption or use of any animal products, as a moral baseline; (4) regards creative, nonviolent vegan education as the primary form of activism because the paradigm will not shift until we address demand and educate people to stop thinking of animals as things we eat, wear, or use as our resources. The animals covered by the abolitionist approach are all sentient beings; all beings who are subjectively aware. An animal does not have to have <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">human like</span> characteristics, such as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">human like</span> intelligence, rationality, etc. to be a full member of the moral community.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />Vegan Sanctuary is the blog for Animal Acres which is a farmed animal sanctuary just north of Los Angeles. The animals all living here now were once existing as exploited disposable beings all destined for the slaughterhouse. They have all been rescued and given a new life and permanent home. One of the themes of this blog is that when we live vegan we function on a personal level akin to an animal sanctuary. Yet <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">veganism</span> can also be the most effective single form of political activism we can take for animals as well. In your opinion is living vegan as political as it is personal?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />Absolutely. I regard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">veganism</span> as the application of the abolitionist principle to one’s own life. It is a rejection of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">socio</span>-legal concept of animals as things or as property. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Veganism</span> is a necessary step for anyone who says she takes nonviolence seriously.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />Can you talk a bit about the concept of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Ahimsa</span> and how it relates to animal rights?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />That’s a terrific question and I am glad that you asked it. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Ahimsa</span> is the principle of non-violence. It appears explicitly in several Eastern spiritual traditions, most prominently in Jainism. I believe that one of Christ’s primary goals was to bring the concept into Western thinking. In any event, I view the problem of animal exploitation as one involving violence. Violence is not going to be part of the solution. We need to shift the paradigm and have a revolution of the heart. If we are ever going to eliminate animal exploitation, we are not going to do so with hate and violence. We are going to do so with peace and love.<br /><br />I am bewildered by people who advocate violence. If you destroy five slaughterhouses and the demand for meat remains the same, the demand will be met and new slaughterhouses will be built (or existing ones expanded). If you shut down a company that supplies animals used in vivisection but the demand for animals remains the same, someone else will supply those animals.<br /><br />The pro-violence position characterizes the institutional user as the “exploiter,” the “enemy.” In reality, it is we—the people who demand and consume animals—who are the real “exploiters.” We have got to change ourselves before anything is going to change for animals.<br /><br />I should say that a number of these pro-violence people are not even vegans. So they’re involved directly in exploitation but they think that they are morally justified in urging violence against others? That’s sheer hypocrisy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />I've met a lot of caring and sincere people who voted for Proposition 2 here in California and what I noticed was that almost none of them were actually thinking this whole thing through in any critical way. There's a great deal of evidence that regulating or attempting to legislate the treatment of nonhuman animals doesn't work and actually makes the situation for them much worse. Can you discuss how an abolitionist approach would deal with a Proposition 2-type campaign and what would be the most effective path to take for farmed animals?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />I think Proposition 2 is a disaster. First of all, it is not even effective until 2015. Second, some of the practices that it purports to ban do not even occur in California or are on their way out anyway. Third, Proposition 2 is riddled with exceptions. Fourth, even if by some miracle Proposition 2 actually comes into effect in 2015, all that is going to happen is that hens will go from a from a conventional cage into one large cage called a “cage-free” barn. Let’s be clear: the hens are going to continue to be tortured. That torture is just going to have the stamp of approval of the Humane Society of the United States and the other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">welfarist</span> groups that supported Proposition 2. Fifth, to the extent that this causes any rise in egg prices, conventional battery eggs will just be imported into California from Mexico<br />or from Oregon or Arizona. Sixth, all that Proposition 2 does—and I mean all—is to make humans feel better about exploiting animals. Proposition 2 has nothing to do with animals. It has to do with making humans feel better.<br /><br />Animal advocates need to think a bit more critically. You’re quite right to say that the history of animal welfare is the history of miserable failure. But the large, wealthy national groups ignore this in favor of pursuing campaigns for welfare reform. Why? There are two primary reasons. First, large groups need a steady stream of fundraising vehicles and welfare campaigns are perfect for that purpose. These campaigns usually target practices that are economically vulnerable in the first place. That is, the large groups identify practices that are not economically efficient and that are being questioned within the industry. Although industry will put up a token fight and there is a choreographed “conflict” between industry and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">welfarists</span>. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">welfarists</span> prevail and praise industry. Industry wins; <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">welfarists</span> win; animals lose. Second, welfare campaigns do not require that anyone really change themselves. You can be a “conscientious omnivore” and support these campaigns.<br /><br />An abolitionist would not support Proposition 2-type campaigns. They are worse than doing nothing; they actually do greater harm by feeding this “happy” meat/animal products nonsense. Again, if anything is ever going to change, we need to get people to realize that we should not be consuming any animal products. We should be engaged in creative, nonviolent vegan education.<br /><br />If all of the money—the millions and millions of dollars—that go into these welfare campaigns were, instead, put into a clear, unequivocal, creative campaign for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">veganism</span>, we’d have many more vegans than we have today. That would make a difference and it would only snowball and grow. That would be meaningful change. That would start and develop the paradigm shift that we need to have meaningful change.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />What is the best way for an animal rights advocate to effectively express to others that attempting to merely reduce animals suffering will in the long run hurt the cause of animal rights and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">veganism</span>?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />Advocates need first to educate themselves about this and many other matters. Most animal advocates do not read or study anything. That is why these large organizations can talk them into supporting nonsense like Proposition 2. I have been writing about the failure of animal welfare for over 20 years now. I have written books and articles; I have written blog essays and done <a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/feed/podcast/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">podcasts</span>.</a> And yet, I frequently get emails from animal advocates asking me why I think animal welfare fails.<br /><br />If you want to be an effective animal advocate and educate others, you have first to educate yourself. I suggest that advocates who want to understand the abolitionist approach visit our site <a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/">http://www.AbolitionistApproach.com</a><br />Look at the teaching videos we have on animal rights theory, rights and welfare, animals as property, etc. Listen to the <a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/feed/podcast/"></a><a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/category/podcast/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">podcasts</span></a> on these subjects. Read the dozens of blog essays that provide reasoned argument about the failure of welfare.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />What about the notion of getting beyond just discussing these issues with activists? I've found that speaking about living vegan to others that are open to the idea of living compassionately is really effective. For instance, in the yoga world so many caring people who have been led down the path to happy meat seem to be more open to the understanding that the so called “humane” methods of farming animals is a myth. Sometimes the non-animal activists who are searching for compassion in their lives can see this point even more clearly than many animal activists. Have you had this experience maybe with your students?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />Absolutely. Part of the problem is that the organized animal movement has become something of a cult. People are not allowed to question anything without being called “divisive.” If you object to welfare reform on the grounds that it is ineffective and counterproductive, you are accused of “not caring” about animals. Many “animal people” need <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">de</span>-programming in my view.<br /><br />I find that non-animal people are much more receptive to the approach that I present. I make arguments. I give reasons. People can examine my premises and make their own assessment about whether my conclusions flow from those premises. I think that my position stands up to the tests of reason. And I think that it resonates with the non-violent orientation that many people have.<br /><br />In any event, I get much more positive responses from students and members of the general public. Many “animal people” are, unfortunately, lost causes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />When you wrote your 2007 essay <a href="http:/www.abolitionistapproach.com/a-note-about-michael-vick/">We’re All Michael Vick</a>, which was published in the Philadelphia Daily News (and is available on your website), it seemed to really spark a debate about what being vegan really means and taking seriously what happens to animals. Can you talk a bit on this idea and what you were attempting to convey in your article?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />I was motivated to write the essay in part because I thought that the coverage of Michael Vick was somewhat like the coverage of O.J. Simpson. I thought it was driven by racism, at least in part.<br /><br />But what really grabbed me was that everyone was so very upset with Vick for what we all do: exploit, torture, and kill animals because we get pleasure from animal use. There really is no difference between Vick sitting around a pit watching dogs fight and the rest of us, sitting around the summer barbecue pit roasting their bodies.<br /><br />The article got an incredible response. I received about 1200 emails in a week! Although many people were irrationally upset for comparing meat eaters to dog fighters, many people said the same thing: “You know, I never looked at like that. It makes sense and I am troubled.”<br /><br />The most important step in the struggle against animal exploitation is to get people to see things differently. The Michael Vick essay got many people to do just that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />So many animal activists view animal rights as a one-way street. They say<br />“I only care about animals. I don't care at all about any other political or any other rights issues.”<br />Yet these same animal activists will also be the first to lash out at gay rights or feminist activists for failing to notice the oppression of non humans. Do you suspect this attitude might be one of the main reasons we no longer have a legitimate animal rights movement anymore?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />I have for decades now been trying to link human rights and animal rights. In fact, the course that Anna Charlton and I teach at Rutgers University is called “Human Rights and Animal Rights.” <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Speciesism</span> is immoral because it is like racism, sexism, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">heterosexism</span>, etc. We cannot oppose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">speciesism</span> without opposing these other forms of discrimination. I am not saying that we have to be activists in all movements; no one has that sort of time. But we should at least in our daily lives reject all discrimination. I am terribly disappointed that the animal “movement” (I do not like using that term because I do not really think that any “movement” exists), particularly PETA, uses sexism supposedly to promote animal rights. Apart from the fact that sexism is inherently objectionable, its use makes no sense. The problem we are dealing with is the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">commodification</span> of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">non humans</span>; as long as we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">commodify</span> women, we are going to continue to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">commodify</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">non humans</span>. So the exploitation of one group supposedly to help another is both morally and strategically problematic.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />Do you think adherence to traditional religions creates a kind of blind spot in seeing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">non humans</span> as living feeling individuals or is it that their faith blocks the notion of animals being a part of the moral community?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />Sure. Most of the traditional religions regard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">non humans</span> as spiritual inferiors who are here for our use. It is interesting whether those traditions accurately reflect the views of their founders or central figures. For example, there is historical evidence that Christ was an Essene and Essenes did not consume animal products. In any event, Christ promoted peace and nonviolence and he is used to justify wars. So the use of religious doctrines to justify animal exploitation is traditional, but so is the misuse of religion.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>:<br />I see similarities in how animal advocates believe that single issue campaigns, better treatment campaigns, or using violence in animal rights campaigns are somehow going to work. Are there similarities and, if so, what accounts for them?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary</span>:<br />Yes, there are most certainly similarities. There is a similarity between those who promote welfare reform and those who promote violence. Both groups focus on institutional users rather than trying to educate the public so that moral thinking changes and demand for animal products is decreased. Both groups characterize the institutional users as the “exploiters.” The real exploiters are all of us who continue to consume animal products and thereby create the demand. There is a similarity between those who promote welfare reform and those who pursue single-issue campaigns (e.g., anti-fur campaigns) because both groups seek to characterize certain forms of exploitation as morally different from other forms. There is no morally significant difference between a conventional egg and a cage-free egg; there is no morally significant distinction between flesh and other animal products; there is no morally significant distinction between fur and wool.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip</span>: Any final thoughts?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gary:</span><br />Yes. I want to reiterate what I said earlier. The key to meaningful change is creative, nonviolent education. And to educate others, you must first educate yourself. Those who care about this issue need to learn the basics of animal rights theory to explain why we cannot justify animal use, however “humane,” and must understand the simple economics of animal exploitation to explain why welfare reform cannot work. Again, I invite those interested to visit our website. It’s a good place to start learning.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Philip:</span> Thank you Gary for sharing your ideas here. It's much appreciated.<br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Gary L. Francione is Distinguished Professor of Law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law. His books include Animals as Persons: Essays on the Exploitation of Animal Use (2008), Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? (2000); Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement (1996); and Animals, Property, and the Law (1995). His forthcoming book, The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition vs. Regulation, will be published in March 2010 by Columbia University Press. He has a website at <a href="http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/"> www.AbolitionistApproach.com.</a> </span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-59121190393814986502009-12-20T17:08:00.000-08:002009-12-20T18:36:24.530-08:00LITE A FLAME-for the animals<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>It doesn't interest me who you know</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>or how you came to be here.</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>I want to know if you will stand</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>in the center of the fire</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>with me</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>and not shrink back</i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b>Oriah Mountain Dreamer</b></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><b><br /></b></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we become vegan we evolve.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we live vegan because we're against violence and oppression it is nearly impossible to turn back to being complicit once again in the exploitation and killing of non humans.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we become vegan for ethical reasons there is a flame lit.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When our veganism becomes a communication to others about animal rights </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the radiance from this flame burns even brighter. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we humans notice that this flame is also our light to glimpse more clearly the connection we have to each other...........</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> m<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">aybe then do we realize that the only goal that's important in our lives is to see.... </span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Each other</span></span>.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7P20R5YQI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/LYDbPkpJmG4/s1600-h/pigs2bunch.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 314px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7P20R5YQI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/LYDbPkpJmG4/s320/pigs2bunch.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417495942426878210" /></a></p><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Although she died in 1997 Laura Nyro was a fire of creativity, compassion and genius. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It's sad that such a beautiful spirit of a person would be taken so early.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Laura lit a flame for animals with her insightful words and music.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">LITE A FLAME (the animal rights song</span></span>)</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7QiL53tZI/AAAAAAAAAPo/5DF3hdF4z4w/s1600-h/lauranyrobanner.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7QiL53tZI/AAAAAAAAAPo/5DF3hdF4z4w/s400/lauranyrobanner.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417496687502931346" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><p></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> Vegan Sanctuary shares with you this beautiful anthem to be inspiration for you to live vegan and to stand up for <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">all the animals</span> and to never "shrink" back.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We humans often forget that we are animals. And we are animals from Africa.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Re5wqglI/AAAAAAAAAQA/nugHdIVDbQo/s1600-h/promo_bottom_ou.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 132px; height: 93px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Re5wqglI/AAAAAAAAAQA/nugHdIVDbQo/s320/promo_bottom_ou.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417497730604499538" /></a></p><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">We share an incredible past and link to that place in the world. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:medium;">We are not only all distant cousins but we are all brothers and sisters.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We are all from the same mother</span></span>.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We divide ourselves into different races and species yet our intermediates (the animals who connect us) are merely extinct. They once lived as we do now.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The way our minds divide us all is not only horribly deceptive but brings about prejudice and suffering. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We humans are only a tiny part of a great chain and we are all linked to one another. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We could stand hand in hand in unbroken unity with every other animal who has ever lived before. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Why is this beautiful truth not our spirituality or our earthly or even "heavenly" religion?</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Pm34BMVI/AAAAAAAAAPI/wHdIvk5mIQA/s1600-h/AfricanElephant1.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Pm34BMVI/AAAAAAAAAPI/wHdIvk5mIQA/s320/AfricanElephant1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417495668514173266" /></a></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Go vegan and let that transformation be the flame that sweeps through your life and lights the fire for othe</span></span>rs. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7RCdToPpI/AAAAAAAAAP4/iQuDZOmvOUg/s1600-h/Great_Ape_Project_logo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 118px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7RCdToPpI/AAAAAAAAAP4/iQuDZOmvOUg/s320/Great_Ape_Project_logo.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417497241930186386" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This post is dedicated to all the animals in cages everywhere and eversince.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This post is dedicated to <a href="http://www.animalrightsafrica.org/">Animal Rights Africa</a> for being in the center of the fire.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This post is dedicated to everyone who fights prejudice, discrimination and oppression.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This post is also dedicated to the new blog <a href="http://challengeoppression.com/">ChallengeOppression.com.</a></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Be a sanctuary and a flame for others,</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Be vegan</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Qv4bom_I/AAAAAAAAAPw/97RcwvEfIBs/s1600-h/Laura+N.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7Qv4bom_I/AAAAAAAAAPw/97RcwvEfIBs/s320/Laura+N.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417496922794007538" /></a></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Laura Nyro (1970)</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">click on the link below and then click play on the music player. It will pop up and you can return back to this page while the Laura Nyro song plays.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">click here</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/of16f7ydg9">Lite A Flame (the animal rights song)</a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">In the zoo</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">They gave him a cage</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Circus put a sparkle</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">On his face</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Away from life</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">The elephant walks</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Shadow across a dream</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Lost for ivory</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Oh freedom</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Lite a flame</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">It's like prejudice</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">For the color of your skin</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Prejudice for a woman</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Prejudice for an animal</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Like the elephant of the plain</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Masai moon</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">In the morningrise</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Africa - </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">The world comes alive</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">A matriarch</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Leads the tribe</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">To the sweet water</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">The cool feelin'</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">And the way to survive</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Oh freedom</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Lite a flame</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">It's like prejudice</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">For the color of your skin</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Prejudice for a woman</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Prejudice for an animal</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Like the elephant of the plain</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Of the plain</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">For greed not need</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Societies sleep</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Lead the killing hand on</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Young ones full of spark</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">A wave of birds across the park</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Kids climbing</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Sliding, riding free</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Elephant child hiding</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Behind a tree</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Prejudice</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">For an animal</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva">Like the elephant of the plain</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"></p></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7QFM00ffI/AAAAAAAAAPY/fZnuuPqqCJc/s1600-h/baby_elephant_poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sy7QFM00ffI/AAAAAAAAAPY/fZnuuPqqCJc/s320/baby_elephant_poster.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417496189533978098" /></a><p></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Geneva; min-height: 16.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="font: 12.0px Geneva"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">In the early part of the 20th century nearly 50 million elephants lived freely.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Today there are less than 600,000 of our vegan brothers and sisters and they are still being killed by the thousands every year. </span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><br /></span></span></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-9683324229812422862009-12-12T20:38:00.000-08:002009-12-15T01:31:43.692-08:00Vegan evolution by "NATURAL" selection<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRt_vxpq_I/AAAAAAAAAOY/rugXGgyxaP8/s1600-h/evo_bleh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 175px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRt_vxpq_I/AAAAAAAAAOY/rugXGgyxaP8/s400/evo_bleh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414573593930083314" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Those of us who choose to live vegan are often confronted with supposed crushing and devastating responses from people who consume animal products.<br />These arguments or questions are meant to prove without a doubt how misguided we ethical vegans are in living our lives with concern for non human animals.<br />One of the most frequent responses we ethical vegans receive comes at us in the form of a comment that is presumed to be a slam dunk in the face of our animal rights philosophy.<br />And here it is.....<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yeah but........eating animals is totally natural.</span></span><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >The above phrase by the way is delivered with a taken for granted confidence that this is the actual hypothetical nail in the coffin for us vegans. </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br />Even if we vegans are feeling charitable especially during this season of giving... we can't give this one to the animal eaters anymore.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SySFUKTHjzI/AAAAAAAAAPA/Vhbx8c_wt8c/s1600-h/louis_leakey.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 171px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SySFUKTHjzI/AAAAAAAAAPA/Vhbx8c_wt8c/s200/louis_leakey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414599233414598450" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SySFI6dOD7I/AAAAAAAAAO4/w4k0oBeH5ZY/s1600-h/aveguy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 133px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SySFI6dOD7I/AAAAAAAAAO4/w4k0oBeH5ZY/s200/aveguy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414599040183439282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;font-size:100%;" >From this guy</span><br /></span><div style="text-align: right; font-weight: bold;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >To this guy</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >In seconds</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><br />The moment when many humans who consume animals come into contact with an ethical vegan they immediately turn into hardened evolutionary biologists with years of field training and best selling non fiction books which claim.....<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">we are nothing more than what our genes command of us.<br /></span><br />Now, assuming that these people are not the nearly 60% of US citizens who believe the earth is only 10,000 years old they will also assert..... <span style="font-style: italic;"><br />we are only creatures like other animals and we are what nature has adapted us to be.</span><br /><br />Pure reductionism here seems to offer no answers for us vegans as these instantly endowed professors of genetics and science also claim that humans are superior to all the other animals because we can make moral decisions regarding right and wrong and the other animals cannot.<br /><br />Yet when this exact supposed moral superiority interferes with the ethical or moral aspects of eating animals they immediately switch back to their original thesis......<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">that it's natural for us to eat animals because we are just like the other animals who eat animals and we do so because it was part of our evolutionary adaptation....</span><br />and....<span style="font-style: italic;"> our genes make us do it.</span><br /><br />One can only observe in these situations how easy people can run together two irreconcilable philosophies when something morally inconvenient gets in the way. And we must admit here, even if it's painful to do so, that at least the other 60% of the human population that just blurts out "God did it" only have one reason going on in their heads for everything. Even though it might be ludicrous.<br /><br />First off to suggest that something humans may do is natural says nothing about the morality or ethical aspects of this practice or activity.<br />History informs us again and again that nature has no doubt selected many traits and practices that we now view as unethical.<br />In fact to make the claim in this fashion that because some activity humans have done and might still do is natural and therefore completely acceptable will only lead them directly into an archaeological dig they will not be able to climb out of again.<br /><br />With this line of reasoning male sexual violence which probably was an adaptive advantage for our species throughout our evolutionary history can be claimed as natural too. Yet today rape and any other violent sexual coercion is so morally unacceptable we've created laws to protect others from this "natural" behavior.<br />Diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis and malaria could be claimed as natural too but humans will do whatever it takes to defeat and overcome these deadly afflictions.<br /><br />Are shooting wolves with high powered rifles from helicopters natural?<br />Are harpooning whales with ship deck mounted cannon artillery natural?<br />We would imagine it all depends on our definition of what natural means.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRsUrefqFI/AAAAAAAAANo/uwmxNXlIQZI/s1600-h/dairy1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRsUrefqFI/AAAAAAAAANo/uwmxNXlIQZI/s320/dairy1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414571754529990738" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Domesticating animals and turning them into food using modern scientific procedures such as cloning and genetic engineering would seem to fall into the unnatural category by most and send our instant expert biologist back to the jungles looking for new clues.<br /><br /><br />However, all of this becomes irrelevant when we notice that anything humans do can be claimed as natural and therefore the justification for using this argument is completely short sighted.<br /><br />To say that something is natural or that it has helped humans get to where we are today, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >as many will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">immediately</span> insist while having this conversation, </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >is still not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">relevant</span> to whether this practice is ethical or even good.<br /><br />Admittedly, the United States would not be the country it is today without centuries of African human slavery. This of course does not justify the practice of human slavery in any sense, even if some scientist were to claim it as natural.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRtLgtkJPI/AAAAAAAAAOA/PIuszgaw5TA/s1600-h/Slavery_clip_image001_0003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 219px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRtLgtkJPI/AAAAAAAAAOA/PIuszgaw5TA/s320/Slavery_clip_image001_0003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414572696533214450" border="0" /></a><br />Because humans have done or can do something does not mean that we should.<br /><br />We must appreciate that what might be considered natural and inherent in human nature may at the same time also be in direct conflict of what is moral and ethical.<br /><br />The fact that we do not need to eat animal products at all combined with the understanding that it's quite "unnatural" for humans to eat other animals in the massive quantities which we do eat them combined yet again with how much horrible suffering and death takes place with this protein source only underscores the moral principle of becoming vegan.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRti91MCnI/AAAAAAAAAOI/bIXDlhHcEZc/s1600-h/slaughterhouse_span.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRti91MCnI/AAAAAAAAAOI/bIXDlhHcEZc/s320/slaughterhouse_span.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414573099486808690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We need only admit that our concern for ourselves and others, (including non human beings) and the entire sphere of such concerns is what is most important in the world.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRrys8O4eI/AAAAAAAAANY/iCNlrRpedws/s1600-h/PigletBitingCagelg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 188px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRrys8O4eI/AAAAAAAAANY/iCNlrRpedws/s320/PigletBitingCagelg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414571170807603682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When someone states that something might be natural that claim may become important and relevant only as it reveals that nature was itself not the invention and design of a super-natural being or sky God but rather of the natural process of its cosmic, evolutionary and biological roots.<br /><br />The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">indisputable</span> fact that we actually did evolve from other animals and we are ourselves animals simply hands us a beautiful opportunity for understanding our moral responsibilities to each other and all of the other animals as well.<br /><br />There is a real circle that links us all to one another from the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">beginning</span> of time.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRrWS5OpMI/AAAAAAAAANQ/ZavvywbbZ10/s1600-h/ardi-380x620.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 196px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SyRrWS5OpMI/AAAAAAAAANQ/ZavvywbbZ10/s320/ardi-380x620.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414570682779346114" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Discovered in 2009 <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091001-oldest-human-skeleton-ardi-missing-link-chimps-ardipithecus-ramidus.html"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ardi</span> is now the oldest human</a> ancestor ever found.</span></span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />We are a species who can and must restrain from doing whatever it is we want for whatever reasons we claim and especially for whatever reasons we invent.<br /><br />If there are right and wrong reasons for instance to behave in certain ways then we must acknowledge as a species that we also have moral and ethical responsibilities to these behaviors.<br /><br />The problem of excusing so much death and cruelty inflicted on non human animals with the mere assertion that something might be natural, is it maintains our ignorance and keeps us from seeing the truth about our own evolution and who we are.<br /><br />The obvious truth most humans fail to see about ourselves and our species is that it's much more "natural" for us over time to evolve away from practices which are unethical, unjust and heartless than it is to maintain those traditions.<br />The historical evidence and the modern history of our species shows this to be the case.<br /><br />In the same way our species has evolved away from <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">cannibalism</span> and human slavery over centuries, we will eventually do the same in regard to eating and using the other animals on this planet.<br /><br />Our human species will evolve overtime to become vegan and it will be "natural" and it will be much sooner than later.<br /><br />Do it now...evolve.<br /><br />Go Vegan.<br /><br />Listen here....<a href="http://www.box.net/shared/3pg3refgc9">NATURAL high</a><br /></span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-42112221264011309162009-12-01T22:27:00.000-08:002009-12-02T02:27:49.883-08:00SANCTUARY...for you.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SxYn8Cg0h3I/AAAAAAAAAMo/NARk_iEOb3M/s1600-h/P1030160.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SxYn8Cg0h3I/AAAAAAAAAMo/NARk_iEOb3M/s320/P1030160.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410555914752395122" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We humans are not alone in the world. The other animals of this world share the experience of happiness and suffering as we humans do. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For the world to actually matter to us the happiness and suffering of others must matter to us as well. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The fact that many of us must rely on our intuitions to find this landscape of concern does not always make for a more compassionate world. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The compass that most humans use to navigate the world...fails to detect the non human animals in it's scope.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We live in a world where the small minded quest for material possessions and a desperate search for pleasure out of self interest... inevitably leads to an incredible amount of suffering and death.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The farmed animals of the world are (and will be) the most forgotten and the least cared about creatures on the planet.<br />These animals will die in the billions upon billions and not one of their stories will ever be seen on... Animal Planet.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we can locate the landscape of kindness in ourselves and in the world.....</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> both become limitless.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we can recognize this place as<span style="font-style: italic;"> who we are</span>.....<br />happiness and freedom are directly at our finger tips.<br /><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We all belong to the ideas we love. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When our ideas are responsible for bringing more love to the world......<br />our intuitions about living vegan become truth.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SxYt1TLlVsI/AAAAAAAAAMw/x75XU_flui4/s1600-h/P1030154.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SxYt1TLlVsI/AAAAAAAAAMw/x75XU_flui4/s320/P1030154.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410562396037404354" border="0" /></a></p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Let this video be your (post) Thanksgiving mantra for the animals.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Share it with others.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Go Vegan.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Click here for the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/4helpinganimals"> SANCTUARY.....</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">video</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Produced by Patty Shenker.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>Performed by Donna Delor</i><i>y.</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div></div></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-2417095164580795812009-11-20T10:44:00.000-08:002009-11-24T00:38:24.433-08:00LOVE<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><div><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbzyILSZaI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ntyCjAZ4Pl0/s1600/IMG_0754.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbzyILSZaI/AAAAAAAAAMg/ntyCjAZ4Pl0/s320/IMG_0754.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406276445218694562" border="0" /></a></p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">What is Love?</span> </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />(I would imagine none of you are google-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ing</span></span> right now in hopes of finding out the answer to the above question ).</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Some of the most complex emotions when in their purest and simplest forms are just that...Pure and Simple.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Love is mainly the notion..... that those who you care deeply about...experience happiness and not grief and not pain.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When love is experienced and truly felt. (not when you think you love someone)<br />You want that other or others to be happy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. It's as simple as that.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><div> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When the person or persons whom you love are suffering....you feel that suffering... you share in their pain, their sorrow and their anguish. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(the term person here is to include non human animals as they are persons as well) </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Think about someone you really love...your child, your parent, your wife, your husband ...your dog, your cat...your adopted pig or turkey here at animal acres. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We know that those who we love..we really want them to be happy and to feel good. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we marry this concept of love.... with our feelings in regard to animals and our taking seriously what happens to the animals of the world we realize how our emotions can become wrapped up in so much pain.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When you really love animals the way many of us do. And you have to map these feelings onto the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">acknowledgement</span></span> of dairy farms, of slaughterhouses, rodeos, circus's, sport hunting, animal research, the atrocity that are fur farms and yes.... the big city Animal Services as well. Anyplace where non humans are mistreated, abused and killed...and the territory seems endless.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is a painful experience to live with this knowledge when those we love suffer or are killed. Death is an astonishing reality whenever we love someone deeply and we lose them.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">really love</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> another..... pain is a risk we <span style="font-weight: bold;">must</span> endure when those we love are harmed or their life ends. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">However, love also carries with it the greatest joy, happiness and pleasure<i> we can ever know.</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Nothing<i> feels</i> better than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Love</span></span></span>. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Love is deeply wired into us all and is rooted in our biology and is one of the reasons it is such a powerful and transcendent feeling. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we really love others there is also an incredible loss that takes place. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet this loss is a subtraction of...a minus of...<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">A deficit of sorts that becomes something incredibly and beautifully positive.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It is the sudden loss of our own selves in place of feeling for another. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbzgyjqtUI/AAAAAAAAAMY/PcClENH0Oxs/s1600/mama+me.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbzgyjqtUI/AAAAAAAAAMY/PcClENH0Oxs/s320/mama+me.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406276147357594946" border="0" /></a></p></span><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;">When we LOVE... <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">we</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">disappear.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When we lose our own self and our <span style="font-weight: bold;">total attention</span> becomes focused on some-one we love.... We can feel that boundless state of being that is so favorable to happiness and so naturally calculated in making the world a more peaceful and LOVING place.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbyLGD6cyI/AAAAAAAAAMA/JFHNZFxxw3A/s1600/IMG_0758.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SwbyLGD6cyI/AAAAAAAAAMA/JFHNZFxxw3A/s320/IMG_0758.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406274675124368162" border="0" /></a></p></span><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be a sanctuary for someone.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be Love.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Become vegan.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Geneva;font-size:20px;"><br /></p><p face="Geneva" size="20px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" >Listen here</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><a style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.box.net/shared/dco3vz8xyx">WHAT IS LOVE for?</a><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family: Geneva; font-size: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ></span><br /></span></span></p></div></div></div></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-38360909720322677732009-11-06T16:04:00.001-08:002010-03-24T23:10:29.555-07:00Carol J. Adams/Interview<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvWriJ5EfZI/AAAAAAAAAL4/JdrpeZYptcU/s1600-h/spom+20th.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 399px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvWriJ5EfZI/AAAAAAAAAL4/JdrpeZYptcU/s400/spom+20th.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401411931359968658" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><div><br /></div><br />Throughout human history the justification made for not allowing a certain group of human beings to be liberated from oppression or discrimination has usually been that this said group were less than human and undeserving of respect or genuine emancipation. This group were more like the supposed "inferior" animals than the ones holding power.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br />However, the one movement of social change that first considered the connection with non human animals a positive connection and also pointed out the inherent similarities regarding the oppression of all groups was the modern feminist movement.<br />The activist and theorist most responsible for this bridge building between oppressions and for connecting feminist thinking with animal rights is the author/activist/theorist Carol J Adams.<br />Carol is the author of the ground breaking book "The Sexual Politics Of Meat" which transformed both the feminist movement and the animal rights movement over night 20 years ago. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Vegan Sanctuary is honored to have with us for our blog's very first interview--the brilliant, creative, influential thinker and writer--</span></span><div><span><span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Carol J. Adams.</span></span></div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span><a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvS7h1LHI0I/AAAAAAAAALI/3oDyOeftCg8/s1600-h/carolforAustenbedside.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvS7h1LHI0I/AAAAAAAAALI/3oDyOeftCg8/s320/carolforAustenbedside.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401148043007828802" border="0" /></a> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Besides advancing scholarship and developing theory in the area of interlocking oppressions, Carol has created a series of books that address the vegetarian/vegan experience: Living Among Meat Eaters: The Vegetarian Survival Guide, Help! My Child Stopped Eating Meat! and The Inner Art of Vegetarianism. Her most recent book is the anthology, The Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics: A Reader, edited with Josephine Donovan. Columbia University Press, 2007.<br />Carol has been an activist on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">anti violence</span> issues since the 1970s. Recently she received awards from The Greater Dallas Coalition for Reproductive Freedom and Planned Parenthood of Dallas and North Texas, "for her help in understanding the psychology of the radical right, for her commitment to women and for her brave stance against the tyranny of Operation Rescue.</span> </div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><br />Philip:<br /><br /></span> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Carol, thank you so much for taking time to talk about your ideas regarding animal rights and feminist critical thinking with Vegan Sanctuary.<br />First off... What is the most effective way for an ethical vegan to engage an omnivore when the subject of eating animal products arises?</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Carol:<br /><br /></span> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">I don’t think there is one way. The most important thing for an ethical vegan to recognize is that simply by choosing to eat vegan foods, we make omnivores uncomfortable. We remind them that they are making choices. Once they are reminded that what they are doing is a choice, then they often feel distressed. It then becomes easy to blame us for those feelings. In Living Among Meat Eaters I argue that vegans should look at omnivores as blocked vegetarians. Until we enter the room, they may have no notion that they are blocked. But, if they start acting defensively toward us, they are telling us exactly that.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Meat eaters want to know if we are at peace with our diet. They won’t ask us directly. They ask, “but don’t you miss meat?” They mean, “Are you at peace with giving up meat?”</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">If you are at peace, maybe they too could be a peace with living without meat.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">If you are not at peace, why should they try?</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Are you at peace?</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">If you are, how do you communicate that sense of peace?</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">If you <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">aren</span>’t, what is needed to discover a sense of peace?</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Meat eaters fear the emotional effort required of being a vegan. When we are at peace, we communicate the ease of being a vegan. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">When I meet meat eaters, I think, “what are you hiding from yourself.” If I decide it is only the facts about what animals are going through, well then, fine, let’s help them learn that. But, which one of us <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">hasn</span>’t heard, “don’t’ tell me I don’t want to know.” This means, actually, that they already know. If they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">didn</span>’t know they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wouldn</span>’t have any need to stop us. No, they are keeping something from themselves: that they are unable to change. What are they going through? They are going <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">through the</span> painful fact that they cannot bring awareness and action in line with each other. In our actions, we remind them of that. In our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">veganism</span>, is the sign of their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">failure</span> to act. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">I discuss this all at much greater length in Living Among Meat Eaters, which I know some vegans reread yearly.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Philip:<br /><br /></span> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">The massive oppression of farmed animals and this goes for rodeos as well possibly... feels so much more patriarchal than other types of animal slavery. It's not just the term 'animal husbandry' I'm referring to here... but even the most obvious aspects of sport hunting for instance seem a bit less patriarchal than does the using and killing of farmed animals for products. And if this feeling might bear some truth... how is this important to understanding the connection between feminism and animal rights and what it might mean to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">veganism</span> as well? </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Carol:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The challenge for recognizing the oppression of farmed animals is that industrialized farming depends on domesticated female animals’ reproductive labor. Consumption of domesticated animals cannot exist without the enslavement of female animals to reproductive labor. To control fertility one must have absolute access to the female of the species. Cows, sows, chickens, and female sheep are exploited in ways that merge their reproductive and productive labor. Their bodies must be reproduced so that there will be “meat” for humans, so that there will be cow’s milk for humans, so that there will be eggs for humans. Through this oppression, female animals become viewed as not worthy of respect. Their importance is what they do—reproduce—rather than who they are—individual animals. They become a what. There is no who. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"> The status of the female of the species meanwhile establishes the status of the male domesticated animals. The slang use of species names such as cow, sow, chick demonstrates the unworthiness of that species and anyone to whom the name is appended. All domesticated animals carry the “taint” of this exploitation of female <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">reproductivity</span>; it is one reason that animals are seen as always already replaceable (there will always be more animals because of the slavery of female animals). Farmed animals’ unworthiness becomes associated with their species as such, which in turn is associated with or defined through the demeaned status of its females. Deprived of any recognizably “human” (read male) characteristic, like reason, which might redeem them as subjects and lift them out of their lowly status, male domesticated animals become merged with femaleness. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><br />Veganism</span> establishes that female animals matter. This is much more of a breakthrough than people realize; we recognize and acknowledge individual animals; we refuse to group them together, to belittle them, to ignore their suffering.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;">Philip:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">The fight for animal rights is so much more dominated by women on the front lines yet most of the main voices from the animal rights world seem to be men. Is this a problem or is this actually a good thing or... maybe is this paradox just completely a mirror of the rest of our world?</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Carol:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It’s a problem precisely because it is a mirror!</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">In making <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">veganism</span> a political decision, animal activists rightly draw attention to the relationship between the personal and the political. However, the movement has remained extraordinarily indifferent to the ways in which the seemingly impersonal structures of patriarchy introduce patterns of sexual dominance and submission within the movement itself, patterns which inevitably play out in workplace conditions and interpersonal relations. </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">One of the challenges for the animal movement is getting men to give up male-identified power over other beings (the sexual politics of meat). If the animal movement leaves the definition of “manhood” undisturbed it cannot accomplish its goals of liberating animals since, by definition, manhood involves use of and killing of animals, as well as the promotion of a “warrior” ethos that reproduces the values of aggression and masculine heroism of a patriarchal order.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Philip:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Yes. If you look at all of the macho aggressive masculine <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">posturing</span> about doing violence against people and physical threats against those who use animals in scientific research for instance, it really seems to counter everything that animal rights activists stand for. It also <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">launches</span> animal activism backwards by years in the same way that using naked women (sexism) to sell <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">veganism</span> does.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">In "The Sexual Politics of Meat" you point out the fact that Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was a vegetarian (probably vegan as well) and what that says about the obvious idea that so much silencing about non meat eating themes throughout literature and history in general has taken place. A type of censorship of the "gentle diet" or the animal free diet has taken place.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Carol:</span></span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Yes, it happens all the time. People may not even be conscious that they are doing this; they don’t notice vegetarianism in novels or biographies because it just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">isn</span>’t (or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">wasn</span>’t) on their radar.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Philip:<br /><br /></span> </span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Also interesting is that the "creature" Frankenstein was made up of body parts from a slaughterhouse as well a human graveyard. Why do you think that aspect has been left out of modern film versions of the story?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;">Carol:</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />What does it mean that the Monster was vegetarian? That the Monster had a vision of creating a peaceful life with a partner? While the answer to that is not complex, reconciling this peaceful vision with the Monster's murders is complex, and films would have to devote more time to this theme than it was probably thought warranted. Films tend to simplify stories, and if anyone is multidimensional (and not just because of the source of its body), it's the Monster.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;">Philip: </span> <span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br />Thank you so much Carol for sharing your wisdom on living vegan and what that means from a feminist perspective. Thank you for allowing Vegan Sanctuary to talk with you and we're very much looking forward to part 2 of our interview with you.<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: georgia;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvS6PUx5_MI/AAAAAAAAALA/zKLD59j-xCQ/s1600-h/sex:meat.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 224px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SvS6PUx5_MI/AAAAAAAAALA/zKLD59j-xCQ/s400/sex:meat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401146625562901698" border="0" /></a> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">The bodies of human women are still seen as objects in nearly every culture and society on this planet.<br />The animals who are killed and eaten by humans are objectified – their suffering, their lives and their deaths become <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">insignificant as</span> they are only objects for our consumption. We ignore the fact they are actually individuals with a life to be lived and exist as an end to themselves. </span></div><div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Carol has over the years made the important connection on how women’s bodies are objectified along with animals bodies. It is an observation with far reaching consequences and should not go unnoticed and made irrelevant by animal activists.<br />All oppression is connected and as animal rights advocates we need to take notice. We must acknowledge and care about every issue where justice and the rights of others are rejected.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br />Eat rice have faith in women.</span> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br />Become a sanctuary for others. </span> <span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Go Vegan</span>.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZlcHzPwxQ"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Unity Of Oppression</span>: a music video</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">For more information on Carol J Adams work please visit...<br /></span></span><a href="http://www.caroljadams.com/"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">www.caroljadams.com</span></span></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZlcHzPwxQ"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.caroljadams.com/"><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></a></div></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-21680793681701189032009-10-18T13:22:00.000-07:002012-02-06T14:42:32.027-08:00We Are What We Feel<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Stt--LR5jRI/AAAAAAAAAKI/xOUUTcfybCc/s1600-h/SKY.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Stt--LR5jRI/AAAAAAAAAKI/xOUUTcfybCc/s400/SKY.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394044585351154962" border="0" /></a><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><i>"You're vegan? Well.... ...what do you eat?"</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is one of the most common questions we vegans are often asked. It is also one of the most curious questions as well. Is this really the best response people have? Are people really not aware of all the non animal foods that are available today? Unless the person asking is emerging from a cave after a life of seclusion or they are just arriving from decades of living among the ice drifts of the north seas most of the people who ask this question more than likely already know the answer. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">However, this post is not going to attempt to answer that question at all or even attempt to dig down into the obvious transparent quality that this line of questioning from people infers. Rather, this post will pose another even more important question. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Why are we vegans never asked what we feel? </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">We are constantly asked by the curious in relation to our veganism what it is that we eat if we don't eat animal products. Yet the fact remains that we are never asked what we feel. Nearly every comment or question is usually tossed to us with the intention of avoiding anything authentic, ethical or compassionate. It appears as if the omnivores of the world have all attended the exact same continuing education course titled....</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">"<b>How to Deflect Any Possibility At Getting To The Essence of Someone's Ethical Veganism....101</b>." </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Well, prepare yourself to be unimpressed by the results of their schooling.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">But seriously and with all due respect.... Why is it when we further express to others that we've chosen not to eat animal products for ethical reasons the question concerning what we feel is never proposed? </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Maybe we simply need to begin the dialogue ourselves and mention to the questioner that our choice is not merely about what we eat but really much more about what we feel. Investigating the nature of our emotions and sharing them directly may take some practice but the work itself can help transform our conversations with others about who we are.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This M.O. may provide us with a much more gentle approach when articulating our inspiration for opting out of who we don't eat rather than what it is.... we do eat. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">If we can make it clear that it is what we feel personally that moves us it may in fact dislodge the usually defensive reactions which many people have when we talk about being vegan. Discussing what we feel is very different from explaining to someone why we are vegan and it may make all the difference...in the world. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we can go straight to the emotional aspects of how it feels for us to live on this planet with so much violence against non humans and how it feels to have our hearts broken over and over again everyday we can begin to make our experience personal for others. When we layout what we feel regarding our reasons to not participate in the exploitation of non human animals and allow the meaning to become rooted in who we are provides us a much greater opportunity to ignite the awareness of those questioning our veganism. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">This is about revealing our truth and about unrolling the sentiment behind our basic convictions. Maybe its a way we can expose that extra layer of grief to other humans which we animal rights advocates and ethical vegans live with day to day. We live with the knowing how unnecessary, how brutal and how tragic the short life of a farmed animal is. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuAELigMsI/AAAAAAAAAKY/8FF5jcMVPwI/s1600-h/pig146.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 249px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuAELigMsI/AAAAAAAAAKY/8FF5jcMVPwI/s320/pig146.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394045788011639490" border="0" /></a></span></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Maybe we can express that our sorrow is even claustrophobic at times because we realize we have no way of stopping the machine that kills so many millions everyday as it does one by one and life by life.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">What does it feel like for instance to have empathy that extends beyond our own species? What does it feel like to have that empathy crushed, ripped and torn? What does it sound like? What does it look like and taste like?</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">What does it feel like to attempt to stay one step ahead of the pain we feel for animals? </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuAY3buQtI/AAAAAAAAAKg/vnQ2EoRsr-8/s1600-h/vivi1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 216px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuAY3buQtI/AAAAAAAAAKg/vnQ2EoRsr-8/s320/vivi1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394046143391744722" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><br /></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Maybe there is no way possible to stay ahead of the pain but rather have the courage to stay in it. <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, -webkit-fantasy;">Pain not fully felt will never heal. </span></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, -webkit-fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, fantasy;">In fact staying with the discomfort we have over the suffering and injustice committed against non humans also keeps us pledged to fight and speak out on their behalf.</span></span></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Defining our experience of being vegan and sharing those feelings may be the only door way we have. It may in fact be the most efficient way to open the door for others as well.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Now before this feels like a sudden dash into abstract or speculative ideology we must remember that nearly everything we do is really only a reaction to what we feel.<br /></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Communicating to others that </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">we are what we feel </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">and that our love for animals and our hoping for a more compassionate and less violent world is what brought us here. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Having compassion for others is what links us to the chain of living vegan yet it is what most often is also overlooked. Having compassion for ourselves in regard to what we feel is often overlooked as well. Discussing our feelings of why we are ethical vegans with those who question us can be a reward to ourselves and a gift to the animals who will somehow be ironically pushed out of the argument in favor of protein myths or vitamin B12 sales pitches. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Comprehending what is we feel allows us to have a wisdom and composure that goes further and deeper than we can imagine. Being able to touch our sorrows and our grief as well as our anger and frustration allows us to express our being vegan with others in a much more rational and calm way. This may be the most important angle we have in illustrating, demonstrating and teaching our veganism to others. This is not an easy task and most of us are lucky if we have 5 minutes a day when we can slow down enough to focus on what we are feeling and then to be able to express it with a no drama...(Obama) like focus is even more difficult.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Yet, it can be done and it might be the key to making a connection from our hearts to others. We live in a world of others and we do need to make the best of that world. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Stt_we1rytI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/uWTsfwalqiE/s1600-h/We+R+WhatFeel.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 305px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Stt_we1rytI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/uWTsfwalqiE/s320/We+R+WhatFeel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394045449594981074" border="0" /></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; min-height: 19px;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">When we can have our priorities straight emotionally and our concentration is precise because we have connected to what it is we feel it enables us to be grounded enough to be real without being offensive. Our attention is more focused to express ourselves clearly and truthfully. Then we can begin to realize and make this point to others that our feelings of grief, sorrow and pain are actually born from our compassion, kindness and love.<br /></span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Our frustration with the way humans abuse and kill animals comes from our wanting others not to suffer and lose their lives. Our empathy felt is our empathy experienced and we can begin to have insight into our sameness with the animals and our sameness with other humans as well rather than always looking for the differences. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:Georgia;font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Maybe this is what leads us to the wisdom in understanding that our sadness and anger comes from a place of warmth and goodness. We are what we perceive about the world and our ideas themselves have the power to change us and possibly others forever.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Feeling what it is that makes us who we are enables us to embody and convey ourselves in a more rational and direct way. When we pay close attention to what we feel moment to moment in living vegan we can make the detailed claims that are necessary for others to understand our subjectivity. A subjectivity based and born from empathy and kindness and from caring about those whom we love. When we can articulate this truth for others they will understand that there is nothing irrational about feeling grief or even anger when the ones we love are killed.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Explaining to others we are vegan because of what we feel rather than what we don't eat allows us to bring the reality of our motivations out into the open and to the rest of the world. It gives us the chance to connect with the fact that our feelings of sorrow, grief, anger and frustration were instigated by our caring, compassion and empathy. When we move into what we feel it can open us to a better way of sharing who we are with the world and the others who are not.........yet.</span></span></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><br /></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><p face="Geneva" size="12px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuDph3e8SI/AAAAAAAAAKo/GbzFtTpexlM/s1600-h/IMG_0697.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/StuDph3e8SI/AAAAAAAAAKo/GbzFtTpexlM/s320/IMG_0697.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394049728195260706" border="0" /></a></p></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Be a sanctuary </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;font-family:georgia,-webkit-fantasy;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">for </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">who you are</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">and </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">what you feel. </span></span></span></p></span></span><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:16px;"> <p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"></p><p face="Georgia" size="16px" style="margin: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"></span></p></span></span></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-59066783611065728812009-10-01T01:18:00.001-07:002009-10-01T03:02:23.709-07:00REGINA: a story of milk, tears and a rescued life.<span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;" > <span style="font-style: italic;">Thou never </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">did'st</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> them wrong, nor no man wrong:</span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > And as the butcher takes away the calf</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > And binds the wretch and beats it when it strays,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > Bearing it to the bloody slaughterhouse,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > Even so remorseless have they borne him hence;</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > And as the dam runs lowing up and down,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > Looking the way her harmless young one went,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > And can do naught but wail her darling's loss.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" >William Shakespeare, </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > King Henry the Sixth, Part II</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:georgia;" > (King Henry at III, i)</span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SsRmey5Hp3I/AAAAAAAAAJI/pJulWol5Js8/s1600-h/IMG_0666.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 286px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SsRmey5Hp3I/AAAAAAAAAJI/pJulWol5Js8/s320/IMG_0666.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387543733485414258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"> Regina at Animal Acres</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It has been said there is more suffering that goes into producing one glass of milk than what it takes to make a slab of steak. When we sit down to do the math and add up the anguish, heartbreak, </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" style="font-family:georgia;">loneliness</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> and death that is indigenous to the dairy industry the above statement seems quite possibly a bit restrained. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">In order to provide a constant flow of milk dairy cows are forced to produce a calf every 12 months. When we understand that a dairy cow's pregnancy time is the same length as a </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="font-family:georgia;">humans....nine months, we can realize the strain it inflicts on her body.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;"> We then take this mothers milk from her and keep it for ourselves. However, we also commit a crime of theft that crosses the line of decency as to what anyone could claim as being humane. We take this mothers baby from her. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">When the calves are only 48 hours old they are stolen from their mothers forever and neither will experience each others company again. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">This is not the wonderful life of cows living in a beautiful green pasture we are often told about. This is a life where the one thing desired most by any mother, her baby, will be stolen away from her for an eternity. The tragedy here is two fold. The newborns yearn for their mother and the mother longs </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" style="font-family:georgia;">desperately</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> for her baby. This is a world also where the never understanding of what is happening is as dark and as terrifying for the babies as it must be for the mothers. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Mother cows will wail and bellow for days begging for their babies to be returned to them. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Adding to this affliction the mothers are continually hooked up to a computerized machine that sucks them dry of not just milk but of their life. Most dairy cows will only live four years before they are rounded up and sent on that journey to become hamburger meat. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">The female calves taken from their mothers are then kept isolated to become future milk machines. They will be forced to give up their babies as well one day too and their male calves will be considered disposable and most often killed immediately at birth.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">This was the world that beautiful Regina pictured above was born into. A world that if we choose to as most of us do, will never have to worry about. In this world like all dairy calves little Regina was denied her mother only hours after being born. She was fed colostrum as a replacement for her mothers milk but her mothers affection and love would never be replaced. We do not create machines to mimic a protective, nurturing mother. The machines we create for farms are invented only to take from the animals and are never intended to give anything back to them. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Regina would spend her next 6 months alone in a cruel existence until her auction day would arrive. Most of the babies brought into this world will be sold for less than the price we pay for a pair of designer jeans yet little Regina would go </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" style="font-family:georgia;">un</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> purchased that day and she would most likely be left to die in the auction house with the other unsold calves. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Yet Regina instead would be taken away by a farmer who planned on utilizing her as a test subject for new medications he wished to try out on a baby too sick and too weak to become a profitable milk machine.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Regina's life would change once more but this time it would change for the better when Vanessa </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" style="font-family:georgia;">Hidalgo</span><span style="font-family:georgia;"> wandered to the back of a building where the farmer had left Regina to live as a bovine guinea pig. When Vanessa first laid her eyes on Regina she was frail, half starved and terrified of humans. Each time Vanessa would approach, little Regina would attempt to move away but was nearly to weak to escape even her own shadow. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">For the next 3 weeks in the brutal scorching heat of summer Vanessa would visit little Regina everyday to check on her and to also make it known to this particular farmer that Regina would be rescued as soon as Vanessa could find a place to bring her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Vanessa dialed the Animal Acres phone number one afternoon and spoke with the shelter manager Frank Allen who told Vanessa she could bring Regina to their sanctuary.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Up until this point in her life Regina was like every other dairy calf. She had no name, no one to comfort her and no one who cared about what would ever happen to her.</span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">But on that day in the back of her father's utility van Vanessa sat with the scared, dirty, fragile little baby and she was given a name. On this ride to her new home at Animal Acres it would be the beginning of the end of her invisibility and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" style="font-family:georgia;">loneliness</span><span style="font-family:georgia;">. It was the beginning of her life as Regina. </span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">A life which is overflowing now with hugs, kisses, comfort, healthy food and attention. A life that she shares peacefully and joyfully with many other animals who were once just like her and were destined for a life of disrespect.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">It is an amazing and beautiful irony that this baby who might have been forced to give away her own babies and her own milk to us now instead gives away only her love and affection. Regina happily and naturally now gives away big licks, playful nudges and winks. She now also gives her trust away freely to everyone who visits her as if to say to the world, this is who I am when visible, when respected, when cared for. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;">Regina is now living that wonderful life that you might possibly read about somewhere but this life is at Animal Acres which as a sanctuary for rescued farmed animals is a far cry..... from a normal farm which would exploit her for her milk and her flesh. For this one baby there is a happy ending.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SsRoWw5-TmI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/ero8B6XmEKo/s1600-h/IMG_4959.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/SsRoWw5-TmI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/ero8B6XmEKo/s400/IMG_4959.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387545794536427106" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Regina with Vanessa</span><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />Just as sometimes we may feel our own suffering goes unheard by the rest of the world and merely disappears into silence so does the suffering on dairy farms go completely unnoticed. The pain goes undocumented, the anguish goes overlooked and the deaths here go unacknowledged and even denied by the ones consuming it's products.<br /><br />Yet we do know our own pain is felt somewhere. We recognize that it exists in our insides, our flesh, our nerves and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">acknowledged</span> by neurons which send it throughout our brain so our minds can make it real for us.<br />Our suffering does not go lightly and unnoticed by ourselves. And either does the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">un</span>imaginable suffering and death from the dairy business go unnoticed for every single one of these mothers and babies who live invisibly behind the walls of the dairy industry.<br /><br />Not seeing this industry clearly for it's brutality and depravity is not caused merely by the concrete and steal barriers that separate our eyes and hearts from these very much.... women and children beings. The invisible aspect here is in reality created by our own indifference and our own apathy. This partly because to know this world would involve a direct confrontation with our own complicity and partly because this business is defended and arranged so that the realities never reach us.<br />One major aspect of living mindfully and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">compassionately</span> is about taking responsibility for our own actions. When we imagine what it might mean to awaken ourselves it's simply just about being able to see.... clearly.<br />There is no judging in this truth only responsibility and gentleness.<br /><br />We do not need to make the claim of something as right or wrong but we can look at the arithmetic of so many millions of babies and mothers suffering and see it as unnecessary and unjust. Whether the cows are raised on an organic farm or a supposed humane dairy operation the pain, the loneliness and then the death is all the same. The only real compassionate alternative to this brutal industry is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">veganism</span>. That's it.<br /><br />When you become vegan you are taking action in an almost identical way that Vanessa did when rescuing little Regina or in the way Animal Acres has by saving hundreds of animals just like Regina from having to live and die in such a remorseless world.<br /><br />Become a sanctuary for all the mothers and their babies suffering in the dairy industry.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Go vegan.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;">listen here</span> </span> <a href="http://www.box.net/shared/0syzvjv0ze"><span style="font-style: italic;"> She Just Wept </span></a></span></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span></span>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3797527927416187847.post-75098339651921879402009-09-10T00:51:00.000-07:002009-09-12T10:43:48.463-07:00ABOUT THIS BLOG<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Spxh-i1sh6I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/M6f3X9w0SdE/s1600-h/IMG_0690.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Spxh-i1sh6I/AAAAAAAAAFQ/M6f3X9w0SdE/s400/IMG_0690.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376279782305335202" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">Vegan Sanctuary is the written expression of Animal Acres deeply felt commitment to non violence and to saving the lives of animals who have been sadly branded as disposable or worthless. This blog is a reflection of what it might mean to exist as a personal sanctuary for those animals and how becoming vegan opens our hearts to a more compassionate way of living.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br />This blog will be a resource of education and information about the single most important action we as individuals can take in regard to helping animals. Becoming vegan is a simple, easy, delicious, healthy way to save lives and help make the world a more peaceful, loving place for every-one.<br /><br />One of the main principles behind what Vegan Sanctuary's truth is and what the message from this blog represents lies deeply in the awareness, consciousness and recognition that nearly every one of the individuals at Animal Acres are alive today because they were never killed.... to be eaten or consumed. They are here today because they are loved, respected and sincerely cared about. These beautiful animal persons at the sanctuary here represent lives that matter and lives that are considered more important than the superficial pleasure they may have provided after being turned into a commodity.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br />Living vegan provides us the opportunity to be </span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><i>living</i></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"> proof that we really take animals lives seriously and that we also recognize there is no difference between consuming the flesh of non human animals and in using any other product which is taken from them.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sp9wFrlUszI/AAAAAAAAAFw/97Ky7QEL1-s/s1600-h/IMG_0771.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sn0dqfi2gBc/Sp9wFrlUszI/AAAAAAAAAFw/97Ky7QEL1-s/s320/IMG_0771.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377139723004588850" border="0" /></a><br />Becoming vegan can radically transform our experience of the world. Imagine living life fully present in a moment of focus that is based on love, compassion and of rejecting violence and exploitation. Imagine converting a slaughterhouse into a no kill shelter and what that transition would mean to the activity surrounding that facility. Imagine our dinner tables as metaphors for how we make decisions about violence and oppression. Our world is designed by the decisions each of us make and we as individuals are defined by the choices we make.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;">When we move away from eating or using animal products and become a sanctuary for animals, we mirror the compassion found at Animal Acres directly back into our own lives.<br />Which, in turn, peacefully and brightly reflects back out again into the rest of the world.<br /><br /><br />For all the animals,<br /><br /><br />VEGAN SANCTUARY<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><br />listen here<span style="font-size:130%;"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZASWNF1il0I">The Sky Is Open......</a></span></div></span></span></div></div>Philip Steirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777382122190585008noreply@blogger.com4