All,

 Thanks for sitting through and watching the video last night.  I could tell that it wasn't the most pleasant experience for most in the room to watch it and I thank you sincerely for enduring it.  Some didn't want to see the 'disgusting' parts you inherently knew were true.  And I said "what're you afraid of?"  To live in denial is to not live at all.  Fear and denial of the truth does not change the truth.  (Following Duc's story...) To become Buddhas now, to be enlightened now, in this physical life, we can all make choices that seem like stepping off the table to unknown grounds below.  The trick, though, is to have faith that when you step off the table, you might fly instead of fall.  I can't tell you how much freedom i feel when I do what I inherently know is 'good' for the animals, for the environment, for the planet.  Maybe I've been lucky because I grew up with many pets and it takes just a few seconds to put myself in their position to realize that I would not want to be treated badly, nevermind being slaughtered for food or other things.  The notion that meat falls out of the sky somehow is pervasive in this culture.  We dont want to acknowledge that the meat that we eat used to be alive, with a heart, with feelings, with families of their own.

 After World War II, humans vowed to never repeat the holocaust, yet that is exactly what is going on now, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for the animals that we eat.  10 Billion animals are killed in the US alone in a year.  Imagine killing 10 Billion animals who are in many ways like Tootsie and Toonie... I dont know how people can even bear the thought.  Of course the answer is that people either block it out in denial, or they accept it and choose alternatives.  It is a choice which path you take.  But certainly if we wish to be a compassionate being, we must show compassion to all those around us, not just other humans, but other living and non-living beings, for we are all connected.

 Thank you all again for giving me a chance to share with you something that is so important to me.  Please feel free to comment or ask me any questions.  I have most of his other books and you're welcome to borrow them if you wish.  And if you  want a copy of the book "The Food Revolution" or want to give it to someone else, just let me know.

 I love Yen-Chi's idea to go shopping at Whole Foods together one of these days.  It is true that organic produce are more expensive right now, but one must ask the following question: how did conventional produce become so cheap?  How could the price of meat and milk stay so low over the years, despite the enormous resources (land, feed, water) that must go into growing livestock?  The answer is of course that the resources are used up as if they meant nothing at all, that the water, the land, the trees are all there for the taking. But we have exhausted so much of these resources that we must now look to outside of this great country.  So we end up importing beef from countries where rain forests are cut down to graze cattle.  If we knew connections like these, would we really feel that good about eating meat?  What we eat actually contributes to poverty and disease in developing countries.  It is an cycle that we can help to end by things we do everyday.  Talk to me more about this connection if you'd like.

Here are some quotes from historical figures who have questioned consumption of animals:
************
"I tremble for my species when I reflect that God is just."  (Thomas Jefferson)

"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?" (George Bernard Shaw)

"The time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men." (Leonardo Da Vinci)

"Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar."  (Bradley Miller)

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated." (Ghandhi - winner of Nobel Peace Prize)

"We must never permit the voice of humanity within us to be silenced.  It is man's sympathy with all creatures that first makes him truly a man."  (Albert Schweitzer - winner of Nobel Peace Prize)

"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it."  (Abraham Lincoln)

"People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice.  According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times."  (Isaac Singer)

******************
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Peace, Peace, Peace)
paul