Realizing the Manifest Self--the Life Force permeating our humanity--and the Unmanifest source from which it arises.
22 December 2011
How does this photo affect you? Are you getting angry at me showing you the brutality of the world which you'd rather not know about? Will you stop following this blog? Are you angry with the Chinese for eating dogs and cats? Does the photo make you want to escape from the world by going within? Do you think maybe you can do both?
Pian Shankong , a 40-year-old performance artist in his underwear , squats inside a dog cage in front of a dog butcher at a wholesale market in Guiyang city , capital of Southwest China 's Guizhou province , on Dec 19, 2011, urging people to not eat dogs . The local temperature was 3 degrees Celsius . Since last year , Pian has traveled around many places in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in Southwest China to call for the public to love the animals . At every stop during the tour , Pian got down on his knees before animals , said a dog protection volunteer .[Photo /CFP ]
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Luckily I only saw the people's heads and didn't scroll down to see the rest of it.
ReplyDeleteEverybody knows about this kind of thing, Ed. You're not showing us anything we don't know. But, as there's fuck all anybody can do about it what's the point of dwelling on it. What are you trying to achieve?
Robert said that everything happens of its own accord.
ReplyDeleteIt has no effect whatsoever if I just looking at it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you start feeling it, then there is this sense of "injustice, inhuman, sick, i-wish-all-humans-will-be-wiped-out-from-this-earth-soon". But who am i to judge. This is all His.
At first I had to look away, take a deep breath, and return to it.
ReplyDeleteI felt nauseated, then full of anger which led to imagining my own acts of violence against these animal abusers.
I can't imagine that they don't have something else to eat.
And yes, I think one can go within and yet attempt to make the world a better place for all forms of sentience at the same time.
Joan
what are we doing on this sick planet? jesus, i don't get it. we're about two inches higher than hell.
ReplyDeleteit's tough, thank you edji.
you can't just say 'the universe is perfect'. and yet there's very little you can do to change this crude nature we all have
Except---In---Ourselves.
hare ram hare ram hare ram hare ram
hare ram hare ram hare ram hare ram
hare ram hare ram hare ram hare ram
hare ram hare ram hare ram hare ram
I like how your spirituality meets the real world Ed.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. Mr. Pian Shankong is acting from the heart.God bless Him. He is at least trying to educate others. As heart breaking as this is, I also see reminders of how vital education is. When children are guided with compassion and concern for others they would be unlikely to grow up into adults capable of this depraved behavior. I feel immense compassion for all in this phicure. Heaven and hell obviously co-exist on planet earth.
ReplyDeleteProblem solving our dilemna requires a clear mind and open heart.
To the first anonymous.
ReplyDeleteNo, not everyone knows about this at all. The Chinese government went way out to hide this when the Olympics were held in Bejing. Eating dogs and cats is relatively common in some parts of Asia, like Thailand, Korea, and the Philippines.
It came as a complete shock to me when I visited Korea that this was happening, and I even have had posts from Americans with Korean boyfriends and girlfriends, who told them no such thing took place in Korea.
Really, it is only in the last three years that I have seen much photographic proof of the allegations.
There is something deeply wrong with the Chinese culture and society.
There is such fraud and criminality involved in even making baby food and pet food that hundreds of children dies from contaminated Chinese food and perhaps thousands of pets around the world from adulterated additives.
The Chinese themselves know of these problems, so they tend to buy foreign food and medications when possible.
Over 600 white collar criminals are executed each year in China.
Soen Sahn Soen Sa's last wish is that Buddhism be brought back to China to begin a rebirth of compassion in that country.
An anonymous, you say everyone knows about this, but nothing can be done.
This is so, so not true. Every day somewhere in the world animal rights group picket Chinese embassies somewhere about these animal issues.
An this man in the cage is doing something. You can support his work. But instead, you run and hide your head and say nothing can be done; I am helpless to do anything.
This is an excuse not to get involved because the pain you might feel might be too great to tolerate.
I want you to feel the pain.
I just wonder if there's some kind of long term cultural or societal Chinese "gene" that predisposes them toward this kind of behavior(and based on what Ed wrote the other Asian countries as well, though I'd think North Korea would be the guilty party here, not the South but apparently that's not the case). But additionally in the case of China, when it became so overpopulated over time(and went to the extent of killing infants, esp. girls in an effort at population control), the animal genocide probably is understandable(and factor in the mass slaughter of protesters during the Tianamen Square demonstrations some twenty years back). And I recall just recently reading about the murder of a girl in China wherein all these bystanders didn't lift a finger and it created something of a national scandal there(akin to the murder of Kitty Genovese in Brooklyn here in the states many years back).
ReplyDeleteNow when "Anonymous" above quoted Robert saying "everything happens of its own accord" that would be true at the Absolute level but then you fall into a conceptual trap of almost legitimizing or rationalizing the animal slaughter and thereby lack compassion for what's there.
Mark
Well said Edji. I could do without the pic but that's OK. You are so spot on about the Chinese. When I was living in Panama we have over 80 that died because of tainted cough medicine. They put in a very toxic ingredient in place of what should be there. China response was they executed the President of the company.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that China in effect owns the US. We are trillions in debt with China. Walmart is China.
I think this physical world is due for a purging.
Randy
Mark, you said, "Now when "Anonymous" above quoted Robert saying "everything happens of its own accord" that would be true at the Absolute level but then you fall into a conceptual trap of almost legitimizing or rationalizing the animal slaughter and thereby lack compassion for what's there."
ReplyDeleteYes, most who take this position lack compassion.
What this world needs is compassion which requires being able to 'feel' the pain as Ed mentioned, not run away from it or stand aloof from it by hiding behind absolute concepts.
Thanks for your input.
Joan
I feel horror and pain for us humans are so deeply asleep. I feel an urge to overcome suffering and admire the beauty. Let all of us do as we can to wake up for love and to take care of our precious lives and beautifull planet. As Robert said: "the house is on fire and there is no time to admire the pictures on the wall". We have to awake out of this horrible 'dream'. Thanks Edji and I wish everybody a lovely and meatfree Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWho has compassion and who lacks compassion ?
ReplyDeleteThis photograph reminds me that dog beings came to this planet to serve in the awakening of our planet... the one is ever grateful to these humble and open teachers of surrender ~ OM
ReplyDeleteHow is eating dog or cat any different than eating pigs, cows, horses (which is very common in France), etc...? Our idea of them as companion animals. Our concepts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I looked at the picture I saw a picture. My mind was a blank after listening to chanting. Then, after some effort, thoughts arose and I saw the intended effect.
If I think about it I get upset, being a dog owner. Not so much with the cats, I find those delicious.
That was a joke, Edji.
I agree. Killing any animal for food and sometimes just for fun like Mike Vick with dog fighting and his own pet dog, or bull fighting, is just plain wrong. It is a crime against the conscience We Are Sentience is trying to create in the world.
ReplyDeleteYes. As Edji mentioned in his more recent post, much of our personality is determined by culture and societal conditioning. In other words, a structure of thought dictating what is normal, appropriate, valuable, etc. Meat-eating is a deeply-ingrained habit, with many cultural associations, for many people in the world, regardless of where they come from. To liberate one's self from unthinking adherence to the structures imbedded in one's culture requires, as Edji said, deep questioning of one's given prejudices and healing of the pain which reinforces them - through spiritual practice (meditation/Self-inquiry, devotion, Guru yoga), through therapy, or through having one's psychic and emotional boat rocked by disaster, disease, divorce, etc.
ReplyDeleteHence the importance of being an example to others just by being in the world and not eating meat - this shows that another option is available. Only by persevering with practice will one more and more radiate love, compassion, justice, forgiveness; and at the same time a strident and automatic embrace of what is just and true. You could call it "the sword of compassion." It cuts through bullshit, your own and others', has no owner and belongs to all. To become empty is not to disappear, but to let the truth roar or speak through you with less interference.
Love, Matthew
Why do we not just change what is within our reach and not make a big talk about it ?
ReplyDeleteThis picture came back into my awareness just a few minutes ago.
ReplyDeleteMy 12 and 13 year old daughters had just received payment for dog sitting two older, but really loving dogs for our neighbors.
When my mother-in-law found out how much money they were paid she was disgusted. She said, 'I can't believe that anyone would spend that kind of money on some animal.'
When I asked her why animals deserved less care and love than humans she stated, "In Genesis, God gave us dominion over animals."
I said, "Yes, and you suppose that dominion means that we dominate them, abuse them, give them second rate love, attention, and care? Or do you suppose that dominion meant that we exert some degree of effort as compassionate beings, to care for them and make sure that they have quality of life?"
She had no logical response whatsoever.
Joan