World Population-why we should become vegetarian (Earth, Buddhism, reincarnation, soul)

[magoism]

According to the history record from 19th century through early 20th century, , our population was near 2 billion. However after WWI, our population dramatically
increased by up to 6.5 billion by end of year 2009, we would expect over 7 billion.

The reason why when we are entering 21st century became dramatically high is
that we human eat meats. Every living creatures in our Earth has heavenly soul.
When that soul dies, about 0.00001 % became human. I am talking not about religion, but this is science. Animals wants to hang around
with their own spieces and creatures. They want to live with their own species and they do not want to play with other species or creatures.
Thus animals begins to fight, try to eat them as for their survival by taking away from other species. These kinds of animals thinking and mind started to came inside to our human brain, and now the world is controlled by violence and even our society is full of violence and killing each other. Look at our society. When we are watching from TV we can see a kid shooting at the teachers, friends, classmates, families, in school. Why societies had become liked this? Look at closely peoples face in big cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. Their surface looks like human, but their inside mind is half
animal. We eat meats every day. Some 3 times a day. By politics or laws, we believe
our society can change. But eventhough if we have good laws or politics, it could have been worse.

I quoted this message translated from Korean from lecturing from one of Korean monk.
It is direct translation so it may not be smooth. Buddhism believes about reincarnation so I believe this makes sense.....
I am not trying to give pressure to those meat eaters, but would want to consider thinking becoming vegetarian as of my self too.....

[Yes Man]

If everyone in the entire U.S. were to suddenly become vegetarians. The farmland would drain all the nutrients out of the soil very quickly. Therefore we could no longer farm. Plus the baby boom probably contributed to the population increase as well.

[Jaymes]

Originally Posted by Yes Man

The farmland would drain all the nutrients out of the soil very quickly.

I suppose you've never heard of crop rotation.

Let's not touch on how pig feces basically kill everything and can't be used as fertilizer...

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by magoism

I quoted this message translated from Korean from lecturing from one of Korean monk.
It is direct translation so it may not be smooth. Buddhism believes about reincarnation so I believe this makes sense...

I think being vegetarian is wonderful and healthy for many reasons, even though I am not currently vegertarian myself. But I want to make clear that Buddhism not does require one to be vegetarian.

Are Buddhists vegetarian? Some are, some aren't. From the Theravada perspective, the choice of whether or not to eat meat is purely a matter of personal preference. Many Buddhists (and, of course, non-Buddhists) do eventually lose their appetite for meat out of compassion for the welfare of other living creatures.

Although the first of the five precepts, the basic code of ethical conduct for all practicing Buddhists, calls upon followers to refrain from intentional acts of killing, it does not address the consumption of flesh from animals that are already dead. Theravada monks, however, are clearly forbidden to eat meat from a few specific kinds of animals, but for reasons not directly related to the ethics of killing.1 Monks are free to pursue vegetarianism by leaving uneaten any meat that may have been placed in the alms bowl, but because they depend on the open-handed generosity of lay supporters2 (who may or may not themselves be vegetarian) it is considered unseemly for them to make special food requests. In those parts of the world (including wide areas of south Asia) where vegetarianism is uncommon and many dishes are prepared in a meat or fish broth, vegetarian monks would soon face a simple choice: eat meat or starve.3

Taking part in killing for food is definitely incompatible with the first precept, and should be avoided. This includes hunting, fishing, trapping, butchering, steaming live clams, eating live raw oysters, etc.

But what if I eat — or just purchase — meat: aren't I simply encouraging someone else to do the killing for me? How can letting someone else do the "dirty work" possibly be consistent with the Buddhist principles of compassion and non-harming, a cornerstone of right resolve? The Dhammapada expresses this sentiment succinctly:

All
tremble at the rod,
all
hold their life dear.
Drawing the parallel to
yourself,
neither kill nor get others to kill.
[Dhp 130]



Clearly we should not intentionally ask someone to kill for us — as when, for example, we order fresh boiled lobster from the restaurant menu. But purchasing a piece of meat from an animal that was previously killed is another matter. Although my purchase may indeed help keep the butcher or restaurateur in business, I am not asking him to kill on my behalf. Whether he kills another cow tomorrow is his choice, not mine. This is a difficult but important point, one that reveals the fundamental distinction between personal choices (choices aimed at altering my own behavior) and political ones (those aimed at altering others' behavior). Each of us must discover for ourselves where lies the boundary between the two. It is crucial to remember that the Buddha's teachings are, first and foremost, tools to help us learn to make good personal choices (kamma); they are not prescriptions for political action.

We are all guilty of complicity, in one way or another and to varying degrees, in the harming and death of other creatures. Whether we are carnivore, vegan, or something in between, no matter how carefully we choose our food, somewhere back along the long chain of food production and preparation, killing took place. No matter how carefully we trod, with every step countless insects, mites, and other creatures inadvertently perish under our feet. This is just the nature of our world. It is only when we escape altogether from the round of birth and death, when we enter into the final liberation of nibbana — the Deathless — can we wash our hearts clean, once and for all, of killing and death. To steer us towards that lofty goal, the Buddha gave us very realistic advice: he didn't ask us to become vegetarian; he asked us to observe the precepts. For many of us, this is challenge enough. This is where we begin.

Notes

1. Theravada monks are forbidden to eat raw meat or fish, as well as the flesh of humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears, hyenas, and panthers. See the description of "staple foods" in chapter 8 of The Buddhist Monastic Code. A monk who eats any of those kinds of meat commits an offense that he must confess to his fellow monks.


2. See "The Economy of Gifts" by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.


3. Monastics within some schools of Mahayana Buddhism do practice vegetarianism. See Buddhist Religions: A Historical Introduction (fifth edition)» Wadsworth, 2005), p. 213. by R.H. Robinson, W.L. Johnson, & Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Belmont, California:

[Jaiket]

Originally Posted by Maize

[color=Green]I think being vegetarian is wonderful and healthy for many reasons, even though I am not currently vegertarian myself.

Off the wagon Maize?

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by Jaiket

Off the wagon Maize?

Yep, have been for about a year. I like chicken and shrimp too much.

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by Yes Man

If everyone in the entire U.S. were to suddenly become vegetarians. The farmland would drain all the nutrients out of the soil very quickly. Therefore we could no longer farm.

I realize some people won't believe the following information because it's from a PeTA run website, but there are some good points in the article:

Wasted Resources

Vast tracts of land are needed to grow crops to feed the billions of animals we raise for food each year. Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., nearly 80 percent is used in some way to raise animals—that's roughly half of the total land mass of the U.S.10 More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals.11

The U.S. certainly isn't alone in its misuse of land for animal agriculture. As the world's appetite for meat increases, countries across the globe are bulldozing huge swaths of land to make more room for animals and the crops to feed them. From tropical rain forests in Brazil to ancient pine forests in China, entire ecosystems are being destroyed to fuel our addiction to meat. According to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute to create more room for farmed animals.12

In the United States and around the world, overgrazing leads to the extinction of indigenous plant and animal species, soil erosion, and eventual desertification that renders once-fertile land barren.13 Livestock grazing is the number one cause of threatened and extinct species both in the United States and in other parts of the world.14 Philip Fradkin, of the National Audubon Society, states, "The impact of countless hooves and mouths over the years has done more to alter the type of vegetation and land forms of the West than all the water projects, strip mines, power plants, freeways, and subdivision developments combined."15 As more and more land both in the U.S. and around the world is irreparably damaged at the hands of the meat industry, what little arable land does remain may not be enough to produce crops to feed the burgeoning world human population.

10 Vesterby and Krupa.
11 Earth Talk, "The Environmental Beef With Meat," The Bay Weekly, 6 Jan. 2005.
12 Smithsonian Institution, "Smithsonian Researchers Show Amazonian Deforestation Accelerating," Science Daily Online, 15 Jan. 2002.
13 Danielle Knight, "Researchers Highlight Overgrazing," Terra Viva.
14 Jennifer Bogo, "Where's the Beef?" E, Nov. 1999.
15 Robbins, p. 250.
16 CNN, "Study: Only 10 Percent of Big Ocean Fish Remain," CNN Online, 14 May 2003.

[YmirGF]

Originally Posted by Maize

Yep, have been for about a year. I like chicken and shrimp too much.

You an me, both. I also like beef. I am a human animal and I am very much a carnivore.
My curried chicken served on a bed of basmati rice is simply to die for.

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by YmirGF

You an me, both. I also like beef. I am a human animal and I am very much a carnivore.
My curried chicken served on a bed of basmati rice is simply to die for.

I can live without beef, and actually prefer the vegetarian meat subsitutes to the real thing. They're easier to prepare, imo, for one thing and a lot more healthy. But some spicy buffalo chicken wings will get me everytime...

[Ori]

Well, if it's any consolation, I am a vegeterian.