-Study this small story. Hope that it makes a BIG change in YOU.-
A Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students, “How much do you think this glass weighs?” '50g!' ....'100g!' ..... '125g'..the students answered. “I really don't know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?” 'Nothing' …..the students said. 'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked. 'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student. “You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?” “Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!” … ventured another student & all the students laughed … “Very good, But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor. ‘No’…. Was the answer. “Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?” The students were puzzled. “What should I do now to come out of pain?” asked professor again. ‘Put the glass down!’ said one of the students. “Exactly!” said the professor.
Life's problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything. It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to ‘PUT THEM DOWN’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way! So, When you leave office today..
Remember my friend to … 'PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!
"The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds."
- William James
I realized that the more awakened you become the more you understand the world. And the less you conform to the society's level of thinking, because you understand how the power of your thoughts affect things and the world around you.
Since you understand the natural order of things, the less you criticize, the less you see and respond to the negativity around you. Because, things are not what they seem. The eyes and words are a bit primitive way of communicating information.
Most people would rather follow the herd. Since the rest of mankind would fight, hate, condemn, criticize, be right, than live differently. And it's sometimes hard to stand alone when everybody around you is doing the same things.
From womb to tomb, not a lot of people are taught how to control their feelings and that is the danger lies. School, parents, church, religion, government, media will not teach you how to control your feelings they will teach you just to obey and not question authority.
And people who do not know how to control their feelings is in a bad way, because they will easily give into feelings of hate, irritation, criticism anger and what-not. They would easily be swayed to what the rest of the world is doing, even if in their heart they know its wrong.
Sometimes its a bit challenging to live in a society where you see a lot of chaos and most especially ignorance, because nobody wants to question what their parents, families, school, government, religion have taught them. Most people would rather allow other people to do the thinking for them, than think for themselves. Which is maybe, one of the reasons, why there are some people who choose to live a monastic life.
But I believe we have the power to change things. And that a developed man is not somebody who is well read, intelligent, speaks well or possesses the most skill or riches.
The developed man is the one who spends most of his attention in improving himself than improving other people. He focuses in the higher virtues of Life (love, peace, understanding, tolerance, giving) than that of the physical senses (fear, irritation, criticism, hate, selfishness).
Because he understands and do thinks differently than the rest of the world. He maintains obedience with the higher laws in every area of his life, even if he is alone. Because he doesn't conform, he do things differently.
And I believe that when you use your thoughts in ways such as these you will become a bonfire of blessing in your corner of the world.
You can't change other people, you can only change yourself. And when you change everything around you changes.
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ― John Lennon
People who use fear can never build strong and lasting organizations. They always operate alone why? It's because people who uses fear and intimidation are always paranoid and on the look out of possible danger, it is their nature.
It doesn't trust anybody but itself. It doesn't even trust its family or even its friend. It does not even trust its team or anybody because it only operates alone for its selfish purposes and will leave anybody in the dirt anytime, if the cookie crumbles(everyman for himself). They treat people as tools for their selfish motives. And without the foundation of trust, we have nothing.
You cannot trust anyone who doesn't trust anybody.
Think about these examples.
Can a robber trust a fellow robber? I don't think so, right?
Can a swindler trust a fellow swindler?
And a corrupt politician does not trust another corrupt politician.
Makes sense, right?
Throughout history you've heard the stories of Hitler, Stalin, the Spaniards, japanese invasion, where are they now? These people used fear to control and manipulate their people and they are all gone now together with the people who followed them all gone.
When Light is turned on in a room, darkness instantly disappears, just like that. And no matter how hard it fights it has no power of its own because, it needs other people to survive.
In every story that you've seen about any battle like Dragon ball Z, Ironman Superman and Green Lantern the Light always win, always. Without contest. Fear never last.
Experts say, that the universe is made up of energy, it is made up of Light. And the darkness that you see in the sky at night is not darkness but your eyes just couldn't see beyond the spectrum of that light, that is the reason for the term 'color-blind'. Your eyes couldn't see beyond ultraviolet or infrared not possible, thus you see darkness in the sky, unless of course you use a high-powered telescope.
So basically yes, there is only Light in this Universe.
Darkness and fear only exist in the human mind. It is created by humans because of their ignorance and their stubbornness to snap out of this hypnotic social conditioning of the environment(media) that there is fear. (False Evidence Appearing Real)
"For a warrior, to be inaccessible means that he touches the world around him sparingly. And above all, he deliberately avoids exhausting himself and others. He doesn't use and squeeze people until they have shriveled to nothing, especially the people he loves." - Carlos Castaneda.
The Principle behind the foundation of Trust is Love. Look at every major religion in the world that up to this day are still standing. Christianity, Islam and Buddhism to name a few, these organization were founded in Love by their leaders. Love remains forever. It has no beginning and no end.
People who love people, are loved. People who love, trusts everybody and everybody trust them. They don't walk around paranoid but they walk with pride and in peace. Only people who have fear in their hearts are the ones who are paranoid and always in the look out for danger and ready to fight.
Peaceful thoughts leads to peaceful words and actions that results to a peaceful life.
Just like our country and the founding fathers who protected and gave us our independence. Heroes like Rizal, Aguinaldo and Bonifacio they dedicated their lives on the line for the love of our country againts those people who intimidated and threaten the freedom of the people of the Philippines.
Love is the bond that unites people. Love is the bond that unites families and friends. Love is the bond that allows people to build a foundation of trust that creates lasting and timeless relationships that leads to massive organizations.
So always ask yourself this question. Is my organization coming from a place of fear or love? Am I operating from a place of fear or love?
“If what you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else.” “I know. An overwhelming passion for it.” “No. An unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong.”
― Anthony de Mello
If you are into any spiritual or religious practice the real truth is, you are finding out who you really are, not what religion tells you who you are.
Most people want to be taught what to do, instead of learning from experience and thinking for themselves.
Life is not a step by step system, it is free flowing, it is like water. What you should do is learn from your experience in life and drop those beliefs that does not work and adapt those that work.
Experience has taught me that separation, hate, fear, criticism, condemnation, gossip, being right, selfishness, and competition has created more misunderstandings in my life and hurt. Not only to me, by most especially to the people that is around me.
But if you look closely and sensitive enough, most religions would rather create separation, hate, fear, criticism, condemnation, gossip, being right, selfishness, and competition. They would follow blindly what is written in Holy Scriptures even if it doesn't feel right. Even if it would cause pain to another individual. Even if it will make them hurt another person gay, lesbian, sinners or whatnot.
"We think too much and feel too little." -Charlie Chaplin
Useless and unnecessary misunderstandings, fights, wars, murders in families, society and nations have been done in the name on what is written, than be sensitive and love one another.
Sad truth is, people will do and follow what is written and follow it blindly that to truly listen to their hearts and be compassionate with people. .
Most people don't live their lives fully aware. They live mechanical lives, mechanical thoughts- generally somebody else's mechanical emotions, mechanical actions, mechanical reactions. (more info read: THE MYTH)
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others' happiness, not by each other's misery.
Most people put too much emphasis on what they learn or read about Life. So, when what they've experienced is different from what they've read or been taught in religion, they disregard what they've experienced and follow what religion says, and which by the way results to more misunderstanding and hate.
Experience will tell you that putting your finger in the flame of the candle will burn you, not books. Experience will tell you that the food taste bad, not books. Experience is the best teacher not religion or holy books.
You can lie to other people but you can never lie to yourself. That is how your conscience works. You know in your heart what is right and what is not. It is not found in religious books or any book. What you know and feel is right is found within you.
When you see somebody sick and dying you feel compassion, and what you feel could not be explained in books. When you see your mom crying you feel sympathy for her and you reach out your arms and embrace her, you want her to feel your love, and that is not found in holy scriptures. You only learn that through experience.
The only way to change is by changing your understanding.
If you center your attention and start to feel your heart, you will begin to realize that you would rather be in harmony with another individual than say or do something negative to them. Nobody wants to hurt another individual you are by nature loving just like how your father above is.
In the ancient temple of Luxor; the outer temple where the beginning initiates are allowed to come, and the inner Temple where one can enter only after proven worthy and ready to acquire the higher knowledge and insights. One of the proverbs in the Outer Temple is "The body is the house of God." That is why it is said, "Man know thyself." In the Inner Temple, one of the many proverbs is "Man, know thyself ... and thou shalt know the gods. This understanding is one of the keys in truly understanding who you really are.
One of my favorite author said that: "As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. … That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind.”
Enlightenment really means you become who you really are and not what other people, religion or media tells you what to do. What you want to do is to creates more love than of the opposite it. You want to focus on the constructive side of life regardless of what the scriptures says. You want to forget and drop what is written and listen to what your heart tells you is right.
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible- Jew, Gentile, black men, white…
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each others’ happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery ,we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in man; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all.
Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say “Do not despair.”
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder!
Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men—machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have a loveof humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate!
Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.
Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it’s written “the kingdom of God is within man”, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power.
Let us all unite.
Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill their promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!
Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance!
Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
"Waste no time talking what a good man should be, be one."
"I wish to become a teacher of the Truth." "Are you prepared to be ridiculed, ignored and starving till you are forty-five?" "I am. But tell me: What will happen after I am forty-five?" "You will have grown accustomed to it." Wellsprings : A Book of Spiritual Exercises (1985), p. 19
Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know — all mystics — Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion — are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare. As quoted in Approaching God : How to Pray (1995) by Steve Brown, p. 94
The genius of a composer is found in the notes of his music; but analyzing the notes will not reveal his genius. The poet's greatness is contained in his words; yet the study of his words will not disclose his inspiration. God reveals himself in creation; but scrutinize creation as minutely as you wish, you will not find God, any more than you will find the soul through careful examination of your body. Awakening : Conversations with the Masters (2003), p. 24
"What, concretely, is Enlightenment?" "Seeing Reality as it is," said the Master. "Doesn't everyone see Reality as it is?" "Oh, no! Most people see it as they think it is." "What's the difference?" "The difference between thinking you are drowning in a stormy sea and knowing you cannot drown because there isn't any water in sight for miles around." Awakening : Conversations with the Masters (2003), p. 221
One Minute Wisdom (1989)
Can one talk about the ocean to a frog in a well or about the divine to people who are restricted by their concepts?
Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose? This is what Wisdom means: To be changed without the slightest effort on your part, to be transformed, believe it or not, merely by waking to the reality that is not words, that lies beyond the reach of words. If you are fortunate enough to be Awakened thus, you will know why the finest language is the one that is not spoken, the finest action is the one that is not done and the finest change is the one that is not willed. Introduction
To a disciple who was forever complaining about others the Master said, "If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to carpet the whole of the earth." Transformation
To a visitor who asked to become his disciple the Master said, "You may live with me, but don't become my follower."
"Whom, then, shall I follow?"
"No one. The day you follow someone you cease to follow Truth." Discipleship
"Why is everyone here so happy except me?"
"Because they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere," said the Master.
"Why don't I see goodness and beauty everywhere?"
"Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside." Projection
There were rules in the monastery, but the Master always warned against the tyranny of the law. "Obedience keeps the rules," he would say. "Love knows when to break them." Revolution
"You are only a disciple because your eyes are closed. The day you open them you will see there is nothing you can learn from me or anyone." "What then is a Master for?" "To make you see the uselessness of having one." Blindness
The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and his song — not one. Not two. Identity "Help us to find God." "No one can help you there." "Why not?"
"For the same reason that no one can help the fish to find the ocean." Discovery
To a visitor who described himself as a seeker after Truth the Master said, "If what you seek is Truth, there is one thing you must have above all else." "I know. An overwhelming passion for it." "No. An unremitting readiness to admit you may be wrong." Humility
When you are guilty, it is not your sins you hate but yourself. Violence
Is there life before death? — that is the question! Irrelevance
Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance. Wisdom
When you come to see you are not as wise today as you thought you were yesterday, you are wiser today. Wisdom
Whatever is truly alive must die. Look at the flowers; only plastic flowers never die. Flow
The Master was exceedingly gracious to university dons who visited him, but he would never reply to their questions or be drawn into their theological speculations. To his disciples, who marveled at this, he said, "Can one talk about the ocean to a frog in a well or about the divine to people who are restricted by their concepts?" Restriction
People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favour progress, provided they can have it without change. Healing
A disciple said to him, "I am ready, in the quest for God, to give up anything: wealth, friends, family, country, life itself. What else can a person give up?"
The Master calmly replied, "One's beliefs about God." Belief
Every word, every image used for God is a distortion more than a description. Comprehension
The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-tzu's dictum: Those who know do not say; Those who say do not know.
When the master entered, they asked him what the words meant.
Said the master, "Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose?"
All of them indicated that they knew.
Then he said, "put it into words."
All of them were silent. Words
When I speak, you must not listen to the words, my dear. Listen to the Silence. Comprehension
Silence is not the absence of sound, but the absence of self. Emptiness
The Master is not concerned with what we believe — only with what we see. Non-Instruction
The Master would frequently assert that holiness was less a matter of what one did than of what one allowed to happen. Trust
Thought can organize the world so well that you are no longer able to see it. Thought
A thought is a screen, not a mirror; that is why you live in a thought envelope, untouched by Reality. Thought
Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting the while to experience the truth of the words you are saying. If every one of you agrees to practise this, bitterness will die out, harmony will arise. Revelation
The Master would insist that the final barrier to our attaining God was the word and concept "God." Incompetence
A disciple was one day recalling how Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed were branded as rebels and heretics by their contemporaries.
Said the Master, Nobody can be said to have attained the pinnacle of Truth until a thousand sincere people have denounced him for blasphemy. Persecution
The Master never ceased to attack the notions about God that people entertain. Prayer
A good teacher offers practice, a bad one offers theories. Cultivation
The feigning sleeper can delude others — he cannot delude himself. The false mystic, unfortunately, can delude both others and himself. Deception
If you never condemned you would never need to forgive. Judgement
A zealous disciple expressed a desire to teach others the Truth and asked the Master what he thought about this. The Master said, "Wait."
Each year the disciple would return with the same request and each time the Master would give him the same reply: "Wait."
One day he said to the Master, "When will I be ready to teach?"
Said the Master, "When your excessive eagerness to teach has left you." Aggression
"What is love?"
"The total absence of fear," said the Master.
"What is it we fear?"
"Love," said the Master. Fearlessness
The Master insisted that what he taught was nothing, what he did was nothing.
His disciples gradually discovered that Wisdom comes to those who learn nothing, unlearn everything.
That transformation is the consequence not of something done, but of something dropped. Purification
A writer arrived at the monastery to write a book about the Master.
"People say you are a genius. Are you?" he asked.
"You might say so." said the Master, none too modestly.
"And what makes one a genius?" "The ability to recognize." "Recognize what?"
"The butterfly in a caterpillar: the eagle in an egg; the saint in a selfish human being." Genius
Much advance publicity was made for the address the Master would deliver on The Destruction of the World and a large crowd gathered at the monastery grounds to hear him.
The address was over in less than a minute. All he said was:
"These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness." Humanity
"What kind of a person does Enlightenment produce?"
Said the Master:
"To be public-spirited and belong to no party,
to move without being bound to any given course,
to take things as they come,
have no remorse for the past,
no anxiety for the future,
to move when pushed,
to come when dragged,
to be like a mighty gale,
like a feather in the wind,
like weeds floating on a river,
like a mill-stone meekly grinding,
to love all creation equally
as heaven and earth are equal to all
— such is the product of Enlightenment."
On hearing these words one of the younger disciples cried, "This sort of teaching is not for the living but for the dead," and walked away, never to return. "
A change of diet will not change a man who will not change his thoughts. Pure thoughts leads to a pure actions and diet. Impure thoughts leads to impure actions and diet.
A change of consciousness will lead to a change of diet. High levels of consciousness leads to a high standard choice of food. A low level of consciousness leads to a low standard choice of food.
As within, So without. As abo ve, So Below.
Its not something you force yourself to do. When your consciousness change your diet will naturally change too.
It all starts from the inside.
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These great vegetarians, such as Pythagoras, Plato, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Nikola Tesla, Shopenhauer, Thoreau, Leonardo Da Vinci, Voltaire etc. knew there could be no spiritual advancement while attaining ones nourishment from cruelty and the exploitation of others.
Albert Einstein: "Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
Leonardo DaVinci: "I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men." DaVinci claimed that flesh eaters were using their bodies as "grave yards."
Charles Darwin: "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man."
Thomas Edison: "Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
George Bernard Shaw: "We pray on Sundays that we may have light to guide our footsteps on the path we tread; We are sick of war we don't want to fight. And yet we gorge ourselves upon the dead."
Percy Bysshe Shelley: "Let the advocate of animal food force himself to a decisive experiment on its fitness, and as Plutarch recommends, tear a living lamb with his teeth and, plunging his head into its vitals slake his thirst with the steaming blood."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-62), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist. Walden, "Economy" (1854): One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with"; and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.
Henry David Thoreau: I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.
Mark Twain: It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.
Benjamin Franklin: Flesh eating is "unprovoked murder." On the subject of vegetarianism, Franklin noted that one will achieve "greater progress, from the greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension."
Thomas A Edison, 1847-1931: "The Doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease."
Francis of Assisi: "Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission-to be of service to them wherever they require it."
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi: "To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."
Abraham Lincoln: "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."
Thomas Paine: "Everything of persecution and revenge between man and man, and everything of cruelty to animals, is a violation of moral duty."
Henry Salt: "The emancipation of men from cruelty and injustice will bring with it in due course the emancipation of animals also. The two reforms are inseparably connected, and neither can be fully realized alone."
Albert Schweitzer: "...the time is coming when people will be amazed that the human race existed so long before it recognized that thoughtless injury to life is incompatible with real ethics. Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility to everything that has life."
George Bernard Shaw: "Vivisection is a social evil because if it advances human knowledge, it does so at the expense of human character."
Leo Tolstoy: "If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals."
Alice Walker: "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites, or women created for men."
President Abraham Lincoln: I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.
Pythagoras: Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul.
Pythagoras: The earth affords a lavish supply of richess of innocent foods, and offers you banquets that involve no bloodshed or slaughter; only beasts satisfy their hunger with flesh, and not even all of those, because horses, cattle, and sheep live on grass.
George Bernard Shaw: A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.
George Bernard Shaw: All great truths begin as blasphemies.
George Bernard Shaw: Animals are my friends; I don't eat my friends.
John Robbins (p. 49 Diet for a New America): Our understanding of what constitutes intelligence is utterly relative. If an aborigine drafted an I.Q. test, for example, all of Western civilization would probably flunk. We have a very convenient and self-serving way of defining intelligence. If an animal does something, we call it instinct. If we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence.
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi: "To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."
"I was a cannibal for twenty-five years. For the rest I have been a vegetarian." ~ George Bernard Shaw
In addition to his writings on non-violence, Leo Tolstoy's advocacy of vegetarianism led to his friendship with Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote several essays about vegetarianism, but perhaps never more compellingly than when he said: "flesh eating is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act, which is contrary to moral feeling: killing."
Nikola Tesla was a humanitarian who loved animals. He argued that animal slaughter was “wanton and cruel” and eventually became a vegetarian.
Voltaire was an advocate of civil rights and freedom. He also believed in the virtues of vegetarianism. He once wrote that "men fed upon carnage, and drinking strong drinks, have all an impoisoned and arid blood which drives them mad in a hundred different ways." This sounds like an early precursor of the phrase "you are what you eat."
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
-Steve Jobs
The unfortunate thing is that most schools and educational systems operates just like religion. It does not teaches us to question and probe. It teaches us to be dependent upon authority and that it is always correct and absolute which is often incorrect and dangerous for a person's independent development.
And because of that, we have a society where most people are lost and lives in fear and guilt every single day of their lives. Either you go to hell or you get punished by the environment when you don't follow the herd.
This kind of conveyor-belt factory approach does not work and does not allow the person to discover its true identity towards self-actualization.
Just like a forest, it will be sad if it only has one flower or one plant or a single tree. Being different and diverse is lovely, It brings color to life.
I have seen good and great schools but they all suffer from a tendency to reward conformity and to punish anyone who questions or does not conform to their ideal.
We were not taught the causes and the effect of history and the events and dates. We were not taught to think for ourselves but to know the facts rather than to bring out the best in each of us and be independent and self-reliant.
The most dangerous person for a government or any authority figure is the person who thinks for himself is independent, wealthy and sophisticated individual who can take care of his/her own needs. The perfect citizen for a authority figure is a needy one because the more you need an authority figure the more controllable you are.
“The man who thinks hateful thoughts brings hatred upon himself.
The man who thinks loving thoughts is loved.”
― James Allen
Mankind most of the time, only engage in intellectual ideas or concepts about loving one another and thy neighbor.
Love, often times becomes just a wonderful idea but they don't know that the moment something or someone displeases you, you have forgotten there was Love in the Universe for the moment. When the anger goes forth or the criticism or the condemnation or blame or discontent-or whatever it is- the moment the feeling is there, Love is gone from your world. This happens most of the time, because mankind is not taught how to govern their feelings we go to church attend seminars just to feed our mental hunger for knowledge. And most Godly virtues only exist in the intellect and not on practice. Just like a boat, knowledge without action is like a boat on dry land. Now, many times when your intellect knows that you want to handle a disturbing condition by your mind but your feeling doesn't want to do it. Your intellect may know it's correct, and that you ought to do it; but your feelings rebel like fury against it. Because people lack the control in their feelings and only strong people could handle their feelings well, weak ones easily give in to temptations. From the cradle to the grave Government, Religion, Church, Groups, Organizations in this world mostly only teach ideas or principles that nourishes the mind (food for thought), but not how to control their feelings. That is why even intellectually, you know what's the right thing to do, but the feelings or emotions takes over then you are easily swayed into doing the undesirable thing. It is easy to judge, condemn or criticize another human being because that is what most people do (Herd Mentality) you see it in the news, facebook and in the environment and sometimes they even make fun out of it. Even me, slips from time to time because of the pressure of the environment but at least, I make effort to stop myself and stand for what is right even if I'm alone. And not because everybody is doing it, it is right. I've always believed that no matter how much you criticize, gossip, blame, condemn another it will not change you or the situation. We have this saying in tagalog that "Kung wala ka din naman sasabihin na matino buti pang tumahimik ka nalang." Imagine, if the time spent criticizing is spent on productive things like praying for the person to improve and sending loving thoughts or talking to the person or better yet taking action of becoming part of the solution instead of the problem, will do wonders not only for you but for the nation and environment as well.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
-Philippians 4:8
Highly evolved people never talks about another person's flaw even in a non-threatening or joking manner. When your mind and feelings is not focused on what you like, it is then focused on what you don't like- and you attract that in your life. You have to lead by example. For things to change, you have to change. People are bind because they bind others.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles roll ed into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed..
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.
Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.
This article perfectly resonates with THE MYTH . How HERD MENTALITY listening to the media could kill people. Read on.
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In Memory of Dr. Richard Teo (1972 - 2012)
Below is the transcript of the talk of Dr. Richard Teo, who is a 40-year-old millionaire and cosmetic surgeon with a stage-4 lung cancer but selflessly came to share with the D1 class his life experience on 19-Jan-2012. He has just passed away few days ago on 18 October 2012.
Hi good morning to all of you. My voice is a bit hoarse, so please bear with me. I thought I'll just introduce myself. My name is Richard, I'm a medical doctor. And I thought I'll just share some thoughts of my life. It's my pleasure to be invited by prof. Hopefully, it can get you thinking about how... as you pursue this.. embarking on your training to become dental surgeons, to think about other things as well.
Since young, I am a typical product of today's society. Relatively successful product that society requires.. From young, I came from a below average family. I was told by the media... and people around me that happiness is about success. And that success is about being wealthy. With this mind-set, I've always be extremely competitive, since I was young.
Not only do I need to go to the top school, I need to have success in all fields. Uniform groups, track, everything. I needed to get trophies, needed to be successful, I needed to have colours award, national colours award, everything. So I was highly competitive since young. I went on to medical school, graduated as a doctor. Some of you may know that within the medical faculty, ophthalmology is one of the most highly sought after specialities. So I went after that as well. I was given a traineeship in ophthalmology, I was also given a research scholarship by NUS to develop lasers to treat the eye.
So in the process, I was given 2 patents, one for the medical devices, and another for the lasers. And you know what, all this academic achievements did not bring me any wealth. So once I completed my bond with MOH, I decided that this is taking too long, the training in eye surgery is just taking too long. And there's lots of money to be made in the private sector. If you're aware, in the last few years, there is this rise in aesthetic medicine. Tons of money to be made there. So I decided, well, enough of staying in institution, it's time to leave. So I quit my training halfway and I went on to set up my aesthetic clinic... in town, together with a day surgery centre.
You know the irony is that people do not make heroes out average GP (general practitioner), family physicians. They don't. They make heroes out of people who are rich and famous. People who are not happy to pay $20 to see a GP, the same person have no qualms paying ten thousand dollars for a liposuction, 15 thousand dollars for a breast augmentation, and so on and so forth. So it's a no brainer isn't? Why do you want to be a gp? Become an aesthetic physician. So instead of healing the sick and ill, I decided that I'll become a glorified beautician. So, business was good, very good. It started off with waiting of one week, then became 3weeks, then one month, then 2 months, then 3 months. I was overwhelmed; there were just too many patients. Vanities are fantastic business. I employed one doctor, the second doctor, the 3rd doctor, the 4th doctor. And within the 1st year, we're already raking in millions. Just the 1st year. But never is enough because I was so obsessed with it. I started to expand into Indonesia to get all the rich Indonesian tai-tais who wouldn't blink an eye to have a procedure done. So life was really good.
So what do I do with the spare cash. How do I spend my weekends? Typically, I'll have car club gatherings. I take out my track car, with spare cash I got myself a track car. We have car club gatherings. We'll go up to Sepang in Malaysia. We'll go for car racing. And it was my life. With other spare cash, what do i do? I get myself a Ferrari. At that time, the 458 wasn't out, it's just a spider convertible, 430. This is a friend of mine, a schoolmate who is a forex trader, a banker. So he got a red one, he was wanting all along a red one, I was getting the silver one.
So what do I do after getting a car? It's time to buy a house, to build our own bungalows. So we go around looking for a land to build our own bungalows, we went around hunting. So how do i live my life? Well, we all think we have to mix around with the rich and famous. This is one of the Miss Universe. So we hang around with the beautiful, rich and famous. This by the way is an internet founder. So this is how we spend our lives, with dining and all the restaurants and Michelin Chefs you know.
So I reach a point in life that I got everything for my life. I was at the pinnacle of my career and all. That's me one year ago in the gym and I thought I was like, having everything under control and reaching the pinnacle.
Well, I was wrong. I didn't have everything under control. About last year March, I started to develop backache in the middle of nowhere. I thought maybe it was all the heavy squats I was doing. So I went to SGH, saw my classmate to do an MRI, to make sure it's not a slipped disc or anything. And that evening, he called me up and said that we found bone marrow replacement in your spine. I said, sorry what does that mean? I mean I know what it means, but I couldn't accept that. I was like “Are you serious?” I was still running around going to the gym you know. But we had more scans the next day, PET scans - positrons emission scans, they found that actually I have stage 4 terminal lung cancer. I was like "Whoa where did that come from?” It has already spread to the brain, the spine, the liver and the adrenals. And you know one moment I was there, totally thinking that I have everything under control, thinking that I've reached the pinnacle of my life. But the next moment, I have just lost it.
This is a CT scan of the lungs itself. If you look at it, every single dot there is a tumour. We call this miliaries tumour. And in fact, I have tens of thousands of them in the lungs. So, I was told that even with chemotherapy, that I'll have about 3-4months at most. Did my life come crushing on, of course it did, who wouldn't? I went into depression, of course, severe depression and I thought I had everything.
See the irony is that all these things that I have, the success, the trophies, my cars, my house and all. I thought that brought me happiness. But i was feeling really down, having severe depression. Having all these thoughts of my possessions, they brought me no joy. The thought of... You know, I can hug my Ferrari to sleep, no... No, it is not going to happen. It brought not a single comfort during my last ten months. And I thought they were, but they were not true happiness. But it wasn't. What really brought me joy in the last ten months was interaction with people, my loved ones, friends, people who genuinely care about me, they laugh and cry with me, and they are able to identify the pain and suffering I was going through. That brought joy to me, happiness. None of the things I have, all the possessions, and I thought those were supposed to bring me happiness. But it didn't, because if it did, I would have felt happy think about it, when I was feeling most down..
You know the classical Chinese New Year that is coming up. In the past, what do I do? Well, I will usually drive my flashy car to do my rounds, visit my relatives, to show it off to my friends. And I thought that was joy, you know. I thought that was really joy. But do you really think that my relatives and friends, whom some of them have difficulty trying to make ends meet, that will truly share the joy with me? Seeing me driving my flashy car and showing off to them? No, no way. They won’t be sharing joy with me. They were having problems trying to make ends meet, taking public transport. In fact i think, what I have done is more like you know, making them envious, jealous of all I have. In fact, sometimes even hatred.
Those are what we call objects of envy. I have them, I show them off to them and I feel it can fill my own pride and ego. That didn't bring any joy to these people, to my friends and relatives, and I thought they were real joy.
Well, let me just share another story with you. You know when I was about your age, I stayed in king Edward VII hall. I had this friend whom I thought was strange. Her name is Jennifer, we're still good friends. And as I walk along the path, she would, if she sees a snail, she would actually pick up the snail and put it along the grass patch. I was like why do you need to do that? Why dirty your hands? It’s just a snail. The truth is she could feel for the snail. The thought of being crushed to death is real to her, but to me it's just a snail. If you can't get out of the pathway of humans then you deserve to be crushed, it’s part of evolution isn't it? What an irony isn't it?
There I was being trained as a doctor, to be compassionate, to be able to empathise; but I couldn't. As a house officer, I graduated from medical school, posted to the oncology department at NUH. And, every day, every other day I witness death in the cancer department. When I see how they suffered, I see all the pain they went through. I see all the morphine they have to press every few minutes just to relieve their pain. I see them struggling with their oxygen breathing their last breath and all. But it was just a job. When I went to clinic every day, to the wards every day, take blood, give the medication but was the patient real to me? They weren't real to me. It was just a job, I do it, I get out of the ward, I can't wait to get home, I do my own stuff.
Was the pain, was the suffering the patients went through real? No. Of course I know all the medical terms to describe how they feel, all the suffering they went through. But in truth, I did not know how they feel, not until I became a patient. It is until now; I truly understand how they feel. And, if you ask me, would I have been a very different doctor if I were to re-live my life now, I can tell you yes I will. Because I truly understand how the patients feel now. And sometimes, you have to learn it the hard way.
Even as you start just your first year, and you embark this journey to become dental surgeons, let me just challenge you on two fronts.
Inevitably, all of you here will start to go into private practice. You will start to accumulate wealth. I can guarantee you. Just doing an implant can bring you thousands of dollars, it's fantastic money. And actually there is nothing wrong with being successful, with being rich or wealthy, absolutely nothing wrong. The only trouble is that a lot of us like myself couldn't handle it.
Why do I say that? Because when I start to accumulate, the more I have, the more I want. The more I wanted, the more obsessed I became. Like what I showed you earlier on, all I can was basically to get more possessions, to reach the pinnacle of what society did to us, of what society wants us to be. I became so obsessed that nothing else really mattered to me. Patients were just a source of income, and I tried to squeeze every single cent out of these patients.
A lot of times we forget, whom we are supposed to be serving. We become so lost that we serve nobody else but just ourselves. That was what happened to me. Whether it is in the medical, the dental fraternity, I can tell you, right now in the private practice, sometimes we just advise patients on treatment that is not indicated. Grey areas. And even though it is not necessary, we kind of advocate it. Even at this point, I know who are my friends and who genuinely cared for me and who are the ones who try to make money out of me by selling me "hope". We kind of lose our moral compass along the way. Because we just want to make money.
Worse, I can tell you, over the last few years, we bad mouth our fellow colleagues, our fellow competitors in the industry. We have no qualms about it. So if we can put them down to give ourselves an advantage, we do it. And that's what happening right now, medical, dental everywhere. My challenge to you is not to lose that moral compass. I learnt it the hard way, I hope you don't ever have to do it.
Secondly, a lot of us will start to get numb to our patients as we start to practise. Whether is it government hospitals, private practice, I can tell you when I was in the hospital, with stacks of patient folders, I can't wait to get rid of those folders as soon as possible; I can't wait to get patients out of my consultation room as soon as possible because there is just so many, and that's a reality. Because it becomes a job, a very routine job. And this is just part of it. Do I truly know how the patient feels back then? No, I don't. The fears and anxiety and all, do I truly understand what they are going through? I don't, not until when this happens to me and I think that is one of the biggest flaws in our system.
We’re being trained to be healthcare providers, professional, and all and yet we don't know how exactly they feel. I'm not asking you to get involved emotionally, I don't think that is professional but do we actually make a real effort to understand their pain and all? Most of us won’t, alright, I can assure you. So don't lose it, my challenge to you is to always be able to put yourself in your patient's shoes.
Because the pain, the anxiety, the fear are very real even though it's not real to you, it's real to them. So don't lose it and you know, right now I'm in the midst of my 5th cycle of my chemotherapy. I can tell you it’s a terrible feeling. Chemotherapy is one of those things that you don't wish even your enemies to go through because it's just suffering, lousy feeling, throwing out, you don't even know if you can retain your meals or not. Terrible feeling! And even with whatever little energy now I have, I try to reach out to other cancer patients because I truly understand what pain and suffering is like. But it's kind of little too late and too little.
You guys have a bright future ahead of you with all the resource and energy, so I’m going to challenge you to go beyond your immediate patients. To understand that there are people out there who are truly in pain, truly in hardship. Don’t get the idea that only poor people suffer. It is not true. A lot of these poor people do not have much in the first place, they are easily contented. for all you know they are happier than you and me but there are out there, people who are suffering mentally, physically, hardship, emotionally, financially and so on and so forth, and they are real. We choose to ignore them or we just don't want to know that they exist.
So do think about it alright, even as you go on to become professionals and dental surgeons and all. That you can reach out to these people who are in need. Whatever you do can make a large difference to them. I'm now at the receiving end so I know how it feels, someone who genuinely care for you, encourage and all. It makes a lot of difference to me. That’s what happens after treatment. I had a treatment recently, but I’ll leave this for another day. A lot of things happened along the way, that's why I am still able to talk to you today.
I'll just end of with this quote here, it's from this book called Tuesdays with Morris, and some of you may have read it. Everyone knows that they are going to die; every one of us knows that. The truth is, none of us believe it because if we did, we will do things differently. When I faced death, when I had to, I stripped myself off all stuff totally and I focused only on what is essential. The irony is that a lot of times, only when we learn how to die then we learn how to live. I know it sounds very morbid for this morning but it's the truth, this is what I’m going through.
Don’t let society tell you how to live. Don’t let the media tell you what you're supposed to do. Those things happened to me. And I led this life thinking that these are going to bring me happiness. I hope that you will think about it and decide for yourself how you want to live your own life. Not according to what other people tell you to do, and you have to decide whether you want to serve yourself, whether you are going to make a difference in somebody else's life. Because true happiness doesn't come from serving yourself. I thought it was but it didn't turn out that way.
Also most importantly, I think true joy comes from knowing God. Not knowing about God – I mean, you can read the bible and know about God – but knowing God personally; getting a relationship with God. I think that’s the most important. That’s what I’ve learnt.
So if I were to sum it up, I’d say that the earlier we sort out the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don’t be like me – I had no other way. I had to learn it through the hard way. I had to come back to God to thank Him for this opportunity because I’ve had 3 major accidents in my past – car accidents. You know, these sports car accidents – I was always speeding , but somehow I always came out alive, even with the car almost being overturned. And I wouldn’t have had a chance. Who knows, I don’t know where else I’d be going to! Even though I was baptised it was just a show, but the fact that this has happened, it gave me a chance to come back to God.
Few things I’d learnt though:
1. Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart – this is so important.
2. Is to love and serve others, not just ourselves.
There is nothing wrong with being rich or wealthy. I think it’s absolutely alright, cos God has blessed. So many people are blessed with good wealth, but the trouble is I think a lot of us can’t handle it. The more we have, the more we want. I’ve gone through it, the deeper the hole we dig, the more we get sucked into it, so much so that we worship wealth and lose focus. Instead of worshipping God, we worship wealth. It’s just a human instinct. It’s just so difficult to get out of it.
We are all professionals, and when we go into private practise, we start to build up our wealth – inevitably. So my thought are, when you start to build up wealth and when the opportunity comes, do remember that all these things don’t belong to us. We don’t really own it nor have rights to this wealth. It’s actually God’s gift to us. Remember that it’s more important to further His Kingdom rather than to further ourselves.
Anyway I think that I’ve gone through it, and I know that wealth without God is empty. It is more important that you fill up the wealth, as you build it up subsequently, as professionals and all, you need to fill it up with the wealth of God.
