Thich Nhat Hanh's Letter to KFC

Dear Mr. Novak,

I hope that this letter finds you in good health.

I have heard reports that KFC's suppliers cut the throats of conscious chickens, that many birds are still conscious when they are sent through scalding water, and that KFC refuses to persuade its suppliers to use methods that are more humane both for the chickens and for the humans who handle them. It also has been reported to me that chickens raised for KFC are genetically and pharmacologically manipulated to grow so unnaturally large, so quickly, that they are crippled by their own body weight. These are very distressing things to contemplate.

I have offered retreats for business leaders such as yourself; many of my friends are businesspeople too, and I understand the pressures you must be under. I also am certain that you do have a heart of compassion. If these reports are true, please, stop and reconsider. No feeling creature should be treated so cruelly. Treating chickens with brutality not only hurts every one of those birds; it hurts every one of us, including you yourself, and even your loved ones. If you look deeply, I am sure you will see this clearly and you will be determined to find another way. I believe you know already in your heart that our success in life cannot be measured in dollars and cents alone.

Please, reflect on this and do your best, at least to implement the recommendations of your own animal welfare advisors. I am here for you, as well, and would be glad to hear from you.

Thank you dear friend, for taking the time to read this letter.

Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen Master)

Source: Plum Village Practice Center

Interview with Jane Goodall

"Every single day, we make an impact on the world." - Jane Goodall

Compassion

From "Light on Life" by B.K.S. Iyengar:

Compassion for the suffering of others is more than just sympathy. The superficial sympathy we express for the woes of others, when we watch the nightly television news, for example, is often no more than a wish to feel good about ourselves, a sop to our own conscience. “I am a person sensibility and feeling,” we say. Without action, this is mere self indulgence.

It is a modern illusion to imagine that positive emotions, sympathy, pity, kindness, and a general but diffused goodwill are the equivalent of virtues. These “soft” emotions can serve as a form of narcissistic self indulgence. Often they are impotent. They make us feel good about ourselves, like when we give a coin to a beggar. They create the illusion of health and well-being. But sensitivity should be used as a diagnostic tool, not as a mirror to our own vanity. Real compassion is potent as it implies the question, “What can I do to help?”

The Day Israel Bombs Gaza

On the day Israel bombs Gaza (again), it takes double effort not to lose hope -- perhaps more than what's needed to stop Reeves to destroy the human species in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Photograph: The Guardian

錢鋼與前進

錢鋼說的是新聞自由，可這話又豈止於此？

「如果我們不能百米百米地前進，我們就一米一米前進；不能一米一米前進，我們就一寸一寸前進，一寸一寸也不行，我們就一毫米一毫米地前進。」

Until and Unless...

"I find that moralizing is totally ineffective and
inappropriate. People aren't going to be scolded into looking at what's happening, which is still the tack that most activists are taking." - Joanna Macy from "In the Footsteps of Gandhi".

以前阿媽日夜不停叫我不要把東西亂放，完全被當成耳邊風，可見嘮叨責罵是無用的。現在無需人提，自動自覺會收拾，可見除非事情給internalized，nothing will really happen.

註：見環保分子樣樣都提議立法有感。

The Future is in the Present

Another extract from In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists by Catherine Ingram.

Thich Naht Hanh: People, in consuming a lot and trying to be rich, believe that they are happy, but… we should try to help them find real happiness from looking at the blue sky – really looking – or looking at a child or a flower. When people have a base of real happiness, they will abandon the other things. Maybe that’s the most important thing to do now in order to have the future and the present. If we have the present then we have the future.

Are We Going to Make It?

Extract from In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists by Catherine Ingram.

Catherine Ingram: One thing that seems to be at issue is whether or not we will actually survive. We are living in a time which has become dangerous enough and bad enough to possibly awaken us, if only out of self-interest, to live more gently on this Earth, to co-exist with the lift forms on this planet. Do you think we’re going to make it?

Brother David Steindl-Rast: It’s a good question, but I’m not sure it’s a question that should be answered. I’m not sure that the answer one way or the other is going to help anybody. If we say, “Yes, we are surely going to make it,” – first of all it would be difficult to substantiate that claim – and, if the idea is really accepted, it could have damaging effects. We may just go on like before and not do anything to stop the destruction.

Now the opposite answer, “We’re not going to make it,” can also have enormously damaging effects because people would say, “If we’re not going to make it anyway, why bother?” So neither of these two answers is going to help very much. We must put as much effort into everything we’re doing as if whether or not we’re going to make it depended upon it. And we must find a way of living in which even if we are not going to make it, in the last second you can say to yourself, “Well, what I did was worthwhile.” But the worthwhileness must never depend on the success.”

Business of the Heart

不驚不覺已經寫了差不多200個post，發現能引起我興趣的其實不是傳統的節約式環保，而是what's really needed for happiness。印度村婦開懷地笑，不見得她比我們擁有更多的金錢財富。小孩兒們一身破爛滿身泥漿，可他們比我們的小大人輕鬆自在。大象被殘害，獵人心中竟被觸動，提早完結“貓補鼠”的遊戲。雖然它們不會説話，但老樹給倒了，還是有很多人不忍心。很多我們以為擁有才會快樂的東西，沒有也可以很快樂；有些我們以為不相干的事情，原來很有相干。I guess, ultimately, happiness is a business of the heart。

Dilemma

我覺得現今社會有點像前蘇聯，很多事情發生都在“鐵幕”後面：有基因改造嗎？有動物測試嗎？說沒有就真的沒有嗎？牛真的會被電暈了才宰嗎？為什麼中央屠宰就不會有禽流感？一般市民如我根本無從知道。而且，老實說，就算說了我也可能不明白，最大的不明白是為什麼不能以一般人能明白的方式說出來。

說得遠了，想說的本是我在SPCA newsletter發現的一個網站：www.animalethicsdilemma.net.

“This is an interesting web-based, educational tool designed to engage the participant in some critical thinking, hopefully leading to a better understanding of ethics in relation to animal welfare.

Initially when entering the website you are asked to register (for free) and give the answer to a series of 12 questions -- based on your answer to the questions an initial personal ethical profile is produced.

After setting your initial profile you are then free to log on and off, complete case studies or read more on the five classifications of ethical viewpoints and other material.”

動機

聽說美國加州將在汽車上貼上貼紙“which clearly informs consumers of the state's assessment of the vehicle's environmental impact”,以資訊加“shame and embarrassment”為手段減低排汙。由於這strategy需要公眾壓力，一些可以躲起來做的事情（例如每天浸浴、冷氣長開）就不適用了。

在香港，膠袋稅或能在經濟差的時候有減低用量的作用（因為肉疼嘛），可是一旦有人免費派發，就極可能會像免費報紙一樣，明明不看的人也會到處收集。

A measure may be aiming at the right outcome, but if it is built on a wrong motivation, people can, and will always, find loopholes.

所以呢，老套都要說，動機是很重要的。

放縱

WWF提醒我，到外地旅行時應顧及環境，最好不要乘飛機（CO2）、危害野生動物、浪費食水等等。個人體驗是人在異地，那種sense of obligation就弱了。洗澡會洗得久一點、買東西會買得放縱一點、吃得抱著肚子不能動的情況也會頻密一點。雖然我不會完全失控，但是保持清醒會比較難，仿佛放假旅行就是一個legitimate reason to be irresponsible。

I hope next time I will have the heart to take care of other people's land the way I wish mine will be take care of.

Is there any point in going green?

I really like what Captain Crunch says:

I'm well aware that in the grand scheme of things, all of this is unlikely to make a jot of difference on its own. But it's all about how I feel about myself - what kind of person would I be if I simply gave up and immersed myself in the kind of complacent profligacy that surrounds us all? Sorry if it sounds a bit pat, but I would much rather be part of the solution than part of the problem.

In addition, if I can demonstrate to my friends and neighbours that it's possible to live a sustainable life without being forced to wear any kind of hairshirt, then they're more likely to follow my example. They might save a few quid as well, and that's going to become ever more important.

Observing the Self

Excerpt from The Yoga of Healing by Swami Sivananda Radha

What is it that heals? Is healing a power of the mind? Or of the heart? Or is healing by Divine grace?

There is no simple and direct answer. Illness is an interplay of forces. When healing is needed, it is because there is some sort of disorder in the physical body. The cause of the disorder can be of a variety of natures that we have to clearly investigate. The disorder may be a karmic condition. Or perhaps there are psychological difficulties that cause reflections or disorders in the body, which in time and under certain pressure can become real organic troubles. Sometimes we may make ourselves sick through wrong action or wrong food. Sometimes we simply neglect our bodies.

Remember that pain or illness is not a punishment. That is an over-simplification of our understanding of karma. Healing is a learning process. Sometimes it is an opportunity. You may have to begin with the Light of Understanding of the purpose of your life, of your present condition. Can you let that Light spread into other areas? Can you recognize the Light of compassion, or love? Ask yourself, What do I need to learn from my physical condition? What is the energy that created me in the first place? Where does life come from? Who am I? Healing is not a hit and miss affair as it seems to many people.

Healing is a situation where we meet ourselves. We meet ourselves.

在找到答案前

突然間好像滿街都是在籌款的慈善團體（在籌款但不慈善的商業、政治團體已經不算在內）。四川的災民很慘，所以要捐；緬甸的災民很慘，所以要捐；四川的貓貓狗狗很慘，所以要捐；非洲的黑猩猩很慘，所以要捐；香港的傷殘人士很慘，所以要捐...由於我不是Bill Gates，捐的錢十分有限，我不禁要問：除了捐錢，到底我還可以做什麼？

在找到答案前，跟大家分享這個...

To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive. - Bhagavad Gita

完全離題 (2)

「很多人問，我可以為災民做什麼？坦白說，除了捐點錢，關懷他們，可能真的做不了什麼實事。但要幫，也不是這一時三刻的事，災後有很多工作，修路建屋建學校，到時會需要更多不同能力的人，這是更長期的事。

我們要承認，人人都有情緒，在這些關節，種種複雜的情緒難以排解。我們不要『浪費』這些情緒，要將這些悲憤或感動的心情，轉化成決心，令自己有方向有力量，留待日後發揮，變成實質行動。」

-- 衍空法師

完全離題

如果你打算捐出$10予四川或者緬甸的災民，而如果這是你捐款的全部，請考慮留著它。現在大家的血脈沸騰，義不容遲，可是當這“氣”過去 – 不用很久，就一、兩個月之後罷 – 要找到資源作災後重建就沒這麼容易了。如果你只能在二者中選其一，請考慮災後重建。

Because this is only the beginning.

No Cow to Lose

A story told by Thich Nhat Hanh:

One day the Buddha was sitting in the wood with thirty or forty monks. They had an excellent lunch and they were enjoying the company of each other. There was a farmer passing by and the farmer was very unhappy. He asked the Buddha and the monks whether they had seen his cows passing by.

The Buddha said they had not seen any cows passing by. The farmer said, "Monks, I'm so unhappy. I have twelve cows and I don't know why they all ran away. I have also a few acres of a sesame seed plantation and the insects have eaten up everything. I suffer so much I think I am going to kill myself."

The Buddha said, "My friend, we have not seen any cows passing by here. You might like to look for them in the other direction."

So the farmer thanked him and ran away, and the Buddha turned to his monks and said, "My dear friends, you are the happiest people in the world. You don't have any cows to lose. If you have too many cows to take care of, you will be very busy."

Slow Down... for Choice

"Perhaps you remember that insightful Chaplin movie Modern Times? Charlie stands at an assembly line in a factory, and for eight hours a day he tightens a nut with his wrench as each piece goes by… Throughout the day he makes the same movement with his arm. When he comes out after eight hours, he cannot stop. Though he has no wrench, he makes the same gesture all the way home, to the amazement of the passersby. This is what happens to speeded-up people. They become automatic, which means they have no freedom and no choices, only compulsions...”

Reference: "Meditation: A Simple Eight-Point Program for Translating Spiritual Ideals into Daily Life" by Eknath Easwaran

Let Joy be the Motivation 2

“… for fear rarely succeeds as the catalyst for change. If fear were an effective strategy for change, millions of people would have given up smoking already… Medical studies have shown that patients with serious heart disease rarely make lifestyle changes out of fear of death but will readily embrace radical lifestyle changes when these changes demonstrate a greater enjoyment and pleasure in life. Clearly, a far greater motivator than fear is joy…”

我引述以上文字是因為有感新聞報導傾向負面，生物絕種、山火、水災、等等都叫人絕望。而絕望不能帶來正面的改變。如果末日將到，with certainty，誰不會盡情放縱呢？反正明天可能不會醒來。所以，嘗試發掘、欣賞世上美好的事情吧！

Let joy be our motivation.

Reference: “Bringing Yoga to Life: The Everyday Practice of Enlightened Living” by Donna Farhi, Positive News