The Teaching Of Buddha

❝Buddha first taught himself to avoid the sin of killing any living creature, he wished that all people might know the blessedness of a long life.

Buddha trained himself to avoid the sin of stealing, he wished that all people might have everything they needed.

Buddha trained himself to avoid ever committing adultery, he wished that all people might know the blessedness of a pure spirit and not suffer from insatiable desires.

Buddha, aiming at his ideal, trained himself to remain free from all deception, he wished all people to know the tranquility of mind that would follow in speaking the truth.

He trained himself to avoid double-talk; he wished that all people might know the joy of fellowship.

He trained himself to avoid abusing others, and then he wished that all might have the same serene mind that would follow by living in peace with others.

He kept himself free of idle talk, and then wished that all might know the blessedness of sympathetic understanding.

Buddha, aiming at his ideal, trained himself to keep free from greed, and by this virtuous deed he wished that all people might know the peacefulness that would go with this freedom.

He trained himself to avoid anger, and he wished that all people might love one another...❞ 

I love this excerpt from "The Teaching Of Buddha." I think it's a great reminder that if we see something wrong with the world, change yourself accordingly, and then you will become part of the solution. Like Gandhi's quote, "be the change you want to see in the world."

Karma Always Wins.

Literally or hypothetically, I believe in karma. I know some people don't; I could go into a flurry of reasons explaining why I do (and, come to think of it, I might in a later post), but today I want to focus on karma and the food we eat. It all makes so much sense.

First, we all know somebody who eats a standard American diet. This person is eating animals that were imprisoned and miserable their whole lives, and then finally tortured (burned to death in boiling water, necks slit while they're still alive and conscious...read the book Slaughterhouse by Gail A. Eisnitz) as their lives were ended. This person is almost inevitably going to be obese at some point in their life. They have endless health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, high blood pressure, fatigue... the list goes on. Score one for karma.

Now lets take a look at a vegetarian. Generally, this person eats no meat products - although some eat fish and chicken. They also still eat eggs and milk. A vegetarian's risk of obesity and/or most chronic diseases is generally significantly lower, but problems are obviously not rare. In addition, vegetarians still have problems with everyday illnesses like flus and colds.

Next, I shall speak of vegans and raw vegans. I'd say they're both about the same, ethically - so I am grouping them together. Vegans eat no animal products. This means that they are not contributing to the slavery and cruelty that is the egg and dairy industry. Unsurprisingly, their health tends to correlate with their compassion. Vegans generally do not experience problems like anger issues or depression as these are often caused by hormones in animal products. Their chance of heart disease is a whopping 46% lower than that of a meat eater, and a vegan is far less likely to become obese in their lifetime. In addition, they don't have the weight of 600+ lives weighing down on their shoulders. That's big.

Believe it or not, it can get even better. A true fruitarian takes no lives. Plants or animals. It is the epitome of a compassionate diet. What is fruitarianism like? There's so much to tell. So much energy. I sleep well at night. I'm almost never sick. No BO. Amazing capacity to feel and cope with emotions. Good mood. Constant, simple appreciation for everything. Excellent hydration, normally without drinking water. Clean, smooth, comfortable digestion.... I'm serious, I could go on for days, but you're not going to understand the real, simple, natural beauty that the diet really is until you've experienced it. And I want so badly to be able to share the experience with the world. Maybe that will never happen... But I can at least share it with you, and in turn, maybe you will inspire somebody close to you to share it with you...

Fruitarianism & Religion

I'm going to precede this post with the statement that I don't know a lot about a lot of religions and belief systems. However, I do know something about a few - and of you really look, they all seem to point to fruit being the best and purest of foods for humans to eat.

Seeing as I was raised in a Christian community, in a semi-Christian home, and it's really a pretty simple concept, I'll adress this first: People of the Christian and Jewish faith (and maybe even Islam? I don't know) believe in the Garden of Eden. From what I understand of it, in this Garden of Eden, nothing harmed anything else. Essentially everything was perfect. What did they eat in the Garden of Eden? Fruit. They had to, to have been living truly in harmony with everything else, and not harming anything else. Therefore, the Christian and Jewish Bible (and perhaps Muslim Qu'ran) seem to illustrate fruit as being the first, natural, purest, and ideal food for..well, everything.

Buddhism, too, seems to advocate a fruitarian diet, perhaps even more clearly than Christianity.

8. "'Having abandoned the destruction of life, the recluse Gotama abstains from the destruction of life. He has laid aside the rod and the sword, and dwells conscientious, full of kindness, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that the worldling would speak when speaking in praise of the Tathāgata.

11. "Or he might say: 'Whereas some honorable recluses and brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, continuously cause damage to seed and plant life — to plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buddings, and seeds — the recluse Gotama abstains from damaging seed and plant life."

These are two small excerpts from the 'Digha Nikkaya,' one of many Buddhist religious readings, which I feel speak for themselves. Enough said.

The last religion I want to touch on is Hinduism, seeing as it is the..3rd (I believe?) most popular religion in the world. Admittedly, I don't know a heck of a lot about this religion. All I do know is that Ghandi, who was pretty much an amazing guy and an exemplatory Hindu, aspired to be fruitarian. He did follow a fruitarian diet for a while, but I have heard that he was somewhat addicted to goat cheese or something, so he had some trouble with that. Nevertheless, his intentions were clear. I suppose perhaps his wish to eat this way had nothing to do with his faith..but I doubt it; I assume he made the decision based on principles that he learned growing up Hindu, meaning that such principals are indeed ingrained in the Hindu faith.

One last thing I want to point out, is that it's not just religion that suggests we ought to be fruit eaters. Most of us believe in evolution. Most of us believe that we evolved from apes, or some sort of monkey like species of the like; I don't know specifics. But I do know that generally, unless I am severly mistaken, animals in this family are frugivores. If we evolved from these frugivores, it is not such a huge leap of faith to realize that - hey. Perhaps we are designed to be frugivores as well.

How many different ways to we need to be told, how clear does it need to be for us before we realize that we aren't supposed to be ripping flesh like wild cats, nibbling grains like birds, or munching herbaceous matter like cows? We are frugivores. We are designed and meant to eat fruit. Forget what the doctor, who won't have a job when you are perfectly healthy, told you. Nevermind that biased experiment funded by the meat and dairy industries, and listen to me; a person who has nothing to gain, but the satisfaction of knowing that I helped a fellow human realize a simple, essential truth: We are frugivores. Eat fruit, be healthy, be happy.

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