We hardly ever listen to the sound of a dog’s bark,
or to the cry of a child or the laughter of a man as he passes by.
We separate ourselves from everything,
and then from this isolation look and listen to all things.
It is this separation that is so destructive,
for in it lies all conflict and confusion.
(Krishnamurti)
Child-like?
By human standards, animals are like young children.
When you watch them play, you see familiar behavioural traits.
They are guileless, innocent and natural.
Rather than eating them, we should be protecting them.
The idea of eating children is abhorrent, yet animals are killed and eaten
without a care.
Look closely.
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Do you look with your feelings or with your conditioning
and greed?
Animals do not need to be cute and furry to deserve respect.
Being alive is enough.
Scientific studies have demonstrated that when you measure animal
intelligence using human criteria, they have a comparative mental age to a
young child.
Sea otters actually use tools in their daily lives.
We are not the only intelligent life on this planet.
Identifying human-like characteristics in certain animals is a step in the
right direction, but we should not imagine that animals are human or should
be treated as human.
They are unique creatures, with their own
way
of being.
We should respect that and leave them alone...
Love
Krishnamurti and many other religious
figures throughout history have advocated
love
as the solution to the ongoing destruction of the world.
The word 'love' is commonly used in our culture, but what does it mean?
Loving somebody who you care about is easy.
You have a
relationship with them that you know to be
real and tangible.
To understand love, you must realise that you are also in relationship with
everything else; the rock, the sand, the sea, the leaf, the mouse, the
insect...
When you feel compassion for somebody or something that has no direct
bearing on your own life and can offer you no profit or advantage, your
heart is beginning to open.
Until humanity sets aside pettiness, conflict and greed - there is no
hope for animals.
Page created 6 March 2003
