Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have broken through a symbolic mark. The last time CO2 was regularly above 400ppm was three to five million years ago - before modern humans existed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22486153
Top climate scientist James Hansen tells the story of his involvement in the science of and debate over global climate change. In doing so he outlines the overwhelming evidence that change is happening and why that makes him deeply worried about the future.
Please Wake Up! A Prayer in the Bodhisattva Spirit of Compassion
O, world, wake up and behold Rivers and mountains are in tumult Burnt forests, eroded hills, desiccated streams Whither do the poor souls go in the end?
O, great Earth, lessened be your agony For these tears to wane with the persistent night. O, seas and lakes, cease not your melodies Allowing hope for a morrow among humanity…
O, sentient beings, have respite in the realm beyond Though you departed without any utterance. Let the throbbing of my heart abate While I await Earthlings’ timely repentance.
O, deep forests, preserve your true selves Protect the human race in their moments of erring. Please accept my heartfelt thousand teardrops To nurture your majestic trees, leaves and roots.
O, heart, relent your sobbing For my soul to rest in long nights. Tears dried up and I’m wordless Weeping in sympathy for the tormented!
O, night, please kindle your source of light Shine the way for those human souls in darkness Be serene for my mind to still And enter emptiness with the miraculous celestial melody.
O, day, stir not sudden unrests For peace to repose in our very hearts For humankind’s struggles to subside For the true Self to gloriously shine!
O, heart of mine, lament no longer Like an insect writhing in the chilling winter. Calmly wait for a perfect tomorrow And the day the world turns into Paradise.
O, I cry, I plead, I pray, I beg! O, infinite Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, angels Deliver souls straying from the True Path Wandering in the endless cycle of suffering migration.
O, brother, wake up at once! Proudly walk on great seas and rivers Look straight at the flaming sun And vow sacrifice to save all beings.
O, sister, wake up this instant! Arise from places of devastation Together let’s renew our planet For all to sing joyous songs of oneness For all to sing joyous songs of oneness.
Vegetarianism is the key to good health and happiness. The Hindu view is multi-dimensional, including the ecological, medical and spiritual, as is evident in the following excerpts from Hinduism Today:
Besides being an expression of compassion for animals, vegetarianism is followed for ecological and health rationales.
Reasons
In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters — Hindus and non-Hindus — have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. There are five major motivations for such a decision:
1. The Dharmic Law Reason
Ahinsa, the law of non-injury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfilling religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by Vedic scripture.
2. The Karmic Consequences Reason
All of our actions, including our choice of food, have Karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused.
3. The Spiritual Reason
Food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the the flesh of the butchered creatures. For these reasons, vegetarians live in higher consciousness and meat-eaters abide in lower consciousness.
4. The Health Reasons
Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider ranger of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.
5. The Ecological Reason
Planet Earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rainforests to create pasture lands for live stock, loss of top-soils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision not to eat meat.
History
The book Food for the Spirit, Vegetarianism and the World Religions, observes, “Despite popular knowledge of meat-eating’s adverse effects, the non-vegetarian diet became increasingly widespread among the Hindus after the two major invasions by foreign powers, first the Muslims and later the British. With them came the desire to be ‘civilized,’ to eat as did the Saheeb. Those actually trained in Vedic knowledge, however, never adopted a meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty.
“That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century, travelled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of the scriptures.
“These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. In the Mahabharata, for instance, the great warrior Bheeshm explains to Yuddhishtira, eldest of the Paandav princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one’s own son. Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should ‘refrain from eating all kinds of meat,’ for such eating involves killing and and leads to Karmic bondage (Bandh) [5.49]. Elsewhere in the Vedic literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharaja Parikshit, is quoted as saying that ‘only the animal-killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth [Shrimad Bhagvatam 10.1.4].’”
Scripture
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. Mahabharat 115.47
Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts of injury. Mahabharat 18.115.8
The very name of cow is Aghnya [“not to be killed”], indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a bull commits a heinous crime. Mahabharat Shantiparv 262.47
The purchaser of flesh performs Hinsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does Hinsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it — all of these are to be considered meat-eaters. Mahabharat Anu 115.40
He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is — immortal in the field of mortality — he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path. Bhagavad Geeta 13.27-28
Ahinsa/ahimsa is the highest Dharma. Ahinsa is the best Tapas. Ahinsa is the greatest gift. Ahinsa is the highest self-control. Ahinsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahinsa is the highest power. Ahinsa is the highest friend. Ahinsa is the highest truth. Ahinsa is the highest teaching. Mahabharata 18.116.37-41
What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may avoid killing any creature. Tirukural 324
All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat. Tirukural260
What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin. Tirukural 312, 321
Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature’s flesh. Tirukural 253
Tags: veg, compassion, ahimsa, health, hindu, hinduism, india, climate change, diet, global warming, be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan, vegetarian,
Tuesday on Spiritual Awakening Radio: March 1st, my guest will be Kathy Divine, author of the new vegan book, Forever 21: 3 PM Eastern/Noon Pacific Time. Listen Live via: http://www.HealthyLife.net
Great free online book about the impact of being vegan, on personal as well as planetary health and well-being. I sometimes produce radio programs about the vegan diet and the world religions, featuring vegan organizations working within various faith-communities to promote the vegan cause: vegan Jains, vegan Buddhists, vegan Christians/Essenes/Gnostics/Ebionites, vegan Sant Mat, vegan Hindus, vegan Sufis, etc…. Am planning many new monthly shows and talking to potential guests. All for the love of wisdom and radio, Namaste’, James, email: James@SpiritualAwakeningRadio.com
Welcome! Wherever I am on the web I share podcasts and information, and post numerous spiritual quotes from a wide variety of sources. I often share about Inner Light and Sound Meditation: the Path of the Masters, featuring Words of Light and Love for the Spiritual Journey.
Am from Maine, vegetarian (vegan), and practice Inner Light and Sound Meditation in a spirit of Bhakti (Love for the Supreme Being). Am conspiring to make the world more peaceful, vegan, and spiritually awake. "Be Vegan. Make Peace."
Have been involved with Radio For Peace International, the community radio movement, Wisdom Radio, satellite radio and television, am an independent producer currently creating programs for several stations, including HealthyLife.Net -- Positive Talk Radio. Am an author, teacher, public speaker, broadcaster.
Am a follower of Inner Light and Sound Meditation (traditional Sant Mat from an Indian perspective).
All for the Love of Wisdom and Radio, In the Love, Light, and Sound of the Beloved, Jai Sat Naam, Jai Guru, Radhasoami, Peace Be To You,
James Bean SantMat.Tumblr.com
Email:
James['at']SpiritualAwakeningRadio['dot']com
In addition to making new friends, my focus is spirituality: using the radio airwaves, podcasts, the spoken word, writing, and online social networking-blogging to promote spiritual exploration, meditation, religious literacy, inter-faith studies and dialogue, comparative religion, also education for a more peaceful planet. This includes communicating about AHIMSA principals of non-violence in thought, word, and deed, raising awareness about certain civilization-busting issues including climate change, promoting the vegetarian vegan diet, also promoting inner Light and Sound Meditation. Am always interested in networking with those that desire the constructive use of media to advance health, well being, and positive change.
This profile and the Sant Mat Satsang Radio PODcasts are non-sectarian in spirit and inter-faith in tone, inclusive of the wisdom of all the great world religions, Masters (Sant Satgurus), and schools of mystics.
In a spirit of ahimsa/peace, through the written and spoken word, you will find spiritual quotes based upon the Teachings the Masters of the East, giving everyone access to rare books from India, some of which are only now appearing in English for the very first time. You will hear or read satsang talks, which are spiritual discourses representing a Living School of Spirituality known as Sant Mat.
'Spiritual Awakening Radio' Explores the World of Spirituality, Comparative Religion, Sacred Texts, Ahimsa Ethics: Peace, Being Veg, Going Green to Save the Planet -- Education for a More Peaceful World -- A Format of Inter-Faith Essays and Interviews.
Here you can access podcasts of Spiritual Awakening Radio, also the Sant Mat Satsang PODcast, along with a daily stream of spiritual quotes (Sant Mat, Radha Soami, Surat Shabd Yoga, Inner Light and Sound Meditation, the Path of the Masters, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Bahai Faith, Kabbalah, The Essenes, Ebionites, Mandaeans, Christian Mysticism, Lost Books of the Bible, Sufism, Gnostics, and Mystics), links to blogs, news, announcements, and other updates. SCROLL DOWN BELOW!
Seven Things I Believe (and Experience)
*1) God is Real.
*2) God is Love, the Ocean of Love and Compassion.
*3) All of the world scriptures teach about the same manifestation of God as inner mystical Light and Sound.
*4) Our true identity is soul, the Self. Soul is part of God and therefore is, like God, pure love.
*5) During this human existence we have an opportunity to experience God.
*6) As we experience communing with God’s love during meditation — Surat Shabd Yoga, we can rise above body-consciousness and explore Inner Space, the “Kingdom of the Heavens” that are within us. “We travel back from the realm of Darkness to the realm of Light, from the Light to divine Sound, and from the realm of Sound to the Soundless State.” (Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj) The drop merges back into the Ocean of Love.
*7) As we get initiated into the Mysteries of the Spirit by a Living Teacher (Sant Satguru), the purpose of our life is fulfilled. Reuniting with God is our reason to be here: “It was for the sake of the God-conscious beings that our True Lord created this earth, and began this play of death and birth.” (Adi Granth) Kabir said, “For millions of years you have slept. This morning, will you not wake?”
"All beautiful forms and tones of this world are mere reflections of some aspect of that ultimate Love-Music of the Great Creative Word. Within the vast complex of creation, each individual spirit is himself/herself a spark of that Eternal Song of Love."
"There are those who have wandered among the darting comets and the shimmering orbs of sounding fire. The soul-explorer is not alone, for there are those who have traveled the highways of the inner cosmos; far more than one may at first realize."
"...The planes of heaven are about us everywhere. One has only to know this simple truth consciously, and then we will be free." (George Arnsby Jones)
LINKS TO PODCASTS, E BOOKS/FREE SPIRITUAL BOOKS ONLINE, BLOGS, YAHOO GROUPS, BLOGGER, WORDPRESS, MEDIUM
Sant Mat Spirituality and Meditation @ Tumblr: Bhakti (Love) of the Inner Light and Sound of God
![Why Hindus Don’t Eat Meat
(Excerpts from ‘Hinduism Today’)
By Dr. Jai Maharaj
Vegetarianism is the key to good health and happiness. The Hindu view is multi-dimensional, including the ecological, medical and spiritual, as is evident in the following excerpts from Hinduism Today:
Besides being an expression of compassion for animals, vegetarianism is followed for ecological and health rationales.
Reasons
In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters — Hindus and non-Hindus — have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. There are five major motivations for such a decision:
1. The Dharmic Law Reason
Ahinsa, the law of non-injury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfilling religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by Vedic scripture.
2. The Karmic Consequences Reason
All of our actions, including our choice of food, have Karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused.
3. The Spiritual Reason
Food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the the flesh of the butchered creatures. For these reasons, vegetarians live in higher consciousness and meat-eaters abide in lower consciousness.
4. The Health Reasons
Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider ranger of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.
5. The Ecological Reason
Planet Earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rainforests to create pasture lands for live stock, loss of top-soils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision not to eat meat.
History
The book Food for the Spirit, Vegetarianism and the World Religions, observes, “Despite popular knowledge of meat-eating’s adverse effects, the non-vegetarian diet became increasingly widespread among the Hindus after the two major invasions by foreign powers, first the Muslims and later the British. With them came the desire to be ‘civilized,’ to eat as did the Saheeb. Those actually trained in Vedic knowledge, however, never adopted a meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty.
“That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century, travelled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of the scriptures.
“These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. In the Mahabharata, for instance, the great warrior Bheeshm explains to Yuddhishtira, eldest of the Paandav princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one’s own son. Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should ‘refrain from eating all kinds of meat,’ for such eating involves killing and and leads to Karmic bondage (Bandh) [5.49]. Elsewhere in the Vedic literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharaja Parikshit, is quoted as saying that ‘only the animal-killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth [Shrimad Bhagvatam 10.1.4].’”
Scripture
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. Mahabharat 115.47
Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts of injury. Mahabharat 18.115.8
The very name of cow is Aghnya [“not to be killed”], indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a bull commits a heinous crime. Mahabharat Shantiparv 262.47
The purchaser of flesh performs Hinsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does Hinsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it — all of these are to be considered meat-eaters. Mahabharat Anu 115.40
He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is — immortal in the field of mortality — he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path. Bhagavad Geeta 13.27-28
Ahinsa/ahimsa is the highest Dharma. Ahinsa is the best Tapas. Ahinsa is the greatest gift. Ahinsa is the highest self-control. Ahinsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahinsa is the highest power. Ahinsa is the highest friend. Ahinsa is the highest truth. Ahinsa is the highest teaching. Mahabharata 18.116.37-41
What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may avoid killing any creature. Tirukural 324
All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat. Tirukural260
What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin. Tirukural 312, 321
Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature’s flesh. Tirukural 253
Tags: veg, compassion, ahimsa, health, hindu, hinduism, india, climate change, diet, global warming, be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan, vegetarian,](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljzoznaisA1qf6tuko1_400.jpg "Why Hindus Don’t Eat Meat
(Excerpts from ‘Hinduism Today’)
By Dr. Jai Maharaj
Vegetarianism is the key to good health and happiness. The Hindu view is multi-dimensional, including the ecological, medical and spiritual, as is evident in the following excerpts from Hinduism Today:
Besides being an expression of compassion for animals, vegetarianism is followed for ecological and health rationales.
Reasons
In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters — Hindus and non-Hindus — have made the personal decision to stop eating the flesh of other creatures. There are five major motivations for such a decision:
1. The Dharmic Law Reason
Ahinsa, the law of non-injury, is the Hindu’s first duty in fulfilling religious obligations to God and God’s creation as defined by Vedic scripture.
2. The Karmic Consequences Reason
All of our actions, including our choice of food, have Karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by eating other creatures, one must in the future experience in equal measure the suffering caused.
3. The Spiritual Reason
Food is the source of the body’s chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger, jealousy, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of death, all of which are locked into the the flesh of the butchered creatures. For these reasons, vegetarians live in higher consciousness and meat-eaters abide in lower consciousness.
4. The Health Reasons
Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider ranger of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and skin more beautiful.
5. The Ecological Reason
Planet Earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient rainforests to create pasture lands for live stock, loss of top-soils and the consequent increase of water impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. No decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision not to eat meat.
History
The book Food for the Spirit, Vegetarianism and the World Religions, observes, “Despite popular knowledge of meat-eating’s adverse effects, the non-vegetarian diet became increasingly widespread among the Hindus after the two major invasions by foreign powers, first the Muslims and later the British. With them came the desire to be ‘civilized,’ to eat as did the Saheeb. Those actually trained in Vedic knowledge, however, never adopted a meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty.
“That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-Hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century, travelled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of the scriptures.
“These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. In the Mahabharata, for instance, the great warrior Bheeshm explains to Yuddhishtira, eldest of the Paandav princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one’s own son. Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should ‘refrain from eating all kinds of meat,’ for such eating involves killing and and leads to Karmic bondage (Bandh) [5.49]. Elsewhere in the Vedic literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharaja Parikshit, is quoted as saying that ‘only the animal-killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth [Shrimad Bhagvatam 10.1.4].’”
Scripture
He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever species he may take his birth. Mahabharat 115.47
Those high-souled persons who desire beauty, faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts of injury. Mahabharat 18.115.8
The very name of cow is Aghnya [“not to be killed”], indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who, then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a bull commits a heinous crime. Mahabharat Shantiparv 262.47
The purchaser of flesh performs Hinsa (violence) by his wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste; the killer does Hinsa by actually tying and killing the animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh and eats it — all of these are to be considered meat-eaters. Mahabharat Anu 115.40
He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all that is — immortal in the field of mortality — he sees the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest path. Bhagavad Geeta 13.27-28
Ahinsa/ahimsa is the highest Dharma. Ahinsa is the best Tapas. Ahinsa is the greatest gift. Ahinsa is the highest self-control. Ahinsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahinsa is the highest power. Ahinsa is the highest friend. Ahinsa is the highest truth. Ahinsa is the highest teaching. Mahabharata 18.116.37-41
What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how it may avoid killing any creature. Tirukural 324
All that lives will press palms together in prayerful adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor meat. Tirukural260
What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroying life, for killing leads to every other sin. Tirukural 312, 321
Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature’s flesh. Tirukural 253
Tags: veg, compassion, ahimsa, health, hindu, hinduism, india, climate change, diet, global warming, be veg, go green, save the planet, vegan, vegetarian,")
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