Live by Doing No Harm

“In the past we have tried to make a distinction between animals which we acknowledge have some value and other which, having none, can be liquidated when we wish. This standard must be abandoned. Everything that lives has value simply as a living thing, as one of the manifestations of the mystery that is life.” ― Albert Schweitzer

The animals and all of Mother Earth are our community.

Humans who are attached to the physical realm often seek power over others: other humans, plants, animals and the earth. In seeking power, one has not surrendered to the ocean, to the All. Some believe that God gave us the material world to manage and for our use and benefit. Some believe that if we don’t control our environment, we are not doing God’s Will. Where has our management gotten us? Do we truly believe that if we continue managing, and just manage better, that we will achieve a different outcome? What we need to do is change our core belief that we are managers of the natural world. We need to believe and live as if we are at one with it. If we need models for this behavior, look to the tribes that have not been impacted by the spread of our culture.

We witness all sorts of displays of power-seeking over others. One is with animals. Certain animals are kept by humans. Bred, raised, and then butchered. Their sole existence from creation through death is to provide food for humans. Often they are kept in cruel environments for their entire lives, their deaths no better. We, as humans, need to stop thinking of animals in such a barbaric fashion, as units and commodities. They are our fellow drops of water, maybe not as conscious as we are, but with much to teach us. From an amoeba to an elephant, our call is to respect all life as aspects of God’s energy. God is within each cell and within the spaces of each cell. God is within and without. God Is. When we know that God Is, we cannot treat another creature with anything less than love and respect.

It is not truly about the eating of the animal, but how the animal is conceived, raised, lives out its life, and is killed. In the wild, animals eat other animals. The physical man is an animal.

Photo by Doruk Yemenici on Unsplash

The difference between man and the animals is that man decided instead of expending energy hunting animals he would raise them himself for food. Instead of allowing an animal to be naturally conceived, nursed by its mother, raised to live out its life in nature, man, only because he could, took all this away from certain animals in order to manage his own food supply.

Science has now shown the interconnectivity among plant life and that they actually have a form of communication. Man used to gather plants in the wild, but at some point believed it was better to raise his own, and then harvest and store it. Man depleted the soils. Man brought in chemicals to kill insects that wanted a share of the food. Man chemically fertilized the soil and changed the course of rivers and streams to provide water for his fields.

This change in the way of life from hunter and gatherer to agriculture and farming plus the spread of man to nearly every inch of the planet, has depleted the earth’s resources. We continue to evolve technologically, but our souls have been left behind. Only look into the countless suffering of the animals and our Mother Earth to see this.

One merely has to look into the eye of an animal to observe its soul. They have feelings and experience heart-wrenching sadness and overwhelming attachment to one another. Even if one does not believe they possess a soul, the animal definitely experience pain. Who are we to inflict pain on a fellow creature? Animals are not ours to eat, wear, breed, experiment on, buy or sell, provide entertainment, or use in any fashion. Animals are not ours to take away their reproductive rights* or to manage populations through hunting and other means. Animals are not ours to kill, unless it is a matter of survival. It is sad to see how we as a culture treat our animals, yet joyful to see so many helping them in a variety of ways.

Animals are our teachers, companions, and guides through this life. Respect all life. How a person or nation treats their animals, says a lot about that person or nation. The Hindu concept of ahimsa in its most simplistic definition means to harm no living thing. Living without harm to another brings one closer to our Source, our Creator, our greatest Love.

* We currently take away the reproductive rights of our companion animals and at this time in our history this alleviates an immense amount of pain and suffering for the animal.