A Heart Cannot Cry
November 4, 2008 The sound only lasted for a second or two, but it tore through the air with the sharpness of a knife piercing my heart. It was a cry of terror, a scream of recognition and fear. A cry of "How can this be happening?" Of "Why me!"
Of "Stop! I'm a mother!" And "Stop! I'm her child!"
My chest contracted and my heart pounded and I wanted to join the scream with my own "No!" But all I could do to help was to quickly chant, "Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo" and focus on those who were so terrified.
And then, as quickly as it began, the screaming was gone. It hadn't stopped, but only passed beyond my ears ability to catch it. But in my mind—in my heart—I still hear. And out there, the terror still exists. It will continue into the night, and into tomorrow, and the next day. Then exhausted, there will be one final, hoarse "No!" Then silence.
And although my mind understands, my heart still whispers "Why."
My mind replies, "Greed. And ignorance. Humans have the ability to live in harmony with their world, but they indulge themselves without thinking of the costs. They think they are special because they have technology and science and power."
And my heart wants to cry, but of course a heart cannot cry.
It can only quiver and remember the calm it knew a few minutes ago. Before I went to shut the front window, before I heard the screams, and before I looked out the window to see the pigs crammed into the truck that was taking them to be slaughtered. So people, with money and more power than they, can enjoy their bacon and pork as they mindlessly eat their breakfast and dinner.
And my heart and my mind hold each other, and together they chant "Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo."
Reader Comments (4)
As Buddhists, we need to not only pray and practice compassion, but adopt a plant based diet so we do not participate in killing by the meat, fish and dairy industry. As Buddhists, I feel it's important that we are socially engaged. We need to speak out for our brother and sister animals who have no voice. 60+ billion non-humans are suffering and are being killed each year due to our consumption of meat, fish, dairy and other animal products.
View this site http://www.factoryfarming.com . Of course we can't forget about the 115+ million who are being tortured and killed in laboratories each year.
At the very least those who do not become ethical vegetarian, or preferably vegan, for selfish reasons, should adopt a plant based diet for climate change. Please visit our site "Liberation of Brother and Sister Animals" http://www.lobsa.org . We are a Buddhist non-profit animal rights vegan organisation.
Thank you for commenting and for providing the website information for those who want to learn more.
Amituofo...
Although many consumers believe that labels such as free-range, free-roaming, or cage-free mean that these chickens spend their days in natural outdoor settings, the label means something entirely different to the egg industry.
Hens on commercial cage-free farms are not kept in cages, but many are crammed together in filthy sheds where they will live for years until their egg production wanes and they're sent to slaughter. They never go outside, breathe fresh air, feel the sun on their backs, or do anything else that is natural or important to them. They suffer from the same lung lesions and ammonia burns as hens in cages, which is a result of the build-up of waste products in their sheds.
Also, just like battery hens, "free range" hens, as tiny chicks, have their sensitive beaks cut off with a hot blade. This is done to stop them pecking at each other, which they do as a reaction to the stress of overcrowding and having their normal social relations disrupted. This is not like having a fingernail clipped. It is like having the top of your finger sliced off without anesthetic or pain-killers. Some birds die from the shock and others starve to death because the intense pain makes eating impossible.
"Free range" dairy cows don't fare any better. Dairies keep animals in order to make a profit. Any animal who, due to age, sickness or lameness, fails to produce enough milk to be economically viable, must be killed. Eventually, all "dairy cows" will end up at the same slaughterhouse as "beef cows". However, a dairy cow will have suffered more in her life than a beef cow because she has had to endure a longer life. The forced overproduction of milk drains the cow's body of nutrients, particularly calcium, so much that many sustain painful fractures caused by brittle bones. Also painful mastitis and distended udders are common amongst those who are milked mechanically.
Cows produce milk for the same reasons that human mothers do - to feed their young. In order for us to consume that milk, it must be stolen from the baby animal for whom it was intended. Animals being exploited for their milk, even if they are "free range", must be made repeatedly pregnant, which means that newborn animals must be continually discarded. Some go on to become milk slaves like their mothers; others are killed at birth. Male calves, who are useless for producing milk, are usually sent to veal crates. The life of a veal calf is one of the cruelest of existences. These baby animals are kept tethered in an enclosure so tiny that they can't even turn around, with no exposure to sunlight, no maternal affection and no interaction with any other living being. They are deliberately kept undernourished and anaemic to keep their meat white and tender. They live in their own excreta and vomit and are sometimes so weak that they cannot stand. Every veal calf is a child of a dairy cow. If you consume dairy products you are supporting the veal industry, whether you know it or not.
One of the saddest aspects of the dairy industry, including "free range", is the forced separation of mother and baby cows, which usually happens only a few days after birth. It is routinely observed that mothers and babies cry and bellow with grief for days on end. For mother cows, this is something they are forced to endure repeatedly throughout their lives.
"Free range" cows are also subjected to a range of painful mutilations, all without any anesthetic or analgesics. These include cutting off their tails and horns. The bleeding can go on for up to 12 hours.
It really is better to avoid dairy products completely if one wants to live a cruelty-free life. Not only are dairy products not necessary for health, they are damaging to health, contrary to the propaganda of the dairy industry.
The China Study is the most comprehensive epidemiological study ever carried out. It was conducted by Professor T. Colin Campbell, a highly respected nutritionist, and his associates, over a period of 10 years. This study conclusively proved that a 100% plant based, or vegan, diet produces the best health outcomes for humans. This means a diet comprising vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains and sprouts. There are many vegan convenience foods available these days. The fact is that no-one needs to eat animal products to be healthy. The only "reason" to eat them is their taste. Surely, we should all reject such a selfish "reason" for inflicting suffering and death on sentient beings.
Apart from the issue of animal cruelty there is also the the effect of consuming animal products on global warming. A United Nations 2006 report, "Livestock's Long Shadow", found that animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than all SUVs, cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships combined. The single most effective action that anyone can take to help reduce global warming is to adopt a plant based diet. Don't be surprised if you never hear "green" groups talking about this. This is the most inconvenient truth of all.
I have often heard people justifying their consumption of meat/milk/eggs on the basis that it is impossible to avoid killing and harming as long as we are living in this world. They say that there is no ideal solution and that even with growing and harvesting crops innumerable insects and other small organisms are killed. This is true, but it isn't a valid reason to knowingly support animal cruelty and killing. The fact that there is no way to absolutely avoid all harm and killing isn't a justification for supporting that which can be easily avoided, just by giving up certain food products, which aren't even necessary from a nutritional point of view. The fact that some pedestrians will accidently be injured and killed by traffic doesn't make it OK to go out and deliberately mow people down with your car.
These comments are not intended to belittle the efforts that many people have made to stop eating flesh. Most vegetarians are simply unaware of the horrors of the dairy and egg industries. It works best for most people to take a graduated approach to giving up animal products and vegetarianism is a good first step towards living a cruelty-free life. I am also aware that being cruelty-free, or non-violent, involves a lot more than what we eat or wear - that it involves a transformation of our mind and our entire being, which is why I'm interested in Buddhism!
Animals do not exist for the pleasure and convenience of humans. There is no such thing as "humane" exploitation. Animals have a right to live out their lives being free to follow their natural instincts and to enjoy their natural social relations with each other, without being used and abused by humans. To view non-humans as available for exploitation, simply because they are not human, is speciesism. Speciesism is a form of discrimination based on difference, just like racism, sexism, ageism and discrimination based on sexual preference or religion. This quote by Alice Walker says it well
"The animals of the world exist
for their own reasons. They were
not made for humans any more
than black people were made for
whites or women for men."
For information on how to adopt a healthy plant based diet, please see these pages by
a registered dietician
http://www.veganhealth.org/
medical doctors
http://www.drmcdougall.com/
http://www.pcrm.org/health/
There are many vegan recipe sites on-line.