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Selection - The Earth Healer's Handbook

Chapter 3: The Bears and the Whale
Page: 1/3

Q: Nowadays, a growing number of people are concerned about the plight of animals. A lot of animals have lost their lives through mad cow disease and other illnesses. From a spiritual perspective, could you please comment on the cause of these conditions, and what can be done about them from the human side?

A: My feeling is that the spread of mad cow disease and other epidemics afflicting animals is a form of protest—a severe warning sent to us from the world of nature. For a long time, through motives of greed, people have been treating animals in a heartless manner. The world of nature can no longer endure this kind of behavior, so it is sending a strong message to human beings through these epidemics, which give human beings a precious opportunity to reconsider their way of living.

Q: What is the nature of this message? Some people seem to think it means that we should not eat meat.

A: In my view, the problem is not that we have been eating meat, but that we have been eating meat without gratitude. The balance of nature is maintained through give-and-take relationships among animals, plants, the earth, the air, and everything in the universe. Human beings, on the other hand, have been taking and taking, without giving back anything in return. Even with the outbreak of these heartbreaking epidemics, the average person is much more concerned with the effects that are felt in their own life than with the feelings of the animals. In my view, the message is that human beings must rediscover their oneness with nature, and live each day with feelings of love and gratitude for nature’s gifts.
Right now, even if, through technical means, society were to stamp out all the diseases affecting animals, the source of the problem would not go away. For as long as humanity lacks a spirit of gratitude toward animals, new problems will keep arising. At present, a great deal of progress has been made by people who are in the habit of expressing gratitude to animals, but until this practice spreads throughout society, new problems will continue to spread.

Q: What sorts of new problems do you anticipate?

A: If humanity continues along its present path, I feel that nature’s next protest might be delivered through the world of insects. I can envision large numbers of insects damaging the vegetables we eat so that it will become harder for us to find food. After that, if humanity still does not rediscover the spirit of harmony, nature’s protest will be conveyed to us through the world of fish.


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