What to Order on the Menu? | 今日菜单
（译文请往下阅读）
Dear friends around the world,
You won’t believe what this former Citibank Vice President has to say. This is one of the most inspiring speeches you will ever hear in your life so please take a few moments to listen to this. It is short, sweet but extremely powerful and will help you to learn and expand your mind and thinking. His speech is so touching and factual and when I first listened to it, I thought, “I must, must, must blog him and get him all over the place.”
I highly recommend and make my request to everyone to take the time and listen to his 10-minute video as he speaks very well, clearly and extremely articulate.
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/PhilipWollen.mp4
Mr. Philip Wollen urges everyone to look at how all beings are equal to us when they suffer, that their pain and screams are identical with ours regardless of what species they belong to. Mr. Wollen believes that other beings are not just other species, but rather they are other nations, so from this basis he speaks out not only in favour of animal rights but also against “human wrongs”.
Mr. Wollen acts and really fights for what he believes in. He’s a very engaged pro-activist for social justice and founded the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust that provides funding and support to various charitable projects. And he’s doing all of this with the aim “to die broke” after giving away everything he possesses. Isn’t that powerful thinking? One of the most intelligent men aims to die broke because he knows when you close your eyes for the last time, you cannot take any of it with you. So while you have it, use it to do good and benefit others. This type of attitude is totally the opposite to most who think to accumulate material possessions. The fact his trust’s website that stated “we don’t want your money” says a lot about his generosity and kindness, and his type of thinking that has made him a success.
I did not realise this at the time but Mr. Wollen has also been involved in one of the films that I always recommend for people to watch. Mr. Wollen funded the Earthlings trilogy which is a series that documents all of the cruelty and suffering that man inflicts upon our fellow sentient beings. The first film, Earthlings, was released in 2005 and it has changed the way people think about the plight of animals and the human-animal relations. The second film, Unity, promotes greater human understanding and a more compassionate, spiritually awakened human species. The third and final film, Beings, aims to be released in 2020.
So this is a person who not only speaks but also puts his words into action for the benefit of other sentient beings. Our world needs more people like Mr. Wollen whom I truly admire for speaking for those who have no voice.
Tsem Rinpoche
English Transcript
Philip Wollen – Animals Should Be off the Menu
King Lear, late at night on the cliffs asks the blind Earl of Gloucester “How do you see the world?”
And the blind man Gloucester replies “I see it feelingly”.
Shouldn’t we all?
Animals must be off the menu because tonight they are screaming in terror in the slaughterhouse, in crates, and cages. Vile ignoble gulags of despair. I heard the screams of my dying father as his body was ravaged by the cancer that killed him. And I realised I had heard these screams before. In the slaughterhouse, eyes stabbed out and tendons slashed, on the cattle ships to the Middle East and the dying mother whale as a Japanese harpoon explodes in her brain as she calls out to her calf. Their cries were the cries of my father. I discovered when we suffer, we suffer as equals. And in their capacity to suffer, a dog is a pig is a bear. . . . . . is a boy.
Meat is the new asbestos – more murderous than tobacco. CO2, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide from the livestock industry are killing our oceans with acidic, hypoxic Dead Zones. 90% of small fish are ground into pellets to feed livestock. Vegetarian cows are now the world’s largest ocean predator. The oceans are dying in our time. By 2048 all our fisheries will be dead. The lungs and the arteries of the earth. Billions of bouncy little chicks are ground up alive simply because they are male. Only 100 billion people have ever lived. 7 billion alive today. And we torture and kill 2 billion animals every week. 10,000 entire species are wiped out every year because of the actions of one species. We are now facing the 6th mass extinction in cosmological history. If any other organism did this a biologist would call it a virus. It is a crime against humanity of unimaginable proportions.
The world has changed. 10 years ago Twitter was a bird sound, www was a stuck keyboard, Cloud was in the sky, 4G was a parking place, Google was a baby burp, Skype was a typo and Al-Qaeda was my plumber. Victor Hugo said “there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”. Animal Rights is now the greatest Social Justice issue since the abolition of slavery. There are over 600 million vegetarians in the world. That is bigger than the US, England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia combined! If we were one nation we would be bigger than the 27 countries in the European Union!! Despite this massive footprint, we are still drowned out by the raucous huntin’, shootin’, killin’ cartels who believe that violence is the answer – when it shouldn’t even be a question.
Meat is a killing industry – animals, us and our economies. Medicare has already bankrupted the US. They will need $8 trillion invested in Treasury bills just to pay the interest. It has precisely zero!! They could shut every school, army, navy, air force, and Marines, the FBI and CIA – and they still won’t be able to pay for it. Cornell and Harvard say’s that the optimum amount of meat for a healthy diet is precisely ZERO. Water is the new oil. Nations will soon be going to war for it. Underground aquifers that took millions of years to fill are running dry. It takes 50,000 litres of water to produce one kilo of beef. 1 billion people today are hungry. 20 million people will die from malnutrition. Cutting meat by only 10% will feed 100 million people. Eliminating meat will end starvation forever. If everyone ate a Western diet, we would need 2 Planet Earths to feed them. We only have one. And she is dying. Greenhouse gas from livestock is 50% more than transport . . . . . planes, trains, trucks, cars, and ships. Poor countries sell their grain to the West while their own children starve in their arms. And we feed it to livestock. So we can eat a steak? Am I the only one who sees this as a crime? Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear-stained face of a starving child. When I look into her eyes, should I be silent? The earth can produce enough for everyone’s need. But not enough for everyone’s greed.
We are facing the perfect storm. If any nation had developed weapons that could wreak such havoc on the planet, we would launch a pre-emptive military strike and bomb it into the Bronze Age. But it is not a rogue state. It is an industry. The good news is we don’t have to bomb it. We can just stop buying it. George Bush was wrong. The Axis of Evil doesn’t run through Iraq, or Iran or North Korea. It runs through our dining tables. Weapons of Mass Destruction are our knives and forks. This is the Swiss Army Knife of the future – it solves our environmental, water, health problems and ends cruelty forever. The Stone Age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. This cruel industry will end because we run out of excuses. Meat is like 1 and 2 cent coins. It costs more to make than it is worth. And farmers are the ones with the most to gain. Farming won’t end. It would boom. Only the product line would change. Farmers would make so much money they wouldn’t even bother counting it. Governments will love us. New industries would emerge and flourish. Health insurance premiums would plummet. Hospital waiting lists would disappear. Hell “We’d be so healthy; we’d have to shoot someone just to start a cemetery!”
So tonight I have 2 Challenges for the opposition:
1. Meat causes a wide range of cancers and heart disease. Will they name one disease caused by a vegetarian diet?
2. I am funding the Earthlings trilogy. If the opposition is so sure of their ground, I challenge them to send the Earthlings DVD to all their colleagues and customers. Go on I DARE YOU.
Animals are not just other species. They are other nations. And we murder them at our peril. The peace map is drawn on a menu. Peace is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of justice. Justice must be blind to race, colour, religion or species. If she is not blind, she will be a weapon of terror. And there is unimaginable terror in those ghastly Guantanamo. If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we wouldn’t need this debate. I believe another world is possible. On a quiet night, I can hear her breathing. Let’s get the animals off the menu and out of these torture chambers. Please vote tonight for those who have no voice.
Thank you.
[Source: https://www.facebook.com/mercyforanimals/videos/10152917764269475/]
中文文稿
菲利普·沃伦：动物必须从菜单上撤下来
李尔王深夜在悬崖边问瞎眼的格洛斯特伯爵：“你如何看待这个世界?”盲人格洛斯特回答说:“我满怀感情地看待它”。我们不也应该如此吗？动物必须从菜单上撤下来！因为今晚他们在恐惧中尖叫，在屠宰场，在板条箱和笼子中。那是邪恶、卑鄙而绝望的集中营！我听到了我父亲临终的尖叫声，当时他的身体正遭受致命的癌症折磨。而我意识到，在那以前我曾听过这样的叫声。
在屠宰场，牠们的眼睛被挖出来、肌腱被切断，在前往中东的牲口船上，还有当一杆鱼叉扎进一头母鲸的大脑时，她在垂死之际呼唤着她的幼崽。牠们的哀嚎就像我父亲的哭喊。我发现当我们遭受痛苦时，我们的痛苦是一样的。以承受痛苦的能力来说，一只狗、一头猪、一只熊，与一个男孩，都是一样的。
今天，肉是新的石棉——比烟草更害人性命。畜牧业排放的二氧化碳、甲烷和一氧化二氮正以酸化和造成低氧“死亡地带”的方式杀害我们的海洋。90%的小鱼被碾碎成颗粒状用来喂养牲畜。今天，食草的奶牛成了世界上最大的海洋食肉动物。海洋正在我们的手中濒临死亡。到2048年,所有的渔业都将走到尽头。而海洋是地球之肺和地球的动脉。数十亿只活泼的小鸡被活活碾碎，只因牠们是公的。有史以来曾生活过的人类仅1000亿，今天生活着70亿。而我们每周折磨并杀死20亿有知觉的活生生的生命。由于一个物种的所作所为，每年都有1万个物种全部灭绝。我们正面临宇宙史上第六次物种大灭绝。如果有任何其他生物体干过同样的事，生物学家会称之为病毒。这是巨大到难以想象的反人类罪行。
幸运的是世界一直在变化。10年前，Twitter(推特)是一只鸟的叫声，www(万维网)是一个被卡住的键盘，“云”在天上，4 G是一个停车的地方，Google（谷歌）是一个婴儿打嗝，Skype是一个输入错误，而Al-Qaeda是我的水管工。维克多·雨果曾说:“没什么能比一种即将遍地开花的理念更有力量！”。
动物权利现已成为奴隶制废除以来最大的社会正义问题。全世界有超过6亿素食者。比美国、英国、法国、德国、西班牙、意大利、加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰的人口总和还多。如果我们是一个国家，我们也会大于欧盟的27个国家。你相信吗？尽管有如此大规模的足迹，我们仍被淹没在喧嚣的捕猎、射杀、屠宰的集团中，他们相信暴力就是答案——那甚至不应该是一个问题!
肉业杀死动物，杀害我们，并正在“杀死”我们的经济。美国医保已经破产。他们需要投入8万亿美元仅用于支付国债利息，而本金已经完全为零！即便他们关掉每所学校、陆军、海军、空军、国土安全部、海军陆战队，CIA和FBI，仍然不够支付医药费。康奈尔大学和哈佛大学说人类的健康饮食中肉的最佳食用量恰恰为零。水是新的石油，各国很快将为之而战。用数百万年时间填满的地下蓄水层正在枯竭。需要50000升宝贵的饮用水才能生产1公斤牛肉。今天10亿人在挨饿。2000万人将死于营养不良。减少10%的肉食就能养活1亿人。摒弃肉食就能永远终结饥饿!
如果每个人都按西方的饮食习惯，需要2个地球母亲才养得活我们，但我们只有一个——而她正在死去。牲畜排放的温室气体总量比交通工具还多50%， 真是当头一棒！所有的飞机、火车、大巴、卡车和轮船，全都算上。我在世界各地旅行时，看到贫穷的国家把粮食卖给西方，同时他们自己的孩子饿死在怀里。而西方国家把这些粮食用来喂养牲畜。所以我们可以吃一块牛排吗？难道我是唯一一个认为这是犯罪的人吗？ 我们吃的每一口肉都抽在一个挨饿的孩子挂满泪珠的脸上。当我看着她的眼睛时，我应该保持沉默吗？ 地球能产出满足每个人需求的食物，但满足不了每个人的贪婪！
我们正面临一场完美风暴。如果任何一个国家研发了可能给地球带来浩劫的武器，我们会发起先发制人的军事打击把他炸回到青铜时代。但他不是一个流氓国家，而是一个产业。所幸的是我们不必炸了它，我们只需要停止购买！乔治·布什错了，邪恶的轴心不在伊拉克、伊朗或朝鲜，而是贯穿于我们的餐桌。大规模杀伤性武器是我们的刀和叉。我方的主张是未来的瑞士军刀——它能同时解决我们的环境、水和人类健康问题，并永远地终结残忍。石器时代并未因我们用尽了石头而结束，但这个残酷恶心的行业将会消失，因为我们用尽了借口。肉就像1分和2分的硬币，它的制造成本超过了它的价值。我来自乡下，农民会是收益最大的人。农业不会终结，只会更繁荣，只有生产线会改变。农民会赚很多的钱，他们甚至不屑去数，我会是第一个为他们喝彩的。政府将会爱我们，新的行业会出现并蓬勃发展。医疗保险的保费将会大幅下调，医院的排号名单会消失。见鬼，我们会如此健康，为了启用一块墓地我们不得不射倒一个！
所以，今晚我要向反方辩友提出两个挑战：
第一、肉食引起了广泛的癌症和心脑血管疾病，他们能否说出一种素食引起的疾病？
第二，我资助了《地球公民》三部曲。如果反方对他们的立场这么有信心，他们是否敢把《地球公民》的DVD寄给所有的同事和客户。去吧，敢不敢！
动物不仅仅是其他的物种，还是地球上其他的公民。但我们却不计后果地杀害牠们。和平的地图画在一张菜单上。和平不只是没有战争，还是正义的伸张。正义必须无视种族、肤色、宗教或物种的差异。如果正义女神不能无视这些，她将成为恐怖的武器。今晚，在那些叫作工业化养殖场或屠宰场的可怕的关塔那摩监狱里，有着难以想象的恐怖。
如果屠宰场有玻璃幕墙，我们就不需要今晚这场辩论了。 我相信另一个世界是可能出现的。在寂静的夜里，我仿佛能听到她的呼吸。让我们把动物从菜单上撤下来，并关闭这些酷刑室。今晚，请投票给那些没有发言权的众生。
感谢你们。
For more interesting information:
- A powerful speech on Failing
- New Zealand Officially Recognizes All Animals as Sentient Beings
- Vegan Blood is Eight Times More Protective Against Cancer
- Earthlings
- A Review of “Compassion Conquers All” By Tsem Rinpoche
- Meat the Truth
- How Plastic Destroys Our Seas
- 4 Myths of Being A Vegetarian – DEBUNKED!
- “Hunger Knows No Barriers”
- Portraits of People Living on a Dollar a Day
- If slaughterhouses had glass walls…
- 52 Years of Generosity
- Why is Tsem Rinpoche so kind to animals?
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If we read enough, it is not hard to see the disadvantages of eating meat. Eating meat increases the risk of getting heart diseases and cancer because chemicals are injected into animals to stimulate their growth so they can be slaughtered in the shortest time for higher profit. Some processed meat such as chicken nuggets or sausages is made with leftover parts of the animals that are not good to be sold in the market.
Besides, the way the animals are kept or slaughtered is really cruel. The animals are kept in a very small space or they are all packed together with limited space to move around. Some of them have never seen the sunlight. Most of the animals in the commercialised farms are being abused by the workers, they are kicked or punched constantly. These animals suffer tremendously throughout their lives.
If we stop eating meat, we can maintain better health. The risk of getting various diseases will be reduced. When the demand for the meat is reduced, fewer animals will suffer. This is the least we can do for our health and for the animals.
Animals show love for humans! Cow, lions, apes, dogs, bears, parrots and more can all be very affectionate and show surprising emotions when it comes to expressing their love for people. An emotional animals hugging humans video.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1546455946.mp4
You guys are going to have a cute attack with these two super adorable videos of Tsem Rinpoche’s doggies Oser and Dharma.-
https://youtu.be/JX1UdH7IjQ8
And
https://youtu.be/YGD7CtNmnuI
The videos JUST came out!
Enjoy!
H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche loves animals and is passionate against their harm, torture, and abuse.
The few minutes a day we spend on social media creating awareness for animals who cannot speak is purely spiritual and humanistic practice because we are trying to alleviate pain from another sentient beings and that makes us more spiritual, and that makes us more spiritual and more humane.
Dear friends,
This meme is powerful. Who you hang around with and the types of attitude they have is who you will be influenced by many times and who you will become in the future. Look at your friends and the people that always surround you to know who you will become.
Tsem Rinpoche
Mr.Philip wollen speech are so powerful to protect animal right. Animals are one of the species living in the earth.There are not human main food sourse. Mankind should not simply taking their meat as their food just for their own desire eating meat. In fact mankind has create more global warming just to get their food source by cutting down the rain forest, destroy the nsture. Thousand of animals species get kill and destroy the eco system around the earth. That affect the food changes imbarrance. At futute , we will facing serious no enough food sourse.
Mankind must stop killing animal just by stop eating meat. Sll this desire has brought so many life died.
Very true, the cries of the animals, they are not different from us being sick and in pain. By killing animals unnecessarily, somemore now in an industrial matter, what to expect? So much pain created. We should all visit slaughterhouses and know that these animals feel pain the same way we do.
I agree that there are many other problems and we should address them too such as the plastic we use and which ends up in the stomach of animals who mistake it for food or the plastic ends up in the ocean and falls into so many small pieces that it is nearly impossible to get hold of it… The exploitation of poor people and even children who work for nothing many hours yet don’t get paid – just that we get our cheap clothes….is another example of how we can make a change.
There are many problems but we can start and stop hurting others and the environment we live in. We can start eating less meat, week by week. It is a choice for helping others.
There are certainly other things that we can eat in order to survive apart from taking animals meat. Results shown that we don’t need to eat animals in order to get to live, or for some medication or minerals because that is just our convenient way of feeding our own attachments to tastes. Very good for newcomers to read and ponder upon.
这是震撼人心的动物权利的演讲，对动物来说，地球如同地狱， 而这地狱是我们人类创造的，如果屠宰场有玻璃墙的话，你就能看到屠宰它们的痛苦场景，血淋淋解剖和它們痛苦的尖叫，然后它们成为你桌上最喜爱的食物，你还敢吃吗？
每一個有心跳的生命皆擁有感受，文章中”盲人格洛斯特回答說：“我滿懷感情地看待它！，你又如何看待這個世界?看待动物？
Simple, No demand no supply!
It’s time for us to learn to care and live with peace with other sentient beings on Earth.
START WITH WHAT GOES INTO OUR STOMACH.
We must start somewhere even though it’s difficult.
Nothing is impossible, it’s just difficult.
Mr. Philip Wollen such an inspiring person, what’s inspired me?
His talk : Animals are not just other species. They are other nations. And we murder them at our peril. The peace map is drawn on a menu. Peace is not just the absence of war. It is the presence of justice. Justice must be blind to race, colour, religion or species.
And i highly recommended everyone should watch and read of this article : https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/earthlings.html
This is such a powerful speech by Mr. Philip Wollen, what he mentioned is so similar to what Buddha said 2500 ago, animals are not the being for our meals, they are another being that is equal to human, all lives are equally important. He even asked for meat to be off the menu by stated all the facts of cruelty, global warming, etc.
Earthling is one of the video that I became vegetarian, it shows the hidden suffering of the animals before it ended up to our plate, how much screaming from pains, crying, abusing, torturing, any type of suffering you name it, its all in the slaughter house.\
I too, highly recommend everyone to watch the video, earthling, at least once in our lifetime, it will definitely give you a new perspective of eating meat again.
What strike me deeply was
1 billion people today are hungry. 20 million people will die from malnutrition. Cutting meat by only 10% will feed 100 million people. Eliminating meat will end starvation forever.
And
Poor countries sell their grain to the West while their own children starve in their arms. And we feed it to livestock. So we can eat a steak? Am I the only one who sees this as a crime? Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear-stained face of a starving child. When I look into her eyes, should I be silent? The earth can produce enough for everyone’s need. But not enough for everyone’s greed.
What have we done to our planet and people? Why blinded by your own greed?
As a Buddhism, being a vegetarian we stopped killing, hence stopped creating body karma. it purify our body karma. You can also dedicate to your loved one to purify his body karma. Equivalent to liberating animals.
Do not say your mantra with a mouth full of blood cause it doesn’t work that way.
A powerful speech deliverance with good keypoints to drive home his presentation. The figure given is astronomical of how many animals are being killed for their meat. Add to that the figure of animals being killed for sports, medical research, fashion wears; in animal pounds and road kills because their owners dumped the animals they considered as ‘pets’ when old and after the owners claimed they could not care after the animals anymore. Also the use of pesticides used at vegetable and fruit farms. And not forgetting the chemicals and plastic materials dumped into the seas and oceans worldwide that not only kill marine life but also birds. Plus aerosol chemicals that are being used in households to kill bugs. It would be impossible to count.
This article brought out more of global warning of species extinct due to human craves which may affect world ecology. As what Mr. Wollen had said, meat consuming will cause wide range of chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease, food poisoning etc. It good reminder and awareness for us to be more compassion and courteous to all living being by begin with ourselves.
It’s great to know someone like Mr Philip Wollen stood up and make an effort to urge the world to stop killing animals through his facts on how killing animals effect directly to our environment and health.
It’s not an easy change but it has to start some where and it should be now. Greed and attachment play the important role and if we can put it a side we can make a great change not only for our life now but it will give a positive impact to many people and the future. We can take one step at a time. Once the demand for meat stop the supply will follow through. We have a choice to make the different and let it for the betterment of humanity and for our mother nature.
Mr Wollen is such an inspirational person.
If only restaurants are placed in front of slaughterhouses with glass, perhaps then many will choose to see the truth. Many including me are not ‘perfect’ but we have to start somewhere.
If we are not used to being vegetarian, we can start with once a week to as many days as we can as we proceed. I know friends who can go on days without meat and they do not miss it at all. It becomes a more positive and kinder habituation.
There are 600 million vegetarians in the world and I hope that everyone will start the campaign to stop killing animals for food. After so many years of well established enrolment to human beings on the “goodness” of meat eating, it will take hard work to eradicate the habit of eating meat.
Besides which, meat eating has become a way of life and an addiction. As well known addiction can only be gotten rid of by sheer will power. To stop meat eating will be driven by the power of compassion.
Mr. Philip Wollen is very inspiring in enrolling against meat eating and relating the animals that we eat to our very own being. His logic of not harming animals and being vegetarians would benefit so many from mother nature, the earth and farmers is extremely compelling.
Like the publicity given decades ago on the well being of meat eating, let vegetarianism be just as compelling to establish a new way of life without harm to other sentient beings.
There are so many comments here that thanked and congratulated Mr. Phillip Wollen and for certain, he deserves every praise and admiration. However, much more important that recognizing the efforts of Phillips Wollens of the world, would it not be more beneficial if we too became a Phillip Wollen?
For me, the single most hard-heating question raised in the speech is this – “When I look into the eyes of the starving tear-stained face of a child, do I remain silent”?
And we have looked, perhaps not with our own eyes but surely with our conscience and hearts, and we know that we can do something. So do we remain silent?
We can. And we can cite ‘individual choice’ and we can say that we do not wish to impose our views on our friends and it is here that we fail both the farm animal that is soon to be unceremoniously slaughtered, and another starving tear-stained face that we are turning away from. Both the farm animal and the starving child do not have the choice to turn away. It is those who choose to continue to contribute to this disaster and those of us who chose to be silent that have to bear the weight of these sins.
There are so many things in the world we feel helpless about but this is not one of them. We can do something as Mr. Phillip Wollen has been doing. We can cut down or stop contributing to the slaughter and destruction. And we can speak gently to those closest to us to cut down if not stop consuming flesh.
It is such a powerful speech, by this person and it was presented with so much speech dramatization. Such dramatization is necessary to help wake up people from their stupor. The stupor of consuming flesh of their loved ones, yes all the beings we are partaking by eating meat those beings could be a previous loved one before.
Mr Philip Wollen gave a very powerful speech. He pointed it all correctly that we should not kill animals for our own satisfaction to food. It is truly one of the most inspiring speeches we have ever heard in our lives. If everyone would do their part by being more kind and compassion, there wouldn’t be suffering today. Thank you very much Rinpoche for this meaningful article and speach.?
Mr. Philip Wollen is highly intelligent and eloquent in explaining the devastating consequences of consuming meat. It is so true that, “Animal Rights is now the greatest Social Justice issue since the abolition of slavery.” Slavery was such a norm just a hundred years ago. Abolishing it back then was just unimaginable. However, when more and more people stood up to voice out how wrong slavery is, it eventually became abolished.
Just like how wrong slavery is, killing other beings for food needs to be abolished as well. In my opinion, many people understand the devastating consequences animal farming has on planet earth. However, they choose not to give up meat because they are “addicted” to eating meat. It’s like asking a drug addict to stop taking drugs. They would come up with eloquent reasons why NOT to stop their “addiction”.
Perhaps Mother Nature needs to step up with climate change and water runs dry faster so that governments wake up and really has no other choice but to make animal farming illegal. Otherwise, as Mr Wollen stated, this will be the 6th mass extinction on planet Earth.
As tsem Rinpoche has commented, it is truly one of the most inspiring speeches we have ever heard in our Lives. This one lovely speech as made by former Citibank Vice President, Mr. Phillip Wollen, though short and sweet, is extremely powerful and inspirational. It certainly helps one learn to expand one’s mind in thinking! To our Tsem Tulku Rinpoche we extend our heartfelt thanks to him for sharing this with us and highly recommend us all to listen deeply and think carefully. Mr. .Phillip Wollen truly acts and fights for what he believes when he founded “The Winsome Constance Kindness trust, which compassionately provides funding and financial support to various charitable organisations and projects. He said he preferred to die with “nothing left” and broke, as when the eyes closed for the last time, then to still have plentiful enormous money left unused in funding all the desperately needed important humane projects and organisations, as shown in the aforesaid firms of “Earthlings, Unity, and Beings”. The showing of all these films aim to shed light on the understanding of hardships, injustice, and sufferings occurring in the 21st century, which are still existing today, with the realistic impact remaining so detrimental. As what Mr. Phillip Wollen has commented, the World has changed. Animal rights seem the greatest social injustice humane issue since the abolition of Human slavery. Meat is still a “raucous” killing industry, effecting animals, us and our economies! Mr, Phillip Wollen compassionately reiterated that animals are not just other species. They too are other nations whom earthlings were said to have murdered simply without the thought of guilt! We must humanely and compassionately hear Mr. Phillip Wollen’s plea to, “Let’s get the animals off the Menu and out of all these torture chambers” in the name of Justice and compassion! They too have every rights to live as we humans do, or like any living being! Om Mani Padme Hum.
Mr Philip Wollen gave a very powerful speech. He pointed it all correctly that we should not kill animals for our own satisfaction to food. We human created so much suffering to the animals. Meat itself causes so much sickness such as cancer and heart diseases. So why we human still want to indulge into something that brings harm to us? We should in fact encourage people to be meatless and create awareness to the world. Mr Philip Wollen is not only saying but also putting what he said into action. He sponsors the Earthlings video to encourage people to stop eating and abusing animals. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this video.
What he said is very true. The world is polluted and we are heading towards extinction. If everyone would do their part by being more kind and compassion, there wouldn’t be suffering today.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
A strong voice and an effort to educate the masses on the need to take meat out of the the dining table. The presentation of packaged meat at the supermarket has created a disconnect with animal suffering and the meat on the shelves. Mr Philip Wollen is putting the connection back and showing people what meat means. Hats off to him and his valiant efforts.
” I heard the screams of my dying father as his body was ravaged by the cancer that killed him. And I realised I had heard these screams before..In the slaughterhouse, on the cattle ships to the Middle East and the dying mother whale as she calls out to her calf…their cries were the cries of my father. I discovered when we suffer, we suffer as equals”.
This ability to empathise with suffering animals and see their suffering as equal to that of humans in pain is what makes Mr Philip Wollen special. Mr Wollen’s sense of equality and social justice is so strong that it transcends “Beings as species” . As he says :” Animals are not just other species. They are other nations”.
The whole injustice of humans usurping the rights of other beings and species can be seen in the following catastrophic results. 90 % of small fish living in the sea are ground up as livestock for animals destined for the dinner plates of humans! Billions of little chicks are ground up because they are male!We torture and kill 2 billion animals every week!10000 entire species are wiped out every year because of the actions of one species!
Eating meat ,as Mr Wollen shows it clearly,is disastrous for health and contributes to world hunger.We will save a great deal in personal and national health bills, if we stop eating meat.Studies have established clear links betweeen cancer and heart-related diseases and meat-eating. The poor farmers’ families starve so as to be abe to sell their vegetable products as livestock for animals destined to be slaughtered for their meat to feed man’s insatiable craving for it.
Sad though it may be,it is a fact that it is man’s greed and not his need that has led to the continuing mass slaughter of animals. Thank you Mr Holler for funding the Earthlings trilogy to let the world know the truth of the matter. It is to be hoped that creating such greater awareness will lead to more people giving up meat.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such a powerful speech from a man who truly cares.
Appreciate very much that former VP of Citibank, Mr Philip Wollen, stand firm and voice out to protect all animals from cruelty. Mr Philip Wollen understand the feeling and shared his experience when his father suffered and died of cancer. Therefore, he explained why it is important to show empathy to others and urged everyone please think of the animals may have the same feeling of suffering.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this inspiring post to remind us to think of animals and do the best to help in any way we can.
Mr. Philip Wollen speech rings so much truth, only those who choose to be in denial would not hear his powerful speech. There is really no good reason or excuse to eat meat, there is only one thing… an ignorant mind. And just like any other afflictions, it is what keeps us blinded and trapped in samsara and along the way, we get cancer and suffer and heart attack yet we still want to give excuses to allow us to remain ignorant. When we continue to eat meat, we continue poisoning our bodies and killing ourselves, so why bother asking what to do and how to overcome our illness when we ourselves created the causes and refuse the remedy?
Mr. Philip Wollen say is indeed powerful, how many of us looked at animals as another nation co-existing on this planet with us humans? So far we have been brainwashed to think they are merely objects put here by some creator “God” for us to slaughter. How primitive and how shallow, how cruel and inhumane, how ignorant we humans are. And we wonder why we’re dying younger?
I hope Mr. Philip Wollen’s speech spread everywhere and for those who hear it, may is trigger something positive within for people to wake up and truly start living peacefully without killing anyone for our own greed and satisfaction.
Mr. Philip Wollen show us and many people an inspiring example to be kind and compassionate to take off meat on our menu.It would be wonderful to have more people like Mr. Philip Wollen. What was spoken was very powerful and yet simple for all to realised the importance of removing meat from the menu. He was a vegan about 10 years and vegetarian a long time. .A powerful speech and a wake up call for all.
(The earth can produce enough for everyone’s need. But not enough for everyone’s greed.) well said by Mr. Philip Wollen.Thank you Mr. Philip Wollen for yor tireless effort to encourage more people to take off meat from the menu.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Every word he uttered sliced through me with reality of suffering and pain of other beings. Mr Phillip Wollen’s heartfelt speech is indeed powerful and touching. I pray that through his efforts and his excellent way of articulation can swiftly awaken many beings to respect other beings and create less harm and pain in this world. Let peace prevail in every being.
His speech made me tear. There is so much truth and it is impossible for people to choose to cause so much suffering just so that we can chew on tasty flesh that is cooked with much seasoning, sauce etc. I do not believe that any restaurant today dares to serve their meat raw… because it is poison and it would not look appetizing at all. So much has to be done to meat to make them tasty so that restaurants can charge an arm and a leg for their dishes. Yet, intelligent consumers today are too ignorant to do anything. Not because they cannot but because it is too inconvenient to. How is it convenient to go for chemotherapy or other treatments when we suffer diseases caused by mass produced meat? How is it convenient that when you hit 40 (the age is getting younger) that you need to invest most of your savings to salvage your health from meat consumption. Not to mention our loved ones who have to suffer along with us just because we want to please our taste buds. We are easy victims to meat cartels and others powerhouses that dominate our daily life simply because we are lazy and selfish. This is a ironic reason that raise so much doubt about humanity. Despite all this, I am grateful to the 600 million vegetarians out there who made a stand. I believe today, it is time to not just shift our personal choice but also support those around us to make sustainable choices.
Here’s some statistics to back up what this enlightened gentleman said:
Thank you, Mr. Philip Wollen for being the kind of voice we need more of, to raise awareness against the world of selfish murderous ways that focus on satisfying the dining desire but oblivious towards everything else. Meat is the new asbestos, watch Earthling, and we will realize that meat not only cause enormous pain & suffering to animals, damage the environment, it also erode the mind of human being who choose to turn off their conscientious and allow viles to take place. Please help spread Earthling and show the world how selfish we are.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this video. This is indeed a very inspiring video, with lots of fact and logic. Thank you people like Mr. Philip Wollen who tirelessly speak up for the animals. Like what Mr. Philip Wollen said, how we can turn our blind eye and let the animals suffer and die? This is a video everyone must watch and end the suffering.
I become vegetarian upon seeing a quote from Rinpoche, which says, “If you are Buddhists, you should be vegetarian. No IFs, No BUTs”. After 7 years of vegetarian, I have no regret and I thank Rinpoche for your kindness for planting the vegetarian seed in me. ????