To Meat or not to Meat?

The Vegetarian Diet: A Mindful Pursuit or A Nutritional Sacrifice?

Vegetarians
More effort into the food and nutrition
Suffering of sentient beings
– it’s cause we have the ability not to
Overfarming of fish, overuse of land and resources to keep up with meat demand
Eggs, tofu, and tree nuts
Heart disease and the prevalence of processed meats

Omnivores
Balanced diet and incredibly nutritious meat
– B12, iron, zinc, healthy fats and high quality protein
It’s what we’re built to eat
Eating meat is what brought us here!
– ancestors having to organize for the hunt
Bacon!

Similar
Awareness of nutrients
– in general, meat-eaters are more prone to diseases because they are also more likely to be smokers and to eat processed meats, it isn’t just that they eat meat, because anyone can be health-conscious.
Pursuit of excellent dishes
– taste and appearance!
Farmers and the organic pursuit
Matters of cost
We Tax The Environment either way!

Refuse to Stop Eating Meat: http://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-to-eat-meat-2013-9
Reasons to Eat Meat: http://authoritynutrition.com/7-evidence-based-health-reasons-to-eat-meat/
Scientific American: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-humans-eat-meat-excerpt/

3 Blogs of Interest

In grading for the midterm, I would like to nominate The Rogerian Dharma, A Meditating Senator, and The Man-Made Obstacle.
はい！風の話を聞きましょう！

The Rogerian Dharma

As a Dharma Bum, a Bodhisattva, or simply someone who cares about the world, Buddhism stands as an amazing point of thought and philosophy approach to everyday life. Buddhist thought follows the example of Buddha, a historically enlightened being who rejected the orthodox ways presented before him and opted to focus on the universal truths underlying. Buddhism also focuses on seeing others (all living things) as equals, and thus treating them with respect and considerable care. In this way, Buddhism is un-orthodox (doesn’t prescribe to adhering one’s life to the interpretations of a sacred written text), is open minded (requires a practice of considering the thoughts and opinions of others without making quick judgments), and is compassionate. These and many other points have drawn me to Buddhism from the first time I heard of the Buddha as a young child. Now that I’ve looked into specific stories, teachings, and examples of the Buddha’s way, I have come to practice Buddhism as my way of life. However, as nice as it may sound, this is no simple statement to justify.
As with any other major life philosophy, Buddhism holds almost innumerable specific schools and sects of study, or as a monk might put it, there are many ways to live the Dharma. The Dharma can be translated as “The Way” as in the way to live one’s life (to reach fulfillment); “The Law” as in the law or truth underlying the simplicities and intricacies of the universe; “The Invulnerable” as in the consistently changing and adapting infinite flow of the universe; and so many other transcendent concepts. Keeping this in mind, Buddhism is at once united and divided beyond any possible surface comprehension, and there are as many disagreements in Buddhist schools as there are in different denominations of Christianity. For instance, the Theravada school in South-East Asia view that in order to become enlightened, one must live the life of a monk, meditating and begging for food, while the laypeople (or common-folk) seek the blessings and mystical protections of these more enlightened beings. In Mahayana Buddhism, the broadest Buddhist perspective, it is commonly recognized that any person can reach an enlightened perspective within their lifetimes. This differentiation in views exemplifies one of the largest divides in Buddhism: what does it take to become enlightened?
In both perspectives, reaching enlightenment entails cultivating an extensive awareness of one’s self/selves in everyday action, intent, purpose, and so on; a perspective known simply as mindfulness. Additionally, Buddhism in large views the practice of meditation as critical to reaching enlightened states of consciousness, though specific practices differ widely. Finally, an essential practice of all Buddhism is acting with compassion towards oneself and others. These truths can be said to hold the essence of what defines Buddhism, but everyday life often becomes much more complex than adhering only to these truths. The Theravada community holds a strict regard for the Buddha’s most original teachings (and I say “most original” because the Buddha never wrote anything down) while the Mahayana community understands that, like all other things, even the teachings of Buddha are impermanent and imperfect. My personal aspired Buddhist practice is that of the Vajrayana, or Tibetan Buddhist perspective, which finds relevance in both of these views simultaneously.
I vibe well with the Zen perspective that the truth can be found in any situation, one need only really look. I feel that third “fourth turning of the wheel”, a critical point yet to be reached in Buddhism (the previous three being the founding of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, the surfacing of Mahayana, and the later rise in influence of Vajrayana Buddhism) will be in the true realization of Infinite Buddhism. They say that there are many paths, all leading to one truth, but why then do people still argue on how to live life? I feel like simple language will bring forth the next age of enlightenment across Buddhism and the world.
Hail to the Om and to the Thunderbolt in the Void!

Dharma on-screen Plan

Buddhism East and West

Zen, Theravada, and Outside Definitions Presented Before Video

Movement One: Tradition Transition Intro

On Screen:
Background fades in from blackness, time lapse of temple/statue being built.
Text fades in “Tradition” (mostly transparent kanji characters overlay: 伝統―でんとう)
Text transforms into “Transition” (kanji characters: 移行―いこう)
Text materializes: “Buddhism is on the Rise in America” “The First Buddhist temple in America was built in 1854 in San Francisco’s Chinatown.” “With the immigration of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Tibetan workers and refugees, traditional Asian Buddhism grows in presence” “The first non-Asian Buddhism organization – the Insight Meditation Society of 1975” “Today Buddhism is the 4^th largest way-of-life under Christianity and Judaism and is roughly tied with Islam.” “As with any religion, there is a pretty major split between the two main traditions seen in the West”
Transition, fade back to blackness, anti-silhouette of Buddha in meditative pose.
Audio:
Hip electric Chinese/Japanese instrumental, up-beat
Transition, ringing of a bell/chime/singing bowl ends the music
Sources: http://www.people.vcu.edu/~dbromley/undergraduate/spiritualCommunity/BuddhismInAmericaTimeline.html

Movement Two: The Om

On Screen:
From Buddha Silhouette, various figures in the lotus attitude appear on screen, fading into others in the same position, first traditional, then mixture, then western (end on Sen. Tim Ryan).
Text: Quoted from Jay Michaelson’s Evolving Dharma (pg. 10-11)
After quote, transition to Theravada temple and bullet points
Next, Western Zen, study hall or something with bullet points

Audio:
Low Om continuing.
Quote: “The dharma came to America just under two hundred years ago, and has grown largely into two parallel communities: Asian-American immigrant and subsequent-generation populations, and what Richard Seager calls “converts Buddhists,” a mixed bag of Americans who have embraces the dharma as some kind of spiritual, contemplative, or personal development path…”
Narration: The more traditional perspective follows along with the Theravada school of Buddhism, emphasizes monks, laypeople, blessings, long sutras, devotion, history etc
Narration: The Western perspective works more with the contemplative practices of meditation for self-betterment and “brainhacking”, emphasis on science, philosophy, etc

Sources: Evolving Dharma

Movement Three: Mindfulness

Video:
(TEDxTalk on mindfulness) scene revealing an excellent metaphor for Mindfulness

Audio: (potential) Bjork – Joga instrumental, volume on very slight crescendo.

Slide 2
Quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Going Home
Text and Narration:
Xiii – “The quietness of Plum Village is more than the absence of noise. It is somewhere else. It is truly peaceful here. People move slowly, smiles are contented, steps are deliberate, breaths deeper and longer.”

Slide 3
Text: Metaphors really help deliver the message of mindfulness!! Touch on a few benefits!

Slide 4
Pg.1 – “There are things that are available to us twenty-four hours a day. It depends on us to enjoy them. The fresh air is available to us twenty-four hours a day. The question is whether we have the time and awareness to enjoy it. We cannot blame the fresh air for not being there, We have to look back to see whether we take the opportunity and the time to be aware of the fresh air, and to enjoy it.” Pg. 2 follow-up

Movement Four: “Many Paths, One Truth”

Ohhh yeaaa!!!!!

Visual Dharma Goodness

My roommates sit on either side of our collective Buddha shrine we have in the living room and I’ve just turned on low, sweet instrumentals. Buddhism is open and empowering, it’s relaxing! Why do people ridicule the meditating student sitting in the commons? For every reason! Learn little Buddha! Ha!
This visual argument is that of a thinker in motion, and art is something beyond relevance when thinking about thoughts. Take a walk down the street and keep in mind all the words you say to your friends in transit. What is it we’ve been doing with our time? What’s the next problem? What’s the most relevant memory to this very moment? Have you been here before?
I like Buddhism, but I like my roommates even more, they take me just a little further every time.

Finalized Dharma Bum

Om. Ohm. Aum. In any spelling of the sound ‘Om’, the same deep, transcendent meaning and resonance remains. Some say the Om was the first sound uttered in the creation of the universe – the reverberating essence of the Big Bang or the Divine Creation. Throughout the East, in China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, Burma, and so on, Buddhist monks of countless monasteries pronounce the Om together in powerful meditation. At home, I pronounce the Om with my roommates in spontaneous moments of beautiful unity. Outside of home, I’m an urban satellite wandering around, following the path of the Dharma Bum. In The Dharma Bums, author Jack Kerouac elicits the importance of :
“See[ing] the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming… wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of ‘em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures…” (Kerouac 1958, 97).

The Dharma Bum: Exploring the Western Bodhisattva

Check out TheDharmaBums.org, a Buddhist American organization bent on fulfilling the duties of Dharma Bums as “Disciples of the Buddha, Practitioners of the Dharma, and Caretakers of the Sangha.” One wonders still – What does it mean when people call themselves Dharma Bums?

In America, Buddhism is on an exponential rise. We see this in proliferation of Buddhist media (i.e. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, established in 1991 as the first Buddhist magazine in America) and in the increased practice of meditation and yoga as Dr. Jay Michaelson, currently a visiting scholar at Brown University, expresses: from 1983 to 2013 we’ve seen an increase  “[from] three peer-reviewed scientific studies of meditation… [to] more than 1,300”.  In fact, Jaweed Kaleem of the Huffington Post relayed that in 2011 Buddhism maintained a growing population of “more than 2 million adherents” in America, making it the fourth largest religion/way of belief under Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  It is no wonder that Buddhism has flourished; thanks to its emphasis on selflessness, openness, and thoughtful skepticism, Buddhism serves the greatest vehicle for finding peace in a fast-paced world. To me, being a Buddhist always seemed so worthwhile, but I thought I needed to be raised in a monastery on some mountain reciting week-long mantras to win over Buddha’s favor, but that’s simply not the way Western Buddhism works.
Recently, I’ve concretely established myself as a Buddhist, pronouncing short mantras (like the Om), cultivating my mindfulness, and expressing the Buddhahood of life. Superficially, Peter Kaufman would argue that I must be a Buddhist by means of outside identification, but I hold this to be a fundamentally inconsiderate way to classify someone. For instance, calling someone out on being of one denomination or another does not suddenly change their faith or inner-most identity.  Just as in Christianity, Buddhism holds many unique blends of values with an overarching moral-code. Quite naturally, I found the path that worked for me on a whim while reading a book my girlfriend recommended to me off-hand. Indeed, Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac establishes his own identification of American Buddhism in his stylized 1958 semi-autobiographical work: The Dharma Bums. Seeing life through the lens of a Dharma Bum, I have come to celebrate one truth above all in regards to the sum of humanity: While there are innumerable paths to live on the road of life, we all eventually pursue the single transcendent unifying truth the escapes words but not stories. I hold sacred that sharing this knowledge and really applying it will be the greatest tool for bringing together the people of this world.

The term “Many Paths, One Truth” is commonly established as a unifying principle in countless schools of thought. As a child, I spent much time fearing that I might make the wrong choice in religion and be punished for my ignorance, hoping to correctly choose God, Allah, Yahweh, Zeus, etc. In contemplation, Kerouac responds to a friend’s criticizing of Christianity: “What’s wrong with Jesus? Didn’t Jesus speak of Heaven? Isn’t Heaven Buddha’s nirvana?” even citing Shakespeare: “Words, words, what’s in a word? Nirvana by any other name…” (Kerouac, 114). By linking Heaven and nirvana, Kerouac lays-out the simple truth that the eternal essence of bliss present in the holiest concepts of Christianity and Buddhism is not coincidence. In this view, Heaven and nirvana are one in the same, simply seen (and told) from different perspectives, just as the undeniable similarities between praying and meditating. Often when a person of faith, metaphysically connected to the higher powers that be, holds in silence a stance of contemplation, they are performing both acts simultaneously – sending their intentions outward, listening to the universe, and creating internal significance with their experience, or praying and meditating.

This is all well-and-good, but what does being a Bum have to do with bringing people together?

When I first encountered the term, I imagined a smelly drifter mumbling about juju beads and lightning bolts, making the best of each day and always giving his or her thoughts to the sky. Coincidently, this image really is not too far from the truth. Save the requirement for odor and add in a few key concepts and you’ve got yourself a Bum of the Dharma. In his novel, Kerouac deliberately establishes Dharma Bums to be Bodhisattvas; the Bodhisattva being an old Buddhist term that Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Phillip Novak, cites ancient Buddhist scripture regarding the Bodhisattva as “a person who, out of compassion, renounces his or her entry into nirvana… to undertake [the] infinite work of saving all sentient beings” (Novak, Chapt 2, p.80). In a modern context, working to ‘save’ holds an air of negativity to it, especially in the West, so I personally adapt this definition in reflection of what I have seen of Bodhisattvas I have met and read about. To me, considering several points Kerouac elaborates upon, someone on the selfless spiritual (or non spiritual) path can be of any name or denomination, what matters is the shedding of judgment, malicious intent, and useless thoughts and actions that lead to no benefit. In this way, the Dharma Bum is no useless recluse, trippy hippy, or fragrant vagrant; rather, the way of the Dharma Bum is that of equality, learning, and peace, perhaps that of a good student. These qualities greatly benefit society down to the individual. To control one’s mind and thus one’s judgment can truly fill the gap of racism and stereotyping, helping to heal all that which our assumptions and poorly-judged actions have delivered in the past. Today, however, many people must be convinced that these practices work, needing the quantifiable proof of professors and researchers from prestigious universities.

One of the defining, and often surprising qualities of Buddhism, especially American Buddhism, is its skepticism, namely the use of science to prove/disprove religious assertions. With reincarnation, for instance, many Buddhists believe that consciousness, like energy, cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed and transmigrated, explaining the passage of consciousness through the soul into new bodies through one of the key laws of physics. Regarding meditation, a Harvard Medical study done in 2013 revealed the gene-altering capabilities of the ancient practice, stating that “Pathways controlled by activation of a protein called NF-κB—known to have a prominent role in inflammation, stress, trauma and cancer—were suppressed” in a group that practiced mindfulness meditation for a series of weeks (HMS, 2013). This proves the ancient (BCE) claims made throughout Hinduism and Buddhism that the act of meditation transforms the individual to the core of their being. One Buddhist goes as far as to reveal that if a fact is “definitely proven through scientific investigation” Buddhism at large must accept it, even if it is “incompatible with Buddhist theory.” Perhaps this attitude would not hold true in all of Buddhism, that is, if it weren’t a direct quote from the inmost one, The 14^th Dalai Lama of Tibet. For Buddhism, this means that there is no quarrel between even opposite schools of belief, uniting science and religion with open-minded skepticism.

For this reason, Buddhism has stood out to me as an authority of thought and action where only logic or only faith left my mind and/or heart wondering. Growing up in Alaska as a white, cisgender male, I must acknowledge my privilege, but with Buddhism I feel I can discard it and thus shed the ego attached to what is superficially me. In practice, all Buddhists establish the reflective nature of things, seeing any person in any culture simply as reflection of self, another Dharma Bum, even if they prescribe to some mainstream. The beauty of the Dharma Bum is that, as a Bodhisattva, it is one’s deepest obligation to see the spiritual progress and interconnectedness of all things. As a Western Bodhisattva, this view is especially open because one can draw from any previous or contemporary school of thought in order to create relevance. I often find myself wondering what Jesus would do, what he would think; I am often gazing on Hindu deities in total reverence and wonder; I aim always to connect my every outcome toward the greater good. Ultimately, this deep consideration for and significance with the universe and its many intricacies is what being a Dharma Bum is really all about.

Works Cited

• Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin Books, 2006. Print.
• Kaleem, J. “Buddhism In America: What Is The Future?.” The Huffington Post. com, 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
  < www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/14/america-buddhism_n_876577.html>
• Novak, P. The World’s Wisdom: Sacred texts of the World’s Religions. San
  Francisco, Calif.: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. Print.
• “Vision.” International Bodhisattva Sangha. p., n.d. Web 19 Sept. 2014.
  <http://www.thedharmabums.org/>.
• Image – “OM Store – Yoga Class.” Hatha Yoga Classes. p, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.      <http://www.omcostarica.com/hatha_yoga>.
• “HMS.” Mind-body Genomics.p., 1 May 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2014                                         <http://hms.harvard.edu/news/genetics/mind-body-genomics-5-1-13>
• Michaelson, J. Evolving dharma: meditation, Buddhism, and the next generation of Berkley, California: Evolver Editions, 2013. Print.