The Price of meat

The Price of meat



Do you eat meat?

I'm not particularly a meat-eater from young, and till now, it's still not a must-have for me.

I'm actually quite content if I don't have meat to eat, or a meat dish.

For some people, it's a must, and I understand.

Whenever you eat a piece of meat, have you ever wonder where the meat comes from?

I have.



According to the World Watch Institute, producing 1kg of beef requires 16kg of grain and 100,000 litres of water and creates 13kg of carbon dioxide.

Just imagine how much grain and water can be consumed by a whole cow, and how much pollution can be produced.

Sometime back, The Sunday Times reported that it takes only 116.6L of water to produce 1kg of wheat, but 3673L to produce 1kg of meat.

Nearly 15.4kg of corn and soy are needed to produce 1kg of pork.

Not forgetting the pollution : the livestock industry accounts for 9% of carbon dioxide deriving from human-related activities, and generates 65% of man-made nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and most of this comes from manure.



Knowing the above, isn't it time for us to consider cutting down on our meat consumption?

Especially if it is just to satisfy our palates and/or greed.

It's good enough that we can fill our stomachs, don't you think?

Must we really eat a big chunk of meat?

With a decrease in demand, automatically the supply will also have to decrease.

It's not just for our health, but also the health of Mother Earth - the environment.

Think also about all the animals who are sacrificing their lives, suffering in pain and being abused by the farmers so that we can eat.

Think also about the amount of grain that's used to feed the animals when it can be better used to feed others in the world who are starving.

The fault and responsibility do not lie in the animals.

It lies in us - the consumers.



So, the next time you eat a piece of meat, please remember where that piece of meat comes from, and the price for eating it.

In Ajahn Chah words,

"Think about this seriously, please."

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution of a vegetarian diet."

- Albert Einstein

"If animals were created for men, then it could follow that men were also created for animals since there are some animals which eat human flesh."

- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda

"Man's cruelty towards animals is another expression of his uncontrolled greed."

- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda

Poor Me

Poor Me


Note : The story below is taken from the book "Everything is Teaching Us - a collection of teachings by Ajahn Chah."



One day, a pig farmer went to see Ajahn Chah.

He was complaining, "Oh man! This year is really too much! The price of feed is up, and the price of pork is down. I'm losing my shirt!"

Ajahn Chah listened to his laments, then said, "Don't feel too sorry for yourself, sir. If you were a pig, then you would have good reason to feel sorry for yourself.

When the price of pork is high, pigs are slaughtered.

When the price of pork is low, the pigs are still slaughtered.

The pigs really have something to complain about.

The people should not be complaining. Think about this seriously, please."

The farmer was only worried about the prices he was getting.

The pigs have a lot more to worry about, but we don't consider that cos' we are not the ones being killed. The pigs are.



Now, think about it.

Who are the real 'poor me'?

Not us humans.

Cos' we still have our lives, and we still can find a way to get by.

We ought to be thankful and grateful.

How often is it that we lament on our woes when we should be counting our blessings?

When you are unhappy, you feel that the whole world is against you, that everything is about to collapse.


However, if you take a step back, you will find that you are better off than many other people.


As the saying goes, "I complain I have no shoes, until I met a man who has no feet."

So the next time you complain, and feel sorry for yourself and think how unfortunate you are, please consider the earthworms -

At least we can still eat things like fruits, we don't have to eat dirt like the earthworms.

And if earthworms can talk, they'll probably be telling us,

"Don't feel too sorry for yourself. You walk on ground. Me? I get trampled on.

Don't you still have arms, legs and bones? I don't have those things, yet I don't feel poor."

Humans really do have a lot to learn from all the creatures great and small that are around us.

"Animals are the same as humans, Just as humans are the same as animals.

If we can 'see' this, we'll realise that they are afraid of dying, Just like people."

- Ajahn Chah

Complain, Complain

Complain, Complain



Once, there was a farmer who went to see the Buddha.

He had heard many wonderful, incredible and amazing stories about the Buddha - how the Buddha is an Enlightened One, a Great Teacher, a Compassionate being, an All-Knowing One, etc etc.



Like all of us, he has some problems in his life which he hope and expect the Buddha to help him solve.

Farmer : I like farming. But sometimes it doesn't rain. When it rains, sometimes it's not enough , and my crops can't grow. Take last year for example, we nearly starved. Then, there are times when it rains too much; so I don't have the kind of yield I want.

The Buddha nodded his head in quiet acknowledge to the farmer's complains, and listened patiently as the farmer continued.

"You know, I'm married. She's a nice lady, a good wife. I do love her but sometimes, she nags so much! And sometimes, I feel I'm tired of her, our relationship, and I want out. I want to have a change. I want to feel excitement again ........"

"I also have children ........ they are good children. It's just that sometimes they don't show me enough respect, the respect I feel they should. And then there's ........"



The farmer went on and on, pouring out all his life's problems to the Buddha, as the Compassionate One listened quietly.

After he had finished, he looked expectantly at the Enlightened One, hoping for an answer which would put everything right.

However, to his astonishment, the Buddha replied flatly, "I can't help you."



The farmer was shocked.

"What do you mean you can't help me?! You are the Buddha, for goodness sake!" cried the farmer.

"It's true I'm the Buddha. But it's also true that everyone got problems," the Buddha calmly replied.

"As a matter of fact, all of us have 83999 problems.

Each one of us.

And there's nothing we can do about it.

If you work really hard in solving one of them, perhaps you can fix it.

But even if you do, another one will pop up immediately to take its place.

Take for example, you're going to lose your loved ones one day.

And even yourself, you're going to die some day.

That by itself is a problem. And there's nothing you, I, or anyone can do about it."



"Huh?! I thought they said you are a great Teacher!" the farmer shouted angrily.

"I thought you can help me! What kind of help is that? What kind of teaching is that? Of what good and use is your teaching then?!"

"Maybe to help you with your 84000th problem." said the Buddha quietly.

"84000th problem? What 84000th problem? What is the 84000 problem?" asked the farmer, puzzled, confused and lost.

"Your want to not have any problems." was the Wise One's reply.



And that, by the way is the good and use of the Buddha's Teachings - to stop our complains and dissatisfactions and discontentment with life, and to see life as it is - Suffering.

"Life is suffering.

Life is a joke.

Suffering is a joke.

If you can look and laugh at Suffering as you would a joke,

You suffer no more!"

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"Happiness follows sorrow,

Just as sorrow follows happiness.

When one no longer discriminates between happiness and sorrow,

One realises Freedom."

- The Buddha

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"My teachings is not to come and believe,

But to PRACTICE."

- The Buddha

"Whatever method we adopt to overcome our problems, it is impossible to gain complete satisfaction in our lives until we train our Minds and reduce selfishness and craving.

The Teachings of The Buddha give us a very clear exposition of how to understand the nature of human problems, and how to overcome them."

- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda

The Mynah and her nestling

The Mynah and her nestling



Look around you ...... do you see any mynahs?

If you do, observe if there's one tagging behind or around another, with its mouth open, calling away.

If you do get a chance to see this, keep observing.

More or less, you'll come to realise that the one that's calling is probably a fully grown nestling and it's calling cos' it wants its mother to continue to feed it - that's why its mouth is open, calling away.

Now observe the mother. What is she doing?

Tendency is the mother is pecking away and ignoring, or rather, seems to be ignoring, her nestling.

Now ask yourself : What can we learn here?

To an on-looker, it may seem that the mynah is harsh and unfeeling towards her nestling, that she doesn't love or take care of her child.

But is this Truth?

In Reality, what the mother myna is displaying is the greatest form of love.

She's pecking on the floor to demonstrate to the baby how to find food and feed on its own.

Heartbreaking as it is for her, she knows she has to 'ignore' her child.

Imagine, if the mynah were to continue to feed the nestling, what's going to happen?

The nestling will never learn how to find food on its own, will never 'grow up', and will forever be dependent on its mother.

Now, what if the mother dies, which the mother will, one day.

What's going to happen to the baby mynah then?

Who's going to feed it if it doesn't know how to find food on its own and feed itself?



In 'What is, What it's not', I wrote that love and education plays a very important part in many aspects of our lives, including Parenting.

If you think about it, as a parent, you ARE giving love and education to your kids.

Ask yourself, what kind of love and education am I giving (to them)?



If you are always imposing your views and opinions on your kinds, controlling them, telling them 'must do this, cannot do that' (eg. must score A's', cannot score B's', must be rich, cannot be poor or average) etc, and inculcating in them that all that matters in Life is money, status, power, being first, and all the physical material stuff, with no emphasis on Morals and Values/Virtues, and always pampering them by doing things for them, and spoiling them when you should be disciplining them,

Be Careful.

It may seem like you're 'loving' your kids; in Reality, you are destroying them.

Take the following example :

1st sibling to 2nd sibling, "Your mother ........."

2nd sibling to 3rd sibling, "Your mother ........."

3rd sibling scratched the head and wonder, "Isn't my mother their mother also?"

So parents, if you do not want/wish the above to happen to you, do examine how you are parenting (ie loving & educating) your kids.

"We are the results of what we were,

And we will be the results of what we are."

"When a relationship is valued and measured by dollars and cents, it's no longer a relationship; It has become a business transaction."

Why We Die

Why We Die



Somewhere in August, before a class began, a student asked me why the young man died during the marathon?

She mentioned that he was so young and fit, that he trains.

As it is a class, and there were other participants around.

I told her about how the heart is a muscle, the workings of the heart and lungs, the circulatory system etc etc etc.

I did not tell her about Karma.

Neither did I tell her about the most important part :

That All of us die.

Young or old, Rich or poor.



Have you ever taken a walk in the park?

Or, take a look at the nature around you?

Do you notice that the leaves that fall on the ground are not just the brown and withered ones?

Some are green. Fresh green.

As long as we are born, we're subjected to the 3D's of life :

Decay, Disease and Death.

And that by the way, is also the reason why the young man died.

"Subjected to change are all the conditioned things.

Impermanence is the nature of All things.

The moment we are born, we are already dead.

When there's life, there will be death.

It's only a matter of when, where and how it happens."







"Make an island unto yourself, strive without delay; Become wise.

Having removed all impurities and being free from all moral defilement's,

You will no longer be subject to rebirth and decay."

- The Buddha






"Those who are aware do not die.

Those who are ignorant are as if dead already."

- The Buddha

The purpose of Mosquitoes

The purpose of Mosquitoes



About a year and a half ago, I met a Caucasian lady at a meeting.

Everyone at the meeting was in awe of her capabilities.

Honestly, I too, thought she must be pretty good since the 3 masters who were there were very impressed and full of praise for her.

We went for lunch.

After lunch, while everyone was sitting around chit chatting, she asked to sit next to me. And, started a conversation.

"I believe God created mosquitoes for the purpose of balancing the human population," she said.

Curious, I asked her why she said that.

She replied that with just a sting, mosquitoes can spread diseases like malaria and dengue etc, killing people.

"But I thought mosquitoes are only carriers, right? Unless they bite a person infected with the disease, then they can spread it to the next person, no?" I asked.

"No, mosquitoes are the ones that kill. So many people have died because of them," was her reply.

"Perhaps it's meant to be," I said.

"No, it's the mosquitoes. So many of my friends and family were bitten by mosquitoes and I've visited them in the hospitals and see them suffering. I even lost a few of them. All because of the mosquitoes," she said, with bitterness and indignation in her voice.


Sensing her increasing agitation and rising tension between us, I decided to douse the flaming anger and resentment (for mosquitoes) with a little loving-kindness.

So, I asked her, "Which comes first : Chicken or Egg?"

"Egg" she replied without hesitation.

"Without the chicken, how did the egg come about?" I asked.

She looked at me, stumped.

And quickly replied, "Then chicken."

I smiled and said again, "But without the egg, how did the chicken come about?"

She stared at me, dumbfounded.

Seeing that I have her full concentration and awareness now, I continued.

"Perhaps there's a purpose for mosquitoes. But maybe it's not to kill. Just like the knife. I'm sure when they first invented the knife, it was not meant to harm or kill. But over time, things changed. Evolve. People abused it. But don't you have more important things in your life to worry about, than to worry and think about the purpose of mosquitoes?"



How often is it that we get hot and bothered about the insubstantial things and trivialities of life, when there are more important and pressing things which we should be concerned about -

Such as, Freedom from the cycle of samsara (death and rebirth) before death comes knocking on our doors.

"You talk much, you get blame.

You talk little, you get blame

You keep quiet, you also get blame.

There's no one in this world who doesn't get blame." (Even the mosquitoes! :) )

- The Buddha

"Anger can never dispel anger,

Hate can never dispel hate.

Only Love can dispel anger,

Only Love can dispel hate.

- The Buddha

"One who checks rising anger is like a skillful charioteer who handles a chariot gone out of control. Others are like those who merely hold the reins."

- The Buddha

We Never Know

We Never Know


2 years ago when I first started dropping classes, I thought letting go of a particular class was hard.

I also thought that with the letting go of that particular class, I'll have no problems letting go of any other classes. (Read "Letting Go vs Holding On).

I was wrong.



In June this year, due to certain circumstances, I had to let go of one of my classes.

Boy! It was tough.

It was hard. So hard.

I never knew that it will be so hard or that I love them so much.

It was a very strong class.

The synergy and energy there was great.

Not forgetting their playfulness.

In the words of a participant, "We were like one big happy family."



Even after the class had stopped, it took me a while to get used to it. To not think about them, or miss them.

That experience taught me that we may think that we know something, we assume that we know something, that we understand something. Realised something.

In actual fact, we don't.

So never jump to conclusion, never be too sure .....

Cos we never know.

"An 'open' mind is an enlightened mind."