Wed, 23 Dec 2009
Peace on Earth
Buddhists always talk about the importance of compassion, for good reason. But it's not enough to wish for compassion or meditate about it on your cushion. When you have the opportunity to make the world a better place, you should. When I look at the great causes of suffering in this world, three stand out. The first is the tremendous amount of suffering caused by raising and killing animals for meat. People are blind to the reality of factory farming and slaughterhouses, but they are the source of a tremendous amount of suffering. The second is the suffering caused by war and by the world's military. Anything we can do to promote peace and reduce distrust between nations and peoples is a virtuous act. The third is the suffering caused by disease and early death. This is not only a medical problem, much of the problem is caused by malnutrition and unclean water. If we could take a fraction of the money that the world spends on weapons and spend it on these problems instead, the world would be a much happier place. Of course, some problems are medical and require a medical response. I'm enthusiastic about the ability of homeopathy to improve the world's health. Cuba has eliminated leptospirosis through the use of homeopathy. If homeopathy were more widely applied, it would make a huge difference.
