Pranaman Posted May 30, 2009 So, my teacher came back from china recently. I came in halfway through the conversation, so he could be talking about the masters of India or the masters of China. Anyway, he said that some of them eat only some animals because they are the ones of don't have spirit. Duck and pig don't have spirit. Cows do however. Have any of you guys heard anything about this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted May 31, 2009 Sounds like complete bullshit to me... Everything is spirit - the universe is whole. I'm not saying not to eat meat, just that it's ridiculous to make such an assertion. Show me the measuring stick of spirit and I may change my song. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Enishi Posted May 31, 2009 *shrugs* According to some traditions, various species of animals have a group soul of sorts (devas and angels), kinda like cells in our body. And thus, the death of a single animal isn't comparable to the death of a single sentient being. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mokona Posted May 31, 2009 How many people have cow totems? My spirit buddy is a wolf! Must mean they have souls, or mine did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pranaman Posted May 31, 2009 Sounds like complete bullshit to me... Everything is spirit - the universe is whole. I'm not saying not to eat meat, just that it's ridiculous to make such an assertion. Show me the measuring stick of spirit and I may change my song. So you have not heard of this? Good to know. and are you sure that everything is spirit? This is the only thing in the universe that has no yin/yang? just one single sweeping generalization. Either way I find it interesting that there are Taoists in China who have been meditating there entire lives.... who do believe this. When I(my non-enlightened self to be noted) see a cow, I see something with a peace inside, a kind of beauty. When I think of a pig, I think of a horde of hogs racing each other to get to the pig pen to eat their slop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Encephalon Posted June 3, 2009 So, my teacher came back from china recently. I came in halfway through the conversation, so he could be talking about the masters of India or the masters of China. Anyway, he said that some of them eat only some animals because they are the ones of don't have spirit. Duck and pig don't have spirit. Cows do however. Have any of you guys heard anything about this? I would have to conclude that this is indeed total bullshit. Part of the reason I'm attracted to Taoism, as well as agnostic Buddhism, is that they don't oblige you to throw away your critical thinking. I understand that informal logic is not a tool for evaluating inner physiological experiences, but there is something to be said for intellectual humility. The Buddha was adamant about keeping metaphysics at bay; metaphsyics is for people too lazy to study physics. Given that pigs are extraordinarily intelligent animals with remarkable emotionally rich lives, I'd say leave the pigs alone. Frankly, if the world's cattle herds suddenly disappeared, everyone would be a whole lot better off ecologically. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Enishi Posted June 3, 2009 I agree about pigs, very developed minds. I have a friend with some pot bellied pigs. Their intelligence and emotional personalities are comparable in certain respects to that of a human toddler. Same thing with dolphins and elephants. The group soul phenomena applies moreso to certain types of fish, flocks of birds, plants and insects if I remember correctly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pranaman Posted June 3, 2009 (edited) My teacher didn't choose to believe or disbelieve what some people he had never met believed in. It just came up in conversation. To clear his name. To the topic..... there is a lot of dogma in the world. This is why I do prefer physics to metaphysics. I also accept what I experience..... like I experienced something cool with acupuncture today. Something happened in my body, I felt an anxious wave spread under my skin directly from the point, I started to sweat, I had euphoric recall/psychedelic effects on my vision.... was it energy? was it neurotransmitters? I don't know and I don't care. What's important is if it works or not. I don't have the long-term data to see if the treatment would assist in detox or not. But enough experiential data to warrant further investigation. Edited June 3, 2009 by Pranaman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DalTheJigsaw123 Posted June 3, 2009 Sounds like complete bullshit to me... Everything is spirit - the universe is whole. I'm not saying not to eat meat, just that it's ridiculous to make such an assertion. Show me the measuring stick of spirit and I may change my song. I would double it, that everything is in fact a spirit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
