by Will Tuttle
References:
1. Will Tuttle, The World Peace Diet (New York: Lantern), 2016, Tenth Anniversary Edition. See Chapter Two, “Our Culture’s Roots.”
AFTERWORD
May All Life Be Loved
Master Ma Chuo
In July of 2012, walking in the Lashingbu Mountains of Tibet, at about 16,000 feet, I found myself under a sky so bright and clear it seemed to have just been wiped by a pair of gentle hands. A cloud was lightly floating by above, like a playful child, jumping in front of the blazing sun, as if reaching out to cover the sun’s brilliant eyes. It tiptoed over and gently kissed the sun. The sunlight streamed around the cloud’s soft back, dappling it and sending shadows rising and falling among the rolling hills. On the mountainside, a brisk breeze spun ephemeral music of earth and heaven.
I was standing on a flat slope, breathing in peace, and feeling immersed in the healing beauty of blueness, light, and freshness that slowly filled my lungs. A warm current went through my whole body. This nourishing stream of nature’s living vitality brought tears to my eyes. I had longed for this in my dreams.
Not far away, the local people were unrolling their new Sutra streamers and hanging them on the beckoning hillside. I joined them, and after tying and attaching all the streamers that I had in my hands, I put my palms together, lowered my gaze, closed my eyes, and prayed for the well-being of all living beings, yearning for the gentle breeze to carry my wishes into every direction and every dimension.
I lost track of time, being immersed in my inward meditation. Upon opening my eyes, the sunlight was fading. Looking up, I realized it was time to head back down, but I wasn’t sure of the way. I suddenly felt a little flustered. Standing alone in the thin mountain air, I began to feel oxygen deprived and this made me even more anxious. I looked around and searched for someone who could give me directions.
A rustling sound gave me some hope in my trepidation. A white-bearded Tibetan antelope slowly appeared in front of me from behind some bushes and I was overjoyed. The antelope knew this wild mountain landscape and would certainly be able to help me find my way down the mountain. I thought I would have a good talk with him.
I waved my hand with excitement and greeted the antelope loudly as if seeing an old friend in my hometown. “Brother Antelope, how are you? Sorry to disturb you from grass grazing! Excuse me.”
“Little Moustache,” as I called him, raised his eyes and made eye contact with me. It felt right.
“Brother Antelope how are you? Could you take me down the hill, please? I’m lost.”
“Little Moustache” saw my concerned face and walked up to me. The Tibetan antelope turned slowly and seemed to understand my appeal. He walked past me, and kept grazing as he wandered down the hill. I followed him and recited a Heart Sutra for him. I told him the story of my ongoing walk to spread the vegan message all over China, sometimes even drawing quite close to him. We went down the mountain together in the style of an antelope followed by a man. Eventually, after going through a low cave, we finally reached a relatively flat slope. Overjoyed, I realized that now I wasn’t far from the next village where I could spend the night.
“Brother Antelope, thank you for taking me down. If you can understand what I’m saying, give me a kiss.”
I closed my eyes, and a rush of warm rough air came over me and then splattered my left cheek, and I opened my eyes in amazement and nearly jumped with excitement.
“If you can understand me, then kiss my right cheek also, OK?”
I closed my eyes again and I was boiling on the inside.
The clammy, heavy-breathed wet patter stuck to the right side of my face this time, and I could not restrain my joy, and my appreciation for “Little Moustache.”
“Look, we both have moustaches! We’re family. You eat your grass. I eat my vegetables and grains. I’ll talk with you.”
At that moment, everything else seemed superfluous.
In infinite space and time, we made a connection as two beings. Even though we spoke different languages, and were different species, there was no gap in the communication from one heart to another.
This felt like what life was supposed to be like, fusing our hearts together in this pure mountain air. It was delightful and sincere. Soon it was time to part ways and I said, “I really appreciate your help. Let’s close our eyes and give each other our blessings. May you live a happy life and attain a precious human birth in your next life and be drawn to the Dharma.”
I closed my eyes and made a wish, while my Brother Antelope also closed his eyes. An antelope and a man had gotten to know each other in a meaningful way.
“What is your blessing?” I asked, with tears in my eyes. I left Brother Antelope, as if saying goodbye to an old friend. “Good brother, the Bodhi road calls us to a long, long journey. My earnest wish is that we both are able to arrive at the same destination.”
Every time after contemplating or sharing this story, I am filled with gratitude. My heart is re-inspired to walk the Buddhist path of spiritual awakening, and also to spread the vegan message of revering and respecting all life. This is the essence of the Dharma way. Animals are like humans in the most significant ways and deserve the right to be free and to enjoy life. All living things exist in an interconnected way. In the coexistence between human beings and animals, we are called to try our best to learn how to live in harmony together on this beautiful planet.
My name is Ma Chuo. For many years, I have put my dreams into practice and have travelled the world on foot sharing the Buddhist vegan message. I look forward to a future when every life can have the right to be loved. In this book, the heart-offerings of many Buddhist teachers and practitioners shine light on the connection between the Buddhist Dharma teachings and the vegan path of respecting all life. May your heart be open and may you also be kissed and blessed on both cheeks by the wisdom of the Dharma as I was in the remote Himalayan mountains by “Brother Moustache.”
Contributor Profiles
Marion Achoulias is co-initiator of the Montreal March to Close all Slaughterhouses as well as the Meditation at the Vegan Co-op Project, which holds weekly mindfulness sessions for activists. Marion has taught courses in religion, psychology, and ethics at Concordia University, and is an ordained lay student at Blue Cliff Monastery in Upstate New York, a short drive from four local sanctuaries for farmed animals.
Andrew Bear is an ordained lay student of Thich Nhat Hanh and chapter leader for the Silicon Valley chapter of Dharma Voices for Animals. Andrew volunteers as a wildlife rehabilitator at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley and as a wildlife search and rescue responder with Wildlife Emergency Services.
David Blatte, J.D., served as a public defender in Philadelphia, later had an animal law practice in California, and served as executive director of Vegan Action. A co-founder of Dharma Voices for Animals, David has lived and practiced at Vipassana monasteries in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. A 30-year vegan, he has done over two years of silent intensive Vipassana practice.
John Bussineau is author of The Buddha, The Vegan, and You. A 20-year member of the Jewel Heart Tibetan Learning Center and student of Gelek Rinpoche, he was named by Rinpoche as Jewel Heart Ambassador for Vegetarianism, Veganism, and Animal Welfare. He has been a chapter leader for the Ann Arbor chapter of Dharma Voices for Animals.
Dr. Joanne Cacciatore is a tenured professor at Arizona State University and the founder of the MISS Foundation, an international nonprofit organization with 75 chapters aiding parents whose children have died or are dying. She also started the first therapeutic vegan care-farm, housing 22 animals rescued from abuse. Her research has been published in The Lancet, Death Studies, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Families in Society. Her latest book, Bearing the Unbearable, won the 2017 Indies Book of the Year Award in self-help and was included in Oprah’s Basket of Favorite Things. Dr. Cacciatore is an ordained Zen priest who stopped eating animals at age 7.
Ma Chuo, a calligraphy artist,
photographer, free-spirited backpacker, and Buddhist practitioner from Chengdu, China, is over half-way through his ten-year solo walking tour throughout the length and breadth of China, with the aim of spreading the vegan message in every city. So far, Master Ma has received more than 700 car rides while traveling and speaking in over 800 cities and handing out about 150,000 leaflets on veganism and environmental protection. He has been invited to speak at dozens of universities, is vice chair of the World Vegan Organization in China, and vice president of the China Vegetarian Society.
Alan Dale is a non-monastic lama in the Kagyu, Nyingma, and Gelug lineages. His teachers have included Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama, Khensur Rinpoche, Choden Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, and Chetsang Rinpoche. He has been vegetarian and vegan for most of his life. Alan is a digital media expert and CEO of Los Angeles Web Design. He also manages the website VeganBuddhism.com.
William DiGiorgio is certified in plant-based nutrition and raw cuisine, and has worked as a vegan chef at several well-known restaurants including Millennium and Living Light. A Vipassana practitioner, he blogs about his vegan lifestyle at VeganDietGuy. com and currently works as a personal chef, caterer, and vegan cooking instructor in Honolulu.
Tracey Winter Glover, J.D., author of Lotus of the Heart: Living Yoga for Personal Wellness and Global Survival, is a former rescue officer with the Humane Society of Huron Valley, MI. After practicing law in Washington, DC, for eight years, she travelled to India to study yoga and meditation. Tracey currently lives in Mobile where she teaches yoga and runs the intersectional animal rights group, “Awakening Respect and Compassion for all Sentient Beings.” She is the guardian of 11 rescued cats and two rescued dogs.
Dr. Jun Gong is a professor of philosophy at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China, and is director of the Center of Buddhist Studies there. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and is the author of 30 papers and five books on Chinese Buddhism, including A Study of Humanistic Buddhism, and is editor of The Chinese Buddhist Review.
Rev. Heng Sure, Ph.D., is the senior monk at the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. Ordained in 1976 in the Chinese Chan tradition at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California, he made a “three steps, one bow” pilgrimage from South Pasadena to Ukiah for world peace, covering 800 miles over 30 months, while making a full prostration every three steps along the California coast. Rev. Sure writes and performs American Buddhist folk songs (www.dharmaradio.org) and is active in Interfaith dialogue. He spends half of the year in the Queensland bush, conversing with kookaburras.
Bob Isaacson is the co-founder and president of Dharma Voices for Animals, an international Buddhist animal advocacy organization. He has practiced the Dharma in the Vipassana tradition for twenty-three years and currently leads two sanghas in the San Diego area, having been trained in Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leader Program. Bob was a human rights attorney for twenty-five years, specializing in defending people against the death penalty. He presented and won a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court when he was 27, the second-youngest attorney in history to appear before the nation’s highest court.
Dr. Joel & Michelle Levey are authors of several books including Living in Balance and Mindfulness, Meditation, and Mind Fitness, as well as The Fine Arts of Relaxation, Concentration, and Meditation. Founders of Wisdom at Work (www.wisdomatwork. com) as well as All My Relations Sangha and the International Center for Contemplative Inquiry and Research, they are also on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Sherry Morgado is a practitioner in the Vietnamese Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, and has been a vegan since 2007. She lives and practices in Chico, California, where she is active with her sangha and the vegan community, teaching vegan cooking classes and mentoring new vegans. She is also an active member of Dharma Voices for Animals, serving as the U.S Chapter Coordinator and as a member of the Board of Directors.
Ariel Nessel is founder of The Pollination Project, providing hundreds of seed grants to community change-makers worldwide. Recent undertakings include hosting meditation retreats for activists, developing solar energy projects, and co-creating a gift-based retreat center. His primary practices are mindfulness, engaged philanthropy, and transformational entrepreneurship.
Ven. Tashi Nyima is an ordained monk in the Jonang lineage of Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism, and leads the Universal Compassion Buddhist Congregation, with sanghas in Texas, Mexico, and Argentina. For over 30 years, Lama Tashi has shared the Dharma worldwide in fluent English and Spanish. He has studied under eminent lamas of various lineages, including Tashi Norbu Rinpoche ( Jonang), Lama Tsering Ngodup (Kagyu), the Dalai Lama (Geluk), Kenchen Thrangu Rinpoche (Kagyu), Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso Rinpoche (Nyingma), Sakya Trizin Rinpoche (Sakya), and Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche ( Jonang).
Dr. Tony Page published the first major study of Buddhism and animal rights, Buddhism and Animals: A Buddhist Vision of Humanity’s Rightful Relationship with the Animal Kingdom, and is a full-time lecturer and researcher at Bangkok University, Thailand. He is the author of numerous scholarly papers on English and German literature, as well as on Buddhism, and is also the author of Vivisection Unveiled: An Exposé of the Medical Futility of Animal Experimentation.
Dr. Vicki Seglin is the co-founder of Fierce Compassion Sangha in Evanston, IL, and is an ordained lay member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. She is the Chicago chapter leader for Dharma Voices for Animals. As a clinical psychologist and educator, she uses mindfulness and compassion practice in her work with clients and students.
Paul Tarchichi (Brother Promise) is an ordained monk living in Plum Village, France, in the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Order of Interbeing founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. A Buddhist monk since 2009, he also has lived and practiced at Thai Plum Village (Thailand) and Blue Cliff Monastery in New York.
Madeleine Tuttle is a visionary artist from Switzerland who specializes in painting that celebrates the beauty of animals and nature. She is also a flautist, Waldorf school teacher, long-time vegan cook and coach, gardener, clothing designer, multi-media artisan, and devoted meditator. Her extensive travels on six continents and formal training in Japan in ink brush painting lend a Zen style to her work.
Dr. Will Tuttle is author of the best-selling, The World Peace Diet, published in 16 languages. A recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award and the Empty Cages Prize, he is also the author of Your Inner Islands and editor of Circles of Compassion, as well as the creator of online wellness and advocacy programs. A vegan since 1980 and former Zen monk in the Korean Zen tradition, he is featured in a number of documentary films. A Buddhist practitioner for over 40 years, he is a frequent radio, television, and online presenter, and lectures extensively worldwide.
Ven. Xianqing is a Chan (Zen) monk at Beijing Longquan Monastery in Beijing. He is a Dharma lecturer for the monastery’s online Buddhist Institute, and is its Director of International Communication. He also holds a doctoral degree in engineering thermophysics. Ven. Xianqing has an extensive interest in and gives lectures on Confucian and Taoist as well as other traditional Chinese cultural classics. He is also Deputy Abbot of Longquan Great Compassion Monastery in the Netherlands.