Compassionate Eating
Currently, global warming is accelerating quickly and the average temperature of the earth continues to rise. The Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets melt faster than expected, causing sea levels to rise. Climate change and global warming contribute to higher incidences of rainstorms, flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, and extreme cold. Most evidence has converged to the conclusion that it is time to change. If no changes are made, the entire human race, and the biosphere on earth will be in great peril.
To make changes, where do we start? Many studies showed that people can start from their diets, which is one of the most efficient and simplest ways, to address the global warming issue. There are various eating styles in the world; one that we advocate – “Maitreya vegetarianism” –balances our needs for rich nutrition, and at the same time helps reduce lifestyle diseases, pollution on earth, and environmental destruction. Our dietary choices, simple as they may seem, have the profound ability to bring peace and harmony to our body, mind, and spirit.
Maitreya vegetarianism, also called “Joyful Vegetarianism,” incorporates compassion as the main ingredient. The experience around food is therefore intended to bring positive mental well-being besides physical nourishment. The main food types consist of vegetables, fruits, seeds, herbs, crops, and grains; but not food from animal origin such as meat, eggs, dairy products, fish, and seafood. Overly cooking, processing, and packaging are discouraged.
In addition, gratitude is expressed to Laomu, the Heavenly Mother, before every meal. During the meal, the food is chewed thoroughly and enjoyed mindfully, and attention is paid to the food and its nourishing quality: its scents, its texture, its source of harvest, and the amount of dedicated labor put into its cultivation. After the meal has fulfilled our physical needs, we continue to share the pleasant energies with people and our surroundings through kind-heartedness, gentle words, helpful acts, and friendly smiles.
We believe that the world is an interconnected web of existence, and our food forms a crucial fabric of this network. Conscious goodwill, such as choosing food that are less damaging to the earth, will hopefully guide the world back into a more stable axis. Through choices such as becoming vegetarian, we take part in restoring the wounded earth to a joyful garden of nature with its utmost goodness and beauty.