Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
checking in with myself...
I am not happy only if I am craving too much or am not satisfied with myself in the here and now.
I am not happy only if I am craving too much or am not satisfied with myself in the here and now.
heavy snow today
Charles River, Boston
# posted by Chao=Sabiy : 8:22 PM
Friday, February 15, 2008
In her book, Getting our bodies back, Christine Caldwell says "Our bodies will not mobilize to take care of us. We can actually become addicted to not self-regulating, to not knowing what is good for us. To do this, we must turn off the internal body information that is basic to our sense of survival and happiness." This reminds me that perhaps eating meat, onion/garlic and taking medicine constantly may be addictions. Eating meat, onion, or garlic (what Hindus and Buddhists refer to as 葷腥 fetid vegetables and rancid corpses) seems to be unharmful, on the surface, but in fact it is destructive to our bodies and minds, and to the environment at large; so is wanting to take medicine all the time.
Our bodies take in whatever we feed them. Our bodies send signals when something is wrong, such as high heart rates, irritated mood, or unsettled mind. We just simply choose to ignore them. Innumerable times, people try to persuade me that we need certain nutrition from meat, and the majority of meal cannot be delicious without adding onion and garlic. Honestly, I was a meat-eater and I liked onion and garlic before, but I never really felt that they were "good" in me. Since I stopped having these kinds of food, I have felt that my mind and body become much cleaner. They disrupt the body's natural harmony.
*** * ***
Caldwell stresses that "Addiction is the process of shrinking from our awareness and interpreting, judging, and attempting to control our experience." And I believe it. If addicted people are those who have much 我執/who clutch their ego (a Buddhist term meaning clinging to the self, clinging to the ego), we could say that he can hardly be aware of his inner self and his own behavior as well as other people's. Mental, physical, and spiritual obstacles get in the way of his interpretation, judgment, and attempt to control his own experiences. This is scary to me.
One of the stories Caldwell tells in her book I like is:
On a darkened street, a man was on his hands and knees, searching for something in the light of the street lamp. Another man came along and asked him what he was doing. "Why, I'm searching for my car keys." he replied.
"Where did you lose them?" the other man asked.
The first man pointed across the street, "Over there."
"Well, why don't you look over there?" the inquiring man asked.
"Because this is where the light is!" he answered.
We are familiar with the feeling of losing something important to us. But we usually tend to seek it somewhere outside without knowing that the keys are actually in our selves, our bodies and minds. If I'm allowed, I will say that craving for meat and onion/garlic is an addictive habit. As impeditive as other kinds of addictions (alcohol, tobacco, substances, medicine), it blocks our inner eye. It guides us to an illusion that the keys we need are under the street light.
----------
Caldwell, C., (1996). Getting our bodies back: Recovery, healing and transformation through body-centered psychotherapy. Boston: Shambhala.
# posted by Chao=Sabiy : 11:15 PM
Monday, February 04, 2008
人的身體構造與消化系統原本就適草食性，看到過街老鼠，我們不會流口水，同理，草原上見牛羊、山裡見飛鼠也不會影起人的食慾。人吃素是正常，吃腥才是異常。我從不想使自己「特別」，更不在乎自己是少數，但歎，社會將吃素者看作特殊/少數族群，這其實不是值得慶幸的現象。
與友用餐前，自我介紹時我有可能會說「大家好…」，然後加一句「我吃素」；但吃魚吃肉者不會說：「大家好，我吃腥」。說到這，我想認識中文的人比較幸運一點，因為我們有腥這個字，它詮釋了人們食用的魚和肉之生臭污穢，英文中就沒有如此達意的字，有的話，我還不認識，或者就是不常用。每次經過超市的生鮮肉品區，一方面，我無法想像為何發出這種氣味的「食品」，還有人會吃？另方面，我總是不忍看、逃命似地離開現場，為那些犧牲的動物念佛。我想，吃素，應該改講不食腥或不食葷腥 (葷菜亂心神)。
一個也是吃素的學姐曾提出問題：如果將來自己有小孩，也讓他從小吃素嗎？她覺得她不會這麼做，因為不想剝奪孩子選擇吃葷腥或吃素的權利。乍聽之下似乎有理，這樣比較「公平」。但是認真思考的話，反而是不公平的。給身心都還清淨的孩子葷腥食物，不乾淨的魚和肉 (動物遺體，想像那些被人們判死刑的動物，臨走前掙扎不悅的因子都在牠們的身體裏。阿彌陀佛)、會亂心神的蔥蒜等等，好像明知菸酒、二手菸、其他有毒物不好，還是要塞到孩子身體裏；忍心看小小的身體，一點一點的被污染了？誰的選擇？公平嗎？
抱歉在這提起不讓人舒服的議題，但我不懂，為何明知不該我們吃的食物、不該做的事，我們仍然執迷不悟。大眾要食肉、要吃魚，所以就有人要負責無度的開發平原以飼牧，要負責捕捉和傷害海裏無辜生物，要有人作劊子手，所以大家一起盡力破壞自然生態……，這是在為我們的孩子塑造良好身心和成長環境嗎？我不懂。是人們害怕改變？擔不起傳統觀念、社會陋習的壓力？放不下長久以來食葷腥的慾念？還是，自私？我以為現代人接收前人各方面的經驗、知識和智慧，又欣喜地戴上「文明」光環，應該夠聰明、會思考，有能力為自己、他人、下一代，為世界做好事。No?
# posted by Chao=Sabiy : 2:04 PM
