Poem of Animals on
Eating Meat
By Tulku Pema Wangyal
Now
for a tasty bit of meat, you think,
Cooked
with fragrant spices...
But
for us that means terror and unbearable agony
As
you wrench the dear life from our dear bodies
In
an inferno of flames.
Think
about it for a moment: in reality,
you
are cooking us alive.
You
are utterly terrified of the war with Iraq
You
are scared it's going to be a Third World War
It's
true, it's very frightening-
But
we are tormented always by even greater fear.
Alas!
Wise humans, listen to us for a moment:
If
really you are ravaged by famine and starvation
And
tortured by poverty, without even a stitch of clothing,
Then-
though to us our lives are as precious as yours are to you We
gladly
offer you our bodies and our lives.
But
if not, through kindness and love, grant us just this:
The
freedom to live in peace In places free form unceasing fear.
May
the thought of peace effortlessly take birth
In
the minds of all living creatures
Below,
upon and above the Earth
So
that the dawn of peace breaks forth.
May
all viciousness and aggression be pacified
And
vanish of their own accord.
Since
all creatures without exception, great or small,
Want
only to be happy and not to suffer,
May
they have compassion and kindness, the source of happiness
May
they be free from aggression and cruelty,
the
source of suffering.
Sincerely
yours,
Lobster,
Snail, Frog,
Sheep,
Cow.... and P.W.
Originally
published in 1991 in the booklet Food for Thought by the Padmakara
Translation Group (PTG),
an offering
to commemorate the visit of H.H. Dalai Lama to France, August 1991.
Published at
Shabkar.Org with kind permission of the author and founder of the PTG,
Tulku Pema Wangyal.