Whatever our faith or belief, we all know that animals have souls for they can move on their own initiative. Any sentient being that can move by itself, has the intent to move and has a mind that commands its movements forms ties of affinity with many other beings, gains many experiences and develops its intelligence, all of which result in attachment. When such sentient beings become attached to their intelligence and accumulated experiences, they become emotionally involved with life and fear death. Because of their fondness for a longer life, more experiences, increased activity and the opportunity to establish affinities with and learn from other beings, their hearts become filled with affection for life, fear of death, and feelings of hatred, kindness and gratitude.

If we eat animals, we unconsciously step into their magnetic fields, which are characterized by a strong desire for life and apprehension about death. We get stuck, just as we do when we step on glue and our foot is glued to the spot and loses mobility. Stepping on sand is all right, given its non-adhesiveness. Everything has a different quality. But if we step on the animals’ qualities of life attachment and fear of death, their hate-filled magnetic fields cling to our souls, trapping us, pressurizing us and depriving us of our freedom.

Plants do not move without being blown by the wind so they have less experience and intelligence. With this lower level of awareness, they also have less attachment. For plants, it isn’t a grave matter to die and be reborn because they have few experiences and attachments. Animals, by contrast, have more experiences since they can move of their own accord. For example, a dog may go looking for his girlfriend, and then look around further the next day, thinking, “Wow! This one is more beautiful than the last one!” (Master and audience laugh.) Attachment grows from such occurrences , which is why they cling to life. Under the influence of these phenomena, all animals become fond of life and fearful of death. But this is not the case with plants because they have too little experience to cling to. So when we consume plants, their magnetic fields do not become attached to us.

Thus, we can’t say that animals and plants are alike. If that were so, then it would be as good as saying that chewing gum, sand and stones are alike, and that’s not true. Sand and stones do not stick to us when we step on them; only chewing gum does. Everything has a different quality so we can’t say that animals are the same as plants. They’re absolutely different. (Applause) We can understand this through observation. It isn’t because Master Ching Hai said so, or the Bodhisattvas said so that we understand it. It’s extremely simple and logical; we know these things just from observation.

Everything in the universe has a different quality. So when we choose our diet, of course, we should select foods that create less of a burden for us and allow us to practice more easily and progress more quickly. Only then will we not be bound or pulled down by very heavy magnetic fields.

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