There are systems like that that exist without money, based on what I have seen in more highly developed societies in the universe, such as on other planets. You see, our planet is not ready yet for this system. It’s not the system, this or that. It’s the people, the concept of life, the concept of a society has to change first, the people’s concept. Once they make a switch to change into a more sociable, more neighborly, more global family-like, then that kind of exchanging system will automatically come to realization.
(Next, we have Mr. Tom Vennum, a clinical bodyworker and a vegan.)
(It’s so nice to see You, Supreme Master Ching Hai. This is quite an honor. I’m quite intrigued by the idea of this “Humanity’s Leap to the Golden Era” and the idea of a Golden Era being here on planet Earth. I have a question about it. It seems as time has gone on, we’ve evolved to a system where we’ve had to work to provide for our basic survival needs.) Right. (How will this system change as we grow into the new era? Will it be more service-based, where neighbors simply provide for one another out of the kindness of their hearts? Thank You.)
That would be great. That would be great, sir. Yes, that’d be great. That would be our dream world. It might happen still. Yes. It’s nice to meet you, sir. You are correct.
There are systems like that that exist without money, based on what I have seen in more highly developed societies in the universe, such as on other planets. You see, our planet is not ready yet for this system. It’s not the system, this or that. It’s the people, the concept of life, the concept of a society has to change first, the people’s concept. Once they make a switch to change into a more sociable, more neighborly, more global family-like, then that kind of exchanging system will automatically come to realization.
I have seen on other planets: only the people who are more evolved, or the concept has evolved in that direction, more like a community, global community direction, more spiritually, then they would use that exchange system with no money that you mentioned. These planets, they are inhabited by beings similar to us, but they’re more beautiful. I’m sorry.
Maybe because they are more relaxed. And they are vegan– relaxed, happy, and light conscience. So many of these civilizations are much more advanced than we are, even spiritually, even technologically, mainly because they have developed morally and spiritually to a higher level than ours. As a result, they do everything in a more effective and peaceful way.
In our world, we have to earn a living because of the need for physical survival, so we even feel bored at work in many cases. Many people, they work but they don’t love their job, they are not interested, because they feel forced to do the job just to earn the money. Often because of that we are forced into some job that we don’t even like or not interested in or not even capable to do. So, often our precious talents and gifts, natural gifts, time and freedom, are all lost in the office or in the factory, or at best, put on hold for many, many decades until we’re retired. And then we’re tired to even realize our dream anymore. Or, we are too sick from the whole life long of service and being poisoned by being misled into eating meat, cigarettes, or whatever. So when we retire, we’re really tired, so all our talents, ability, energy, are lost – just for maybe a few dollars an hour. And we are the children of God. And we have talent. Many people who have talent, ability, bury their lives into some other mundane, laborious job until they die, unfulfilled. You know that. Yes. It’s a pity.
However, in these more developed places in the universe, everyone is secure and has enough, just like your dream world that you have mentioned. They work, but are able to choose which talents and abilities to share and contribute to the society. Because they do that so they do their best, because they do what they love to; they have choices, see? Instead of working for money, they produce for the honor and pleasure of contributing. They bring the fruits of their labor, or their talents, like their harvests or their services, to a place where they can exchange them with one another for the goods they need. This could be a goal that our world could look forward to. These people in those societies, they can enjoy a lot of time for their leisure, and developing their hobbies and their talents, etc., etc., and discover their dormant capabilities as well.
So, therefore, in such a society, there are many wonderful inventions have been born. And many wonderful things happen because people are relaxed and do what they do best. No one ever worries about lacking physical necessities, so their lives are full of freedom and happiness. Doesn’t that sound wonderful, sir? (Yes.) Sound wonderful to anybody? Yes. At least we can dream on, dream on. Because American people say: “You’ve got to have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how would you have a dream come true?” Right?
So, right now we dream that our planet first be saved by a vegan diet, and then we can dream of this dream world in which everyone exercises their talents and their love for their work and creativity, instead of working hard, back broken just for money. Now, wouldn’t it be nice to have this kind of free and happy society? (Yeah.)
Well, if I might add, all such societies are also vegan, I told you. Their concept of life is very clear – very clear, very selfless, unconditional, very intelligent. I have not seen a single civilization so advanced and happy, joyful, that is not a vegan society. According to precedent, non-violence is, in fact, vegan, a requirement for advancing to the next levels of civilization. In those societies they only take what they need, and their needs are so few.
Because once we change our concept, we live a freer life. Our souls are less burdened, our hearts are more open, our minds are so happy. We need very little in life to feel contented because we’re not burdened by the guilt of murdering innocent animals. We are not burdened by the obligation to earn a living, to pay tax, to pay electricity, to pay whatever – all the basic necessities – that should be free for everyone. Now, in those societies, they don’t have this burden, so they’re free to develop, and they develop so much. And so they’re happy. When you’re happy you don’t need much. You really don’t need much, because you’re spiritually also fed, emotionally also satisfied.
And as you notice yourself, when we’re happy emotionally, or physically or mentally, we hardly need anything. Remember when you fall in love, you hold hands all day; you don’t even want to go to eat anything... lie in bed all day talking nonsense together, and you’re not hungry. You’re happy, you feel you don’t need anything. You feel you just need that place, that little room, that’s enough.
Now, the taking of another being’s precious life, including the life of an animal, no matter how small, certainly never happens in an intelligent and civilized society, as I have seen it. Members of such a true civilization would never oppress, torture, or murder the weak, defenseless and innocent animals that have never done anything wrong to them; but, on the contrary, treat all life with the utmost respect and protection, like they would their own life.
Furthermore, they don’t take up their planet’s resources needlessly to try to breed and raise animals for the pleasure of their fleeting enjoyment of the palate. They are frugal and sensible. Perhaps, we can someday join the ranks of the highly developed planets. Maybe we can even learn from them and exchange goods with them. There is much we could look forward to on our own planet and beyond. But first we have to save it, by being vegan – that’s the only solution right now. We don’t have time for anything else.
Thank you, Mr. Good-Heart for being with us, and for doing your part. God bless you.
(We are so grateful for Your fascinating vision and elevating wisdom, Supreme Master Ching Hai.)
(Next we have a question from Mr. Steve Ma, the founder, president and GEO of the organization Live Green, and he also is a devoted vegan. The letters "GEO" stand for "Green Executive Officer.") Yes? GEO, not CEO? Wonderful.
(Hallo, Supreme Master.) Hallo, GEO! Good invention! That’s a new word.
(One of the things that we do as an organization is encourage people to go to green businesses and support the business owners who are doing it right. So, first I’d like to invite You to come to DC and we will go out a nice vegan meal together at one of the restaurants.) It’d be my honor. God willing. Thank you.
(One of the things we really like to do is point out people who are doing it right, people who are succeeding in helping us live a more sustainable way. And thankfully, there are many recent examples of people, communities, coming together to live a more sustainable way. And for instance, right here in DC, Mrs. Michelle Obama has created an organic community garden, a vegetable garden.) Right! (And school children from nearby schools come by to help maintain that garden.) Yes, I’ve heard about that.
(So, I want to know from You specific examples of things that we can do together as communities to really bring about a sustainable planet?)
Right! Good question! Good question! Yes, bravo to America’s First Lady Michelle Obama. She is my First Lady. Wonderful. That is a true First Lady. She has taken the lead by example. You know, in our old system of kings and queens in China and Âu Lạc (Vietnam), we call the queen, “Mother of the Nation.” So Mrs. Michelle Obama is worthy to be called that. She has taken the lead by example.
She even said that her family feels more energetic and healthier from eating the organic vegetables, local-grown. Imagine if every neighborhood in the United States had an organic veggie garden like that, for sharing fresh, healthy, vegetables with everyone. There are reports about organic vegetable farming that it is quite profitable, and the demand for organic vegan foods now is growing faster and faster around the world. So one thing we can do is to encourage more organic vegan farmers markets. Farmers markets are more and more popular in the United States now because it’s fresh, it’s quality, and it’s local, so there is less transportation pollution.
But, interestingly, studies show that eating locally is not as good as eating vegan. For example, scientists at Carnegie Mellon University calculated that a vegan diet reduced over seven times the emissions compared to a 100% local meat diet. So, see? Eating vegan is better than eating local even, “loco” meat. In Spanish, “loco” means crazy – we don’t eat “loco” meat. Now, in another study, Foodwatch in Germany found that switching from a meat diet to an organic meat diet saved only 8% of emissions, but switching to a non-organic vegan diet, even non-organic vegan diet, reduced 86% of emissions. So, we save the planet by being vegan. Even non-organic! So, actually, organic is good, local is wonderful, but the first step is at least being vegan, organic or not.
Organic, of course, is the best, because when we plant all the tillable acres on our planet organically, then the CO2, the carbon dioxide, which exists already in our atmosphere will be absorbed 40%. And the other 60%, we take care of by being vegan. Then we’re happy. Our planet will definitely survive. Now, the vegan lifestyle is the greenest lifestyle. Right or not? Yes! Thank you. Thank you, good children of God.
Because even organic meat is actually not eco-friendly at all; it requires even more land, and more energy than the non-organic meat in meat farming. Can you believe that? So, it doesn't even help to try to raise animals organically. The so-called “sustainable,” “free-range,” organic poultry, for example, needs 20% more energy and has a 20% higher, bigger impact on global warming than non-organic poultry farms. Think about that. So, we have been misled all the time. This is a terrible thing about this negative power in this world. It makes us believe things that are not good for us at all.
From now on, we have to try to do research and believe only what’s good for us. And we have to research until we really find that this news, this information, is truly reliable and believable by example, by proof. Otherwise, just don’t listen to anything anybody else says if they don’t prove it. Similarly, organic eggs were found to have a 14% higher carbon footprint than non-organic eggs. So there we are. And even though you don’t use fertilizers, the benefit could be cancelled out because of the increased land use.
Therefore, only the vegan lifestyle is truly sustainable. Now, once we become vegan and urge others to join through grassroots seminars, flyer distribution, letters, emails, whatever, we could practice sustainability in other ways. As I have suggested before, we could plant organic vegetables and trees. Better still are those fruit trees and nut trees, and those vegetables or legumes like beans and stuff that need little water.
That, we can do research to know which ones need less water, because right now we’re short of water as well. We’re short of everything right now. So we should be frugal not to waste precious energy and water, use our own shopping bags even. We encourage sustainable energy development. And we can write or talk to the government and the media, and the farmers even, because we really do need all the help from the government, from the media, to accelerate the trend.
Another good way to quicken our movement to a sustainable planet is to generate more positive energy: do good deeds and be loving and kind. Expand our loving quality. This is what will create a shield, invincible, to protect us and the planet.
Finally, we can pray that divine power manifests on Earth to awaken leaders, the media, the influential people, and all the world citizens to take the right steps to preserve our planet, and fast – fast before it’s too late. Because at this point, we do need Heaven’s intervention to save our planet. Not to pray to them to protect us; just to pray so that they awaken everybody to the solution of the vegan diet, because that is the solution that will save our planet.
If we can do these things, starting with being veg, we would realize not just a sustainable planet, but a real paradise of peace in our lifetime. Thank you and Heaven bless you for being a vegan, a handsome vegan.
(Thank You, Supreme Master Ching Hai, for sharing Your most wonderful and insightful answers to these thought- questions.) Thank you.
“(What was your impression of Supreme Master Ching Hai?)
(It was the first time I heard Her speak. I felt She is very insightful and just really did a great job of showing the compassion behind what we’re trying to do. And while we laid out the science, She highlighted the compassionate piece of why we should really be interested in that, and then tied it into science and health and the impact on the environment. So I thought She did an excellent job with that.)”
“(Live Green’s mission is to make it easier and more affordable for people to be green. We're trying to break the myth that it's difficult and expensive to be green. We want to give people really simple, easy ways to be green that are very impactful. Obviously, a vegan diet is one of the easiest things, most impactful things that you can do. And it was wonderful to hear at this conference, both the connection to all the environmental problems that livestock have but also a connection to the solutions, the very easy solutions that people can take. Whether it be to fully be vegan or implement a vegetarian lifestyle, this is just one more example of a simple, really impactful thing that people can do to be green.)”
“(Great. Do you think that conferences such as these are beneficial and if so, why?)
(Absolutely, it's beneficial. People need to know the truth, and unfortunately there's a lot of misinformation out there. There’re a lot of folks that are casting doubt because they want to really stand in the way of progress, and unfortunately a lot of people profit off of the current system. But for us to really create a sustainable planet, something that we can pass on to our future generations in a pristine state, we really need to relook at how we act, how we behave, what we buy, and definitely what we eat. This conference, I thought did a wonderful job of putting the science out, putting some of the moral arguments out, and really helping people understand that food choices are one of the most impactful things that we can do to make the planet better.)”
“(And given the fact that you were able actually to speak with Supreme Master Ching Hai today via conference, what was that experience like for you?)”
(It was wonderful. She's clearly such a positive spirit. She obviously cares so deeply about humanity, about this planet. Her message is so important and to be a part of that message and contribute in some small way, is really an honor.)”
