Lapis Lazuli Light: Natural Vegetarian Food Is The Best Medicine天然素食是最佳良药

When an agricultural society becomes an industrial society, not only lifestyle has been changed, but food habits have also been changed drastically. In the past, meat and fish were available only during special occasions; but now they are eaten every day. White sugar used to be a luxury food, now it can be bought anytime. Brown rice and whole wheat are replaced with white rice and white flour. In a short twenty to thirty years, these diet changes have affected health conditions in general. Heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, excess weight and premature aging are now common. It has now been proven that proper vegetarian food not only can prevent disease but can also cure disease.

Henry Bieler, M.D., wrote in his book “Food is Your Best Medicine”: “Allopathic medicine invariably has side effect. Food, on the other hand does not have this problem.” His recommendation for food is to eat more fresh vegetables and whole grains, and to avoid refined foods and meat.

农业社会进入工业社会后，不但生活环境改变，连带的，饮食也有很大的改变。以前过节才有大鱼大肉，现在天天有得吃；以前白糖是奢侈品，现在随时可以购买；糙米粗面也由白米白面来代替。短短二，三十年，饮食的改变，已影响到一般健康情况。心脏病，糖尿病，癌症，肥胖症和未老先衰已是司空见惯。

亨利比勒博士在他所著《食物才是您的良药》中说，西药在任何情况下都有副作用，往往会引起其他毛病。相反的，食物则没有这个缺点。他对饮食的建议是少吃加工的食品和肉类，多吃素菜和全麦谷类。

Sugar and diabetes

Although the exact causes of diabetes are still not fully understood, excessive sugar consumption is known to indirectly play a role. A high sugar intake may not by itself cause diabetes, but it can be a major contributing factor to weight gain and obesity — factors that clearly promote diabetes.

Researchers around the world have come to the conclusion that the consumption of refined sugar is detrimental to the health of people without diabetes and disastrous for those with it.

A review of 88 published studies shows a clear and consistent relationship between drinking sugary (non-diet) soft drinks and poor nutrition, increased risk for obesity — and increased risk for diabetes.

There is no denying that sugar-loaded soft drinks are having “a negative impact on health”, Dr Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, US, said in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

Results of a study of more than 91,000 women followed for 8 years provides one of the most striking links between soft drinks and health outcomes, the investigators note in the American Journal of Public Health (April 2007).

In the study, women who drank 1 or more sodas per day — an amount less than the US national average — were twice as likely as those who drank less than 1 soda per month to develop diabetes over the course of the study.

When diet soda replaced regular soda in the analysis, there was no increased risk, “suggesting that the risk was specific to sugar-sweetened soft drinks”, note the authors.

Many Health Complications

Diabetes can cause a cascade of medical problems that can lead to heart attacks, strokes and other medical problems.  In people with diabetes, their blood sugar stays too high, and sugar in those high levels is toxic. Over the years, that high blood sugar damages nerves and small and large blood vessels. Those problems can ultimately result in blindness, kidney failure, amputations, premature heart attacks and strokes.

For example:

·         Every 30 seconds, a leg is lost to diabetes somewhere in the world.  In fact, up to 70% of all leg amputations happen to people with diabetes (Star, 13.11.05).  In Malaysia itself, there are thousands of amputation cases a year.  About 85% of the amputees are diabetics (Star, 15.10.06).

·         About 1.2 million Malaysians could be suffering from diabetic retinopathy, a common diabetic eye disease that can lead to blindness (NST, 11.10.07).

·         At least 57% of Malaysians suffering from kidney diseases are also diabetic patients. There were about 15,000 patients in the country seeking haemodialysis treatment, with an average of 3,000 new kidney failure cases reported annually, said Island Hospital consultant physician and nephrologist Dr Goh Huck Keen (Star, 7.4.08).

Diabetes can also have a major effect on disability and quality of life as people age.  According to a study in 2002, older women with diabetes were twice as likely as non-diabetic women to be unable to perform tasks such as walking a quarter of a mile, climbing 10 steps or cooking their own meals.

How many affected:

1 in 20 of the world’s adult population now has some form of diabetes (Phyllis A. Balch in Prescription for Dietary Wellness). Diabetes struck 246 million people worldwide in 2006 [“Insulin Delivery Systems Market analysis (2007-2010)”, RNCOS].  There were 6 diabetes deaths every minute in the world (WHO, 2004).

An estimated 25% of the world’s nations have not made any specific provision for diabetes care in national health plans although the human and economic costs of diabetes could be significantly reduced by investing in prevention, particularly early detection to avoid the onset of diabetes complications (Diabetes Australia — NSW).

In Malaysia, some 3.5 million people are diabetic (NST, 12.6.06). About 98% of diabetics here have Type 2 diabetes (Star, 3.4.07).

(Source: Consumers Association of Penang)

Different Results from Industry

However, there was a “remarkable difference” in results from industry-funded and non-industry-funded studies on soft drink consumption and health outcomes, Brownell said, “with the industry-funded studies much more likely to find the results favourable to industry”.

“The bigger issue here, in this arena in particular but in science in general,” Brownell said, “is how you can get a distorted view of reality if industry-funded studies are considered in the mix — and usually they are — especially, when industry uses these studies in advertising, lobbying, and in talking to the press.”
Two Different Types of Diabetes

There are 2 types of diabetes: Type 1 develops when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas — which help to regulate blood-sugar levels — have been destroyed.  Type 2 usually appears when the body no longer responds normally to its own insulin and/ or does not produce enough insulin.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune disease results when the body’s system for fighting infection (the immune system) turns against a part of the body. In diabetes, the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. A person who has Type 1 diabetes must take insulin daily to live.

The most common form of diabetes is Type 2 diabetes. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have Type 2, according to American statistics. This form of diabetes is most often associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, previous history of gestational diabetes, physical inactivity, and certain ethnicities.

People who are overweight are particularly likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. However, Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents today.

Quotes about vegetarianism 素食名言

1）Albert Einstein:”I think that going vegetarian changes and purifies a person’s temperament and this benefits mankind. Therefore, vegetarianism is good for the mankind.”

爱因斯坦：“我认为素食者所产生性情上的改变和净化，对人类都有相当好的利益，所以素食对人类很吉祥。”

2）Pythagoras: “Man eats smelly and bloody flesh just to preserve his mortal body. Is this any different from devouring our guests?”

毕达哥拉斯：“人为了喂养无常的身体，而咀嚼血腥的肉；这与吞食我们的客人有什么区别？”

3）George Bernard Shaw: “Animals are my friends and I will not eat my friends.”

萧伯纳：“动物是我的朋友，我不会去吃我的朋友。”

4）Sun Yat-sen: “Going vegetarian is the secret of longevity, a finding scientists, healthcare professionals, physiologists and medical experts concur with. The Chinese, in particular, should be *vegetarians

孙中山：“夫素食为延年益寿之妙术，已为今日科学家，卫生家，生理学家，医学家所共认矣，而中国人之素食，尤为适宜。

5）Emerson: “Even if a slaughterhouse is hundreds of miles away, you will still be a accomplice of animal killer as long as you eat meat.”

爱默生：“即使屠宰场隐秘的藏在几百里外的地方，你只要吃了肉就等于是共犯的行为。”

6）Venerable Master Hsuan Hua: “Whoever stops consuming meat is contributing to this world by freeing it from wars.”

无论哪一位要是能不吃肉，这就是帮助世界，令世界没有战争。 ——宣化上人

7）Mahatma Gandhi: “I think, when the mind has developed to a certain stage, we will no longer kill animals just to satisfy appetite.”

甘地：“我觉得，当心灵发展到了某个阶段的时候，我们将不再为了满足食欲而残杀动物。

8）One who goes vegetarian carries out pure practices, shuns liquors and meat, and recites the Buddhist mantras or sutras round the clock, will be rewarded with great blessings and wealth.

[Upholding of the World Sagely Dharani Sutra]

若复有人，素食梵行，断食酒肉，日夜恒诵，获大富贵。——《圣持丗陀罗尼经》。

9）The Bodhisattva Mahasattvas regard all sentient beings as their kindred, or even their own flesh and blood. Therefore, it is not right to eat the meat of any animal. – [Lankavatara Sutra]

菩萨摩诃萨观诸众生，皆是亲属，乃至慈念如一子想，是故不应食一切肉。  

——《大乘入楞伽经》

10  One who eats meat is brave but violent, whereas one who consumes only grains is intelligent and gentle – [The Book of Rites]

食肉勇敢而悍，食榖智慧而巧 —— 《大戴礼记》

Light a lamp for blessing燃灯祈福

During Chinese New Year, a lot of Chinese like to go monasteries to make their offerings, be it rice, cooking oil, flowers, incenses, lamps, money, etc.

What are the rewards of offering lamps ?

Lamps within the Buddha dharma symbolize brightness and wisdom. Lighting lamps also represent the giving of light, thus planting on the field of blessings. When the Buddha was in the world, He often exhorted people to light lamps as offerings to the Buddha and spoke the Sutra of the Merit and Virtue of Giving Light. There it’s said: If one constantly practises the offerings of light to the Buddha within Buddhist Stupas and Monasteries with utmost sincerity, one would then obtain the rewards as follows:

1.       Both your eyes and four limbs would always be perfect and free of deformities.

2.       Your body would be free of pain and sickness, your throat would be soft and supple, and your voice would be attractive.

3.       Your mind would be calm, clear, and intelligent and posses wisdom therefore you will not be turned by stupidity and ignorance.

4.       Your vision would be exceptional as a Mani pearl that can reveal even very small objects.

5.       Your eyeball and cornea would always remain well and free from damage or decay.

6.       Your livelihood would always be stable with abundant food and clothing with a mind that is free from anxiety.

7.       You will obtain self mastery of body and mind, wholesome wealth and treasures would of its own accord accumulated for you.

8.       You may obtain beautiful necklaces and majestic forests and orchards.

9.       You will have a healthy body, strong and full of energies of life.

10.   You will not encounter arguments or physical conflicts or be mired in other undesirable situations.

11.   Traveling to the ends of the world where the heavens meet the sea whether in the directions of east, west, south or north, you will not suffer the afflictions of ignorance.

The Buddha dharma is not apart from our daily lives, the act of lighting lamps has the inherent meaning of the giving of light and it brings about boundless merit and virtue; for mankind need bright lights to shine a luminous path for it, bringing warmth, hope and a loving mind to all corners of the world. Those would make offering of light also benefit from its brightness; obtaining a blessed, peaceful and healthy life. Disciples of the Buddha who diligently plant blessings in these fields of blessings would naturally obtain a bright future and always achieve and attain their wishes.

(Source: Dharma Realm Guan Yin Monastery, Kuala Lumpur)

灯在佛教是光明和智慧的表征，点灯即施灯，种福田。佛在丗时，劝人燃灯供佛，开示了[施灯功德经]。经中说：如果我们常在佛塔，寺庙中虔诚地燃灯供佛，当会有下列的果报：

1.       双目，四肢永远完好不生缺陷。

2.       身无病痛，嗓门柔软，声音妙好。

3.       心地清明聪慧，不为愚痴所转。

4.       视力良好如摩尼珠能照微细物。

5.       眼球，角膜永好不坏。

6.       生活安稳，衣食丰足，心无所惧。

7.       心身自在，善财善宝滚滚而来。

8.       可以获得美丽的璎珞及优美的林园。

9.       身体健康，强壮，充满生命的活力。

10.   不会与人发生口角，打斗等事。

11.   走遍东南西北天涯海角都不会生无明烦恼。

佛教不离生活，点灯含有布施光明的意义，具有无量的功德，因为人间需要光明的照亮，才会处处有温暖，有希望，有爱心。燃灯者在布施的光明照耀下，才会幸福安康，信徒能多种福田，则前途光明，所求顺遂。

（取材自吉隆坡法界观音圣寺）

Who is responsible for global warming, the number one killer谁是造成气候暖化的头号杀手?

1.       Carbon dioxide;

A report released by the United Nations Food Organization (FAO) 2006/12 showed that the 1.05 billion cattle is the culprit of greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide emitted from the fart and dung of the cattle makes up 20% of total global emissions of carbon dioxide.

2.       Methane

Emissions from animal husbandry account for 37% of the global total emissions of methane. Methane causes temperature to rise 23 times than carbon dioxide does.

3.       Nitrous oxide

Emissions from animal husbandry account for 65% of the global total emissions of nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide causes temperature to rise 296 times than carbon dioxide does. Ammonia is one of the causes of acid rain.

The greenhouse gases mentioned above are just like a thick blanket in the atmosphere, trapping the heat from the sun around the Earth, thus causing the global temperature to rise.

P/s: Read also Lapis Lazuli Light: Vegetarian diet and the health of the planet

谁是造成气候暖化的头号杀手?

1.       二氧化碳:

联合国组织(FAO)2006/12发表的报告:全球10亿5000万只的牛群,是温室效应的最大元凶,牛群的屁和排泄物所排出的二氧化碳,占总全球所有二氧化碳排放量约20%.

2.       甲烷:

畜牧业的甲烷排放量占全球总量的37%,而甲烷的热能上升效应是二氧化碳的23倍.

3.       氧化亚氮:

畜牧业的氧化亚氮排放量占全球总量的65%,其热能上升效应是二氧化碳的296倍.而氨正是导致酸雨的原因.

以上几种温室气在大气层中,就象厚厚的毯子,把日光的日能困在地球内,造成地球温度不断上升.

Lapis Lazuli Light: Vegetarian diet & the health of the planet素食与地球的健康

Earth now has limited resources, especially fossil fuel, fertile soil and clean water. We also know that there are many people who do not have enough foods to eat. Is this due to lack of foods or poor distribution? The issue is not lack of foods but a waste of the planet’s resources. Using grains to feed cattle, sheep and hogs is very wasteful. On the average it takes seven pounds of grains to get one pound of meat. Beef is even more wasteful. One pound of beef requires 16 pounds of soy beans.

In order to increase crop yields, large quantities of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used. This not only pollutes the soil, but also uses fossil fuel (Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are by-products of fossil fuel). At the same time, poisoned fertile soil cannot regenerate. Every year much topsoil is lost. As production decreases every year, more and more chemical fertilizers are used, causing a vicious cycle.

Water is another precious resource. Water for drinking and farming becomes scarcer every year. The production of meat uses a lot of water. One pound of beef takes 2500 gallons of water, and one pound of soy bean takes only 1/10 to 1/3 of that. Fifty percent of water consumption in the U.S is used for meat production. Our dietary habits on a small scale affect our health, while on the large scale, the health of our life support system, the EARTH. Therefore, we should give it serious thought and adopt vegetarian diet in our daily lives in order to resolve the above crises.

P/s: Read also "Who is responsible for climate warming, the number one killer?"

素食和地球健康又有什么关系?

现在地球的资源有限,尤其是石油,肥沃的土壤和清净的水.地球上有很多人仍吃不饱,这是粮食不够呢?还是支配不当?现在的问题不是粮食不足,而是地球资源的浪费.用五谷喂 牛,羊,猪是浪费,平均七磅的谷类和豆类才能生产一磅的肉.牛肉更是浪费,一磅牛肉需要十六磅的五谷黄豆.美国出产的农作物百分之五十都是用来喂牲口的.

畜牧业污染土壤,水源,消耗石油

为了大量生产农作物,就必须大量使用化学肥料和农药,污染了土壤不说,还消耗石油(化学肥料和农药大都是石油副产品).同时土壤被破坏后,不能自然复原. 每年损失很多肥沃的土壤,生产力年年下降,因此必须使用更多的化学肥料,变成恶性循环.

水是另一可贵资源,食用水与灌溉水年年有减无增.生产肉是非常消耗水的,一磅牛肉需要二千五百加仑水,而一磅黄豆只需其十分之一到三分之一.美国用水量百分之之五十是用于生产肉类.

为了个人和地球健康,必须重新考虑我们的饮食习惯,小则关系到个人健康,大则影响到地球的健康,所以素食是最佳的选择.