“We’re always learning something. Just the other day, we saw where some whales were actually rescuing seals from orcas. And so we find out all of these things, and we think, ‘Gosh, they’re really just like us, except they have superpowers that we don’t understand.’ ”“The relationship at the moment between humankind, this human supremacist attitude we have, and the rest of the animals – beca

“When we were children, many of us read stories and we watched cartoons of animals who had mythological, wondrous superpowers. And what “Animalkind” does is it sets out to show us that real animals, not mythological ones, do have superpowers. We don’t have to go into space to look for intelligent forms of life. They’re all around us, right here on Earth. More is the pity that we ignore their feeli

A well-known organization which promotes veganism and the banishment of fur is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA. The president and co-founder, Ingrid Newkirk, is a Shining World Compassion Award recipient. PETA has adhered to a simple principle since its inception, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” T

One of “The Noble Wilds” cameramen now shares another touching story from when Master lived in the mountains. "That day, Master felt very agitated and suffocated, as if She was inside a prison. Master was working, but She was connected with a certain being, and that feeling could not let Master relax or be calm. Master called me in and told me: 'Go to the back of the house and check around to see if something was going on. I feel like something not good is happening close to our house.' I immediately took a flashlight and went to check every corner of the garden around the house. When I went to the back of the mountain, I found that a pregnant female mountain goat had fallen into a stone pit nearby. And perhaps she had been trapped in the pit for many hours already and had tried very hard to get out but to no avail. Therefore, she looked very tired. I hurried back to inform Master of the situation, and She immediately went to the scene. Master talked a lot to comfort the female mountain goat so that she could be calm and not so afraid. Seeing that the goat’s belly was very big, Master thought the goat was pregnant with her baby inside. Master brought water and food to the female mountain goat so that she could eat and rest. And Master talked to her. In the meantime, we contacted the veterinarian and other help to come to rescue and check the goat’s wellness. And as Master suspected, the goat was indeed pregnant. After rescuing the goat, the helpers found a farmer who lived nearby and wanted to take care of the female mountain goat. We heard that the goat later gave birth to her baby safely. Master didn’t forget to tell us to go shopping and buy food along with the necessary materials to offer to that farmer to make it easy for them to take care of the doe for a while. After the goat was rescued, Master then said: 'I feel light now. I didn’t know why that pressure made me feel so heavy. And now, after knowing the problem has been resolved, I feel relaxed and do no longer have that kind of feeling from before.' From this event, I realized that even if Master was extremely busy – especially at that time, with Supreme Master Television, Master had to work very hard and always had to stay up all night with no time to rest – but Master could still hear and perceive the cry for help from beings everywhere and around Her. So we can see that Master’s love radiates everywhere. Being connected to all beings, be it the leaf, the blade of grass, or the animals, big and small, Master cares for all."

Today, we are privileged to continue our interviews with some of the “The Noble Wilds” cameramen, who share with us their stories about the precious relationships between Master and the lovely wild animals. "I remember one time, close to Master’s house, there was a horse belonging to the neighbor. And this horse was let free to roam in the vast grassy land of the neighbor, which ran along a road t

Master looked after a wild swan couple, named Pitu and Sai, as they hatched their eggs and began raising their new family. One day, Pitu takes her little swans out for a day of flying. Sai is left behind, and Master quickly realizes why. "The bread doesn’t taste as good as when you are with your family, right, honey?" "It’s true, yeah!" "Thank you for answering, but just keep yourself strong, eat

One of the “The Noble Wilds” cameramen recalls another instance when Master communicated with a swan who had been chasing the geese away from Amoura Lake. ‟ I remember when Master first called the swan, he came swimming to Her, stopping at a distance of a few meters and staying there, still, for all the time that Master communicated with him. He showed no sign of fear, but of interest. It felt like an exchange, different from our worldly communication – a to and fro of words, more like when you communicate with a dear friend, and it’s about what is happening, what is felt between the lines, the unspoken words, the pictures that arise. From that day on, the swan stopped chasing the geese on the lake. The geese came back and made their nests on that same lake." Master also met Pitu and Sai, a swan couple who made a nest together. ‟ Pitu, I brought you some bread again, honey. You’re a good girl. You’re a very diligent mum-mum. And you’re a vegetarian! So I have to serve you because you’re good-good." ‟The swans, usually, when their babies are just hatched, they are very protective about their babies. But in front of Master, it was not that case. It was like they trusted Her, and that’s how She could get very close to her" ‟Master told me: ‛This swan family consists of beings who came down here from a higher realm.’ According to Master, they were from the Fourth Level Realm. Master said that they are very pure and were always able to connect with Master. Whenever they talked to Master, they always gave Her important messages regarding this world. They loved Master very much. They said that because in this world, Master is very lonely and suffering a lot of pressure and pain from human beings’ karma. They said they wanted to come down here to be close to Master in order to encourage, protect, and take care of Master. When the lady Pitu (female swan) was hatching her eggs, Master pitched a tent nearby in order to look after her and observed the eggs every day as the beautiful and darling cygnets were preparing to come into the world."

“The Noble Wilds” is a luminous book that takes us to a dreamy Garden of Eden in the serene, secluded Amoura village in France. It is at the heart of this Village of Love that “the lady” resides and is visited by cherished beings of the wild. The gentle, benevolent “lady” is none other than Supreme Master Ching Hai! With the consent of these noble wilds, Supreme Master Ching Hai personally compiled this book, documenting their daily lives beside Amoura Lake. Through Her rhythmic, meditative words and resplendent photography, this precious gem opens the door to a world of unique beauty. Here, the reader can witness firsthand the noble spirit and dedication of our co-inhabitants whose homes are under the open sky. With every anecdote and photograph, Master’s deep love for all beings is readily apparent. Published in 2008, “The Noble Wilds” became a #1 international best-selling book. A documentary of the same name was also released, featuring precious videography of this beautiful time in Master’s life. Seeing the joy and delight that Master gets from caring for the animals reminds us that human beings are meant to be protectors of our planet and all that live upon it. Master unconditionally gives Her love and provides us with a superlative example of how to take care of God’s beings and the world that God has given to all of us. “They are a tremendous help to the world. They just help by their presence, because they are bringing divine power, pure power, undiluted, unpolluted power into this world. Even the fish in the river or the wild ducks, they bring blessings to your house, to your life, and they bring some inspiration invisibly to your knowing. But their presence will evoke in you something more than just a mundane occupation about food and clothes, and you will just get inspiration about something or an answer to some question which you did not know before.” “When Master communicated with the animals, She was kind of in another world. You could feel that Her focus had moved away from this physical, coarse world into another realm. And She let me have a glimpse of this other, very different world: shining, fine, fragile, with a deep, inbound happiness, an inner joy, and humility, out of which comes the thankfulness and the joy for being alive.”

We had the pleasure of speaking with Stephen Leahy about “Your Water Footprint.” He explained how we can significantly reduce our own water footprint in our daily lives. “Changing your food diet is the easiest way to reduce your water footprint. As I said, three or 4,000 liters of water you could save by switching to vegetarianism or veganism. Being careful when you’re shopping, buying local is a good idea, because then you know how it’s being produced, how much water has gone into it because you know the climate. I’m not buying things that are grown in places like Egypt, which are deserts. If you’re going to source your oranges, trying to source your oranges from a place that relies on rain and not irrigation, because irrigation is the most inefficient use of water. So, making good buying decisions, trying to maximize the life of anything you do buy. Any particular product – your shoes, or your clothing. Try and use them as long as possible and buy good quality when you buy them so that it will last a long time. Then you can reuse things, or go to a reuse store, or to a thrift store, and pick up something that somebody else has set aside.” To close our interview, Stephen Leahy shared an important message: “We’ve lost the traditional understanding that water is essential to life and that it is truthfully sacred. Not only do we need water for our own physical survival, it has given us everything we have. Everything that’s around us has come because we’ve had water, had enough water. So, there is no more important thing in our lives, truly, than water, and yet we seem not to realize it. So, I would like folks to understand that fact, but also to maybe give some respect to water, because water is so important to us, and to our lives, that maybe we need to go back to the days when people thought of springs as sacred, special places where fresh, clean water came. Because it really is something sacred and essential to our survival.” Stephen Leahy’s message is one that has been emphasized by Supreme Master Ching Hai time and again. “Scientists have documented that one serving of beef takes more than a thousand gallons of water to produce. By contrast, sir, the vegan diet uses about one-tenth of that amount. So, the water problem would also be completely solved if everyone is vegan. And as the killing karma (retribution) is reduced with people becoming vegan, all disasters will diminish, a more loving atmosphere will envelop our Earth, and we would not even have to worry about war between countries, because vegetarian (vegan) diet will make people feeling peaceful, more clear-headed. So consequently, each nation would naturally have sufficient resources and wholeheartedly exchange help to each other.”

Stephen Leahy is an international environmental journalist from Canada. In 2014, he released his book, “Your Water Footprint: The Shocking Facts About How Much Water We Use To Make Everyday Products.” Filled with informative graphics, the publication won the Lane Anderson Award for best science writing in Canada. For his work in documenting climate change impacts and solutions, Stephen Leahy also earned the Sustainability, Environmental Achievement, and Leadership (SEAL) Award for Environmental Journalism in both 2018 and 2019. “Water is our most important resource. But what we don't realize is we need water for everything else we have in our lives. There isn't anything that isn't made with water. Water footprint is the amount of water that it takes to make something.” “Water scarcity is a growing problem. Two in five people already experience water scarcity. That's going to go to three in five by 2025. This is a big part of climate change, but it's also the way in which we use water. We use water in poor ways, generally, around the world.” “Governments aren't aware of the water footprint concept, generally. They're generally, again, unaware of how much water it takes to do anything, to make anything, how much industries and our entire lifestyle is reliant on water. Agriculture takes about 70% of the world's water use. So, of all the water that we use as a species, agriculture accounts for 70% of it. so the question is: are we doing the best type of agriculture that minimizes the water use? In almost every case, we're doing the wrong things when it comes to our water use in agriculture, from irrigating deserts where most of the water is wasted, to this emphasis on meat production, which is a much more water-intensive way of producing food than just simply growing crops, and grains, and fruits.”

“Animals can’t speak for themselves. It’s up to us to do it.”– Dr. J.M. Coetzee “The Lives of Animals” is a short novel written by South African-born Dr. John Maxwell Coetzee, or J.M. Coetzee, a novelist, linguist, essayist, activist, and translator. Dr. J.M. Coetzee has been acclaimed internationally and received many awards for his work, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003, as well as two Booker Prizes. A strong advocate for the animal rights movement, John Coetzee is vegetarian. He is also a patron of Voiceless, an Australian non-profit animal protection organization. In 2008, he wrote to “The Irish Times” newspaper to oppose the use of vivisection on animals at Trinity College in Dublin, saying: “There is no good reason — in fact there has never been any good reason, scientific or pedagogical - to require students to cut up living animals.” “The Lives of Animals,” published in 1999, is a short novel which began as a Tanner Lecture on Human Values at Princeton University. “The Lives of Animals” is a powerful speech about the need for a change in consciousness in human attitudes and practices regarding animals. Dr. J.M. Coetzee tells the story of a famous fictional novelist named Elizabeth Costello. She is speaking at the fictitious Appleton College in Waltham, where her son, John Bernard, is an assistant professor of astronomy and physics. Elizabeth Costello presents various points of view on the moral status of animals. She focuses on the fact that animals, like humans, have bodies with feelings and senses. On the basis of this similarity, animals should be given the same rights as humans. Elements of philosophy, literature, and deep human conviction unite in this prized literary work, as Dr. J.M. Coetzee uses this debate format to present his own beliefs on an ethical reorganization of human relationships with animals.

“Anthropologists, for example, understand that every society transmits its values from generation to generation through the rituals of that society. And the main ritual in every society are meals. When people are eating food, we’re not just eating food; we’re eating attitudes, we’re eating a whole range of ideas about our relationship with each other, with animals, with nature. So if we’re eating meat, and dairy products, and eggs, we’re eating a whole worldview of domination and exploitation of other beings. And that permeates our society.” “But the good thing that’s happening, we’ve noticed, is that people are awakening out of this, are waking up and seeing that when we eat plant-based foods, then we’re not only much healthier ourselves; we create a healthier role for everybody.” “But I think when people look even more deeply and realize that their own health is interconnected with the health of ecosystems, of animals, of other people, and we make the move to a plant-based way of eating out of not just concern about our own health, but concern about others, and a sense of kindness, and caring, and compassion, for cows, and pigs, and chickens, and for oceans, and ecosystems, and rainforests, and indigenous people, and hungry people, and so forth, and slaughterhouse workers. I would never take out my wallet and pay for meat, dairy products, and eggs, not just because it’s not healthy for me, but I would not want someone to spend their whole day stabbing animals. I wouldn’t want someone to be going hungry because I’m paying for meat that takes huge amounts of grain that could feed those hungry people.” “And that is the adventure that is happening. It is happening. It’s gaining momentum. As we travel around Planet Earth, we see more and more and more restaurants that are vegan opening up; more and more animal sanctuaries; more and more people creating vegan festivals and meetup groups, and cooking classes, and so forth. And this is all a reflection of the resurrection of Sophia, the rising up of the sacred feminine spirituality that lives inside all of us and naturally wants to have a world of kindness and caring that includes all living beings. So, this is the transformation and the adventure that is happening in each one of us.”

“We’re eating vibrations when we eat food because there is a reality beyond just the physical reality.” “The Chinese tradition, for example, there’s a word ‘Qi,’ which means energy. And the whole idea is that it’s the Qi in nature and in our bodies that we have to keep in harmony. In the Indian tradition, the word is ‘Prana,’ or energy, and the mother in these cultures in India and in China consci

“We’re starting to question reductionist science and religion. And I think that’s a very healthy thing. The whole idea that we live in a society where cows, and pigs, and chickens are just merely objects and matter, and pretty soon, when we do that for thousands of years, we, ourselves, become just matter. We’re taught in school that when we die, that’s it: it’s over; we’re just a physical body. And that’s a mentality that destroys any hope that we have at a deep level for inner peace and for harmony with each other, because life becomes meaningless. We’re just in this meaningless universe. We’re just here to consume. It really promotes consumerism. It promotes a competition. And the deeper wisdom in the spiritual traditions, the authentic spiritual traditions, is that life is eternal, that what we are is a field of infinite and eternal consciousness. That’s our true nature. We’re expressing, perhaps through a physical body, but what we are is a being that is eternal. And the same is true for all beings. All beings are a reflection of eternal consciousness. So when we understand that at a deeper level, we have a sense of respect for animals and for each other, because we see beyond just this material level.” “So the deep healing that’s happening, I think, with the vegan revolution, is that we’re beginning to connect spirituality with our food, to see that when we pay other people to imprison and kill animals, it’s not only harming the people who are doing the work, the animals, the hungry people who could be fed, but it’s harming ourselves, and it’s reducing our spiritual sensitivity. And the whole idea is to create a society that reflects spirituality and our true nature. And that means, essentially, a religion that is not reductionistic, that is more holistic, a science that is more holistic, that sees the interconnectedness of everything and is not trapped in this prison of reductionism and materialism. And I think when we look deeply into the mystical traditions, even in the West, we can see in the teachings of Jesus, and some of the other deep teachings, that there is this kernel.” “So, it’s part of our human heritage. It’s something that we can, as human beings, we can tap into this wisdom, and we can awaken it within ourselves. And that’s the beautiful thing.”

Dr. Will Tuttle, a Shining World Hero Award recipient, is a world-renowned composer, inspirational speaker, and pianist; as well as a Dharma Master in the Zen tradition. A former philosophy professor, he presents over 100 concerts, lectures, and workshops annually; promoting veganism worldwide. Dr. Will Tuttle’s best-seller, “The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony,” outlines the far-reaching implications of our food choices. First published in 2005, the empowering book has been translated into 16 languages and has spawned a movement of conscious, cruelty-free living for a more spiritually, ecologically, and socially wholesome world. We are honored to welcome Dr. Will Tuttle to share his insights and message. “I’m so glad, actually, that we have this opportunity to talk about the main ideas in ‘The World Peace Diet,’ which I think are the most critical questions that we face now, because animal agriculture is destroying our ecosystems. It’s really devastating our physical health. But ‘The World Peace Diet’ talks about how animal agriculture harms our psychological health, our spiritual health, and our social health; our cultural health, as well. There’s an enormous amount of information. I tried to create a book that would give a foundation for a society where peace, and freedom, and justice, and equality, and sustainability, are actually possible. I was able to draw from both the Eastern spiritual traditions, from science, from the Western traditions as well, and create a book that, I’m very happy, has, in many ways, become a movement. I’ve been a vegan now for 40 years, and the beautiful thing is that there’s no reason for this. We don’t have to destroy the females, and kill the babies, and sexually abuse them for any reason, for any nutrients. We can thrive and celebrate our lives on this beautiful Earth, and honor the sacred feminine in nature, and honor the sacred feminine within ourselves. And then we’ll have a proper foundation for harmony, and sustainability, and freedom, and justice in our human world.” With deep gratitude to Dr. Will Tuttle, we pray that all of humanity joins in creating beauty and peace together through the compassionate vegan lifestyle.

Let us find out more about Mark Boyle’s inspiring story as we continue our interview with the progressive author. “I started in 2008. I gave up money. Then, in 2016, I quit technology. I basically gave up the products of everything I was campaigning against in my environmental work. In 2006, I set up a project called Freeconomy, which, at the time, was the biggest skill-sharing website in the world.” “The first book, ‘The Moneyless Man’ was more of a story of my experiences of living without money, and some tips. The second book, actually, ‘The Moneyless Manifesto’ is more of a practical guide to living in this way. So that’s completely full of the tips. So this book here, ‘The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology,’ it’s kind of a little bit like the first book in that it’s more of a story. It recounts the tales, the observations, the conversations over farmyard gates, the things you observe, too, about life when you get rid of the distractions.”

As we continue our interview with the progressive author, Mark Boyle shares more about his current lifestyle, as well as his most recent book, “The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology.” “In recent years, I’ve moved back to Ireland, and I’ve begun living without technology. From that point onwards, the day changes depending on the weather, depending on my mood, depending on how I’m feeling, what my body wants to do. And I think having no phone, having no email, is a real help in that, in that there’s no distractions. “We talk too much these days. So stopping talking for the week really made me go inwards and kind of think.” “If you look at wild animals, they’re very alert. Like, they’re got shorter lives, but they live for every single moment. I just think when you, when any of us, are at our peak, and when we’re feeling fully tapped into source, like when we’re connected to all living things, I think there’s going to be more tendency towards beauty in that, with that connection.”

Do you think you could live without money? Well, Irishman Mark Boyle did just that. “A very basic thing in life is housing and feeding yourself. When I started, I felt really insecure about not having money, because money is security in some senses. But what you do find is that over time you regain a trust in the world around you. As long as you retain a good relationship with it, then it will look after you. It’s all about fitting in. it’s actually ‘survival of the fitting-in-est’. Those creatures that fit in most into their landscape will do best.” “Most people won’t want to go completely moneyless, but I think we would all benefit from reducing the reliance on money in our lives.” Mark Boyle then published “The Moneyless Manifesto,” offering a more in-depth view on the insights he gained, as well as giving readers guidance on how they, too, can enjoy the benefits of living with less money.

We should re-examine the relationship between objects and humans, and we should refuse and discard unwanted or unnecessary items. Through repetitive practice, we can forego the attachments to our material belongings and liberate our spirit so that we can live a relaxed and comfortable life. Japanese author Ms. Hideko Yamashita explains and guides us through these areas in her book “DanShaRi.” Practicing DanShaRi is very simple: just give away your unused items. The real significance of discarding them is to ensure that we are the main focus, rather than our possessions. Ms. Hideko Yamashita believes that all our possessions were lent to us from the gods and the Earth. While we own our possessions, we can enjoy and cherish their precious ephemeral usage. Once our affinity ends, we should simply let them go and we can do this with all things. This is the main theme of DanShaRi.

Continuing our interview with Dr. Singer, he shares his thoughts on adopting the compassionate plant-based lifestyle. "Well, I think perhaps the best moral decision I ever took was to stop eating animals." We are currently facing a planetary crisis. In addition to the worsening effects of global warming, human activity is depleting many of Earth’s precious resources. However, Dr. Singer believes that we can still reverse these effects if we change our own lifestyles. To close, Dr. Peter Singer shares the important role that choosing a vegan diet plays in restoring our moral well-being and taking that step to restore Earth’s stability. "I think if the world would become entirely vegan or even vegetarian, it would be a major step forwards in our ethical standing in the extent to which we were guided by ethics in our lives."