Why Be Vegetarian? Quotes from Gandhi, Einstein, Da Vinci, Mr. Rogers, Paul McCartney and Other Famous Vegetarians

There are many famous people throughout history who have followed a vegetarian diet. Some of the most well known figures in history including Gandhi, Einstein, Da Vinci, Pythagoras, Paul McCartney and others are documented to have spoken or written on the merits of plant-based nutrition. Here are just a few examples:

1. Mahatma Gandhi speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

The Indian independence leader and spiritual figure was a lifelong vegetarian, believing that non-violence extended to all forms of life. Gandhi wrote in his book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

Gandhi was a lifelong advocate for animal welfare and vegetarianism, and he believed that the treatment of animals was a reflection of a society's moral values. He saw vegetarianism as a way to promote compassion and nonviolence towards all living beings, and he often spoke out against the cruel treatment of animals in the meat industry.

2. Albert Einstein speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

The physicist and Nobel laureate was a vegetarian for the last year of his life, saying that he felt it was the right thing to do for ethical and health reasons.

It is believed that Einstein made the following statement in a letter he wrote to Hans Muehsam in 1954, which was later published in the book Albert Einstein: The Human Side: 

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. Humanity's true moral test, its fundamental test, consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals."

3. Leonardo da Vinci speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

The famous Renaissance artist, inventor, and thinker was known to be a vegetarian, and wrote in his notebooks that "the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men." 

One of the great people of modern history, Leonardo da Vinci was a strong advocate for vegetarianism and often wrote about his beliefs. Here are a few more quotes from him on the subject:

"Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places!" [source: Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks]

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men." [source: Henry Salt's "The Life of Leonardo da Vinci"]

"My body will not be a tomb for other creatures." [source: Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks]

"It is not true that eating meat is necessary. I have friends who are vegetarian; they are very strong and healthy." [source: Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks]

"If you are as you have been described, return to your country and boast of such qualities as these, for they are virtues there. Here they are vices." (This quote was written by da Vinci in response to a letter from a friend who had described his habit of eating animals.) [source: Henry Salt's "The Life of Leonardo da Vinci"]

It's worth noting that some of these quotes may have been translated or paraphrased from the original Italian, as they were written during the 15th and 16th centuries. Nonetheless, they demonstrate da Vinci's strong convictions about the ethical and health benefits of a vegetarian diet.

4. Fred Rogers (aka “Mr. Rogers”) speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

A devout vegetarian since the 1970s, the host of “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” Fred Rogers, often remarked, “I don't want to eat anything that has a mother and “It's hard to eat something you've seen”

Fred Rogers is also documented as having said the following:

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. The more you love, the more you will be loved. The more you give, the more you will receive. It's an immutable law of the universe, and it works whether or not you believe in it or understand it."

"I don't think it's right to eat other living things. It's why I became a vegetarian."

"I'm convinced that the only way to change the world is through example - to lead by example, doing things differently, and challenging the status quo."

Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/594929472/fred-rogers-and-the-love-of-little-things

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1984/08/03/mister-rogers-likes-children-just-the-way-they-are/9f9dbf50-7cf0-4d03-8ad4-6aa8f33d1784/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qt2WbfotkU

5. Paul McCartney speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

The musician and former member of the Beatles has been a vegetarian since the 1970s, and has been a vocal advocate for animal rights.

Here are some things Paul McCartney has said to promote the vegetarian diet:

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian." [Source: Meat Free Monday, 2009]

"If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That’s the single most important thing you could do. It’s staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty." [Source: The New York Times, 2008]

"I’ve been vegetarian for a long time now and over the years I’ve seen how the number of vegetarian options has grown. It’s more and more normal now. So I think people are evolving, they are evolving to a cleaner, healthier diet." [Source: PETA, 2017]

6. Pythagoras speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician was a vegetarian, and is said to have taught his followers to respect all forms of life.

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." (Source: Porphyry, On Abstinence from Animal Food, IV)

"The earth affords a lavish supply of riches of innocent foods, and offers you banquets that involve no bloodshed or slaughter; only beasts satisfy their hunger with flesh, and not even all of those, because horses, cattle, and sheep live on grass." (Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses, XV)

7. Leo Tolstoy speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

In addition to his writings on non-violence, Leo Tolstoy's advocacy of vegetarianism led to his friendship with Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote several essays about vegetarianism, but perhaps never more compellingly than when he said “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.”

"Vegetarianism serves as the criterion by which we know that the pursuit of moral perfection on the part of humanity is genuine and sincere." - Tolstoy in his essay "The First Step," 1892.

"Nothing will more quickly destroy a person's spiritual life than the habit of fault-finding and the consequent indulgence of ill will." - Tolstoy in his book "The Kingdom of God Is Within You," 1893.

"As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields." - Tolstoy in his essay "The First Step," 1892.

"If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals." - Tolstoy in his book "A Calendar of Wisdom," 1910.

"Vegetarianism is the taproot of humanitarianism." - Tolstoy in his essay "The First Step," 1892.

8. Dr. José Manuel Estrada, The Elder Brother, speaks on the benefits of Vegetarian Diet

Dr. José Manuel Estrada is a recognized spiritual teacher in the lineage of the Supreme Order of Aquarius, the lineage upon which Golden Drum was founded. He is an exemplary model of a “teacher of teachers” and his spiritual family endearingly called him the “Elder Brother”. In his book The Elder Brother Speaks, Dr. Estrada elaborates on the benefits of vegetarian diet for the benefit of all of humanity. 

The Elder Brother said:

“We observe that vegetarians are not drunk. They are not drug addicts. They are not murderers. Clearly, If they don't allow themselves to kill an animal, they don't kill human beings either. So starting from this point, we can realize that when the wortd is directed by vegetarians it will not display the spectacle we call war. “ - The Elder Brother Speaks, p. 4.

“The world will not change until humanity changes its diet. This has already been proven. We can have many intellectuals who are meat eaters, but they will not be able to go beyond the point of intellectuality. They possess much knowledge of different fields, but they cannot produce anything from their own inner centers. So, I recommend that everyone needs to change their eating habits. When they do this, they can have a very healthy body and follow a good discipline. This is why we come to establish yoga centers where people can learn to do exercises, postures, breathing, etc. We are also establishing vegetar- ian restaurants, so that people without even noticing can start changing their eating habits and, therefore, they start to think in a different way. Then the animal in them is not the one who is in control. Why? Because when we stop eating meat, we stop feeding our animal nature which in instinctual within us. This is why vegetarians do not wish to kill any animal form. And if they do not wish to kill any animal, neither do they wish to kill a human being. Therefore they do not agree with wars. So the wor1d is looking to vegetarians to bring about a better type of society.“ - The Elder Brother Speaks, p. 69.

Other famous vegetarians:

There are many other famous vegetarians who have held the torch of not eating animals. These include, but are not limited to:

• Serena Williams (who won a Tennis Championship in 2018 on a vegetarian diet)

• Bill Clinton, former U.S. President

• Jane Goodall, conservationist and primatologist

• Ellen DeGeneres, comedian and talk show host

• Joaquin Phoenix, actor

• Natalie Portman, actress

• Benedict Cumberbatch, actor

For the Wild: Get to Know Kurt Russo

Image: https://sacredsea.org/

Our community was deeply moved after hearing Dr Kurt Russo's recent podcast on For The Wild. Many of us felt inspired to support his great work and we are honored to have Kurt join us on Saturday for Heart and Mind: Changing Tides. He will be speaking on behalf of the Lummi Nation's pledge to return our underwater relatives home, one of the causes he has dedicated nearly 40 years of his life to.

Dr. Kurt Russo has worked with Jewell James since 1980 on treaty rights, protection of sacred sites, coalition building, cross-cultural conflict resolution and land acquisition. He currently works in the Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office of the Lummi Nation on the issue of fossil fuel exports. He is the Executive Director of the Native American Land Conservancy, and is a Research Fellow at the California Center for Native Nations (University of California).

In a recent conversation with Kurt, he had some beautiful wisdom and thoughts to share about our relatives.

"Did you ever hear about what the Dalai Lama once said to his interpreter... Kindness is the water and Spirituality is the tea.

We can't live without kindness-it's not possible. When I think about these relatives (the Orcas) and the families many things come to mind, but especially the kindness between all beings. 

What I think about these days are the killer whales. They are part of a larger issue within their habitat in the Salish Sea. In 40 years of working in this region and in human ecology, the only thing that is standing between us and a dead Salish Sea are the native people ... 

The Lummi have a tradition of going on canoe journeys and I want to share this photograph with you. There are 2 cedar canoes on the water of the Salish Seas. In the center of the V made by these two canoes, you see a form. The form is a killer whale that came out of the water. The whale breached for a long time, staying still while each member laid their hands on it. It spoke to them and it sang to them. It approached them as family. 

This picture its telling a story. It's a meditation, so see if you can stop what you're doing and look at it truthfully and feel what is happening. Welcome to the world that's around us all the time that is often in many ways trying to make its presence known. When you're out on the canoe at night, you don't have a computer, or a phone, or anything... you have the water, and the night, and the canoe. Then here you have a killer whale who came out of the water to welcome them home and they sat there touching it and listening to its songs and its stories. Sit and be still with that. 

The Orcas are people, they have agency as a person, they have clans and families, and long lines, and truth. They fully exist in the world and in their world and they know we're here and they're trying to wake us up. 

So the photograph is almost a meditation. It speaks to people in different ways. Look at it. Don't look at it quickly, but spend time and get inside of it and let yourself understand what is happening there. They're teaching us. Knowledge seeks power and wisdom seeks silence. Be silent with this."

You can get to know Dr Russo and other extraordinary presenters, elders, musicians, and artists more this weekend at Changing Tides. Please reserve your ticket in advance. 

A Preview of Coming Attractions: Field Notes from a Hospice Nurse

“Thank you for the work that you do, you all are angels!”

This is something families tell me as a hospice nurse. It is good to be appreciated. It brings ease to an often challenging job. Though sometimes it is said in a way that makes us hospice folk raise an eyebrow to each other on the sly when we hear it, because there is something implied in this comment. Some indeed add after a pause, “I could never work here. It must be so depressing.”

Labor and delivery nurses hear, “Wow what’s it like to witness a miracle every time you come to work?” and ICU nurses hear, “It must be so satisfying to know you are saving lives!” Hospice workers get, “How do you do it?”

I love my job because I get to be present with patients and families during a very special time in their lives. I remember hearing years ago Erykah Badu say about why she became a birth doula, “I guess I just wanted to be part of the welcoming committee.” At hospice I get to help throw the farewell party. I don’t have to worry about sticking patients for labs every morning or sending them off the floor for tests. Getting someone the right breakfast is given the same priority as getting them the right meds. And they can enjoy a visit with their dog, a serenade from music therapy, and a glass of scotch after dinner. Extended family will gather for a parties (I’ve seen on occasion five generations), and loved ones can stay at the bedside day and night. When I watch a family wheel a patient’s hospital bed outside on the seaside deck so that he can see, hear, feel, and smell the ocean, I can’t think of a less depressing job.

We are looked at as angels because the phase of life known as “dying” has been cast out of society. And that, for some, is what makes it so darn difficult to do. Because dying feels like it’s something that’s not supposed to happen. How can that be? It’s the one promise that life holds for us, and yet we treat it as an abberation.

In my years as an observer of this phenomenon I’ve come to see that it’s not the death part that bothers us so much as the dying. Stephen Jenkinson, author of the book Die Wise, points out that in the English language, curiously, it is impossible to use the verb “to die” in the passive voice. I was died. They died him. Dying is something that you do. And in a society that values competence and independence above almost all else, dying asks of us skills that are uncultivated.

On a recent homecare visit I met a woman in her early 60s with advanced metastatic cancer. She is a no-nonsense woman with a raspy New York accent who who owned a liquor store and ran a bar for decades. She told me, “I’m ready to get this over with…really, I’m not afraid to die.” Over the course of the visit I witnessed her jump up several times to get this or that paper for me from different rooms despite her abdominal pain and my insistence that she stay seated and let me do it. Standing in her kitchen and looking out the window at the bushes and trees starting to bloom in the early spring weather she lamented, “They really need pruning. You think I’ll get to it this year?” I was straight with her — I told her that she wasn’t talking like a woman who is ready to die. The work of dying is of letting go, and with a disease like hers it is a slow process, one that most people are more aware of than they would like to be. When she told me she isn’t afraid to die what she meant is that she isn’t afraid of being dead. But the dying is another matter.

I told her that she seemed to have the same desire that many people do: to live a life of independence, as close to normal as possible right up until the end, and then — a clean break. “Yes, she said, “that’s exactly what I want!” We laughed about it together. And I said it’s a nice idea, but it’s not, again in the words of Stephen Jenkinson, “what dying asks of us.”

Just as it is not possible to use “to die” in the passive voice, it is not possible to use the verb phrase “to be born” in the active. You were born. You did not bear yourself. Life was given to you. And death asks that you give it back. Inevitably, it will be taken; death is your opportunity to offer it.

Or maybe offer is not the right word.

Last week I was at a home of a woman dying of congestive heart failure. Her daughter said to her, “Mom I’ve been thinking about this. Why did Dad die so quickly? It’s because he was a kept man. He knew that you would take care of everything as you always did. But for you it’s harder. This is God’s way of pinning you down until you say Uncle, this is God’s way of forcing you to trust someone else to take care of it. And mom…we got you.” Her daughter followed me out to the car and told me, “This has been a struggle every step of the way. It was a struggle to convince her to use a cane, to take a wheelchair on trips, to get oxygen in the house, and now to get a hospital bed. She has fought against every single step.”  

Just as a mother must stand aside and watch her child struggle, at his insistence, to put his shoes on by himself for the first time, so a daughter watches her mother struggle to the bathroom on unsteady legs while nearby a helpful but scorned walker sits in the corner. It is a struggle to let go of life, an honorable struggle.

The verb suffer comes from the latin suffero, which can be broken into the roots sub (under) and fero (to bear). Suffering has a negative connotation in both colloquial and spiritual contexts, as if to suffer is to fail somehow. I like to think of the word suffer in the active voice as in “to suffer a cold” rather than to suffer from one. Between being born and dying we have so much support, visible and invisible, in shouldering our burdens. Suffering is the opportunity to bear fully that weight, for a time. Suffering has its own meaning and beauty. But this phase is meant to be swift. It is in an effort to avoid the process of slowing down, letting go, and giving up the weight into willing hands that people unintentionally linger in the suffering state.

So what to do? As a culture, we need to start with the basics. For an introduction to the practice of dying we can look to the moon.

The moon travels in cycles: from the new moon, waxing though first quarter to full moon, then waning through third quarter to return to new. Our culture celebrates the new moon phase of life (birth), all the milestones along the waxing phase (first steps, first words, first kisses, graduations) and life in fullness (marriage, mother and fatherhood, career life, maturity). When in comes to the waning phase, we start to look away. Slowing down, dependence, illness and death are seen as unfortunate circumstances to be lamented, avoided, or ignored.

If we look to the moon for guidance we see that everything that rises will fall. It is to be expected at the least, and perhaps savored in it’s own way, that each of us will slow down, experience loss, and die.

The moon does not prefer one phase over another, and when it comes to the moon, neither do we. As much as we love to howl at the full moon, we love the stillness of the new moon - and the brightness of the stars. And at first glimpse of a quarter moon we sometimes wonder, “Is that a first quarter or a third?” The moon reminds us that a child finding her first words is as much a milestone as a grandfather beginning to search for his.

Back in my patient’s kitchen, looking out over her budding magnolias, she says, “You’re a nice girl. You know…nobody talks to me about this. I’ve just heard from nurses, ‘It’s a unique process that’s different for every person.’ When I try to give belongings away to my family, they get upset. You’re a nice girl. Hey…thanks for talking.”

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Author Bio

Stephanie Hope is a member of the Golden Drum community, a registered nurse specializing in hospice and palliative care, and a certified Integrative Nurse Coach. She is currently enrolled in a clinical doctorate program in integrative nursing at University of Minnesota. For more information about the services she offers in Life and Death Coaching, please contact her at stephanie@nyu.edu.

The Dhammapada: The Sayings of The Buddha

The Dhammapada (PDF) is a collection of teachings that capture the essence of the Buddha and what he came here to share.  Over the course of twenty six chapters this compendium offers the reader practices that, when applied properly, lead to freedom and joy. 

Much has been written on the history of The Dhammapada and most scholars agree that the students of the Buddha came together to create it in order to preserve their teacher's most essential teachings.  Subjects covered in The Dhammapada include self-mastery, wakefulness, mindfulness, cleanliness, conquering desire, anger, greed, and pride, freedom from suffering and much more.

The Dhammapada was introduced to The Golden Drum community by Maestro Manuel Rufino as an essential text for study and practice. Maestro Manuel shares that the Buddha's teachings all lead to one core teaching: detachment. Wherever there is attachment, there is suffering. Wherever there is detachment, there is joy. The suffering we experience as fear, shame, struggle, discomfort, anger, etc., arises as a result of our attachment to things. This is what keeps us here and does not let us ascend to a higher spiritual level. When we are able to detach from whatever it is that is at the root of our suffering, positive energy comes in and we experience joy and happiness. To discover our attachments and consciously detach from them is the essence of the Buddha's teaching and the primary recommended practice.

The following quotation, from The Dhammapada Chapter 7, "The Master," exemplifies the Buddha's teaching of detachment:

At the end of the way
The master finds freedom
From desire and sorrow -
Freedom without bounds...

Those who awaken
Never rest in one place.
Who can follow them?
Only the master,
Such is his purity...

He wishes for nothing.
His food is knowledge.
He lives upon emptiness.
He has broken free...
The master surrenders his beliefs.

He sees beyond the end and the beginning.
He cuts all ties.
He gives up all desires.
He resists all temptations.
And he rises...

He finds joy
Because he wants nothing. 

The members of the Golden Drum community regularly gather as a group to listen to The Dhammapada audio book (as translated by Thomas Byrom and read by Joseph Needleman), available for free via YouTube. While it only takes 90 minutes to listen through, embracing the teachings in The Dhammapada takes a committed course of study and practice. 

On behalf of the sacred traditions, we invite you to study The Dhammapada with us as we work towards an awakened humanity. By applying this wisdom to our everyday lives, we initate ourselves into the path of virtue, freedom and illumination.

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Author Bio

AJ Block is the director of Didge Project and a founding member of Sacred Arts Research Foundation. Noted as a didgeridoo player and teacher, AJ is a student of spiritual guide Maestro Manuel Rufino and a member of the Golden Drum community. For more of AJ's articles, music tutorials and sound recordings visit www.didgeproject.com.

Power of Acceptance

In a city like New York, our senses are consistently bombarded by sounds, smells, images and activity. Staying present can be a real challenge. Even the most peaceful person can have their buttons pushed on a crowded subway during a rain storm. However, there is a way to stand in the eye of the hurricane no matter how intense it gets. One word: acceptance. Acceptance of what's going on around you and acceptance of what's going on inside of you. A way to achieve this is by deeply loving yourself and in turn, deeply loving others.  

According to a medical online dictionary: “Yoga should be done with an open, gentle, and non-critical mind; when one stretches into a yoga position, it can be thought of as accepting and working on one’s limits. Impatience, self-criticism and comparing oneself to others will not help in this process of self-knowledge.”

At Golden Drum, egos are left at the door. The emphasis is on working together in a tranquil, peaceful place. Our arms are open to new students that have not tried yoga before because they are afraid or are intimidated by the intensely gymnastic-esque classes so often found.

During any class at Golden Drum, your body will reap the rewards of yoga, but so will your spirit. As you learn to breath and become an observer of your thoughts, you can connect with your truth. You can discover who you truly are and ACCEPT all that arises, including what may not always go according to plan. The more you practice, the closer you will come to touching your innate happiness and bliss.

Please see our schedule below, we'd love to have you join us!

Monday

7PM • Vinyasa • Carlos

Tuesday

7PM • Kundalini • Dharam Dhyan Kaur

Wednesday

3PM • Sivananda • Ganga Dhara
7PM • Prenatal Kundalini • Dhanjeet Kaur

Sunday

6:30pm • Candlelight Yin • Kristen

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Author Bio

Laura is a Kundalini yoga instructor at Golden Drum and a member of the Golden Drum Community.  She continues to be in awe of this amazing, life-changing technology. She has traveled around the world to study with Shiv Charan Singh and is grateful for his wisdom, grace and guidance, as well as all the teachers that she has encountered on her path.