Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label egg. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Why I won't eat eggs anymore (sutra)

 
(Death and Dairy Girl aka Steak and Butter Gal) Fake eggs? Farmer exposes what they are now quietly putting in eggs to increase profits and destroy our health
SUTRA: Oh, Buddha, should we be eating eggs?
Silanisamsa Jataka: "A Good Friend" (Jat 190)
 
The Buddha told this birth story (jataka) at Jetavana Monastery about a pious lay follower.

One evening, when this faithful disciple came to the bank of the Aciravati River on his way to Jetavana to hear the Buddha, there was no ferryboat at the landing. The ferrymen had all pulled their boats onto the farther shore and had themselves gone to hear the Buddha speak.

However, the disciple's mind was so full of delightful thoughts about the Buddha that even though he walked onto the river, his feet did not sink below the surface: He walked across the water as if on dry land.

But when he noticed the waves as he reached the middle of the river, his ecstasy [absorption] subsided and his feet began to sink.

As soon as he again focused his mind on the qualities of the Buddha, his feet rose [levitated, floated] and he was able to continue walking filled with rapture over the water.

When he arrived at Jetavana, he paid his respects to the Buddha and took a seat respectfully to one side.

"Good layman," the Buddha said to that disciple, "I hope you had no mishap on your way here."

"Venerable sir," the disciple recounted, "while on my way here, I was so absorbed in thoughts of [the excellent qualities of] the Buddha that, when I came to the river, I was able to walk across it as though it were solid."
 
"Friend," said the Blessed One, "you're not the only one who has been protected in this way. In olden days pious lay followers were shipwrecked mid-ocean and saved themselves by remembering the virtues of the Buddha."

At the man's request, the Buddha told this story of the past:

Long, long ago, at the time of the Buddha Kassapa [3], a lay disciple who had already entered the path [who had become a stream enterer] booked passage on a ship along with one of his friends, a rich barber. The barber's wife asked this disciple to look after her husband.
 
A week after the ship left port, it sank mid-ocean. The two friends saved themselves by hanging onto a wooden plank until they were cast onto a deserted island.

Killing eggs and birds

Famished, the barber took eggs from nests [the island being a rookery], killed some birds, cooked them, and offered a share of his meal to the follower of the Buddha Kassapa.
 
"No, thank you," that [partially enlightened disciple] answered, "I'm fine." Then he thought to himself, "In this isolated place, there is no help for us except the Three Gems [the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Enlightened/Noble Sangha]."

As he sat meditating on the Three Gems, a naga king (naga-raja, reptilian, dragon, royal serpent) who had been reborn on that island transformed himself into a beautiful ship filled with the seven precious things [4]. Its three masts were made of sapphire, the planks and anchor of gold, and the ropes of silver.
 
The helmsman, who was a spirit of the sea, stood on the deck and cried, "Any passengers for Jambudīpa?"

"Yes," the lay disciple answered. "That's where we're bound!"

"Then come onboard," the sea spirit told him.
 
The layman climbed aboard the beautiful ship and turned to call his friend the barber.

"You may come," the sea spirit said, "but he may not."

"Why not?" the disciple asked.

"He is not a follower of the pure life," answered the sea spirit. "I brought this ship for you, but not for him."

"In that case," the layman announced, "all the gifts I have given, all the virtues I have practiced, all the powers I have developed — I give the fruit of all of them to him!"

"Thank you, Master!" cried the barber.

"Very well," said the sea spirit, "now I can take you both onboard."

The ship carried the two men over the sea and up the Ganges River. After depositing them safely at their home in Baranasi [Varanasi], the sea spirit used his magic power to create enormous wealth for both of them. Then, poising himself mid-air, he instructed the men and their friends: "Keep company with the wise and good."

"If this barber had not been in company with this pious layman, he would have perished in the middle of the ocean." Finally, the sea spirit returned to his own abode, taking the naga king with him.

Having finished this discourse, the Buddha identified the birth tale (jataka) and taught the Dhamma, after which the pious layman in front of him entered the fruit of the second path.
 
"On that occasion," the Buddha said, "that faithful disciple attained the fruit of the fourth path (arahantship). Sariputta was the naga king, and I myself was the spirit of the sea." Source

Monday, June 9, 2025

Killing eggs comes back: Karma (epidemic)


I feel therefore I am, Descartes
Is an egg an egg? - Yes. Is it alive? - Yes. - How do we know? - We know because if cared for, it will grow (develop, transform, metamorphose) into a bird, often a bird (like a chicken) capable of procreating more eggs and birds.

Is killing unskillful (harmful, detrimental, resulting in suffering)? - Yes. - Is taking the life of an egg killing? - NO, that doesn't count! It's not a bird! It's a fetus, and a fetus is not a life! I'm not giving up my omelets and easy-overs! You tricked me! It's not killing. There's nothing wrong with stealing eggs, smashing them, and devouring the insides like common egg-stealing snake-animals from the warm wombs of mother-birds! I grew up on a farm, and all the hens gave us their eggs, I mean our eggs, and said, "Sure, eat 'em, I don't care! They come out of canal and mean nothing to me as long as the roosters are kept away so they can't be babies and we're forcibly confined for our safety to all lesbian prison-coops! Case closed, right-to-lifers! Keep your exalted karma philosophies out of my kitchen!"
So you admit to having mixed feelings, with so much reactivity, that slurping the wombs of big mother-birds to devour their egg in the shell is kidnapping, killing, and cannibalizing fellow living beings? Kind of, but so what? EVERYONE does it! - Well, not everyone. Those who do meet with trouble, not the least of which are salmonella infections, E. coli epidemics, bowel distress, possible death, and when they meet with the results of their karma (deeds), they will not be happy about it.

Isn't the salmonella and E. coli infection the karmic result of killing? - No. That's just a natural consequence of consuming contamination. The abducting of eggs, killing of birds, the slaughter and slurping of the dead, that's the karma. And the karmic result and fruit (vipaka and phala) of killing will not be good.
The Buddha tells a story of the past: Silanisamsa Jataka
It's not a sutra, Homer, it's a jataka. - Shut up, Flanders! *Whisper* I'll be back for those eggs.
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This ship is going to sink, friend.
Long, long ago, at the time of [a previous buddha named] Buddha Kassapa [3], a [stream-enterer] lay disciple who had already entered the path [reached the first stage of enlightenment] booked passage on a ship with his friend, a rich barber.

The rich barber's wife asked the Buddha's disciple to look after her husband. But a week after it left port, the ship sank in the middle of the ocean.

The two friends saved themselves by holding on to a plank of wood and were eventually cast up on the shore of a deserted island rookery.

Hungry, the foolish barber raided egg nests, killed birds, slaughtered and cooked them, offering a share of his bloody meal to the Buddha's disciple.

The wise go for guidance to the Buddha.
"No thank you," the disciple answered, "I'm fine" [not wishing to encourage the foolish barber in his defilements and unskillful karma]. He thought to himself, "In this desolate place, there is no help [guidance] for us except the Three Jewels [the Buddha, Dhamma, and noble Sangha]."

As he sat meditating on the Three Jewels, a naga (reptilian, dragonCDs) king who had been reborn on that island magically transformed himself into a beautiful ship filled with the seven precious things [4]. Its three masts were made of sapphire, the planks and anchor of gold, and the ropes of silver.

The naga king transforms into a ship to save the good man
The helmsman, who was a sea spirit, stood on the deck and yelled, "Passengers for Jambudipa [earth, subcontinent, or India] now boarding for immediate passage!"

"Yes," the virtuous lay disciple called back, "that's where we're bound!"

"Then come aboard," the sea spirit invited.

The virtuous layman climbed aboard the beautiful ship and turned to call his friend the foolish barber.

(The Simpsons) Stealing to kill and devour mother and their offspring

"You may come," the sea spirit declared "but he may not."

"Why not?" the disciple asked.

"He is no follower of the pure life," answered the sea spirit. "I brought this ship for you, but not for him."

"If that's the case," the virtuous layman announced, "then all the gifts I have given, all the virtues [restraints and exertions] I have practiced, all the powers I have developed — I give the fruit of all of them to him!"

"Thank you, Master!" cried his friend the barber.

"Very well," relented the sea spirit, "now I can take both of you aboard."

The ship carried the two men across the sea and up the Ganges River that pours into it. After depositing them safely at their home in Baranasi [the holy ancient city of Varanasi/Benares], the sea spirit used his magic power to create enormous wealth for both of them. Then, poising himself mid-air, he instructed them and their friends:

"Keep company with the wise and good. If this barber had not been in the company of this virtuous layperson, he would have perished in the middle of the ocean."

Arguing more details
What about other eggs? - Avoid harming beings.
[Doesn't that depend on whether a rooster (cock, man-chicken) inseminated and fertilized it? - That's what some people say. But is cannibalizing a fellow human's womb, the afterbirth, okay after a human birth? - That's sick. - Yeah, but people do it, saying human cannibalism is nutritious and what a waste to throw all that flesh and goo away after it is expelled from the womb and vagina, mixing with bum juices and all but being washed and sauteed before being cannibalized. - Sick! - Sick, yes, but is it killing?

- No! No one died, and no one was kept from being born or developing! - Right, so if that cannibalism is all right, why not eggs that have not yet developed a blood spot, the sign of fertilization? - Ugh, it's all so gross. I don't think humans are carnivores, given that they don't have the features of carnivores but share so many similarities with herbivores. - Meat eaters call human bodies "omnivores" like dogs, capable of eating anything. - Any nutritive substance will do, no matter how contaminated or how fouled by harmful substances that intrinsically mixed in. Carnivore bodies are the way they are to deal with quickly expelling the toxins. - Anyway, don't we HAVE to eat something, so we have to kill something to do it?

- No. We can live without killing, but let's say some lower lifeform does die in the process, are we killing it or calling for it to be killed? No. Even vegetables do not have to be killed for us to eat and live well. - How? - Fruitarianism, for example, is a great way to live on food produced by plants without killing the plants -- beans, grains, vegetable parts other than roots, bioavailable minerals, chlorella, nuts, and much more like nonplants, such as mushrooms and mycelia.

There's breatharianism, subsisting on prana and amrita, but the West doesn't believe in that, so it's out of the question -- but we know it to be true, rare as it is, upending everything we think we "know" about this body and this human life. Vegetarianism is another example, which comes in different varieties. Veganism is a better example, as it steers clear of all dead animals, dead insects, dead and killed higher lifeforms, and avoids using their slaughtered bodies and byproducts. - Is there no way to eat the dead? - There are plenty of ways to eat the dead. Look around.

- No, I mean, any ethical, moral, non-karmically-harmful way? - I can think of one, but it still has the problem of the dead's bodies being rotten, filled with harmful things that the human body will suffer to have to deal with, but at least karmically might not be a problem, other than maybe ghoulish beings standing around delighting in the dead body and its devourment.

- Well, you don't make it sound appetizing, but what is it? - What if someone were to eat the already-dead, that is, that which is dead by not being killed? - What do you mean? - Roadkill, aged animals, sick animals, dead by predation, dead by accident, and so on, these bodies, while dead, might not have been killed by the consumer aiming to consume them NOR paid to be killed, nor by approving of killing as happens when one hires and pays a butcher, a delicatessen, a slaughterhouse, abattoir, a rancher or other torturer of animals who raises them for slaughter or facilitates their slaughter.

- Never mind, I'd rather go vomit and never eat another living being if you put it like that. - The Truth is that the Truth is, whatever it is, and that may be what karma knows, regardless of our rationalizations saying, "This isn't so bad" or "This is not as bad as that" as if any of that makes killing okay, or approving of killing, or rewarding someone for killing, or digesting the dead.]
  • Eds., Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Tariffs 'n Trump: Last Week Tonight


Trump & Tariffs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
(LastWeekTonight) John Oliver discusses the ongoing chaos surrounding DJ Trump and tariffs, why the past week could have lasting repercussions, and why Grandma might be looking to start her own OnlyFans.

Subscribe to the #lastweektonight YouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens, or find us favorite social media platforms we may or may not have discussed at length on the show like Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, or visit the official website for all that other stuff at once: hbo.com/lastweektonight.
  • John Oliver, HBO, April 13, 2025; CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Easter Bunny, Pagan or Christian?


The True Pagan Origins of Easter | Ancient Architects

(Ancient Architects) Easter Sunday is a time when the Christians of the world are celebrating the "resurrection" (rebirth) of their man-god Jesus, the "Annointed One," while Christians and non-Christians alike are feasting on chocolate eggs.

Eat us, and don't question religion.
The consumption of chocolate eggs is certainly not a Christian tradition. Biblical scholars and historians universally concede that before ever becoming a Christian holiday, Easter was undoubtedly a pagan festival.

This can be seen by the fact that the date of "Easter weekend" changes every year, which is due to Easter always being celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox.

Unlike the word "Christmas" (Christ mass), the word Easter has pagan roots, and history books trace it to the Saxons: Eastra was the spring goddess. It wasn’t until the 8th century when the Anglo-Saxons took the name from the goddess and married her up with the resurrection to form the new Christian holiday of "Easter."


Worship a goddess and rabbit for Easter?
Easter as a celebration goes back much further than the Saxons, and some say it evens goes as far back as the Sumerians and the legend of Damuzi (or Tammuz) and Ishtar (or Inanna).

The legend known as "The Descent of Inanna" was found inscribed on a 4,100-year-old clay tablet. As Tammuz dies, Ishtar follows him into the underworld where she gets judged, killed, and is hung on display.

Meanwhile, the earth goes into decline with crops failing and animals not reproducing. A lot of the information in this video comes from the brilliant article by Joanna Gillian from Ancient Origins and you can read this now at ancient-origins.net/myths... for more detailed information.

All images are taken from Google Images for educational purposes only: The true PAGAN origins of Easter | Ancient Architects

The Easter Bunny is NOT pagan?
Romantic Chocolate Easter Bunny, extra humpy with colored Easter eggs
.
Trademarked in 1963, iconic Playboy Bunny outfit
(ReligionForBreakfast) March 21, 2025: Is the Easter Bunny pagan? Probably not. It seems to have been invented by German-speaking Protestant Christians sometime in the 1600s [who were totally not thinking about sex, spring fertility, lusty fecundity, or anything like that because who knew rabbits were symbolic of sexual appetite, libido, or having lots and lots of babies back in Old-Timey Germany? Goddess Eostre, for which we have the word estrus, being "in heat," and perhaps Easter, the East, or the Dawn...]

BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • Stephen Winick, "Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, But Not as Modern as Some Skeptics Think," Library of Congress Blogs, April 28, 2016.
  • Stephen Winick, On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny, Library of Congress Blogs, March 22, 2016.
Thumbnail design by ⁨@hotcyder.⁩ Join Patreon community: religionforbreakfast. Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters. Sponsor: Watch my interview with John Green on Nebula!: nebula.tv/videos/religionfor... Get Nebula using link for 40% off an annual subscription: go.nebula.tv/religionforbreak...

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Two new eagles have landed: Big Bear

Morning zoo's Ally Johnson and Kevin Klein feed each other for attention (kroq.com)
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We're just a national symbol, relax
Jackie and Shadow
 are the second and third most famous eagles in the country, only behind the nation's Nazi-like insignia. See Uncle Baldy on the top of flagstaffs and elsewhere. But for the parents of cute chicks, see the Friends of Big Bear Valley cam above the lake: Big Bear Bald Eagle Nest 2025 | Friends of Big Bear Valley. We have other charismatic megafauna, like bears for example. bigbeargrizzly.net | Big Bear Grizzly. Those interested may also like to see a long train ride in Norway (live), where it is currently snowing.

  • Xochitl, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Walking on water, high cost of eggs


O, Sea Spirit, we were shipwrecked! - Thank the Dragon King for saving you, Good Man.
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Silanisamsa Jataka: Noble friendship [and the high cost of eggs]
How to get rid of predators stealing your eggs
(Jat 190) The Buddha told this story at Jetavana, the Jeta's Grove Hermitage, about a virtuous lay follower. One evening, when this faithful disciple came to the bank of the Aciravati River on his way to Jetavana to hear the Buddha, there was no boat at the landing stage.
The ferrymen had pulled their boats onto the far shore and themselves gone to hear the Buddha. However, the disciple's mind was so full of delightful thoughts of the Buddha that even though he walked into the river, his feet did not sink below the surface: He walked on water, going across as if on dry land.

But when he noticed the waves as he reached the middle of the river, his ecstasy subsided and his feet began to sink. Then as soon as he again focused his mind on the qualities of the Buddha, his feet rose and he was able to continue walking joyously over the water.

When he arrived at Jetavana, he paid his respects to the Teacher and took a seat respectfully to one side.

"Good layman," the Buddha said, addressing the disciple, "I hope you had no mishap on your way."

"Venerable sir," the disciple replied, "while coming here, I was so absorbed in thoughts of the Buddha that, when I came to the river, I was able to walk on water and cross it as though it were solid."

"Friend," the Blessed One said, "you are not the only one who has been protected in this way. In olden days, virtuous laymen were shipwrecked in mid-ocean and saved themselves by remembering the virtues of the Buddha." At the man's request, the Buddha then told this story of the past.

Story of the past: Jataka
It's not a sutra, Homer, it's a jataka. - Shut up, Flanders! *Whisper* I'll be back for those eggs.
.
This ship is going to sink, friend.
Long, long ago, at the time of the Buddha Kassapa [3], a lay [stream-enterer] disciple who had already entered the path [reached the first stage of enlightenment] booked passage on a ship with his friend, a rich barber.

The rich barber's wife asked the disciple to look after her husband. But a week after it left port, the ship sank in the middle of the ocean.

The two friends saved themselves by holding on to a plank of wood and were eventually cast up on the shore of a deserted island rookery.

Famished, the foolish barber raided egg nests, killed birds, slaughtered and cooked them, offering a share of his bloody meal to the Buddha's disciple.

The wise go for guidance to the Buddha.
"No thank you," the disciple answered, "I'm fine" [not wishing to encourage the foolish barber in his defilements or unskillful karma]. He thought to himself, "In this desolate place, there is no help [guidance] for us here except the Three Jewels [the Buddha, Dhamma, and noble Sangha]."

As he sat meditating on the Three Jewels, a naga (reptilian, dragonCDs) king who had been reborn on that island magically transformed himself into a beautiful ship filled with the seven precious things [4]. Its three masts were made of sapphire, the planks and anchor of gold, and the ropes of silver.

The naga king transforms into a ship to save the good man
The helmsman, who was a sea spirit, stood on the deck and yelled, "Passengers for Jambudipa [earth, subcontinent, or India] now boarding for immediate passage!"

"Yes," the virtuous lay disciple called back, "that's where we're bound!"

"Then come aboard," the sea spirit invited.

The virtuous layman climbed aboard the beautiful ship and turned to call his friend the foolish barber.

(The Simpsons) Stealing to kill and devour mother and their offspring

"You may come," the sea spirit declared "but he may not."

"Why not?" the disciple asked.

"He is no follower of the pure life," answered the sea spirit. "I brought this ship for you, but not for him."

"If that's the case," the virtuous layman announced, "then all the gifts I have given, all the virtues [restraints and exertions] I have practiced, all the powers I have developed — I give the fruit of all of them to him!"

"Thank you, Master!" cried his friend the barber.

"Very well," relented the sea spirit, "now I can take both of you aboard."

The ship carried the two men across the sea and up the Ganges River that pours into it. After depositing them safely at their home in Baranasi [the holy ancient city of Varanasi/Benares], the sea spirit used his magic power to create enormous wealth for both of them. Then, poising himself mid-air, he instructed them and their friends:

"Keep company with the wise and good. If this barber had not been in the company of this virtuous layperson, he would have perished in the middle of the ocean."
  • McDharma's: Can the US get Beyond Meat?
    [Taking eggs from nests, killing birds to survive, the foolish barber was engaged in things that make sense to worldlings even though they are very unskillful karma capable of bringing one to ruin, storing up unwholesome deeds avoided by the wise who neither encourage nor engage in them. That is the high cost of eating eggs, bloody handed, eating babies (bird fetuses), depriving them of life. Who would eat the womb of a woman with the excuse, "No, this womb was not a baby yet because sperm hadn't impregnated it"? The same people eat eggs with blood, indicating the eggs were fertilized and ready to produce a baby chick. Similarly, people eat murdered chicken-mothers, hens who lay eggs, and their rooster partners, calling them "poultry," ignoring that they are sentient beings, conscious entities killed to keep human-ghouls fed on corpses. Going vegan/vegetarian might be a better and more compassionate, environmentally-conscious option.]
Finally, the sea spirit returned to his own abode, taking the naga king with him.

Having finished this recounting of the past, the Buddha identified the rebirth (jataka) and taught the Dhamma, after which the virtuous layperson listening to him entered the fruit of the second path [reached the second stage of enlightenment].

"On that occasion [in that past life]," the Buddha said, "that disciple attained full enlightenment (arahantship). Sariputta was the naga king, and I myself was the sea spirit." Source