With diverse flora and fauna, magnificent natural landscapes, and an ecological biosphere that supports life, this wondrous planet is our earthly home. From our animal co-inhabitants to the lush rainforests and life-giving soil, we cherish all these as gifts from the Creator.

It is a common theme in the world’s major faiths that during our temporary stay here, we should be good stewards of Mother Earth. Throughout the years, Supreme Master Ching Hai has shared the message of leading a balanced life while following a spiritual path. Not only must we nourish our spirits, but we share the responsibility to care for nature and our fellow beings. In light of recent scientific evidence which pinpoint the raising of livestock as the number one contributor to climate change, Supreme Master Ching Hai affirms the important message she has noted for over the past two decades: we must be vegetarian, meaning an animal-free ##diet, and practice sustainable living. Today we present to you a compilation of Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lectures titled “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat.”

Thank you for your caring presence for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples. Join us again tomorrow for Part 2 of “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat.” Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants coming up next right after Noteworthy News. May divine blessings fill your life with wonder and peace.

It’s been a joy to have you with us for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples. Join us again next Friday for Part 3 of “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat.” And now, Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants is coming up next, right after Noteworthy News. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television. May Providence guide our planet in wisdom and loving kindness for all beings.

Thank you, eco-conscious viewers, for your company for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples. Join us again tomorrow for part 4 of “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat.” Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants is coming up next after Noteworthy News on Supreme Master Television. Please stay tuned. We wish you and your loved ones an abundance of joy and fulfillment.

We appreciate your company for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples here on Supreme Master Television. Join us again next Friday for part 5 of “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat.” And now, Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants is coming up next, right after Noteworthy News. Please stay tuned. We wish you a safe and blessed weekend.

It’s been a pleasure to have you with us for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples. Part 6 of “Save Our Planet: Eliminate the Production of Meat” will continue tomorrow. Up next is Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants right after Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. Please stay tuned. God bless, and farewell for now.

Thank you, Earth-protective viewers, for your presence for today’s episode of Between Master and Disciples. Up next is Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants right after Noteworthy News here on Supreme Master Television. Please stay tuned. We wish you a joyous and peaceful weekend.

You aired an interview with Professor Kirk Smith at the University of California at Berkeley in the US who said, “Reducing methane would buy us critical time in the fight against climate change.” He also said that livestock were the greatest human-caused source of methane, and suggested governments tax meat to reduce consumption.

Supreme Master, can you please help us to understand how reducing human-caused methane will cool the planet faster than reducing CO2? Scientifically speaking, methane ends its effect much faster than CO2, and its warming potential is greater than CO2. So if the methane is gone out, then we cool the planet quicker. And, the methane dissipates out of the atmosphere in 9 to 15 years, but the CO2 lingers for an estimated range of 40 to 200 years. So, because methane goes out faster and heats up the climate more, so, if it goes out, then the Earth cools more and quicker compared to the CO2 effect. So some Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists say that eliminating livestock farming would be the fastest way to bring down methane and cool the planet, thus buying critical time in the fight against global warming, as they said.

So, in the interview with the Supreme Master TV, Dr. Kirk Smith stated that the CO2 emissions could still be heating the planet a thousand years after they are emitted. Can you imagine? So, if we want to see the cooling of our planet in the next one or two decades, it’s more effective to reduce methane first. And because the greatest source of methane on the planet is from livestock, so to be a vegan is the fastest way to reduce methane, thus bring cooling to the planet successfully and fast.

Thank you so much for your work. Here in southern California, there’s a drought currently, and talking about water rationing, what do the experts in the interviews have to say? The experts told us a lot of things. They say that California right now is headed toward the worst drought in California’s recorded history, the worst drought they are heading to. The Sierra Nevada Mountains which supply much of the rest of California’s water is supplying now 61% of the usual amount in this past winter season - winter season even!

We’re not talking about summer yet, when it’s dry. California produces 50% of fruit, vegetables, and nuts that are grown in the United States, but the US government has announced that farmers will not be able to buy any water from the state. Imagine this? They supply 50% of your fruit and vegetables, but now they’re not able to buy any water from the state. And their state is in a drought predicament because the main source of water for the farmers is expected to go dry this year. Greenhouse gases are causing deserts to expand in California; elsewhere as well, but now we just zoom in on California. Moreover, two of the largest manmade lakes in the US, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, will be dry in the next decade, 2021. These lakes and the Colorado River system that fills them provide water to nearly 8% of the US population.

Now they are drying, they will be completely dry soon. So, picture all this. Stockholm International Water Institute states that 70% of water is used by agriculture. Of that amount, a lot of it is going into planting corn and soy and that is to feed animals, not humans! That’s why we’re short of water, short of food. It’s a waste of precious food – not just our precious water – as well. The experts also calculate that 1 kilogram of beef takes 5,000 to 20,000 liters of water to produce, but 1 kilogram of wheat takes only 500 to 2,000 liters of water. That is one-tenth, 10% of the amount of water for meat.

At a time when we have water shortage and all the reservoirs are dwindling at such an alarming rate, we are truly afraid that even if we don’t take showers at all, it will not do much help because all the humans use and everything comes together is only 30% of water around the world. Everything else is mostly used for meat industry, 70% of it. You see that? So even if you and I go ascetic – we don’t even wash clothes, we go like the Himalayan yogis – the ones who don’t wear clothes – and we don’t wash ourselves, we put ash on our body forever, it won’t help the planet. Meat industry should be cut. That will help the planet. That will help to reserve our water, to refill our lakes and our rivers again.

That is physically and scientifically speaking, I’m not talking about the merit, the bad karmic contribution that we are doing to ourselves by harming others and torturing animals and killing them just to save our stomach. On the other hand, if we forgo 1 pound of beef, we can save more water than if we stop showering for half a year. Just don’t eat 4 hamburgers and you can shower half a year every day, generously. Can you imagine the big, big, big difference like that? So if we really want to save the water for the world to be able to use for our daily necessity, not to talk about future generations, then we have to change to a vegetarian diet, animal-free diet. Animal industry must be out. That’s it. Thank you.

Fishing contributes to global warming primarily by disturbing the complex ecosystems of the world’s oceans. Balanced marine ecosystems are extremely important, as more than two-thirds of the planet is covered by oceans. They provide half of the world’s oxygen and play a major part in regulating the global climate. So, life on Earth truly depends very much on the ocean for survival. In addition, oceans also absorb atmospheric CO2 carbon dioxide) which directly helps to cool our planet. These are just a few among the great things that the oceans do. To disturb the balance of the seas, thus, ultimately places our own lives in danger.

So, we could say that it is in our interest to care for the oceans if we want to survive, and all the life that they contain, including fish. Fish farms are like on-land factory farms. They have similar problems environmentally, with impacts that include polluting the bodies of waters. The farmed fish are contained in big netted areas off the ocean shores with uneaten food, fish waste, antibiotics, or other drugs and chemicals that pass into the surrounding waters where they harm our ecosystems and pollute our drinking sources. Depleting wild fish stocks also. Fish like salmon that are eaten by humans are usually fed huge amounts of other fish, like anchovies. Studies have found that for every kilo of salmon that is sold in a supermarket, four kilos of wild fish have to be caught to feed the salmon. This practice also endangers sea animals like sea lions and birds that are thought to be a threat, and are often harassed with firecrackers or loud underwater speakers, causing pain, disorientation and hearing loss to marine mammals. And others are often even shot dead.

These are just a few of the problems associated with fish farming, which have become bigger as the fishing has increased. So the issues arising from related industries like the production of food for salmon have also been on the rise. In Peru, for example, fish food is made from anchovies, which causes illness for the adults who are closely involved in its production, as well as asthma and skin disease in young children from the toxic smoke that pours out onto the streets from the factories, along with pollution to the nearby ocean waters, of course. This fish production also affects bird populations, with some like the guano bird having declined by 90% in number. So, the result is that consumers can buy cheap fish, but it comes with the very heavy, expensive cost to our children’s health, and a degraded environment. Meanwhile, if we say that the ocean ecosystems are dependent on fish populations to be balanced, then those ecosystems are extremely imbalanced right now. Scientists estimate that more than 90% of the oceans’ big fish have disappeared over the last 50 years due to commercial fishing.

They warned that at the present rate of fishing, there will be a global collapse of all species being fished by 2050 and say that recovery efforts need to be started immediately. So, what we are seeing from these fish and marine life are signs of distress. And from the oceans themselves, we are seeing other signs such as warming temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing acidification and terrible levels of pollution.

So global warming is affecting the oceans, which in turn is affecting the fish. This is an equally urgent situation as the one presented by livestock industry, and it has the exact same solution. Stop eating the flesh; stop killing for food; stop eating the fish. This will help restore the balance of both the ocean and land, immediately. Fish are God’s creations that we should also care for, respect, protect, not to eat. We should be looking for ways to help the fish, to protect them and all the marine life from the devastating effects of climate change. Once we start thinking in this way, we are in a better position for ourselves, for the fish and for the planet. Thank you.

What effect does meat consumption have on biodiversity? Charlie, meat consumption has a huge destructive impact on biodiversity, which is essential for our Earth to function and thus must be preserved. No matter how small, each species has a role to help balance our ecosystem, scientifically proven. And yet, consumption of both fish and animal flesh continue and are wreaking havoc on biodiversity around the globe. In the oceans and fresh waterways, so many species of fish have already been lost, with complete aquatic environments such as coral reefs being decimated by such practices as trawling and fishing with explosives. On land, meat consumption is responsible for vast regions being cleared for grazing crops, such as soy, that are fed to livestock. One example is seen in the deforested Amazon areas that have gone from lush forest to bare fields used for cattle grazing or primarily animal-feed crops. With these activities essentially robbing our biodiversity, there has been an alarming rise in the disappearance of plants and animals. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report noted that some 30% of the mammal, bird, and amphibian species currently are threatened with extinction– all due to human actions. And one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted in the field is now forecasting that over a million species will be lost in the coming 50 years. Isn’t that a sad affair? Besides the land being cleared for livestock raising, the livestock itself causes further biodiversity loss due to potent greenhouse emissions, which accelerate global warming. Many studies have documented declining populations of penguins, polar bears, plants, trees, migratory birds and many others – all linked to rising temperatures on the planet. Even desert animals have been affected, like the Malian elephants that have been perishing in high numbers because their trunks can no longer reach the sinking ground water. The answer to all of this is quite clear: Stop the meat consumption. Stop it yesterday. This will eliminate the so-called need for livestock raising, which will immediately return immense amounts of land to natural sustainability or to natural growing methods that allow biodiversity to be replenished. This is the way we need to go, and fast. Are the recent disasters around the world somehow connected with the billions of animals slaughtered every year for human consumption? Of course it is. “As you sow, so shall you reap”; “like attracts like” – scientifically speaking, spiritually speaking, we have been warned. So, all the disasters that have happened around the world, of course, are connected with the human unkindness to the co-inhabitants. That was the price we have to pay for what we have done to the innocents who have done us no harm, who are also the children of God, who have been sent to Earth to help us and to cheer our days. Because, generally, humans also have very good merit before they came to Earth, and that’s why they became human, because of their good merit. So, from their good merit, there has been “give and take” and deductions and additions. Otherwise, if things had not been canceling out some of the bad retribution, then it would have been worse; or the Earth might have been disappeared altogether already. But luckily, the humans also do have some good merit and it has not run out yet. Some of their good merit has not run out yet and that’s why we are still hanging in here.

Like yesterday I told one of my assistants, I said, “We should feel very lucky that we’re here, still have water to drink.” Oh my God, many countries in the world are short of water. Do you understand this? Just the basic thing. Not a luxury. Water! Keep getting shorter and shorter every day. Can you imagine? Some people go even 10 plus kilometers every day just to get water to bring it back to their family. Truly it’s like that. In Africa, many countries are like that. And now in India and China, even America, many places became short of water. Basic necessity only. Why? Because they use up all the water from the river to divert it into big farms, factories, like animal farm factories. They have to use a lot of water to give the animals to drink, and then, use water to grow the crops for the animals to eat, and when they kill the animals, or before they kill the animals they have to use water to clean their pens every day and wash it down into the stream. And when they kill the animals, they need a lot of water to clean up also, and when people eat it at home, they also use water again to clean it and to cook it. So there’s no end. There was enough water for all of us, plus over for everyone! We began this industry of meat diet, then everything got worse – more hospitals, more medicines, more sicknesses, more shortage of any kind, more temperature rise, and more suffering, more disasters, more hunger, more war.

I said killing is never right. Yes, I have told the journalist I wish I could say otherwise, that would make me even more popular. I told him meat is one of the most powerful industries in every country.

If I have not forbidden you to eat meat I would have had more disciples. Easy. Everybody come in, just kowtow and that’s it – Ching Hai-ism! And I would amass all kind of fortune, fame, whatever, but I never, I never go in that direction. Not at the cost of my life even. We can’t. I said the truth cannot be altered no matter what. I said to him I put myself even in danger for telling the truth, but I have to save my planet.

I don’t know if you want to save your planet, but I want to save my planet – I want to save my people. I don’t know if you want to save your people, I want to save my people. My “people” is whom? It’s you, your relatives, your friends, your countrymen, your world’s citizens, your pets, your children, your future great, great, great grandchildren, the animals, all the harmless meek, weak innocent animals – these are all my people. I want to save them all yesterday already. I can’t tell otherwise. Even if we have another alternative plan to save the planet without the whole country being vegan, how? How many more people have to die? You understand me? For that? Because of meat diet, because of the harmful effect of meat industry, how many more countries have to be eroded, financially kaput, for a piece of meat that we put in our mouth? How many more islands, nations have to sink for that piece of meat that we put in our mouth?

How many million more refugees, climate refugees, do we want to look at for that piece of meat that we put in our mouth? How many billion more animals do we want to see crammed, suffering, agonizing in those crammed small-crate factories? We want to see? For that little piece of meat that we put in our mouth – that we could change it. We have tofu, we have all kinds of protein nowadays even. It’s not like we are starving without meat. It’s not. It’s not necessary at all to eat meat. Besides, it’s poisonous! It’s been proven already. Not to talk about climate change, climate refugees or anything – how many more patients do we want to see languishing in the hospitals between life and death, or dead, because of that piece of meat that we put in our mouth? How many more families we want to break up due to this kind of disease and death caused by meat? How many more children do we want to see suffer with heart disease, cancers at a young age already, because of the meat diet? How many more families do we want to see childless because women who eat meat have very less chance to conceive children? And then, how many of these young aspiring mothers do we want to see going through, this kind of “poke and picks,” what they call IVF pregnancy? It is a painful procedure for a husband and wife who have no children, have to go through, like artificial insemination. It’s very painful, time consuming, agonizing, and suffering – and the hope is not 100% even. Not like you spend a lot of money – a lot of time, stressful, fighting inside with each other, even, because of stress for a child. Not that you go through all that then you have a child, 100%. No. Not all of them are working.

And how much more suffering do we want to see just for that piece of meat that we could change for a better piece of protein? It’s the same protein, it’s just one is second-hand from animals, the other is direct from what the animals eat and digest and then becomes the meat. It’s such a waste. And how much more energies do we want to waste in producing meat? How much more grain, food do we want to waste to raise animals at the cost of starvation of millions of other people? Right now we have 1 billion people already going to bed hungry. Every 5 seconds a child dies from hunger - every 5 seconds, while I’m sitting here talking to you. How many children dying or dead already? How many more do we want to see? How long we can afford to bargain in the face of these sufferings of our own kind and of the animals, of the environment. I can go on forever, forever but I didn’t prepare my speech.

It’s all really not worth it. It’s all really a degrading choice to eat meat. We can’t bargain. We can’t say, “Well, let’s take it easy, we’ll probably have a better idea, a better plan than ‘be vegan’.” What better plan? What better plan? Even if we have a better plan – suppose we have a better plan – should we choose it? Should we choose a better plan than vegan, which saves billions of lives, saves the animals, saves our children, saves our planet? Should we choose a second plan? A plan B? There is no plan B. Even if there is a plan B it’s not humane to choose a plan in disregarding the suffering of our own kind, of other beings on this planet, and the danger that we’re facing, the climate change, which will easily destroy the whole planet and probably all or most of the beings on this planet.

Sometimes people say that the meat industry, being so powerful as it is, they can lobby anything – lobby government, lobby congress, lobby parliament even – to support their business. To them it’s just business, but to the people, to the consumers, it’s life and death, it’s suffering or happiness, it’s intelligence or dull-wittedness.

It’s not a business. A business should be providing to the people what they need, to benefit them and then meanwhile benefit yourself as well – that should be a good business. A business is not to give people poison, either ignorantly or purposely, to cause them harm, sickness, suffering, agony of any kind, just to profit ourselves. That is not a proper business for a Christian, for a Muslim, for a Buddhist, for a Jain, for a Sikh – none of us, none of these people should do any of these kinds of businesses. Business to kill people, business to harm people, business to kill the innocent animals - they are no-good businesses. They are contrary to God’s will and thus we should avoid.

I told you meat industry is very powerful: they can buy the government, lobby the parliament, bypass congress. What do you think? Why are there so many advertisements about meat and milk everywhere? Even I didn’t know that milk was harmful to humans’ health, until recently that we did research. And when we had mad cow disease in those times even, they even said, “Oh, milk has nothing to do with mad cow disease. Milk is safe.” And people believe it! How? How can you take something safe from something sick? And mad cow disease is not curable even, it’s deadly. It’s fatal, every time!

So how many more people do we want to die for this piece of meat that we put in our mouth? How many children do we want to kill for that piece of meat that we put in our mouth; that we could even change for tofu or gluten, any other things, and still stay healthy, happy and better even. Do you understand? This is the question we should ask ourselves. No plan B. No. Never. Now that we know the truth we just speak it out: no plan B. No compromise.

Whatever we say, if it’s concerning people’s lives, children’s health, families’ happiness, we have to do it wholeheartedly. Some young people die now - young people even ! - die from flu! Imagine how their parents suffer. Imagine how their sisters, brothers suffer. Some pregnant women die, full of hope in them: hope for the child to be born in their family, to bring happiness to her husband, to the parents, to grandmother, father, just die like that! Flu, swine flu; for the piece of meat that we want to put in our mouth, which is filthy, poisonous, bloody, inhumane. So there’s no plan B, is there? (No!) Okay.

Hallo, Master. Hallo, Mr. Sanpipat. Should the issue of global warming be made into a national agenda? If so, what actions should we take to make this happen?

First of all, and foremost of all, we should use government system to encourage new projects, like new levels of citizen cooperation, namely, we must let people know it’s urgent now and it’s time to stop the global crisis. Time is short and we must all act as one to save our world from disappearing, to save our lives and all the lives on the planet. Everything else takes too long. I have told everybody many times.

Technology takes too long; even if it helps, it takes so long. So the fastest and easiest way is to stop animal products and to stop the consumption of it. Then we will have more time to develop better technology and scientific advancement. If we stop livestock raising and the cruel practice on humans and animals, the result will be a miracle. The result will be almost immediately, within a few weeks. If everybody stops eating meat right now, 8 weeks’ time the weather will change into a benevolent one – immediately changing.

Everything that has been damaged will be returned to normal in 8 weeks’ time. If everybody on the planet stop eating meat and turn into compassionate heart, then the result will be immediately. It’s just like we want to go south but we are heading north, so the only way to see the south is to turn to the opposite direction and head south. So the way we are doing right now, we are killing animals, killing humans – it’s not benevolent, it’s not respecting lives. It’s wrong. So, if we want the opposite effect for ourselves, for our life, we have to do the opposite. That is very simple and logical and everyone understands that. Thank you so much.

In September 2008, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – he’s the one that got the Nobel Peace Prize together with Vice President Al Gore and others – he stated that scientists had called to tell him – they called to tell him – that the emissions from livestock were much higher than previously estimated. You see, before, they said it was 18%, in the “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report in 2006, but, now, the emissions from animal farming are actually higher than that.

As far as how much higher, they are not still very sure, but Dr. Colin Campbell, author of the bestseller of the nutritional biochemistry book, he said that his colleagues found that 50% plus of total greenhouse gas emissions right now are coming from livestock raising – and that is not even the sure percentage yet.

Dr. Campbell revealed that this information is not yet the highest that they have estimated, that they have researched. They think it could be more. And he has revealed this information to us in an interview with the Supreme Master Television. Right now climate scientists are telling us more and more that if we reduce livestock industry, we’d reduce methane – and that is the most immediate way to cool the planet, because CO2 from fossil fuel may take tens of thousands of years – tens of thousands of years – to leave the atmosphere and cool the planet, according to the research. But methane is 23 times more potent, “hotter” than CO2, and dissipates on average over 10 years or 20 years.

So, the latest report from IPCC scientist Dr. Dr. Kirk Smith in the USA said that methane is a much “hotter” gas than currently reported. He said that it could be 60 to100 times “hotter” than CO2, averaged over 20 years. So methane goes out of the atmosphere in 9 to15 years. It disappears, compared to up to thousands of years for CO2. So, if methane is reduced, the warming will be reduced immediately. You understand the logic?

Because CO2 stays longer in the atmosphere, but methane goes and disappears quick. So, the way we reduce the methane is by reducing animal agriculture. If we ban meat, ban livestock raising, then the methane gas will be cut for, up to date, at least 50%. Can you imagine? It’s a very big chunk! And then the planet will be cooled immediately, compared to CO2; it takes tens of thousands of years to cool off. Right now, the most problematic gas that heats the planet is methane because there’s a lot of it.

According to the scientists, it’s already 50%, that they say more than 50% even. So, if we stop methane, meaning stop the animal raising, then we stop 50%. They say just 50%... at least 50%.

In Mexico, the news has spread about new deposits that have been found, new and rich oil deposits. This would turn Mexico into the third oil world power. What can we do to stop this pollution from oil which is destroying our planet? Dr. Cano, oil is not the worst. So, although we don’t want oil to continue, we can have oil even. We can have oil if that helps the Mexicans to become more prosperous and self-dependent, self-sustained, because oil is not the worst thing. Oil is not the only thing and is not the worst thing that damages our planet.

It is the livestock industry. It’s actually the most polluting, the most disease-producing, the most energy consuming and the most greenhouse-gas- emitting industry that exists. The United Nations report called “Livestock’s Long Shadow” states that the farm animal industry emits more greenhouse gases than all the transportation on Earth combined. And according to the Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, who himself is a vegetarian, he said, “Meat production is extremely carbon intensive.” This is partly because of

the pollution cycles, including refrigeration, transportation, etc. Not to mention destroying the forest for grazing land, for pasture land and all the costs, all the carbon-emitting from disease - causing and curing etc., etc. That’s why I said, “Just leave the meat alone and we have everything else.”

“Just leave the meat alone and we have everything else.” Even oil is fine. Even oil, if we have it we can use it until we have something better for our planet. But if we stop the animal raising, stop animal products, then we cut a big percentage, 80% of pollution to our planet, and stop 80% of global warming. So, we can continue to have oil and cars. I know people will be surprised hearing me saying this but, no, it is true like that.

Because we have not invented enough instruments for transportation and other uses, so we may continue to use the oil if we have it. Of course, all the better if we don’t use, but at the moment we must use it. And if we just leave all the meat, animal production alone, then we can use anything. And Mexico can make use of this advantage of oil to elevate the standard of living of the people. So, what I say is, “Stop the meat production,” which will bring great benefit to the environment of your country.

Since Mexico is also involved in the livestock industry there is also sustainable resource development as an alternative to oil as well, if we have it quick enough. You see, your country already has begun this with a large wind energy project near the city of La Ventosa, which I understand means “the windy”. Sustainable energy, in general, is also showing itself to be very profitable and job producing to people. So, there can be both economic and environmental benefit from developing sustainable energy, and the Earth will be protected. But the animal industry is the number one enemy of our survival.

We could change in order to help solve the climate problem. Just leave one piece of meat and we have everything else as it is right now, and more later on, as the forest will regain its strength and grow back to the lushness situation again and then attract more rain and protect the soil and cool the planet. As I’ve said already, CO2 will linger too long, up to 10,000 years in the atmosphere, but methane dissipates quickly. And the most factor that contributes to our global warming right now is methane, and methane comes from livestock raising. Do you see my logic? (Yes.) Yes, okay? Good.

So if we cut methane, the planet cools down quick. If we cut the CO2 and still keep the methane, then it doesn’t help much. Besides, we cannot cut CO2 that quick, because we don’t have other technological inventions right now to replace the one that we have. How many electric cars do you see running on your United States streets yet? How many? Maybe one, two, three. How much CO2 does that cut? Not much. But the methane pollution came from livestock raising, so if we stop that, no more heating! No more heating of the planet.

Because if we stop livestock raising, that means stop also forest clearance – it’s because most of the forest clearance is for planting stuff for animals. So, we water the plant from the root is the best. If we cut the meat diet, everything else cut: no more transportation for meat, no more deep freeze for meat, no more manure runoff into our rivers and contaminate our rivers – and because of that, we have to use more chemicals to clean it,

so we just give more and more chemical into our bodies. And then, if no more meat, then no more forest clearing. Then we don’t even need to plant trees that much; the forest will recover itself as we have seen in some areas. Just leave it alone: nature will take care, truly. All we do is just work with nature and nature will take care of everything. God doesn’t put us on this planet to die;

God provides everything already. It’s just we overspend, we do not heed the advice of the Bible. In the Bible, God says, “I made all the herbs in the field, plants that bear fruit. That shall be your food. I made also the plants for the animals; that shall be their food.” God never said, “I made animals for you to eat.” It’s so clear. I wonder why nobody saw it. God even says, “Do not kill all the she-goats and the he-bullocks to make offerings to me because your hands are full of innocent blood. Repent yourself. Do not kill any more innocent lives; otherwise if you pray, I’ll turn my head away from you.” No? Are there such things in the Bible?

Yes, it’s in the Bible. Reverend, tell me. I’m not making it up. I think it was Isaiah. Absolutely, you’ve quoted it absolutely. The Rabbi just told us it’s Isaiah. He knows it by heart. But I know it’s there because I read it when I was young. I was a kid, I read the Bible, I slept with it. I don’t probably remember as much as the Reverend there does, but I do know. I do know that God does not tell us to eat meat. Hes says, “Meat for the belly, belly for the meat, God shall destroy both meat and them.” “Do not be among meat eaters and alcohol drinkers.” Not to be among them even, not to talk about being one ourselves.

So, in all kinds of directions – religious, scientific, and health - meat is a no-no. So, from now on, we have to realize that. And please tell everybody else. I know you know it already. Please, just don’t be just a vegetarian. Be a heroic vegetarian! Be out there, tell people. Do something. I need your help. Thank you. The only way to avoid the “point of no return” climate catastrophe is to take action on the most climatically disastrous course of all – that is, meat production. By now we have all the evidence, all the information to safely say so. The livestock industry is the top greenhouse gas generator. The last published findings from the United Nations in 2006 told us that the livestock industry causes greenhouse gas emissions more than all the world’s transportation sectors combined - aeroplanes, trains, cars, motorcycles, etc., altogether. Updated calculations tell us that the livestock industry is responsible for at least 50% of the global warming. There are three reasons why the livestock industry is the first cause of global warming that we should focus on. First, livestock is the primary human-caused emitter of methane, and methane not only has 72 times the heat-trapping ability, it is a shorter-lived gas. This means that it will leave the atmosphere much faster than CO2, within just a decade as opposed to thousands of years for CO2. Therefore, eliminating methane by eliminating livestock breeding is the fastest way to cool the planet. Yes, we have to tackle the most important of emitters. Next, the pollutant known as aerosols, you already know, or particles released along with CO2 from burning fossil fuels, actually have a cooling effect. Some scientists say it is roughly canceling out the warming effect of CO2. Therefore, much of the warming we are seeing may actually be due to methane. In fact, it is due to methane, and its number one source, that is animal raising. Third, NASA scientists are paying increasing attention to another very serious source of global warming - that is black carbon. I’m sure you know that. This is the particulate matter known as soot, S-O-O-T, and it is 680 times more heat-trapping than CO2. Black carbon is landing on the ice in Antarctica, absorbing the sun’s heat and accelerating the ice melt. The majority of the black carbon particles in Antarctica are coming from where? South American rainforests that are burned for the livestock industry. Now we’re going somewhere! We must urgently address methane and black carbon – both outcomes of the meat industry. Immediately we have to tackle it. I pray all wise leaders will halt the lethal meat practice, which is the main force driving us to the point of no return right now. Otherwise, all other efforts to de-carbonize our economies may be cancelled out, or never have a chance to materialize in the first place. Is this latest news about NASA’s discovery of methane related to the Mars people living underground? Could be, could be Because they have to pump their toxic gases from their activities from underground to the surface of Mars so that they can detox and purify the air that they breathe. Thank you, Master. Next question: Since how long have Martians been living underground? Since after the mass destruction on Mars, they have begun to live underground, ever since then. I see. Thank you. And the Martians currently living underground, are they aware of what had happened in their planet’s history? They have been told. They passed on the knowledge of what happened of their planet to their children and grandchildren, even though it’s 40 million years ago. They retain the history of what happened so that the descendants know how to take care of what they have and not to be careless, and not to be so destructive anymore but more virtuous and spiritual. They must live like that. Yes. And Master, during the destruction of the planet, how did they die? Oh, terrible. Let me check. The mass extinction came, they died – not only human beings on there, but the animals also – they died by two main poisonous gases, namely hydrogen sulfide and nitrous oxide, plus methane as the third course. But hydrogen sulfide and methane from the livestock begun to warm the climate and then triggered more other gases from the ocean, from permafrost and glaciers around their planet. Just like what is happening to our planet right now. Let me see if anything else I need to… Okay, I check, okay? One moment. I’m checking… if anything else. They died an agonizing death. Not like quick death, but slow. It took man and animals around four days to die a very painful and suffocating slow death. As the destruction happened too fast, no one could help anyone. Ninety percent of the population, including the animals, they died and then some time later, another 5% also died. And then a while later, 3.8% also died. Only 0.2% of them escaped, around 2 million, into the underground caves and then they dug deeper, longer, and they lived next to the underground river, and that’s how they survived.

Scientists reported that billions of years ago, Venus could have had oceans like Earth but they dried up, partly because Venus was so close to the sun. Still, the presence of water could have meant that there was physical life there and scientists believe today that there is microbial life. Was Venus ever like Earth, sustaining life?

Yes, yes, it was. Yes. It was once a beautiful planet, and now it’s no more. There’s no life up there at all, not life as we know of. It’s a pity.

Thank you, Master.

Mars is known today as the Red Planet and Venus is boiling hot. Yes. Did Venus ever have a landscape similar to Earth, with thriving life and green hills, blue seas, or did it have a different landscape? Yes, yes, they had similar. Our neighboring planets like Venus, Mars, have similar landscape. Some are more strikingly exquisite, more beautiful.

Hi, Master. Hi. How technologically advanced were the Venusians before the mass destruction? Very advanced, much more than us. Sadly, only technology advancement, not much else and that’s why. You see, they have been a little bit too materialistic. They have been very proud of their own achievement and pay very little attention to the divine nature of the inner kingdom. They were too proud; they had too many advantages from technology, and they thought they were God, yes? They thought they could do anything they wanted, in fact, almost physically.

Thank you, Master. Welcome.

Master, did the Venus inhabitants have a solution, like being vegan, before the mass extinction? No, no. No. They knew nothing about vegan, about compassion, about the interconnectedness between lives, and that’s why they faced such a terrible end, worse than Mars. And what kind of disaster occurred on Venus? Explosive and poisonous gases from livestock, as well, and that in turn triggered other gases from all sides.

And then they just exploded. Within a few weeks, like eight or nine weeks, everything was completely destroyed and they were all annihilated, because of the big explosion from under the earth, from, like a volcanic-type, and gas from the ocean and, of course, from the animals. They all together exploded, the whole planet. The whole population died because of explosive and poisonous gases. Thank you, Master. You are welcome. It’s sad.

Hi, Master. Hi. There seems to be many planets that have undergone this planet-threatening crisis that Earth is going through due to the eating habits of its inhabitants. Why is meat eating such a hindrance to the evolution of the planet? Well, you see, only the low level consciousness of those planets that have inhabitants with low level of consciousness have been destroyed or ruined. Not the high level ones. Okay. Of course, there are countless of them, I’m very sorry to say. Maybe I have it here somewhere… Around 5 billion planets have been destroyed, or in similar fate as Venus or Mars.

Did maya instigate this same test over all planets, with the meat-eating habit and the destruction of the planet? Yes, yes. That’s the maya work, of course, the king of the devils. They are chiefs of the negative force. They want to destroy the children of God, and if people are not listening to the divine intuition and/or spiritual guidance, then of course they fall into this trap - surprisingly so easy to fall. I understand. Thank you, Master. You’re welcome.

And were you ever on Venus? No! No. But I have been on other Venus. Not that Venus. There were four Venuses in our galaxy. They are so named because they’re all similar, yes? - similar in size, similar landscape, similar beauty. They call them Venus.

And two of them were destroyed. One is destroyed, and we still see now, with the hot gases all over on the planet?

And all that life exterminated. There’s another Venus, also destroyed, completely, completely exploded, completely gone to dust in a sudden moment. And now, we still have two more Venuses which are very beautiful, much more advanced in technology than our planet. And luckily, on the Venus, the population up there, only one-fourth of them are eating meat, and also very sparesome. And the rest, three-fourths , they’re all vegetarian or vegan.

That’s great. Therefore, they still can have their planet. The other two planets, one is still there but boiling hot, the other completely incinerated by explosive gas. Understand. Because there is some poisonous gas that has been built up also underneath of the surface of that Venus, the second one. Not the hot one now, but the second one, the exploded one, poisonous gas has been built up inside the core of that planet.

The planet had an empty core inside, and the poisonous gas had also been built up in there, as well as built up in the atmosphere of the planet, and that’s why, that Venus - I just say the fourth Venus - was completely gone, like dust.

Exploded, completely disappeared – the whole planet, not just people. Thank you. You’re welcome.

Hi, Master. (Hi.) How are you? I’m fine, how are you? Very well.

Well, I think you answered this question but were there not enough people, like Mars, to spread the word that it was important to be veg? No, no. It wasn’t. They didn’t have time at all. Within a few weeks’ time the whole planet was destroyed. Yes, destroyed because of the poisonous gases from livestock.

Of course, it triggered other gases from the ocean, from the warm ocean as you know. It’s similar to our planetary problem right now. It happened too fast for them and they did not really have time. They did not really care about this vegetarian diet. They did not really go into any spiritual dimension. Mars was a little better, you see?

But this one, no. In this Venus, the hot Venus, even the core of the planet was also full, now, of hot and poisonous gases, so no life can exist. Maybe those microscopic life, but it’s useless for us or for any human to dwell there, if you could even get there. The size of the disintegrated Venus, it’s similar to Mars. But the other two Venuses are very cool, very good – they have no war at all and they have less meat-eater population, you see? So, more or less, they are balanced with the karmic law.

Some time ago, I said if we have two-thirds of the planet population vegetarian, then we could have saved the planet too; but now, it’s too late. Now we need the whole planet population to be compassionate - vegan would be the best.

Will Earth be the last planet to be on the brink of extinction? No, it won’t be the last, honey, as long as we still have cruelty and immoral conduct; especially cruelty, especially killing actions between each other or to lesser, weaker beings like animals. If any planet who has harbored or who practices such a lifestyle, they will also have to face the threat of extinction like what we are doing right now. I hope all the planet will awaken soon to be on the right lifestyle. Yes, you hope.

Let’s hope our planet survives first, and then, after that, everyone will be astonished about what kind of inventions we will come to be able to experience and then we can experience other planetary sceneries or visit them, or they can visit us also. That’s wonderful. And we can have interplanetary connection. That will be very nice.

I have a question about the swine flu that is spreading on planet Earth right now. I would like to know that, are those planets who were destroyed in the past, like Venus or Mars, had they been experiencing such pandemics like swine flu? Yes, and more. Yes. And the swine flu is nothing yet, baby. We will experience worse than that if we don’t change our way of life. If we don’t turn around and walk in the opposite direction, then we are heading toward destruction of all kinds.

You see, planetary warming, yes, methane gas from all sides – from all sides now, not just from livestock; but because of livestock, it triggers methane gas from all sides – from the riverbed or from the permafrost, from the bed of the ocean, from the mountains, from the dying forests. Do you understand? And even living forests, alive forests, if the atmosphere is too hot, the forests also cannot absorb CO2, and they could even release CO2 themselves as well. So we are surrounded by trouble. There’s only one escape route that I have told you already. I wish there were several. There’s only one: Be Veg. That’s the path to go, then maybe we still can have time.

The Head of Germany's Environmental Protection Agency also recommended that everybody reduce their meat to pre-war levels in order to (Wonderful.) reduce emissions and save the planet. Not just reduce, just eliminate! If you can eat it four days a week, why not just eat the whole week? Anyway, it's worth the sacrifice – even if you call that a sacrifice. All you do is just exchange that piece of meat for everything else that you treasure, including your children, your planet, your health, the air that you breathe, the water that you drink, the car that you even can continue to drive for a while, until we change it.

Because if we eliminate animal livestock raising, then all the methane – the major cause of global warming – will be gone, and then we have time to eliminate the leftover of the CO2, and also nature will be healthy and absorb it all again – not to talk about karma (retribution), spirituality, or moral standard, nothing. Physically speaking, it is like that. Scientifically, just “no meat, no heat. ” Very simple.

All you do is just exchange that piece of meat for everything else that you treasure, including your children, your planet, your health, the air that you breathe, the water that you drink, the car that you even can continue to drive for a while, until we change it. Because if we eliminate animal livestock raising, then all the methane – the major cause of global warming – will be gone.

Please be quick! Please be quick before it's too late. I mean, the sooner the better.

Because even if it doesn't affect you, it affects millions of other people, every day. Even, for example, Bangladesh, every 6 minutes, while I'm sitting here laughing with you, one house is gone from their life – the house that they treasure, that they have memories and the children and grandchildren are going to grow up in it. It's not just a “nobody house.” It is something in there; it's a history of a human's lifetime of work and emotion and love and family ties. It's not just a number, like one house, and then one hour, eleven houses, and keeps counting like that.

Even if it doesn't concern us, how can we sit here and eat meat and then everybody else dies for that little piece of meat that we eat? And then… we don't even need to eat it! You won't die. You will only be more healthy. Healthier, happier, and you can save the whole human race and animals as well. Every day up to 270 species are erased. Every day. And nobody cares, or what? I mean, wait until it becomes our turn, then we say, “It's really urgent!” or what? No, we should not wait! Everybody else’s disaster should be our disaster, everybody else's house should be like our house, and when it's damaged, it should pain us just the same, like if we lose it. And their life’s lost also, their life’s saving is lost, and then they come out and they become homeless, and become like a beggar, have to rely on handouts to live.

Then, no more dignity for them. They are hardworking people; they had a home before. And because of the meat diet, everybody is losing their home in many different countries. Forty nations sinking or sunk already, small nations. Maybe small, but it's a nation, no? I mean, how small is small? Monaco, like 5 square kilometers. How small is the Vatican? One square mile. Right. How small can an island be? Many islands bigger than that already sunk beneath the sea. Nobody cares, because we don't live there. We don't see anything, or “They speak Chinese, I don't understand,” or “they speak Kiribati” or whatever, “we don't understand.” Not possible.

If we are human, we must have a heart. Otherwise, we are not human, we are like stones. Even stones have a heart, if they can show it. So, it's about time people should live like humans. If we call ourselves “human,” we have to live a humane life, no? Even before our house collapses, we have to consider other people's houses and stop the cause of it. We can do it, not like we cannot. We have the means to, especially the people who have houses and live in the so-called civilized society; they have money. Vegetables are even cheaper than meat, for God’s sake! No, it’s not, sorry, because of the subsidies for meat. Because if they don't subsidize the meat industry, the hamburger will cost like $30, instead, it costs only 99 cents. So everybody eats because it's cheap also. You see what I mean? Yes.

And everybody else who eats meat, or doesn’t eat meat, has to subsidize for that money, and then they buy it, they think it's cheap. They're eating their own money, too. See what I mean? It's all cheating. It's all illusion. It's nothing as real as it looks. So, instead of subsidizing the meat industry, we must subsidize organic vegan, organic farming.

So it's all in the hands of the lawmakers and us who have to go out and inform people as much as we can. But, you see, how many people can we inform with flyers and all that, you know? Even with Supreme Master Television, some people don't have TV. Some remote areas, they don't have TV, or they don't have the means for computer. Or if they have a computer, it's too slow or something; they can't get it. All kinds of things, I can never take care enough. I'm telling you. I did everything I can, but still somewhere it's lacking something that they couldn't get it, they couldn't get the TV, the news.

You see what I mean? Yes. So, you cannot blame the people. They don't know. Just one leads to another and they've been indoctrinated into eating meat and drinking milk, otherwise they “don't have enough muscle protein” and all that. People are poor people.

Nobody knows because everybody believes what the experts say, no? And the experts, they lobby the government to say that. And the government, let's face it, the government also does not know. I'm telling you the truth. It's not like every person who sits in the government office knows everything about nutrition and milk; they don't know also. So, if the meat industry lobbies some of the people in the government and those people say, "Meat is good, good, good" and everybody thinks, "Okay, good, good, good." Protein, you know?

Meat eating not only is detrimental to our health, it is the cause, for us, that we cannot get in touch with our true Self also. You see? That's why most people, sometimes they're good, sometimes they are bad; they don't know why. Sometimes when their stomachs are empty, and they're sincere or they're in sorrow, they’re more connected with the inside. And when their time is smooth and they drink and eat, they don't know anything anymore, so they’re disconnected again, you see? Even the people who are not practicing the Quan Yin Method, they're connected now and again with the Divine. Therefore, now and again they can sustain their life on this planet and then continue like that.

That's why they don't live very well, but they do live. You see what I mean? Like a person who is sick, but not completely dead, still can move around, but not completely well. That's like that. See? So the person who completely connects with himself and practices that connection more and more every day, then he has more abundance, more health, more clarity in the head, more wisdom, more compassion, which is himself. Compassion is not from Heaven. Compassion is not from the vegetarian diet. Compassion is inherent within all of us. The vegetarian diet is just the proof of it: that you have compassion, that you don't want to eat others.

How come they survived and the other Venuses didn’t? (Yes.) How does their evolution allow them to continue? Because they are more virtuous. The other two Venuses, they were living a vicious life. They lived in vice. They did not know God. They did not respect anything that they didn’t see, and they concentrated more on developing their material comfort.

Therefore, they had too much comfort. They had everything they wanted. Everything is almost like heavenly life, except devoid of spiritual, moral, and divine quality. And not only that, they persecuted anyone who dared to oppose them or mention anything about the invisible quality of Heaven or about God. Anyone who was living a virtuous life, this was like “state enemy.” They’d hunt them down. They’d kill them mercilessly. It was a terrifying place to live for anyone who had a little conscience. Their conscience was zero.

Their moral standard was zero. Their tolerance for God and divinity was zero. So, it was because of this and the meat diet, combined, that destroyed the other two planets. Whereas the two surviving planets, although they still have some percentage of meat eaters – one-fourth, 25% of people still have meat, but very much less, lesser degree. Not like they have it every day or three meals a day. It’s not like that. Even then they have reverence in their heart, and they are trying to also go into a more merciful lifestyle, compassionate vegan diet.

So the balance is very, very well in check, you see? Three-fourths, they’re vegetarian, vegan, and the one-fourth is meat eater, but very much less in degree, very much less in quantity . Then they all worship God, they revere the spiritual persons or beings or practitioners. They encourage moral behavior within their society and they teach moral obligation, compassionate lifestyle, merciful attitude in school, from kindergarten already, by example and by positive encouragement. In school, they teach, already, children how to be kind to each other, how to be kind to their planet, how to be kind to other co-inhabitants, like animals, you see?

So, animals and men live in harmony with each other. And children, have been taught already moral standards, mercy behavior, since childhood already, so they grow upto become wonderful citizens. The meat eaters and the meat providers, they live in remote areas, shamefully, far away from the sight of the people. And they don’t encourage that in public. Just like right now we forbid smoking in public, over there, forbid meat eating in public. Therefore, even the meat eaters, they feel ashamed and they know it’s wrong, and even if they still have some, they always try to minimize it. You understand me?

Yes, Master. A meat eater over there is allowed but is like an outcast, and they feel it; but some people are not as developed as others, so they just tolerate it. But because the numbers do not outweigh the vegetarian, therefore their planet’s merit and peaceful atmosphere is prevalent. Their planetary merit is in balance … overweighs balance, yes. So, even though one-fourth of the people are meat eaters, very little or less, still they are covered by the three-fourths of the other benevolent energy. You see what I mean?

Yes, Master. And because the society as a whole already supports a compassionate vegan diet, and other meat eaters, even though they do it, they know it’s wrong. And so they have repentance in their heart also. So that’s the way they preserve their planet. Not because they wanted to maybe, but because they know it as a way of life and they have been brought up like that since they were children.

So, they become very powerful in spiritual merit and thus they can protect their planet. If all these Venus populations, of course, if 100% of them were vegetarian or vegan – then their planet would even be better; better than just survive and prosper and progress, and be technologically superior like that. But will be superior, will be just like Heaven in the physical dimension. Right now it’s like, of course, like 80% Heaven, or 70%, but if they all become vegan, then of course their planet will experience much more upliftment in the spiritual dimension.

And as the planet lifts itself up, as the population lifts their consciousness, again up, there will be more and more miracles happening. There will be more internet access to all the corners of the world that there has not been before, or there will be more satellite services in different countries and different corners of different countries. Then more and more people will be informed, and more and more will be uplifted.

But, nevertheless, their soul listens because we are interconnected. And the frequencies of radio or televisions are also permeated in the atmosphere. This kind of positive energy and constructive news, it will reach the recess of their mind, and they will somehow get it also, without even watching the Supreme Master Television; but in some way more subtle.

Then they will also awaken. We just need to be patient, and praying a lot, praying a lot to all the gods and goddesses, all the divine beings, all the angels, to help us to manifest themselves physically onto this planet and help each and every citizen of the world to awaken to a compassionate lifestyle so that they can escape from this dilemma that is terrifying everybody at the moment, be it swine flu or planetary climate change. So be it. Yes, Master. We have all the gods and goddesses to thank. Thank you, Master.

You must have really strong faith, you must have the heart to serve others, you must have compassion for animals, you must have sincerity and respect, then anyone who comes in will also feel that atmosphere.

Tune in to Supreme Master Television on Friday, September 24, for Supreme Master Ching Hai’s discussion entitled “Serve Others with Your Heart” on Between Master and Disciples.

Tune in to Supreme Master Television today for our program entitled “Serve Others with Your Heart” on Between Master and Disciples.