In this episode, Dr. Will Tuttle (vegan) warmly introduces Supreme Master Ching Hai, and activist Howard Lyman (vegan) begins sharing his journey from cattle rancher to vegan advocate.
Dr. Will: As I mention in my book, “The World Peace Diet,” the worldwide followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai have set up vegan restaurants in many cities and contribute vegan clothing, food, shelter, and aid to disaster victims, prisoners, children, and the elderly in countries around the world. Though She requires students to meditate two and a half hours per day, vow to eat no flesh, [dairy], or egg products, refrain from alcohol and non-prescription drugs, and not work in jobs that promote the exploitation of animals or people, Her movement continues to spread.
Rather than impede Her movement, Her insistence that Her students reduce the cruelty in their meals may paradoxically promote it. People who are serious about spiritual growth are apparently capable of embracing fundamental change in their lives, and may even welcome the opportunity.
I feel everyone on Earth owes a debt of gratitude toward Supreme Master Ching Hai and to Her students as well. Kindness anywhere blesses everyone everywhere – we are all interconnected. Her efforts to bless the world are magnified by the purity of Her intentions, making the efforts of this petite Woman absolutely enormous in their impact.
People often ask me what the best strategies and methods are to help us be more effective in our advocacy for animals and the Earth. Besides educating ourselves about the issues, the most important contribution we can make to the animal liberation movement is to seek authentic spiritual liberation for ourselves, and the best way we can help bring peace is to cultivate inner peace.
I believe Supreme Master Ching Hai lives to give, to love, to bless others constantly. She never asks people for contributions, and in fact She refuses them. Through Her amazing creativity, She is able to fund countless effective relief campaigns to disaster victims all over the globe, and provide helpful gifts to children, prisoners, the elderly, and the infirm. She is Love in action.
Personally, I am often astonished by the sheer creative genius of Her jewelry and clothing designs, of Her lectures, stories, and jokes, of Her paintings, music, and other creations. With the help of Her enthusiastic students, She publishes a vast array of books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines in over 30 languages. The TV station that She has inspired is unique in the world, broadcasting 24/7 in 15 languages simultaneously, and emphasizing constructive news and the uplifting truth that countless people are working hard in many ways to bring healing, peace, wisdom and beauty to our world.
The hallmark of Her teaching is that it is not only spiritual and transcendent, but eminently practical as well. That She has gained so many enthusiastic supporters is a testimony to humanity’s essential compassion and courage. It is my great honor to welcome to our gathering the great spiritual beacon Whose love and understanding light up this Earth for all people, animals, and future generations: Supreme Master Ching Hai.
Master: Hallo, everyone. Greetings to you. And God bless you so much. Can you hear me? (Yes.) Good. Perhaps you have just started to see me, but I have seen you all this time, behind the scenes. And I want to say hallo, greeting, and thank you to Your Honorable Jeff Prang, the Mayor of West Hollywood, and all the scientists, professors, media representatives, and all distinguished guests who are present today. Thank you for taking some of your precious time in your busy life to attend this conference to offer your support, advice, ideas, and blessing.
Together, maybe we will still be able to save the planet by working hard to remind people the solutions to global warming. I thank you again, and may God bless you so much for your noble intention. And please continue. I’m just here to listen, alright? Just want to say hallo.
MC: Jane Velez-Mitchell: Wow! Thank You so much, Supreme Master. It is so great to hear from You. And even as I listen to Your voice, I can tell that You are love in action. The point is we’re getting to hear from Supreme Master, and that’s crucial. So that’s the main thing. And so once again, we are so delighted, Supreme Master, that You are there. You have done so much. Personally, every time I have asked for help from Supreme Master for causes, whether it’s rescuing the seals or stopping animal cruelty in factory farms, She and Her amazing team have always been there with the utmost generosity. It brings tears to my eyes. And I just think She’s an amazing example for all of us. So let’s hear it for Supreme Master.
Master: Thank you, Jane. Thank you so much.
MC: Jane Velez-Mitchell: Now, I would like to introduce you to a truly remarkable man. He’s a cowboy. He has made history, exposing the most toxic secrets of agribusiness. Fondly called the “Mad Cowboy,” Howard Lyman spent his career as one of the largest cattle feed operators in the United States, until something happened, and that was a battle with cancer. And it turned him into one of the most vocal vegan activists the world has ever seen. He became world famous after an appearance on Oprah. You probably remember it; it rattled meat markets around the world. And he is going to tell us all about that.
Howard, come on and talk to us, because you’re the man. You’re the man who got me to go vegan. I interviewed you 10 years ago, and you asked me if I was a vegan and I said, “I’m just a vegetarian.” You said, “Liquid meat.” And I never touched dairy from that moment on. (Bravo!)
Howard: Thank you very much, Jane. We’re here today, we’re approaching the cliff at 200 miles an hour. The politicians and the bureaucrats are talking about, “Not to worry.” They’re going to give the best care possible to those that survive at the bottom of the cliff. I’m a 4th generation farmer, rancher, feedlot operator. I travel around the world, and I talk to people about the proper amount of animal products to have in their diet as being zero.
What I want to tell you is that I spent 45 years of my life in production agriculture. What we’re doing today in America on our farms and ranches is absolutely, totally non-sustainable. We need to change! I was raised during the Second World War, and we had the largest organic dairy farm in the State of Montana. My parents couldn’t hire any help, and my mother and father were milking cows. That meant that I was raised by my grandparents. Back then, there was no such thing as swings, slides or Lego blocks. Back then, daycare was working in the garden. My first job, at 5 years old, was working in the garden. Birds, trees and living soil – I thought it was the Garden of Eden. The only thing I ever wanted to be was a farmer. I spent the first 12 years of my life doing nothing but partying and playing football, because I knew I was going to be a farmer.
And when I went to that farm, that business to be run, I didn’t have the tools to run a business. I was dumber than a post. I didn’t let that bother me any. I did what most good red-blooded American youth [would do]. [After] 12 years of going to school and not learning anything, I immediately went on to the university.
I went to the university because I wanted to be an agribusiness man. Now I couldn’t spell it, but I knew that’s what I wanted to be. I learned a thing about herbicides, pesticides, hormones and medications. I soaked it up like a sponge. I was going to go home and take that organic farm and turn it into an agribusiness. I graduated with a degree in agriculture. I went home and I said to my father, I said “Move over, Pop. I’m going to take this one-horse business and I’m going to turn it into an agribusiness.” And he said, “What in the world is that?” And I said to him, “Didn’t you ever hear about better living through chemistry?” He said, “No, our job is to work with nature.” I said, “That’s old-fashioned. Our job is to feed a hungry world.” I never met a chemical that I didn’t like – herbicides, pesticides, hormones and medication. I took that one-horse farm and over a period of years, I turned it into an operation where I had 7,000 head of cattle. I can’t tell you what a thrill it was the first time I wrote a check for a million dollars and it didn’t bounce. And I thought, “Man, I have arrived. I’m the Donald Trump of agriculture.”
But just when I was on top of the world, I got a wake-up call. I ended up paralyzed from the waist down. I had a tumor on my spinal cord and the doctor told me, he said, “If that tumor is on the inside of the cord, you have less than one chance in a million you will ever walk again.” Somebody gives you the odds of one in a million, what they’re saying to you was, “Hey, pick out the wheelchair you like, you’re going to be in it the rest of your life.”
Here I am, waiting for an operation, a lot of things going through my mind. It was not about owning seven combines at $100,000 a piece, or 20 tractors or 30 trucks. What was going through my mind is why I became a farmer: birds, trees, and living soil. I saw the birds die, the trees die. I saw the soil change. And it was not until I was paralyzed [that] I was willing to admit I was the problem, not the solution. They operated on me for 12 hours, cut the bone off of the back of my spinal column. Sure enough, the tumor was on the inside of the cord. They split the covering on the cord. Not only was it on the inside, it was under the cord. They could not lift the cord up to get to the tumor. All they could do was pick a nerve, cut it. They took out a tumor the size of my thumb.
I walked out of the hospital with a one-in-a-million operation. (Wow.) But I guarantee you I walked out a much different individual. (Wow.) I knew that it was not about more land or more cattle or more equipment. There was more to it than just being bigger and richer. I went to my banker and I said to him, I said, “I need your help. We need to start farming with nature.” My banker, he reared back in his chair and he said, “What in the world does that mean?” I said, “I think we need to become organic farmers.”
Photo Caption: “It’s Acceptable to Show Appreciation to the Sun by Trying the Best to Act, to Look Like the Sun!”
