Full-Body Burns

21 People set themselves on fire yesterday in Cleaveland in a successful attempt to break the world record for most people completely set on fire at once, or most participants in a "full-body burn." No, this wasn't a mass suicide attempt. They were all wearing protective gear that prevented any of them from getting seriously injured. I wouldn't say the demonstration set a good example, but it was for a good cause. Most of the proceeds went to the local food bank.

Here's the video

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2013/10/20/nr-lemon-cleveland-people-burning-record.cnn&hpt=hp_c3&from_homepage=yes

Tibetan Self-Immolations

This story did remind me of another under-publicized phenomena that has been going on for several years. Tibetan refugees living in India and Nepal, have been setting themselves on fire, burning themselves to death, in protest of the Chinese occupation and cultural genocide perpetrated in Tibet. 

This graphic display should not be taken lightly. This man, and more than 100 others have been voluntarily consumed by flames since the trend began. It is a horrifying phenomena that must be brought to an end. 

Although surely politically motivated, in hope that China will someday return Tibetan sovereignty to the Himalayan nation, which was invaded and taken over in 1949, this practice is extreme and my be contrary to traditional Tibetan beliefs. It seems minuscule when compared to the over 100,000 Tibetans that have been killed by the Chinese since the Occupation began in 1949. However, any desecration of human life is seen as a great loss from a Buddhist view. These human bodies have a great potential, because we can use them to benefit others, develop positive Karma, and eventually lead us to enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje, the spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism has called for an immediate halt to the immolations. Karmapa said, "This is definitely not a practice of Buddhism. I strongly wish this would soon stop. The practice of Buddhist dharma is our greatest inheritance as Tibetans. This enjoins upon us to preserve the human existence. It is through this ... that we are able to achieve liberation.” Karmicly speaking It is said that taking ones own life is equivalent to the intentional murder of 1000 Buddhas. Although what the Chinese have done in Tibet is definitely wrong, and a crime against a culture that is valued throughout the world, suicide is unjustified in all cases.

Karmapa is seen here blessing one of his predecessor's (the 16 Karmapa) students, Lama Ole Nydahl. Lama Ole has taught Tibetan Buddhism to countless students during his nearly 45 years of teaching, and continues to travel around the entire world once a year making the dharma easily accessible to all those interested. Teachers like Lama Ole and the Karmapa help spread an awareness of traditional Buddhist values and teachings that can help lead beings toward the cessation of all suffering, or enlightenment. Self immolation, suicide, and actually all forms of negative actions stemming from the confusion of disturbing emotions, are just a part of the cyclic wheel of existence within dualistic reality, and they only create more negative karma that one will have to burn off through purification in future lifetimes.

Depicted hereis the Tibetan Wheel of Life. It shows the six realms. The lower realms include the hells, hungry ghost, and animal realms, while the upper realms show the gods, demi gods, and human realms. The wheel turns and turns as beings traverse endlessly from one life to the next according to their karma. The only way to escape this never ending cycle is by recognizing one's mind, which is most effectively accomplished within the human realm. 

While each human has this precious human birth, it is best that it is used accumulating merit and wisdom, practicing selfless compassion, and practicing the dharma so that eventual liberation and enlightenment can be reached. Negative actions, especially that of taking ones own life as in an immolation, should be avoided at all cost, because they create obscurations on the path to enlightenment.

Obesity Out-Weighs Hunger

Not that it is a worse problem, just a bigger one, literally. There are many more people on the planet today who are overweight, than there are people who are underweight.

Don't believe me? Check it out . . .

World Hunger
7,186,659,724	current total world population
896,920,322	undernourished people in the world right now
1,581,544,772	overweight people in the world right now
527,181,591	obese people in the world right now
18,590	people who died of hunger today
8,903,447	people who died of hunger this year
Economics
$ 289,276,200	money spent due to obesity related diseases in the USA today
$  71,480,264	spending on food purchased and then tossed by US households today
$ 3,323,688	spending on global food aid today
$ 21,609,215	amount that would allow to feed the hungry today
$ 114,913,634	spending on weight-loss programs and products in the USA today
$ 996,058	food aid budget spent on domesticprocessing and shipping today
$ 581,908	revenue for four large US agribusiness corporations derived from food aid programs today
$ 28,261,834	spending on pet food in Europe and USA today
Food
79,789	tons of food wasted in America today
16,624	tons of global food aid provided today
80%	percentage of harvested corn, grains, and soy beans fed to animals in Europe and North America
78%	percentage of malnourished children who live in countries with food surpluses
90%	percentage of hungriest nations on earth that are net exporters of food to rich nations (36 out of 40)

The funny part is, all or most of both of these groups, obese and starving, are malnourished. Along with the advent of industrialized farming, comes the inevitable consequence of nutrient poor crops. Then along comes nutrient poor animals, and of course malnourished people.

I mean seriously. The obesity problem is big, I get it, but how could we possibly let it get bigger than hunger? Well, to explain it simply, when you are not getting enough nutrients, your body keeps telling you you are hungry, and you continue to eat, even though you have had enough. Also, many of the food additives that exist today like MSG, Aspartame, and others actually turn off your body's natural alert system that tells it you are full, so you eat more.

It is each of our own responsibility to do what we can in our own spheres of influence to combat this imbalance in food distribution, and stop industrialized food production and distribution practices. When people are starving out there, it is up to each and every one of us to stop it. The fact that more people are overweight than starving should disgust you, yes, but it should also prove to you that there is hope. We know we have enough food to feed everyone. We just need to distribute it equally amongst people.

The least we can do is allow small farmers to operate without the same kinds of regulations as multinational corporations, so that at least those of us who are smart enough to know what real food looks and tastes like can have a chance at receiving proper nutrition. Buy only organic and locally grown produce, do not shop at corporations, and for your own sake, KILL YOUR TELEVISION.
Media is a grand manipulative tool that the large corporations use to control the masses. That's us. Good little sheep that just keep getting fatter and fatter, while there are starving people out there. Place the blame where it is due, Corporations are killing what is left of humanity people.

Monsanto, Dupont, and corporations like them have gone too far. They have created a vicious cycle of profit-driven food production, that leaves us as consumers starved for nutrients. First they sterilized the seeds, then the ground in which it grows, and now the sterilization reaches humans.

Eventually, we will be manufactured in test tubes, as genetically altered Corporate slaves, that are engineered from birth to be perfectly obedient little consumers. Stop the matrix from becoming a reality.

Buy Local, Eat Local, Live healthy . . . Kill Corporations