Living with Love for Animal Liberation

Can you imagine a world where humans, animals and nature lived as one? To imagine the world differently depends very much on our perception. Is love about fulfilling our own personal needs or about serving those that need our protection?

if our desire is to live in a world where animals are considered and respected we need to change. Waiting around for things to change isn’t going to help, we need to change our attitudes. Animal liberation may seem entirely impossible now but that’s because of the way we perceive the world and the way we perceive what it is to be human.

We all know that factory farmed animals are treated grotesquely, some constantly bred during their short dismal lives, it’s alarming. Alarming that factory farming is legal. Especially when we know that emissions from factory farms now cause more deaths than other industries and at the same time it’s one of the least regulated. According to Sentient Media In the USA more than 250,000 factory farms are housed in rural areas. And, are a growing threat to public health.

Never in history have animals been exploited to the extent that they are now. Even when it becomes a public health threat the production of cheap meat is deemed necessary as long as people need feeding, even though it is widely agreed that intensive farming methods are a major contributor to world hunger. Not only do we kill animals in barbaric ways for food and clothes, in the name of science we breed them to test technology and chemicals. They are taken from the wild and placed in extremely small, unnatural enclosures for us to stare at. Trained to perform for our entertainment and forced to live in the confines of four walls for our benefit.

What makes us think we have the right to treat animals this way?

Photo by Martina Vedin

Animal Rights…what do you think?

We have been taught to see the separation between humans and non-humans when really there isn’t any separation. As with nature, we believe that we are physical beings and nature is separate from us. This is a powerful mindset that is not easy to break free from. It’s been ingrained in us since we were small. This mindset or belief system allows us to determine that a human life is more important than any animal’s life and the interests of humans are far more important than a non-humans’. And so we continue with the same debates; if non-humans have any interest at all, whether they are sentient or not sentient etc. Giving us full reign over the animal kingdom and Mother Earth itself.

This thought process is what makes our reality. But what if we were to change this way of thinking. There have always been those that challenge this by fighting for rights; animal, environmental and human rights. But the problem with rights is that, although they push the boundaries, there is always someone that will disagree. As the rights an animal has or that a human has will always depend on the interest of those in power. And as we all know the rights for one human will not be the same rights for another. The same with non-humans. An animals rights will depend on their usefulness in this reality.

Our conditioned ideas about what rights animals should have and which should have more than others differ in cultures around the world. We are so conditioned that it’s difficult to understand why certain animals are killed for their meat in some countries, causing absolute outrage, but to eat another animal species is perfectly acceptable. It makes you think… ‘we’ couldn’t have made it all up if we wanted to. Or did ‘we’?

Animal liberation on the other hand refers to the basic principle of equality. An animals’ life is just as relevant and important as our own, on the physical, astral, mental and spiritual plane.

What is the problem?

That is not to say that fighting for human, animal and environmental rights is hopeless, far from it. We always need to push the boundaries so as to reveal the deceitful nature of any injustice. But, we need to be able to see the injustice in the first place. If we think about most of the atrocities that occur they are usually man-made. Wether its war, immigration, migration, genocide, animal extinction, world hunger, stolen land, domestic violence, slavery, racism, sexism, speciesism or any kind of animal, human and or environmental exploitation they are all the result of a loveless society. We can’t continue to deny the fact that we all need to take responsibility.

Throughout history society has tried to ‘treat’ social problems by legislative action, warfare, market manipulation, laws and prohibitions, only to see these problems persist or recur despite the treatment. So what are the root problems?

We have definitely lost our way. But, maybe we are beginning to realise that our need to control everything just doesn’t work. The ego has a lot to answer for. Not only has the ego created a loveless world but it also holds this world in place. Fear is what our belief system is based on and it’s a fear based society that will commit the most heinous crimes; on innocent animals, Mother Earth and each other. We are all suffering, some more than others but we are all in pain because of an over identification with the human body and our physical existence on earth. But we are not the victims here. We have the potential to create a different world, a world where people actually care.

love is not about fulfilling our own personal needs, love is awareness of our oneness

Fear versus Love

Fear is like a perverse comfort zone, whereas love is power. Love is living. Having compassion and love for all animals could be a reality but the truth is, this scares us. Can you imagine loving all the people you meet or don’t meet, even the ones that have hurt you and more importantly, yourself? Really difficult but not impossible, just scary, sooo not what we’re used to! When we start to investigate and practice any kind of deep self healing it is without a doubt all about love and forgiveness. Love is so powerful that it changes our perception of the world. It changes our relationship with life and with ourselves. Love allows us and all life forms to be just as the universe created us.

All animals love their babies and all animals will do anything to protect their young but we choose not to value this quality in them. All animals want to communicate with us on some level or another we just don’t know how to. We have forgotten. Animals fear us and rightly so, given the circumstances. Humans fear each other and even hate each other as every action we take is usually based on thoughts concerned with personal benefit and gain without any shared purpose. But love is not exclusive, love is not about fulfilling our own personal needs, love is awareness of our oneness.

Taking responsibility and Living with Love

How ever much we try to change or fix the current situation we find our planet in, no real fundamental change is possible. Nothing will change under current systems or forces of oppression and exploitation. It only exemplifies the ‘life sucks and then you die’ attitude which so far hasn’t got us anywhere. In fact, this mind set only perpetuates the loveless world we live in.

We live in a world marked by physical, mental and emotional suffering. What can we learn about our untapped inner resources? What exactly is the effect of a person or group that radiates love, acceptance and compassion? Is it really possible that our own consciousness holds the power to uplift not only ourselves but also the world?

David R.Hawkins ‘Power Vs Force’

As each of us heal through love we can find our purpose, the reason why we are here; to serve and protect the world more effectively. If only we could just let go and surrender to the natural powers of the universe. Listened to the animals, to earth or to the universe.. It’s not as crazy as you may think. And, by imagining equality for all we will nurture a deeper connection with things larger than ourselves.

We have abused our relationship with the animals, taken advantage of these passive beings we share the earth with. Innocent animals are living in hell, our hell created by us. We need to change our relationship with them and with earth itself but also change our relationship with our very selves. The more healed the mind is, the closer we are to heal everything. By accepting ourselves as loving, caring and kind our capacity for compassion will move mountains.

We need to find intimate love for all because without love we have a lot to lose.