Violence on the streets of Syria
Mass suffering in Yemen
Chaos in Afghanistan
Is peace possible?
Or are we doomed?
I have faith that everything will work out the way it’s suppose to be
All you & I can do is
Focus on becoming peace
To spread it far & wide
To understand
To show compassion
To live our message of peace
How will the world be at peace
If we are at war?
Billions of humans
All which are holy
No matter
How lost
Broken
Confused
Hurt
Blinded by anger
Suffocated in fear
I vow to see the holiness in all
But first
I must treat myself
As a holy man
No matter how lost
Or broken I am.
When I’m gone
I’ll become a flower
When I leave
I’ll become a mighty oak tree
Matter
Is infinite
Never created
Never destroyed
So can we truly die?
Or can we only transform?
As I glance through YouTube I see many arguing over diet, ethics, and the environmental problems of animal agriculture. I see my fellow vegans becoming angry with meat eaters. I hear the words ” I just don’t understand” being repeated over & over again. To develop compassion for others we must first understand them. Us vegans will drive ourselves crazy with this mindset of misunderstanding. I hope to inspire others to practice a vegan lifestyle but do not wish to force others to be vegan. People change on their own time. You can not force anyone to be more compassionate to animals or care about the health of themselves & the planet. Forcing another is a violent act in itself, which goes against my vow of non violence. The world will change in it’s own time. All we can do is live our message and share it with others. If our message is peace & compassion, then we must be peaceful & compassionate with our meat eating brothers & sisters. Peace is the way.
Understanding others is necessary for compassion, love, & peace. I ate a meat/dairy/egg based diet for 27 years and have been vegan for 2 years. How can I judge anyone who still consumes animal products when I ate them most of my life? My focus as of now is to develop true compassion for those who consume animal products and especially for those who advocate for them in ones diet. True compassion is when we can show compassion to those we disagree with. It’s easy to show compassion to the innocent & weak. It’s much more difficult to show compassion to a slaughterhouse worker but nothing could be more important than developing compassion for them as well. Slaughterhouse workers are often immigrants who are recruited to work long hours for little wages. They often suffer from PTSD from the horrific violent acts they see on a regular basis. There are documented cases of slaughterhouse workers dieing from bacterial diseases and neurological diseases from freshly slaughtered animals.
I also feel strong compassion for those who suffer from chronic diseases from eating animal products all their life. From heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, colon cancer, and many other diseases that could of been prevented with a whole food plant based diet. They were lied to be industry and led to believe that they are wild carnivores that need to eat meat every meal for protein. So much unnecessary human suffering. My heart goes out to them & their families.
I hope to inspire my fellow vegans to be more compassionate & understanding to our meat eating brothers & sisters. Many of us were meat eaters most of our life. Who are we to judge? We are not perfect enlightened beings floating above others. Let’s focus our energy on educating others while showing compassion & understanding to them. This way we don’t drag ourself down with anger, rage, & misunderstanding. We can allow compassion guide our life. How will they ever understand compassion if all we show them is apathy? How will they know peace if all we show them is violence? Our own life is our message to the world.
With Aloha,
Johnny Hoffman
Violence on my TV.
Hatred in the YouTube comments.
Fear of the great unknown.
This is the suffering of humanity.
So how can I help alleviate this suffering?
By inquiring within.
Within my violence & hatred.
Within my fear.
By showing compassion to darkness in my soul.
Peace will only be known if we become it.
Aloha,
Today’s blog post is about being vulnerable. Vulnerability is humanities greatest strength. It takes courage to be completely open and honest about our struggles.
Instagram & Facebook show us highlight reels of other people’s lives, which makes us feel like we aren’t living our lives to the fullest. There is a reason that studies show that heavy social media use is linked to depression, anxiety, and loneliness. We only connect at a surface level in sharing our highlights. Full transparency allows us to connect at a much deeper level.
Everyone has hardships but we rarely (if ever) share them on social media. Why is that? Are we scared that others will pity or judge us? From my experience, others will support and open up to their struggles once we break the ice. Connecting with others in this way is special.
For the past 6 weeks I have been traveling New Zealand on a working holiday visa. I haven’t started the working part of that yet though! LOL. Its hasn’t been perfect though. I spent way more money than expected on my first month of traveling which has caused me anxiety. At times, I have felt lonely in my travels, even when many others were around. Lately I have been having a hard time dealing with boredom and lack of purpose with no job. Lots of self judgements and worrying about what others think of me. Slowly I’m excepting the fact that this is a sabbatical and I will find work in the new year. I need to show some faith in myself once more and enjoy my free time.
Our society could benefit from being more vulnerable with each other. It helps us feel more connected and compassionate to others. Vulnerability takes true courage and strength. We all share the human experience together, let’s help each other live the fullest life that we can.
What have you been struggling with lately?
Namaste,
Johnny Hoffman
Three coconut trees are planted near the coast of the Island of Maui.
One palm tree focuses its energy on impressing tourists by growing the most delicious coconuts on the island. It seeks constant validation from others.
The second tree wants to be respected for being the tallest coconut tree on the island. It grows its stem thick but not flexible to impress or scare others.
The third coconut tree is small and has average coconuts. It focused its energy on building strong roots deep into the ground.
A massive storm approaches from the north. High winds howl into the darkness of the night. The storm ends swiftly the following morning leaving the coastal town in pieces.
The first tree is uprooted, flying into the depths of the ocean. It spent a majority of its life trying to please others and thus had tremendously weak roots.
The second coconut tree wasn’t flexible enough to weather the storm. It spent its whole life trying to earn respect through fear and power. Its insecurities cracked under the immense power of the storm.
The third coconut tree survives the storm. Its roots were well developed and its stem was flexible in the high winds. It wasn’t living to please others or intimidate them through might.
By focusing your energy on your roots you can weather any storm.
By staying flexible, you can bend with the strong winds of life.
All flawed.
Perfectly imperfect.
There are no idols.
No holy men or women.
No saints.
No sinners.
Only human.
Born of love & fear.
Learning & growing.
There are no enlightened beings.
Only activities.
Worship no idols.
Become your own.
Where there is hatred, I will show love.
Where there is fear, I will show trust.
Where there is doubt, I will show faith.
Where there is apathy, I will show compassion.
Where there is violence, I will show peace.
I vow to show others another way.
Fighting for peace.
Shaming for love.
Anger spilling into the streets.
Not an ounce of compassion.
How will they ever know peace if all we show them is violence?
We must show them another way.
The way of peace.
Our life is our message.
The message of peace.
The message of love.
The message of compassion.
Go to the streets.
Go to them in peace.
With love.
With compassion.
Anger can’t stomp out anger.
Only love can.
Violence won’t stop violence.
Only peace can.
Apathy won’t end apathy.
Only compassion can.
The Narrow Path 