Vegan Forum

Hmm, it's a bit quiet on here - everyone must be out enjoying the summer

Had an interesting discussion with someone the other day. They supposed that people who do martial arts or boxing (like me!) cannot be nice people, because they are "hitting people for a hobby"

The person who said this is regularly told off by his friends: they think he is a bad person, because he is not Christian, and is a socialist And his friends in turn might be considered bad people: they indulge in passive-aggressive behaviour, waste petrol, have little social conscience... None of them are vegan

It got me wondering, are there any universal truths that make someone a "good" or "bad" person?

The sage does not distinguish between himself and the world;
The needs of other people are as his own.

He is good to those who are good;
He is also good to those who are not good,
Thereby he is good.
He trusts those who are trustworthy;
He also trusts those who are not trustworthy,
Thereby he is trustworthy.

The sage lives in harmony with the world,
And his mind is the world's mind.
So he nurtures the worlds of others
As a mother does her children.

Tao Te Ching.

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."
John Lennon

"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."
Paul McCartney

"To become vegetarian is to step into the stream which leads to nirvana."
Buddha

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
Pythagoras

BigBecka wrote:Had an interesting discussion with someone the other day. They supposed that people who do martial arts or boxing (like me!) cannot be nice people, because they are "hitting people for a hobby"

LOL, if the people that you are hitting do not have anything against it than it's ok imho.
You can say the same about people that play football. They are not nice because they would take your ball without permission and run with it for a hobby.

BigBecka wrote:It got me wondering, are there any universal truths that make someone a "good" or "bad" person?

Good and bad are very relative terms especially when refered to a person and in reality these words mean nothing.
Everything around us is an eternal process always happening, good and bad are just labels that do not have anything in common with what really goes on. Now I don't understand myself what the hell I just wrote...

LOL, if the people that you are hitting do not have anything against it than it's ok imho.
You can say the same about people that play football. They are not nice because they would take your ball without permission and run with it for a hobby.

I like this a lot

I think I understand what you mean

AndyBa wrote:Good and bad are very relative terms especially when refered to a person and in reality these words mean nothing.
Everything around us is an eternal process always happening, good and bad are just labels that do not have anything in common with what really goes on. Now I don't understand myself what the hell I just wrote...

That smells of Dzen

In my opinion a good person is a happy one, that can share his happiness and help or let other people be happy.

I like that idea Masha My sparring partner and I were very happy All the guys watching us fight seemed very happy too

Last year, someone advised me to smile more, and I was very surprised by how differently everyone behaved around me!

What about if there was a jolly SS Guard who enjoyed his work...

Who/what is Dzen? I googled it, but only found a farm and a roofing company

Masha meant Zen Buddhism

I also noticed that smiling genuinely changes people around you.