You are watching Words of Wisdom Rebroadcast of Live Videoconference with Supreme Master Ching Hai 『Children's Health & Sustainable Planet』 Jeju International Conference Jeju Island,S. Korea - September 21,2009

Grace (f): This next question is also for Supreme Master Ching Hai. The question comes from Ms. Oh Ok-Man. She is a member of the Jeju Provincial Assembly and Secretary of the Self-Administration Committee.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Hallo,Ms. Oh.

Ms. Oh Ok-Man (f): Hallo. As a model province of climate change,Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is implementing pioneering policies to cope with climate change. We made a database of greenhouse gas emissions of Jeju Province - monitoring changes to the forest, underground water,and the ocean ecosystem; we are expanding new sustainable energy such as wind power, solar energy,and bioenergy; and we are reducing fossil energy, thus enabling a carbon-free island.

Supreme Master Ching Hai, I know you've discussed a lot with global climate change experts, politicians,NGOs and are working actively in this area. What do you think about our policies and the direction we are taking in Jeju where the influence of climate change is fast appearing and WHOse people are very concerned? Could you share with us any supplementary information or ideas that we can refer to?

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Hallo,Assembly Member Ms. Oh. How are you? Certainly,I will try to comply with your request. If you allow me,there is something important to consider. First of all,I am glad to hear that Jeju's government leaders, including yourself, are very,very passionate about halting climate change. The autonomy of the Jeju government and the proactive,pioneering spirit of your people is laudable.

Perhaps it's because you call yourselves 『pristine Jeju province』 that you put pride and love in your home's natural beauty, so you want to preserve and cherish it more. Jeju is blessed with an abundance of sunshine and wind, so I'm glad you have been expanding your sustainable energies, like wind and solar power. This is going in the right direction, bravo and bravo. And I personally humbly encourage you and your fellow citizens to continue in this way.

But,if I may point out, if the goal is to be a truly carbon-free society, we should consider all the major sources of greenhouse gases emissions. You see, we are emitting greenhouse gases not just through the fumes from factories,houses, and cars,but also through the products that we choose to consume. Besides,CO2 is cancelled out by aerosols, which are released at the same time from burning fossil fuels.

So,it means that even though we have CO2, the CO2 also has been cancelled out by the aerosols at the same time. Even though aerosols are very detrimental to our health,they actually have a cooling effect that cancels out the CO2 heat in the atmosphere. So up to now,the climate warming heat is not from CO2 - is not from CO2. The warming climate problem is not from CO2, is not from carbon dioxide.

I repeat,it's not from carbon dioxide. It is from other sources, mainly methane. As I told our student friend earlier, at least 50% of total greenhouse gas emissions are coming from animal meat and dairy product. And it's not I WHO said this; it's all proven, researched,confirmed and published by the top scientists of the WHOle world. You're going to read it soon in October. If we only focus on the green energies,like solar panel, wind power, etc.,it won't have much of an effect, I'm so sorry to say. I have to tell you the truth because this is also my planet.

Your island could be my residence at any time in the future. I might love your island, I might want to go there. So,I want to protect your island,I want to protect my planet, so I have to tell you everything,although I might offend somebody or I might not be very popular for doing this, but I have to tell you the truth because green energy is not an urgent task for us to handle right now.

Because green energy only tackles the effect of, maybe aerosol or CO2, which is not the urgent issue of global warming, the producer. The global warming effect comes from raising livestock, from animals. So if we continue on the green energy, then we don't have much of an effect to stop global warming. Because their effectiveness will be cancelled out by the large amounts of greenhouse gases that we generate by consuming meat, and the meat industry. Besides the livestock methane that is responsible for a portion of 50% of greenhouse gas emissions —but 50% is still a low estimate; I would say 80% - there is also the burning of forests to make pasture land, to grow food for the animals, and making the chemical fertilizer and pollution to grow the feed,the transportation involved, the constant refrigeration involved,etc.,etc.

And all the medical effects, all the costs of the sickness of the people - billions,trillions of dollars goes into the treatment of the people for meat-related diseases. And it's not always even effective, it doesn't always even cure people permanently or perfectly even. Even we spend so much money and people have to go through so much suffering, the diseases are not always completely cured, or in many cases, not at all. So people suffer,people die for nothing also, because of the meat diet. So,to produce the meat for consumption, it costs us too much: it costs sorrow, it costs suffering,it costs trillions of dollars.

All these add up to many more times greenhouse gas emissions than all the world's transportation combined, and apparently, more than all the heavy industries and fossil fuel power stations combined even. Please refer to www.SupremeMasterTV.com for more detailed reports on this and many other concerned matters. So,in order to call ourselves a low-carbon or carbon-free society, we must eliminate our meat consumption because that is the number one cause, we could say that is the only cause for our climate change - that is, our meat consumption.

This is in line with the recommendation of the world's leading climate experts, like the Chair of the IPCC,Dr. Pachauri, WHO is a vegetarian himself for the environment's sake. In fact,if we focus on shifting people to be vegetarian or vegan, it will save us much more money than green technology, and of course it's much more effective. And I urge you, the government leaders, because our time is running out,we have to act on this now. Please explain to your co-citizens this important truth and tell them we must work together to become animal-free consumers.

We have a very short time to save our planet. We have a great planet to save. We have a great precious treasure - that is, our children - to save. And besides, the government and the people have nothing to lose by being vegan. For the environment, the absence of livestock will bring about much less pollution and less waste of water and food resources. For the citizens,there are perfectly nutritious, delicious alternatives to animal products nowadays. And,as we heard in the doctors' lectures, the vegan diet is also the best for our children. It's a win-win solution as stated by Dr. Pachauri, and necessary to save the planet. Please,please,I ask Jeju, don't just be a model province, but be a one true,heroic, courageous model for the WHOle world. We need Jeju's support. Thank you.

Grace (f): Thank you, Supreme Master Ching Hai. Thank you for showing Jeju and all of us how to head in the right direction to halt climate change.

Callie (f): Our next question is from Dr. Bu Sang-Il, the Chairman of Jeju Provincial Party of Grand National Party, and vice-chairman of UNESCO Korea Jeju Association. His question goes to both Dr. Greger and Dr. Barnard. Dr. Bu,please share your question.

Dr. Bu Sang-Il (m): Thank you. Jeju Island is so famous as a sightseeing place of the world, especially in east Asia. So many people come here. Jeju Island has a weak point to protect from contagious disease like the H1N1 influenza. We know so many ways to protect from the H1N1 influenza,such as masking the mouth, and washing hands, vaccinating. But I want to know, is this a useful way to protect from the H1N1 influenza and what are the useful ways to protect from the H1N1 influenza?

Grace (f): Thank you,Dr. Bu, for your very urgent and timely question. Dr. Michael Greger, WHO gave the lecture on swine flu earlier, has kindly answered your question via video. Let's watch it.

Dr. Greger(m): Sounds like a beautiful place, and I'd love to visit one of these days. What can we do to protect ourselves from swine flu? Should you fall ill, contact your health care provider to see if anti-viral drugs are appropriate, and stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever goes away so that you don't infect others. But the ideal is not to get infected in the first place. And you get the flu two ways; via respiratory droplets by being in a confined space with people coughing and sneezing. 

And the second way is through touching one's face, one's mucus membranes - eyes,nose,or mouth - after touching a contaminated surface. So the first thing we need to do is to get into the habit of covering our cough when we cough or sneeze to not infect others. However,we should not cover our cough with our hand, because then we contaminate our hand, and then were we to touch a door knob or a light switch handle, or a gas pump handle, we would then transfer contamination to that object.

Someone else WHO comes along,touches that same door knob, and then touches their eyes, nose,or mouth, and becomes contaminated as well. So it's important to either wear a mask if you're coughing or sneezing, or cough into a tissue and throw it away, or cough into our sleeve, cough into the elbow, cough into fabric so as not to contaminate one's hands. Now,that will protect them from you, but how do you protect you from them? Well,we need to wash our hands.

People underestimate how much they have to wash their hands. Twenty to thirty seconds after soaping up, so a full half minute of hand washing after every time we shake someone's hand or touch a public surface before we touch our face and potentially contaminate ourselves.  An even better option if you aren't able to wash your hands so often are these alcohol-based Hand sanitizers. Very cheap to get, and they're actually better than hand washing, according to the World Health Organization, in terms of sterilizing one's hands from these kinds of so-called envelope viruses like influenza. So when you're out in public,before touching one's face, it's important to sanitize, either to wash your hands or carry a little bottle of this alcohol-based hand sanitizer around with you. 

Grace (f): Dr. Bu,in addition to Dr. Greger's response, Dr. Barnard has also answered your question. Let's watch it now.

Dr. Barnard (m): Everybody is concerned now about swine flu because the swine flu so far has been a very dangerous epidemic- it's killed many people. But looking to the future, it appears to be even more widespread and more deadly. The swine flu virus also can mutate to make even more virulent forms. There are really 2 areas where our diet is of concern.

First of all,the breeding ground for the viruses that caused avian flu and caused swine flu - the breeding ground is where animals are collected in large numbers. I'm thinking of the barns where pigs are living, or the areas where chickens and other birds are kept nowadays. These viruses may come from the wild, but when they spread from one animal to another,to another, to another, they can combine with other viruses to make a very deadly virus that can then spread to human beings.

The first is that the more people are eating pork, and any other product from a pig, what can happen is that the demand for pork means that the farms grow and they're larger and larger and larger, and larger. You'll see tens of thousands of animals in one single farm, and as a result of that, the virus has a very fertile breeding ground so that viruses can then mutate and become more and more deadly.

The second issue is that it may well be that pork products themselves can actually cause the virus to spread. That's somewhat controversial in the scientific community, but there's some evidence to suggest that the raw pork that is purchased and handled may actually spread live viruses.

The US government has also reported that there is some concern that even the meat products themselves may transmit viruses. Now we've known about this for a long time with other kinds of microbes, particularly things like salmonella or campylobacter or listeria. These are infectious germs that can cause a raging illness,and sometimes even be deadly. But there is also some concern that even influenza viruses may pass the same route. That's still unclear. But we do know this, that to keep our families as healthy as possible from influenza and other infections, we really want to avoid patronizing animal industries.

Callie (f): That was a very clear answer. Thank you,Dr. Greger and Dr. Barnard for answering our question from Jeju.

Grace (f): Our next question is for Dr. Hwang Seong-Soo and Dr. Barnard.

Callie (f): And the question is from Mr. Chae Chil-Seong,the Executive Chairperson of Jeju Coalition for Environment-friendly Domestic Agricultural Product School Meals.

Mr. Chae Chil-Seong (m): In Jeju,an environmentally friendly school meal regulation was established through the residents' proposal, and its environmentally friendly school meals were the first to be introduced in Korea, thus becoming a model of environmentally friendly school meals in Korea. By 2010,all schools and all children in Jeju province will enjoy environmentally friendly school meals. While it's easy to persuade and agree that organic environmentally friendly food is a safe and healthy diet, it's not too easy to persuade parents to get their agreement about the necessity of a vegetarian school meal. I would like to have your valuable opinion about the necessity of a vegetarian school meal.

Callie (f): Thank you for your helpful question. Dr. Hwang Seong-Soo, would you like to answer this?

Dr. Hwang Seong-Soo (m): Yes,the province of Jeju is much more advanced than other regions in that they provide school meals that are made with environmentally friendly farm produce for the health of the students. I think it is laudable. I think it's a good example that the other schools in Korea should emulate. When we talk about environmentally friendly school meals,at times, they might include meat,fish,eggs and milk and at times might not. People tend to think that children can experience
health problems if they do not consume meat,fish,eggs or milk. So do some of the experts.

Parents have been raised and educated to think that way when they were students. Therefore, when they grow up, get married,and raise their own children, they still think like that. I think that is why education is very important in changing what we think. Therefore,I think we need to provide more education and information to the people concerning these aspects. In addition, I think the parents WHO are already aware of these facts need to have their children get school meals that are good for their children's health.

Therefore,schools need to provide a variety of delicious vegetarian school meals so that the students WHO do not want to eat meat,fish,eggs,and milk can also enjoy their school lunch. More progressively, perhaps we can use some incentives regarding this matter. For example,we can give school meal subsidies to students WHO do not eat meat,fish, eggs,and milk. It may take some time till we all are able to think that meat, fish,eggs,and milk are harmful to our health. In the case of my family, it took about seven years to change their mind, so it was not easy at all.

People tend to change their thinking more quickly if they have health problems. But,of course, we cannot wish our students to get sick. And their age is not yet at the stage where many diseases arise. Therefore,it is not an easy matter to solve. I think we need to be patient. We should provide them with ongoing education and also encourage them with policies and by giving incentives. Aside from these, I don't think there can be any other way to promote it.

Callie (f): Thank you,Dr. Hwang, for your clear answer. Dr. Barnard has also responded to this question via video.

Dr. Barnard (m): In many countries, people are pushing children to eat more meat and to drink more milk. And they imagine that these foods will help children to grow more effectively or perhaps to be healthy. But research has shown something very disturbing. Actually,the children WHO are consuming milk and consuming meat in larger amounts are actually less healthy. By that I mean they tend to gain weight, we have more obesity, and more mild overweight as well, more diabetes. Diabetes is coming into many countries in epidemic proportions, higher cancer risk, and higher risk of heart disease. A vegan diet, means a diet that's based on healthy foods, WHOle grains,beans, vegetables,fruits, and those are really the building blocks of a healthful diet.

Parents and school officials and government officials have such an important role to play,because they are looking out for children not just today but for the future. And one of the most important things that we can do for children is to give them the opportunity to taste healthful foods right in school. So when a child is served lunch,if they are served unhealthy things like that carton of milk, Or meals based on meat and so forth, they are not only getting the cholesterol and fat that can make them less healthy, but they're also learning an unhealthy thing.

They're learning to prefer the tastes of fatty, high cholesterol foods. So when parents, when teachers, when school officials and government officials say,『Wait a minute, we're going to serve vegetarian meals here』- ideally vegan meals that don't have animal products at all- then children not only get a very healthy meal, they get the vegetables that provide the vitamins and minerals, they get the WHOle grains and beans to give them loads of protein, but they also learn a really important lesson, and that is their taste buds on their tongue learn to really enjoy these foods, and they carry then a very healthy habit with them.

I want to thank all of you for your attention to this important issue. The pressures on children are greater than they've ever been. That's also true for parents and for policy makers. And that's because there are more people, more businesses, more money hinging on what children are fed. And we've already seen the problems with this here in North America, we've seen it in Europe, we're starting to see this in Asia now as well where meaty,dairy-based diets are really starting to take a terrible toll. But if we have policies that can help us to resist that,then children can remain healthy.

Grace (f): Thank you,Dr. Barnard. You know,Callie, in countries like Canada, my home, and the United States, many schools have started providing plant-based meals and they have witnessed substantial improvements in children's well-being and fitness. In the US this year, 67% of the schools provided vegetarian school meals as an option,and 20.5% of the schools provide vegan meals as an option.

Next,we have a special question now for Supreme Master Ching Hai. Ladies and gentlemen, Supreme Master Ching Hai is the author of books about the animal world that raise awareness about how noble,loving, and spiritually elevated they truly are. Her books have touched the hearts of countless readers around the world.

Callie (f): Such books as 『The Birds in My Life』 and 『The Dogs in My Life』 are not only long-running bestsellers on Amazon.com, but also bestsellers in Kyobo Bookstore in Korea as well.

Grace (f): And Master,actually we have a very beautiful student that's going to ask a question and I hope you can see how beautifully she's dressed here. It's Gang Yeon-Jeong, she's one of the readers of your books here in Jeju. She has a very sweet and touching question for you, Supreme Master Ching Hai.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: I have noticed her since the beginning.

Grace (f): Isn't she beautiful?

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Very beautiful and lovely dress.

Ms. Gang Yeon-Jeong (f): Hallo. I'm a 6th grader in elementary school. I suffered a lot from an incurable disease called rheumatoid arthritis that began at the end of last year. But through a vegetarian diet and meditation, most of it was cured. It confirmed that a vegetarian diet and meditation plays a big role in curing diseases. I think children,adults and animals all equally have souls. Therefore,I think that we should not abuse others of different ages and different species like animals.

We should not discriminate WHO is superior or inferior because we are all living beings with souls. The most impressive part of your book was that you do group meditation with your birds and dogs. You said you meditated together with the birds and dogs. And it seems to me that animals have a soul the same as we do. Then,do you really think that humans,birds and dogs are all the same? While reading your book, I was really curious whether the birds and dogs were really meditating or were they just sleeping. Well,some people may not believe it at all, thinking how could birds and dogs meditate.

But WHO knows, they might actually meditate. There is no rule that birds or dogs cannot meditate. So are your birds and dogs really meditating together with you? Or are they just lying there with their eyes closed? I was very curious about that.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Yes,hallo,Yeon-Jeong. First,I am so happy that you don't suffer any pain anymore. It's terrible for a person of your tender age to have to suffer any pain at all. It is avoidable through a vegan diet as you have experienced, and I'm glad that you are a vegetarian. And not only that, your philosophy about the souls in people and animals is beautiful and absolutely correct.

The animals are truly just like us, they just come from different sizes and apparel. Just like in your garden you have different flowers, you have roses,you have chrysanthemum, you have maybe lotus and other beautiful flowers. But they are all flowers - different sizes, different colors, different shapes. So in the sentient world of ours,we have humans, we have animals, we have birds,we have fish, we have insects. It's like that. We are in different shapes, different colors, but we are the same. Just like we have different flowers,they are all flowers,right?

So the animals all have the same feelings like we do, like they have love, they have sorrow, they have forgiveness, they have fear,loyalty, filial love and parental love,etc. I myself witness them. And to answer your question about my birds and my dogs,whether they do meditate: yes,they do. They meditate and go sometimes into a very deep level of contemplation. So they are not just laying there with closed eyes. In meditation,they just relax and feel nice and calm,and they contact their God Nature inside.

Actually, many of the animals, including those in the wild,know how to meditate and contact the Divine. They're really in tune within their souls, more than many of us humans even. They have the same Godly spirit that dwells within you and within me. If we knew just how noble and loving and great the animals are, we would be in awe and respect and love them much more. If everyone in the world understood this like you do,our world would truly be at peace, like Heaven. You are a beautiful soul, Yeon-Jeong. I hope you will continue to be vegan to continue being healthy, and I hope you will share this positive experience with others around you, to help them also to stay healthy and intelligent.

You are living proof of how beneficial a veg diet is, because the compassionate lifestyle heals our body and heals our mind. It's the best for our lasting well-being. I wish you Heaven's blessing. God bless your loving heart, and bless your family and your country, the beautiful Korea. Thank you.

Grace (f): Thank you. That was an absolutely charming question with an absolutely lovely answer.

Callie (f): Yes,and aside from all the talks about climate change or health aspects,if we truly realize the noble qualities of animals,I believe people will switch to a vegan diet.

Kim Yeong Ho(m): The most profound part during today's conversation with Supreme Master Ching Hai, which I couldn't understand up to now, is that animals also have the ability to meditate and they have the same emotions as humans. As a farmer, I could propagate eco-friendly farming in Jeju to prevent global warming and,at the same time, establish a foundation for the healthy and constructive vegan diet.

Oh Young-Ju Professor,Department of Culinary Arts Research Institute of Jeju Traditional Food Cheju Halla College Oh(m): Today's international conference gave Jeju Island a quite significant meaning. Desirable nutrition is supposed to be health-friendly, environment-friendly, and also society-friendly. Excessive animal protein results in turnover loss, and through preventing that we can save the starving children of the third world. Vegetarianism is the solution that can save our dying environment and our water. Let's be veg!

Rev. Cha Heung-Do Chief of People's Coalition for Children's Health The best thing I learned in this conference was that we can adopt a vegan diet without much effort to stop global warming, apart from various green technologies. More importantly, the vegan diet combines all that we can do for our children right now.

Kim Eun-Hang(f,elementary school teacher) : The conference really affected me and made my heart ache. I didn't realize the seriousness of it. We have to take action for ourselves, for our children. I've learned the important fact that a plant-based diet is really urgently needed. Everyone,please do help. We have to do it together.

Lee Yong-Jung Policy Chairperson,Jeju Coalition for Children's Health Lee(m): It's rare to host such an international conference addressing a serious global issue like this. I think it has a significant influence on the inhabitants of Jeju,too.

Supreme Master TV(f): What plans for the future does Jeju Coalition for Children's Health have?

Lee(m): If we make children's health an important issue in the upcoming election, then the food problem will be discussed. Lee(m): However,since we've already declared we will have a vegan meal once a week, we know we're making progress now. Nothing is more important than children's health. I'm confident that it's the key solution to global warming. Again,I'm thankful to Supreme Master Ching Hai and Supreme Master Television staff for the event. Thank you.