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DIVERSE WISDOM ON ANIMALS

An Interview of Barbara Gardner, Author of 'The Compassionate Animal', by Atul K. Shah

You are a Chartered Accountant, an honorary Trustee of the RSPCA, and now a published author of ‘The Compassionate Animal’. These are huge accomplishments – can you explain what motivated you to write this book?
In a world where animals, conscious sentient beings like ourselves, are cruelly exploited in factory farms, long distance transport, cruel slaughter methods, research laboratories, in sport and through overbreeding of pets, something must be very wrong with the moral culture.  Compassion, a reverence for nature and a shared connection with all life has been lost.  Instead we live in a materialistic, short-term and largely unhappy civilisation, where the majority are looking out only for themselves.  This spiritual poverty is glaringly obvious when we look at ancient traditions such as Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, the early Greek philosophies, the early Christian tradition and others.  Many great people throughout the following centuries have reiterated these views, Albert Einstein, Leonardo de Vinci, Thomas Hardy, Mohandas Gandhi and Yehudi Menuhin, to name but a few.  They have all left valuable written commentaries on the subject.
Unfortunately these traditions are largely unknown in the modern world and a huge wealth of wisdom has fallen dormant.  I wanted to investigate these traditions and what I found was so amazing I wanted to share it.  That is what inspired me to write the book.  I hope that we can all learn from these wisdoms, so that our ecological footprint will become lighter and we will cease to cause suffering to others.


Kindly summarise the central message of the book – what is unique about it, and how will readers benefit from it?
The central message is that the common theme in all the ancient spiritual traditions is the ‘The Golden Rule’ – Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself.  All the ancient traditions state this.  They emphasise the importance of ahimsa (non-harming) to ALL sentient beings, not just humans or our own groups.  They all state that the path to happiness and enlightenment is the development of empathy and compassion to all beings.  That, they emphasise, is the way to be satisfied, fulfilled and happy.
In his foreword to the book Dr. Richard D. Ryder says ‘The book is unique in that it brings together ideas that are often kept apart – the mysteries of consciousness, the cosmos, quantum physics and compassion.  I believe these are the among the greatest intellectual challenges that face us in the early twenty-first century.’  I hope readers would benefit from having a wide range of diverse world views consolidated for them in one book which will enrich their lives and bring them peace and happiness.


In particular you focus on the modern arrogance of the human species and how this needs to change and embrace compassion. What world wisdoms have said this before, and how much have we forgotten?
All the world wisdoms have said this before.  These are just a few examples:
Hinduism:- The Paramahamsa Upanishad 1 asks ‘What is the state of the illumined one?’ and answers:
     ‘He has renounced all selfish attachments
     And observes no rites or ceremonies.
     He has only minimal possessions
     And lives his life for the welfare of all.’
Taoism:- The ‘Tao Te Ching’, chapter 16 says:
‘The knowledge of the unchanging rule produces a grand capacity for forbearance,
And that capacity for forbearance leads to a community of feeling with all things.
From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character;
And he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like.
In that likeness to heaven he possesses the Tao.’
Buddhism:- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama says ‘In Buddhism the highest spiritual ideal is to cultivate compassion for all sentient beings and to work for their welfare to the greatest possible extent.’
 Jainism:-  the Jains have this beautiful prayer:
     ‘I ask pardon from all living creatures.
     May all creatures pardon me.
     May I have friendship for all creatures
     And enmity towards none.’
The Pythagoreans of ancient Greece:- Pythagoras is reported by Ovid as saying ‘Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul.’ And ‘As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace.’
Islam:- Muhammad says in the Qur’an 6.38 ‘All the beasts that roam the earth and all the birds that soar on high are communities like your own.  We have left nothing out in the Book.  Before their Lord they shall be gathered all.’
The Early Christians:- The Liturgy of Saint Basil reads:
 ‘Oh God, enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, our brothers the animals to whom Thou hast given the earth as their home in common with us.  We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty, so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to Thee in song, has been a groan of travail.  May we realise that they live, not for us alone, but for themselves and for Thee, and that they love the sweetness of life.’
Albert Einstein:- ‘Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.


How will your book help champions of animal welfare? How will it help the RSPCA?
I hope that people who read ‘The Compassionate Animal’ will reflect on the views of so many of the world’s great spiritual traditions and on the logical conclusion of Darwinism, that our circle of compassion should embrace all living things and therefore treat all sentient beings more compassionately.  I hope that one day cruelty will end.  Why do we assume that the sixth commandment in the Bible ‘You must not kill’ only relates to humans?  This was not just a Judaeo/Christian commandment, it was a much earlier ethical principle established by the Jains, which embraced all living things.  Indeed the biblical commandments six to ten are the same as the Jain’s five ethical principles.
 The RSPCA, in common with all animal charities, cannot cope with all the cruelty and neglect of animals in the world and can never hope to at its high current rate.  If people reflected on their treatment of animals and ended the cruelty and neglect, then charities would no longer be over-stretched.

Dr. Aidan Rankin, author of The Jain Path, and Many-Sided Wisdom, has this to say about 'The Compassionate Animal'

Barbara Gardner's book sets animal welfare in a far broader context.  Instead of viewing it in terms of series of 'single issue' campaigns, she sees it as part of a wider ecological or holistic movement.  This involves a shift of consciousness in which we humans, collectively and as individuals, reclaim our relationship with 'the rest' of nature, including other species. Rather than seeking to 'conquer', dominate or exploit, we should structure our society, economy and spiritual practice so that we co-operate with the natural world and cease to see ourselves as above or beyond it.  Thus there is a relationship between the way we treat non-human species, our use of the earth’s resources and the way we behave towards each fellow humans.

Written with wisdom and compassion (as the title suggests), Barbara’s book explores the shared interest in holistic thinking in all of the world’s spiritual traditions, showing that faith communities can find common ground in an ethos of inter-dependence that is at once universal and respectful of diversity.

The Compassionate Animal is required reading for anyone interested in animal welfare, interfaith dialogue and spiritual practice.


Are you planning a national book tour? How can someone invite you to give a lecture about your book and discuss its contents?

I’m not planning a national book tour, but I’d be delighted to give a lecture about the book. Please email me.

The book is priced at  £9.99  and available on-line from Amazon. It is also available as an e-book for £7.99.

Article added on 15th January 2013 at 2:29pm