1 Frenchman Albert Schweitzer, called one of the greatest figures of the 20th century by Einstein, founded the ethics of "reverence for life". He believes that respect for life, the stakes and unity of life, are major events in the world. "Goodness preserves and promotes life, evil hinders and destroys life." If we get rid of our own prejudices, abandon our alienation from other lives, and live in solidarity with the lives around us, then we are moral. Only in this way are we truly human.
2 Respect life
Zhang Quanmin
Before Master Hongyi passed away, he repeatedly asked his disciples to place his body under the four corners of the niche. Place a bowl on each body and fill it with water to prevent ants and insects from crawling onto the body and being burned to death during the cremation. I have read the biography of Master Hongyi several times, and when I read this detail, I am always deeply moved by Master Hongyi’s deep compassion and awe for life.
When I was in high school, there were often big rats coming out to steal food from the corner of my backyard. I don't know why, but I had a cruel idea in my heart. I hid quietly by the wall and scalded the mouse with boiling water when it came out. As a result, a big mouse screamed and shrank into the hole in the wall after being scalded by the scalding water. I don’t know if it is dead, but I didn’t realize my cruelty at that time, because “when a rat crosses the street, everyone shouts to beat it.” In the minds of humans, rats seem to have a thousand reasons why they should die. However, what touched my heart the most and made me blame myself the most was two months later: I saw the big rat in the backyard again. It was still alive, but its whole body was covered with white spots left by burns. But it was the most painful thing. What's even more unsettling is that it is actually pregnant with a little mouse, with a big belly, and is looking for food on the ground slowly. I can't express my feelings at that time. I just felt that the word "life" suddenly stood out so dazzlingly in my heart. I just felt how despicable the behavior I had done was. This feeling may not be seen by others in the eyes of others. It may seem ridiculous, but for me, from that moment on, I gradually felt the meaning and weight of life.
The French thinker Schweitzer once wrote in the book "Respect for Life": When he was volunteering to practice medicine in Africa, one evening he saw several hippos swimming side by side with the boat they were riding in the river. I feel the loveliness and sacredness of life. As a result, the idea of ??"reverence for life" suddenly emerged in his heart, and became a cause that he worked hard to advocate and pursue unremittingly.
In fact, only when we have awe of life will the world show its infinite vitality in front of us, and we will feel the nobility and beauty of life everywhere. The little ants moving on the ground, the birds singing on the branches in spring, the antelopes running at the foot of the snow-capped mountains on the plateau, the whales playing in the sea, etc., all enrich the heritage of the living world. We will always and everywhere experience the enlightenment and joy of life that "the kite flies and the fish leaps, and the Tao is everywhere."
Therefore, whenever I read stories about life, I always deeply feel the unbearable weight of life. For example, in the Sahara Desert, a mother camel drank so much that her baby camel could not reach it. The old antelope jumps into the water in the pool; the old antelope jumps to the cliff one after another in order to let the little antelope escape, so that the little antelope uses them as a springboard to jump to the opposite hilltop at the moment they are about to fall; an eel When being fried in a pan, the middle part of the body is always arched, just to protect the fish eggs in the belly; a female wolf looks at the dead wolf cub in the hunter's trap and howls under the cold moonlight... In fact, It is not only humans who possess the splendor of the divinity of life.
Sometimes, we revere life in order to love ourselves more. Feng Zikai once advised children not to step on ants with their feet and not to harm ants with fire or water. He believed that he did this not only out of compassion, but also because he was afraid that the child's cruelty would expand in the future, so that he would fly planes and bombs to bomb innocent civilians.
Indeed, we revere all life on earth, not only because humans have compassion, but also because their fate is the fate of humans: when they are killed to death, humans are like the last A domino, and the next one to fall was himself.
(originally published in "Prose")
3 Wei Xia was diagnosed with malignant spinal cord tumor in 2005. Unable to accept the cruel reality, her husband left her with their daughter. Go, 70-year-old mother takes care of her. She is strong and repays those who care about her with a smile. On August 4 this year, with the care and concern from all walks of life, Wei Xia was sent to Wuhan Changhang General Hospital for treatment. During this period, she signed a volunteer form for human organ donation and took the initiative to donate her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, corneas, bones, skin and other organs together with her body.
On November 17, 2010, Wei Xia passed away peacefully at the age of 33. Her organs and corneas were quickly used on three critically ill patients, and 8,000 square centimeters of skin were preserved, which could save the lives of three to five burn patients. Wei Xia is gone, but her spiritual wealth will remain in this world forever. Finally, let us relive Wei Xia's eternal voice:
Wei Xia: "This is my simple thought. Sometimes money can't solve the problem, and this thing (remains) cannot be given by a living person. Yes, if I die one day, I can donate it to help others."
——"The Great Love in Life"
4 Liu Wei, "The Broken Arm Pianist". , musician, and overall winner of the first season of "China's Got Talent". A life sentiment: "There are only two ways in my life, either to die quickly or to live wonderfully!" has been widely praised. The perseverance and positive and optimistic spirit have moved the world. Foreign media have rushed to report on it and have become the heart of the world. A new generation of "spiritual idol". He lost his arms due to an electric shock accident when he was 10 years old. He learned swimming at the age of 12 and won the national swimming championship at the age of 14. He learned typing at the age of 16 and taught himself piano at the age of 19. In just one year, he was able to play the equivalent of level 7 in manual piano. The piano piece "Dream Wedding". In 2008, he cheered for the Olympics with Andy Lau *** and collaborated on the song "God's Will". In 2010, he won the overall championship of the first season of Dragon TV's "China's Got Talent".
——"The Symphony of Life of a Broken-Arm Youth"
5 Wild Life
Tian Lei
Once, he was shown on TV I was fascinated by Animal World, even though I wasn't that fond of watching it on TV (and it remains an enduring hit today). I like it not because of the novelty of seeing these ferocious large wild animals, but because of the freedom and bravery galloping between heaven and earth in the wilderness, the brave struggle to defend life and the hard will to find food. , is the independence, self-esteem and self-confidence that lives in me.
I once saw a photo and was deeply inspired by it. They were a pair of wolf eyes in the snow, staring at me intently, firm, profound, heroic and breathtaking. It accumulates strong power and is ready to attack at any time to find food or respond to attacks to defend its own existence and dignity.
I have also seen a photo of two zebras galloping in the desert. The dust raised on the ground highlights their unrestrained and upward momentum, raising their heads high and neighing; Set against the background of heavy gray clouds, it stirs people's hearts even more, like a soul-stirring war song on an ancient road.
This is an alpine hypoxic zone more than 5,000 meters above sea level. Any animal may die due to hypoxic exhaustion. Life is extremely difficult, but they still rely on their strong desire for survival and their unyielding With their own will to life, they migrated on a large scale, struggled to find water sources and pastures, and lived tenaciously in the dangerous silence, forming the beating melody of life on the vast grassland and becoming the life landscape of the beautiful grassland.
Appreciation is there. After all, in the city, living in a space made of steel and concrete, you have to face and cope with work pressure and competition between people. It is extremely rare to have the opportunity to see wild animals. Especially large wild animals; not to mention witnessing and experiencing in person the heroic demeanor of freely galloping freely in the mountains, forests, grasslands, and wilderness.
But more importantly, I am often infected by this wild passion; I long for the same vitality, excitement and unrestrainedness as them; listening to their strong life rhythms and melodies, deep in my soul There was a strong response and belief, which can be traced back to the innate and sincere belief in life in the primitive human period, and finally understood life.
It is precisely because of the existence of other creatures in nature (especially wild animals) that humans are no longer alone in this world.
Wild animals are not only friends of human beings, they are equal beings in the world like humans, with personalities, souls, and more flamboyant passions - the passion to fight for the dignity and pursuit of their own lives.
Free, confident, unrestrained and passionate, this is how life should be. If there are no wild animals, and we have been further and further isolated from nature by civilization, where and how should we appreciate the excitement of life and understand the true meaning of life?
For nature, every living being is equal and free, and life is full of passion. Nature is full of cruel competition: there are proud victories, tragic defeats, and ruthless deaths; there are sweetnesses, and there are even more hardships and sufferings; but no matter what, there cannot and will not be without the passion for life.
Natural competition is cruel and wild, but the entire nature is harmonious and perfect. When human beings come into the world, they are also a component of nature. Yearning for wildness and returning to nature is the nature buried deep in human hearts.
Restrain yourself, be kind to all creatures, respect life, and protect nature. Humans cannot be the only ones left on the earth, and the earth does not exist only for humans.
6 Life is a beautiful web
忄tong
When human beings extend their gaze to the universe, we find that what we see is endless of desolation. When we look back at the planet we live on, we see a colorful and vibrant scene. For humans living on land, we are surrounded by a green world, and what makes up this green world is life. Billions of endless kinds of life - plants, animals, microorganisms, they are like a beautiful net, decorating this desolate universe.
However, how many of the 6 billion world citizens are always aware of this? How many of us have felt grateful for this beautiful garden provided to us by nature during the breaks between eating, dressing, working and relaxing? Have you ever thought about respecting life, cherishing nature, and maintaining the long-term stability of the web of life?
Human beings have begun to understand their negative impact on the earth, and the results are shocking: there is no pure land on the earth, snow samples on Mount Everest contain mercury and manganese, there are lead and chromium deposits on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and Antarctic penguins contain Benzene, Arctic clouds and fog are thickening and turning acidic - in such a natural environment, hundreds of species of life on earth are extinct every day... The web of life is facing huge man-made disasters, and the survival of people on earth is in danger.
In 1914, Scottish biologist Thompson first proposed the concept of the "web of life". Evans of the University of Michigan said that one day, our children and grandchildren will understand that, like people, animals also have inalienable rights. French scholar Schweitzer even proposed a new ethical value of "reverence for life": When a person regards the lives of plants and animals as important as his own life, he is a truly moral person. In Heidegger's view, people, like animals and plants, are subordinate to the earth and nature. People are not the masters of nature and the earth, but their maintainers. People should learn to live on the earth poetically.
However, under the pressure of survival and when greed and material desires are rampant, the voice of the great man seems so weak. More than a hundred species are now disappearing from the earth every day, and another 145 species of mammals, 437 species of birds, 69 species of amphibians, more than 400 species of invertebrates and 250 species of plants are on the verge of extinction. The cruel reality makes us sober. The essence of environmental problems is not a technical and economic problem, but a cultural and value orientation problem. It lies in whether we have a feeling of respect for life, the kind of "people are our compatriots, and things are with us" emotion.
In fact, under normal circumstances, the emergence of new species and the decline of old species in nature are generally at the same speed. However, man-made reasons have accelerated the extinction of species, because each species has a large number of It is the storer of genetic information, so the extinction of every species is a crack in the web of life, and the harm it brings to the entire living world is incalculable. Because in complex life systems, it is difficult for us to measure what the disappearance of a species that is far away from human utility will bring to the final disappearance of the web of life.
An Indian chief named Seattle once said a thought-provoking saying, which I would like to dedicate to every living life as the end of this article: Human beings belong to the earth, but the earth does not. Belongs to humans. Everything in the world is interconnected, just like blood connecting all parts of our bodies together.
The web of life is not woven by humans. Human beings are just a thread and a knot in this web. But everything humans can do will eventually affect the network and humans themselves.
(Excerpted from "Qingdao Environmental Protection", with changes)
7 means that all animals are not abused (excerpt)
Mang Ping
People learn in many ways, all depending on how they view the world. If you think that everything in the world can be used by humans and that humans are the center and master of all living things, you will ignore the value of other lives and take it for granted that you will abuse and harm other living beings with low abilities.
If we regard ourselves as a member of the global community of life on earth, we will find that many of our practices are worthy of review. For example, using small living animals for so-called experiments at the middle school level is an inhumane design and is harmful to students' minds rather than healthy nourishment. Even some students have realized this. But our education system and adult teachers have not reflected. There was a student from a middle school affiliated to a famous university who objected to this cruel experimental class. He made many negotiations with the school and the teacher, begging the teacher not to hurt the frog, or to divide into groups and dissect a frog together. Not one for everyone. However, her persuasion failed in the end, so she decided to refuse to go to school that day. That was the first time she took leave of absence from school all semester.
Whether her courage has attracted attention and whether it has become a truly meaningful obstacle to the next similar experimental class, I don’t know, but I am really proud of this middle school student’s love and courage. She doesn't bully people just because they are weak, and she doesn't stop doing good things just because they are small.
Many countries have now eliminated animal experiments in primary and secondary schools. This is the result of advances in environmental ethics and morals in recent decades. Biology has been established for many years, thousands of books have been written, and there are now a variety of models, graphs, and audio-visual networks that can be used to learn from. However, we have to strive to set up live animal experiment courses under the slogan of "catching up with the experimental level of developed countries". Indeed, in the past history, some Western countries have conducted numerous experiments that harmed animals. However, with the strong impact of animal protection philosophy and bioethical concepts, the actual struggle of animal welfare organizations has been With great recognition, the barbaric animal experiment classes in middle schools were gradually cancelled, and were replaced by observing the lives of animals in their natural environment, or learning by dissecting animal carcasses. Why do we have to do cruel experiments that are increasingly being abolished by others? In middle school, what knowledge must be learned through torturing animals? Maybe, what we need to catch up with is not the experimental level of biology classes, but other things, such as the attitude towards animal life.
When Hong Kong environmental pioneer Wen Shilin recalled how he embarked on the path of protecting nature as his own responsibility, the first thing he thought of was his biology teacher - his pre-university biology professor. This foreign teacher was his original leader in caring for nature. Once, they went to the seaside of Hong Kong for a coastal ecological inspection. The teacher stood in the mud at low tide and told the students who were looking for biological samples: You can take them up for observation, but you must put them back in their original places after you are done, because they belong here, and we are observers of nature. The balance of nature should not be destroyed or disturbed. This teacher, standing barefoot in the mud, has been guiding his students towards a life of respecting life and caring for nature.
I firmly believe that this is education. Being kind to nature and animals requires learning, and no one is born with this attitude.
(Originally published in "China Youth Daily")
8 Thoughts after reading Bi Shumin's "The Process of Respecting Life"
I met Bi Shumin at that time. Not a soldier. I dare not say that the green complex originated from Bi Shumin's novels, but the art form of novels still plays a subtle role in promoting cognition. Of course, Bi Shumin's "Kunlun War" cannot be excluded. After that, I read her "Red Prescription" and "Save the Breasts" one after another, and I was deeply shocked. Just as Wang Meng said, Bi Shumin has a way of thinking, writing and acting that turns her care and passion for people into a calm prescription, integrating morality, literature and science. When reading Bi Shumin, the shock always comes from the gentleness, with a strength and depth that benefits the common people and touches people's hearts.
"The Process of My Respect for Life" is not a novel, nor an essay, but a collection of Bi Shumin's most influential speeches and interviews in recent years. Most of what is narrated in the book is about touching the inner wall of the soul and life. Thoughts on meaning. In the literature section of Wutaishan Pioneer Bookstore, I chose this book without hesitation, not only because of the title, but also because of Bi Shumin, an intellectual female writer who I once admired and recently often wanted to get close to her thoughts.
During college, it is difficult to say that my growth was not affected by "Kunlun Shang" and "Red Prescription". I can still remember the majestic narrative of "If it weren't for the snow in northern Tibet, if there weren't those heroic souls who couldn't sleep under the ice and snow, if there weren't my father's earnest eyes..." and a name as special as "Jian Fangning". It has been ten years since I re-read Bi Shumin. In the past ten years, she studied for a master's degree and a Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University, while I joined the army with my pen, completed the same study career, and survived. If what I read before was Bi Shumin's novel, what I read today is life itself. Bi Shumin is both a doctor and a writer. She has a strong understanding of human nature. With her wonderful writing, she is able to express it appropriately, making it chewy and enjoyable to read. Her books can be read when you are young, and you can read them when you are middle-aged. As for how you read them when you are old, it depends on your own penetration.
Reading this book "The Process of My Respect for Life" in my spare time is not only a spiritual warmth, but also a confirmation that my thoughts have matured from Hongmeng. Bi Shumin and I have many similar understandings and approaches to life and life. "Living on the road" and "valuing the quality of life" have always been what she insists on and agrees with, and her understanding of joy and happiness is also the same. Someone asked Bi Shumin: "How did you get through the low period of your life?" Her answer was only five words: wait quietly. Isn’t this the conclusion I came to after enlightenment? I remember in the doctoral forum when I graduated, a junior student asked: "Writing a thesis is very difficult, how should I spend this process?" I only gave them one word: endure. The most essential things in life are often simple and unpretentious, and the truth of life does not need to be gorgeously packaged to be equally powerful. My mother would always say this when doing household chores: Don’t panic, the days are longer than the leaves. When I was a child, I wondered, how long is a leaf? How can it go together with life? Once you have accumulated a meaningful life experience and understand the hardships of life and being a human being, you will naturally understand the truth. I would rather listen to my mother's nagging than read Guo Jingming's book, and this is the reason why.