Inspiring Compassion for All Beings Through Film: Allison Argo (vegan), Part 2 of 2

On today’s program, Allison tells us about one of her most recent films, “The Last Pig.” This true story takes the viewer on an intimate journey into the life of Bob Comis, a man who raises pig-people but faces a painful moral dilemma about his livelihood. “I mean, they lived a beautiful life for six to eight months, and then on a certain day he would take them to the slaughterhouse. And it was that day that just was destroying him. And, after 10 years, he realized that ‘This is not who I am. I don't believe in doing this. I don't like doing it. We don't have to eat pigs. Why am I supporting that industry?’” “They (pig-people) love life more than any other animal I've ever seen. They love to eat and smell and play in the water and they love each other. And they're a herd. And, to take that away from them, you know, 10 or 12 years before they would ordinarily die. He felt that was criminal in the end.”

When Allison made “The Urban Elephant,” she was deeply impressed by the intelligence of the people from the elephant kingdom. “Of all the animals that I've become intimate with, elephants to me are the most intelligent. I think elephants are so much more intelligent than humans. The way that they can communicate with one another is far deeper than human beings can communicate with one another. The way that they can find waterholes, three generations later, even during a drought. They remember where that waterhole was when they were a calf, an infant. I also think there's a lot that we can learn from animals, from other species.”

For many decades, Supreme Master Ching Hai has reminded us that people from the animal kingdom are equal to humans, and have the same right to live their lives in dignity and respect. “It's a living creature. It's a being, just like us exactly. Understand? They’re just a little more gifted with their intuition and sharper faculty. Sometime when you look into their eyes, my God, you feel the message coming. They are equal. Just like different kind of trees, but they are all trees. Different kind of beings, they're all beings.”